Wanderlust

“Luce... Lucy!” A large hand shook my shoulder, repeating my name in a hurried whisper.
My face was buried deep within a set of warm sheets, muffling my responsive groan to whoever was interrupting my sleep.

“Lucy, Kara’s on the phone, she says it’s urgent.”
I slowly lifted my heavy head, my tangled hair falling down into the slits that were my eyes as I gazed up at my brother, his lanky body already dressed in an outfit for the day. The hand that wasn’t resting on my arm was extending out to me my cell phone, the white device revealing a call in progress.

“Hello?” I sighed into the receiver after taking the phone from Will, my head falling back down into the white sheets of my familiar bed, avoiding the light that was peeping through my haphazardly closed blinds – a sure sign of my less than impressive entrance last night.

“Lucy! I was happy to see no scandalous pictures from last night in the gossips sites this morning, you looked beautiful, by the way.” Kara’s voice was as chipper as ever which made me wonder what the time was back in Sydney. “Listen, I know you’ve had a big night but my phone has not stopped ringing since word got out that you were roaming London yesterday. A couple of stations are keen to interview you and Vogue’s London H.Q have asked me if you’d like a cover shoot which, of course, won’t be organized for some weeks. I told them all to wait for your conformation, so it’s all up to you. What do you say?”

Mentally, Kara’s little ramble had my mind in a whirlwind. On one hand, I was so grateful to have such recognition elsewhere of my home country and the States, but on the other I was a little bit overwhelmed. Regardless of my minor hangover and obvious sleep deprivation, my ‘relaxing holiday’ had all of a sudden felt like a business trip, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. In all honesty, I was hoping for a little more down time than just a couple of weeks before I jumped into anything slightly promotional. I wasn’t in England on tour; I was here to live a little. Don’t be so ungrateful, Lucy, I told myself, scolding my negative thoughts as I readjusted from my comfort.

“Um, well,” I shuffled upright on my mattress and rested my head against the headboard, “An interview or two would be alright, the photo shoot can hold off for now but tell them I’m free next month, and I’d rather only one interview in a day if that can be arranged; nothing too time consuming.”

I could hear Kara’s notepad being scratched at by her swift handwriting, her humming filling my ears as I watched William re-enter my room and set a cup of coffee down on my bedside table as well as a piece of paper, leaving soon after. He was in assistant mode, I noticed, watching as he rushed around the apartment.

“Sounds perfect, Luce, Capital FM are probably gong to be our first hit, they’re available today and tomorrow only, though. Magic can wait for a couple of weeks and I’ll tell Vogue’s office a shoot can be arranged later indefinitely.”

I hummed in response, “Sounds easy enough. You can tell Capital I’m free for today,” I glanced over at the wall clock directly across from my bed, it’s hands telling me it was not yet eight in the morning. “Maybe around lunch?”

“Absolutely, kid. I’ll let them know and text you the details.”
The line quickly went dead while at the same time I heard the front door slam shut. Confused, I looked over to the note Will had dropped off and picked it up with my coffee, sipping and reading simultaneously.

’Going out for mail and the paper, don’t forget your lunch date with Harry.’

My eyes widened at my brother’s messy scrawl as I muttered ‘bugger’ over and over. I shifted hastily out of my bed and through the doors of my bedroom, toward the kitchen while my phone buzzed in my hands.

’Capital will have you at 11:30. Be there at 11 and call me when you arrive. K.’
“Bugger, bugger, bugger.” I repeated, exiting the message conversation and pulling up an empty one under Harry.

’Hey Harry, did we set a time for that lunch? X’

The green bubble formed and I suddenly grew flustered with my day’s plans even though my day had barely yet to start. I began thinking back to the previous night; the dancing, the drinking... Oh, God the drinking. I slid my phone across the marble countertop, aware that Harry definitely wouldn’t be replying any time soon, given the ridiculous hour it was. I chuckled to myself remembering the ending result of the night before. Harry’s alcohol intake had doubled, mine not much better... God only knows how much Louis and Eleanor drank.

Will and I eventually called it quits last night while the rest of the One Direction crew carried on dancing and shouting around three in the morning, waving us off in a taxi headed home in the early hours. All in all, it had been a great night. I know for sure William had gotten the number of a small, faux-red haired girl who I can vastly remember introducing herself to me as ‘Lila.’ Louis continued pouring drinks into everyone and Danielle and Eleanor kept me on my feet for the rest of my time in that club, spinning me around in tune to the thumping music until I could no longer stand and eventually had to bid them all farewell.



