The Moment Takes You

Home, sweet home, I couldn’t help but mutter dryly to myself as I finally collapsed on the couch in my new, just-bought one bedroom apartment. I’d gone to Australia for four years on a student exchange, wanting to visit my birthplace that Marge and Kobe – had never really spoken about. The only words they had ever mentioned were “it’s a beautiful place” with “friendly people”, and from then I decided this student exchange thing was the thing for me to do. It came at a not so great time, when I was dating this little spunk by the name of – well I’d forgotten, but I did remember he was quite the looker with curly brown hair and these gorgeous green eyes. Green eyes were a turn on of mine, I couldn’t deny that.

Since I’d practically been in Australia for all of high school, it only made sense that I’d return to my home place London and see my parents, my old primary school friends – maybe I would even see that guy I dated again. I knew he was famous now – who knew an ex-boyfriend of mine would become famous? – but every time the news would mention the band he was in now; One Direction, they’d forget to mention his name or I’d just be zoned out when I heard it, and I had never gotten around to remembering what his name was. Not particularly being interested in the band myself, I made it my duty to avoid them and their music whenever I could, by hanging out with people who weren’t into management created bubble-gum pop boy bands that lived on female attention to continue their careers and used unoriginal lyrics to get their points across. If they even had a point at all. Regardless, the crushes I had at fourteen years old were a thing of the past, and as Marge kept drilling into me, it was time to “focus on the future and not dwell on the past”.

I felt my iPhone buzz in my lap, and I picked it up to see it was a message from an old friend of mine, Dana. During my time in Australia, I had kept in contact with her, although they were just Skype conversations every few weeks or so. We were part of a bigger group consisting of five of us, Nora, Dana, Oriana, Nathalie and myself. It had been too long since we had all done something together, but then again, I had been in another country so it was understandable the time I had kept away with them. Until now, apparently.

Party at Liam’s tonight, you up for it? I miss you x

I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. Who was Liam and why was Dana inviting me to a random party? Not that I minded so much but if I didn’t know anyone besides her it may be a tad weird, although I wasn’t as quiet as I used to be so maybe it would be alright.

Before I could send another text, she sent me another one, saying:

The whole gang’s coming, plus a certain ex of yours so believe me, you don’t want to miss out! x

Hearing that we would be reunited was enough for me to text her back an eager yes, and she replied with the party address and other details.

I didn’t care that Marge had told me to leave the past to the past, I was going to see my four best friends again and that was that.

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Dressed in a cute outfit that consisted of a short, black skirt, denim crop top and a skinny coral belt, I teamed the look up with my newest pair of coral pumps I had bought back in Australia. I threw on the closest jewellery I could find and tousled my hair a bit, letting the waves follow on my dainty shoulders as I grabbed my phone and stuffed it down my top, picking up my car keys in my hand and it was out the door I went. It was about eight thirty pm – I was never one to go to places on time – when I turned the radio on and jammed to Rihanna’s latest hit, tapping my fingers against the steering wheel as I drove. The address wasn’t far away, perhaps only twenty minutes or so, which was lucky in case I drank too much tonight and needed someone to drive me home. Nonetheless, I was glad when I pulled up to the location of the party – the Millian Hotel, that looked somewhat dinghy in the front, but knowing Dana, the party would be in the swankiest room of the hotel: the penthouse. I also knew she would make the place look festive yet fitted to her taste levels.

After parking in an area that was restricted for hotel patrons only, I made my way to the party and followed the rambunctious group of people who seemed to be going the same way I did. Scanning over the crowd, I recognised a few faces – people I had gone to school with in the past or B-listed celebrities. Clearly, Dana knew a lot of people.

When the elevator swung open, I couldn’t believe my eyes. As far as penthouses went, this was the best one I’d ever seen (it was the only penthouse I’d ever seen), with its expensive décor yet homey feel to the area. Dana’s touch to the place could be smelled by the lavender aroma that wafted through the air, and the way she had transformed the living room as a mini dance floor, where many people were currently dancing on. I had to give it to her – she did an amazing job.

