The Moment Takes You

I stared at my reflection carefully as my friend chatted mindlessly away in the background. I only listened half-heartedly as I did last minute adjustments to my outfit, adding a thin belt around my waist. Smirking slightly, I turned to my friend, and posed dramatically, “Hey Nat, do I look classy or what?” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively, and then laughed as she stood up to circle me.

She let out a low whistle. “Ooh, I think you look very sophisticated, Nora. I’d totally date you,” she replied, jokingly, blowing me a kiss. “No but really, that dress will definitely catch the attention of a certain stripe-loving someone I think. I rolled my eyes playfully and walked into the hotel bathroom to hide my blush and began a conversation about something I wouldn’t remember the next day, pretending to not know who she was talking about. I curled my hair carefully, smiling triumphantly at my authentic golden locks that fell well past my shoulders, then complimented it with my signature half pulled back style, finished off with a nude colored bow.

“What do you think your brother’s going to think when he realizes we’re at the party?” my friend asked too nonchalantly, causing a sly smile to form on my lips.

“You mean me. But there’s nothing he can do but watch,” I said truthfully, then letting my tongue get the better of me, “Which I don’t think you’d mind too much, Nathalie.” I turned to slip on my nude heels and the ignored the loud click of her tongue. I smiled widely at her reaction, then gave myself one last look in the mirror, intertwining a curl and finger slowly, pondering the thought of my best friend and brother. I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I was observant. Much like Nathalie was observant of me with my brother’s oldest band mate, but nothing more was done about it aside from the teasing remarks here and there. Thanks to my brother, even complimenting his band mates was practically off limits. As for he and Nathalie…well. That was up to Nathalie. She’s a loose cannon; you can’t force her into anything.

“Are you ready to leave yet?” she said finally, moving across the room to grab her purse.

I nodded, grabbing for my small, black Chanel purse, putting the hotel key in it. With a last minute spray of Viva La Juicy, I linked arms with my best friend, and led us to the elevator, smirking.

“To the party we go.”

She returned her smirk and pressed the button, leading us to the top floor. We shared eyebrow raising glances as we waited in anticipation for the elevator doors to slide open, ignoring the jolting feel as it came to a stop. As they slowly revealed the scene in front of us, the two of us gasped almost simultaneously and stepped inside the penthouse, jaws slack slightly.

“Wow,” I managed to utter, letting my eyes wonder from the modern décor, to the crowds of people glamorously dressed, clustered across the flat. I inhaled the smell of lavender, mixed with a variety of perfumes and sweats: the party was in full swing. I glanced over at Nathalie who nodded immediately in the direction of the bar outside.

“Niall.”

I rolled my eyes in annoyance at him and pursed my lips. “Well, I’ll be on the opposite side of the party then. I’d rather not be scolded by my little brother for coming to a ‘wild’ party.”

“I’ll go with,” Nathalie started, smiling slightly, staring in the direction of the bar for a little longer than necessary, “Might stumble across Ria. I hear she’s back from Australia.” I held back a smirk and wrapped an arm around her.

“Of course, babe.” I replied, quickly making our way to another part of the house, looking around for someone more than just a familiar, nameless face.

“Nora! Nathalie!” I heard someone cry out a little ways in front of me. My eyes quickly located the source of the voice and smiled widely when I spotted her. Immediately the owner of the voice pulled the both of us into a tight embrace. “It’s been too long!”

“Definitely,” I replied, pecking her cheek as she did the same for me. “We’ll for sure need to catch up, Ria. After the party of course, your face seems plastered with determination…like you’re looking for someone?” She shook her head smiling.

“Just ready to mingle, I guess,” she said, eyes searching the crowd nonchalantly.

“Well go on and mingle then!” Nathalie pitched in, tapping Ria’s arm playfully. “We can all meet up after.”

Ria smiled widely, “Sure thing. See you, then.” With one last wave, she wondered off in the direction we came from.

“Do you think she knows Harry is here?” I asked Nathalie, a small smirk forming on my lips. Matching my smirk, she nodded, linking my arm, moving to a group of familiar face and names. We approached them happily, her giving them their ‘hello’s and I their ‘hi’s. Up until the last person I gave each of them one shouldered hugs.

“Come on, Nora Leigh,” the last one said, pulling me into a full embrace, wrapping his arms around me, “We know you better than that.” I savored the hug carefully, inhaling his sent, letting my eyes close for a moment before pulling away finally.

“Hi Lou,” I said, smiling softly, fixing the collar on his blazer. He placed his hands over mine and removed them from his clothing, back to my sides.

“At least buy me a drink first,” he joked, causing me to turn away from him to hide my blush. “Awe you know I’m kidding, Nora Leigh. I know you’re just being ol’ mummy Horan.” I smiled painfully, trying to cringe as the word “mummy” escaped his lips. I was used to being called the typical older sister, because, well. That’s who I was. But mummy? I let my too fake smile fade and pretended to listen to the conversation around me, while my stomach twisted in nervous knots every time Louis would throw in his words to the conversation, or brush his fingers past mine. His cologne clouded my senses, and eventually my thoughts and I stopped paying attention completely, not bothering to hear the “going to get something to drink, see you later?” from someone, nor the “okay” that left my lips, or the other variety of people that came and left our cluster.

There was only one thing I wanted tonight, and I wasn’t going to let anyone get in my way.