“Ria!” Enveloped by a pair of arms, I grinned back, seeing my best friend’s face that I hadn’t seen in much too long. She was dressed sensibly, no surprise there, but wore a large smile that stretched across her entire face. Behind her was another familiar face that I couldn’t pin-point who it was.

“I’ve missed you, babe!” I told Dana, encircling her in a tight hug and lifting her off the ground. I was an affectionate person, and always had been. “How’s life? How’s the love life?” It just occurred to me that Liam, this unknown person Dana had mentioned, might have been a good friend of hers or even a boyfriend. “And who’s Liam?”

She pulled away and stepped back, standing next to the handsome boy with sandy brown hair and a sense of calmness and easy-goingness about him. “Ria, this is Liam, my boyfriend. Liam, this is Ria.”

“You know, you look mighty familiar,” I said thoughtfully as I shook his hand that he had offered. “Are you an actor, or something?”

“A band, actually,” Liam corrected, smiling warmly at me. “I’m in One Direction.”

Ah, the boy-band I couldn’t really give a shit about but my ex-boyfriend who I had forgotten the name of, was in. I suppose that was what Dana meant when she said that I’d see a certain ex of mine, but I had figured she was talking about Johnny, my third grade boyfriend. We’d lasted for a week and since then, Dana and the girls never failed to tease me about it.

“I have to go mingle.” Dana pulled me out of my thoughts and rested a hand on my arm reassuringly. “I’ll be back, go take a look around, alright? You might see something that will interest you.”

“Something or someone?” I retorted but all she did was wave goodbye, a smirk playing on her lips.

I wondered what that was about but let her be, following her instructions and going outside for a breath of fresh air. Heading out onto the balcony, I was enthralled by the way the area had been transformed into a mini-bar, with a sleek black counter that rested on the side, with surrounding stools. Outside it was less crowded, with the noise a little quieter despite the loud thumping music of a familiar song with a title I had no idea of.

“One beer, thanks,” I signalled to the bartender. Sitting down in one of the skinny, black stools, I whirled around in my chair, taking notice of a guy watching me with interest, strolling over to me casually. I couldn’t look away – besides the fact he was eerily familiar to me, his gaze on me was mesmerising and I didn’t want to look away, even if I tried.

“Two beers, actually,” his deep voice interrupted my train of thought and I watched in fascination as he took a spot next to me, handing me a beer that the bartender had passed him. Our fingers touched momentarily, and I couldn’t help but think I’d felt this same chemistry before – this same feeling that whenever sparked in me, sent a shot of butterflies into my stomach. It wasn’t just that chemistry we had that drew me to him, it was his emerald coloured eyes on his perfectly symmetrical face with a mass of curly hair in which I found myself leaning in towards. To say that he was gorgeous in every conceivable way was an understatement, but there were no other words I could use to describe him. He was just that sexy, really.

“Ria Mones,” he drawled my name huskily, and I realised with a shiver who it was. He was in One Direction with Liam, also an ex-boyfriend of mine in which it seemed his curls really hadn’t changed the last time I saw him. I cursed myself for not recognising it sooner, but then again, this was the first time since four years ago that I had last seen him. It was funny though, as once I had recognised who he was, the memories of our short-lived relationship flooded back. He had always been a sweetheart but constantly liked to use cheesy pick-up lines to get my attention, he had a strange fondness for cats that somehow I’d grown to love, too. When these came back, so did the more important details too, like his name, for instance.

“Harry Styles,” I murmured with a grin that mirrored his own, and we silently clanked our bottles together. “Here’s to reuniting after four years.”

“Cheers,” he replied in a low voice, and I bit my lip in lust, trying to control the way my heart beat faster as he spoke in his deep, seductive tone of his, before taking a swig of the ice-cold beer in my shaking hands.