My hands cupped around the large headphones sitting atop my head, my ears listening intently to the “One, two, one, two,” from the audio technician standing across from me.

I raised my thumb up and smiled at the middle aged man, telling him “sounds great” while taking the headset away from my ears and down on to the table before me.

The older man nodded and returned my smile, shuffling out of the room and being soon replaced by the radio host I was about to be interviewed by. The radio station, Captial FM, was smack dab in the middle of London, only about twenty minutes away from Will and I’s flat with moderate traffic. The building was very modern, frames hanging from the reception walls holding valued pictures of various interviewers posing with artists who had visited the station. I had tried to hide my smile when my eyes caught a particular picture frame surrounding a particular boy band.

“Hey, Lucy, I’m Jordan Collins! Thanks so much fa’ comin’ in! We’re all big, big fans of ya’s, ya’ enjoyin’ London?”
The radio host looked like she could only be about twenty-five, her bright blonde hair cascading down her front in huge swirls. She had a very strong voice, which I suppose is helpful for her occupation, her accent reminding me of the girls from Geordie Shore. She sat herself down across from me beyond the table, various microphones and electronics separating us also.
“It’s no problem,” I smiled, crossing my legs over from under my bright yellow, high waisted skirt and lighting up my phone for the time, 11:27. Below the time on my phones screen sat an unread message from Harry, who had yet to reply to my first message earlier that morning. “I’m happy to be here and London is beautiful, really stunning.”

Jordan nodded and placed her headphones around her large hair, “Just gonna’ intro the show and I’ll give ya’ your cue to start chattin’.” She told me, speaking into the microphone in front her soon after and introducing her show, as well as mentioning my name to her audience while I read the message.

’Sorry, love, just woke up. I was thinking about now-ish. I can pick you up if you’d like. X’

Jordan motioned for me to put my own headphones on and I complied, hearing Katy Perry’s voice sing ‘Wide Awake’ and replying to Harry at the same time.

’I’m just at an interview, can we meet after? I’m so sorry, it came up unexpectedly.

’No worries at all, text me when you’re finished and I’ll grab you. Capital FM, yeah? I’m listening to you now :) x’

I didn’t get a chance to reply to him as Jordan began speaking to me again, running me through the set up the show would follow; song, several questions, adverts, more conversation, one more song and then my final talk; ideally a very quick interview.

“Ello’, ello’, this is J.C. and ya’ listenin’ ta’ London’s numba’ one hit music station, Capital FM. That was Katy Perry’s smash song ‘Wide Awake.’ We’ve got our special guest ‘ere now, Miss –Australian Beauty- Lucy Callaghan. Lucy, welcome, how ya’ goin’, love?”

I beamed at the blonde before me, “Really well, thanks, you?”
A couple questions in and several adverts later, Jordan had generally asked me everything possible about my move across the pacific, having me explain my decisions as to why as well as my comparisons on the two countries.

“So, ya’ve adventured a bit, yeah? Seen wiv’ a certain boy band just yesterday, I believe.” I mentally sighed a little bit, my gut telling me this question would surely lead to more incriminating ones. “Tell me, is it a bit of a pain to be followed around like ya’ are by the cameras. How do ya’ handle tha’?”

I blanched at the blonde before me, chuckling some before straightening myself out for the question.

“Yeah, I mean, it does get kind of annoying.” I confessed, “I really appreciate the, uh, admiration? I guess? But it can get too much when you’ve had a really crap day and there’s a strange man behind a camera breathing down your neck asking for a smile. I love my fans heaps, but I don’t think they need to see pictures of me carrying a to-go coffee from one end of the street to the other.” I tried to laugh my own comment off, silently worried I had overstepped my boundaries with my defence against the paparazzi, but Jordan’s smiled reassured me enough.



My eyes focused down onto the time on my phone, once again. 2:34PM.

The interview between Jordan and I was a fun one. Originally it had only been organized to last only half an hour, one hour tops, but I was enjoying myself and the station had asked me if I minded taking fan calls and hanging around for a couple of photos for the wall. I could hardly say no. Every now and then I found myself re-lighting up my iPhone’s screen, not expecting a message or anything, but getting a tad anxious at making Harry continue waiting. I was sure he understood my situation; he had said he was listening after all.

’Just wrapped up at Capital... Hope I was worth waiting for? Haha x’

I had just stepped out of the building, the rare sun shining down onto the footpath as I pulled down my sunglasses from my curled hair and onto my face, my phone buzzing in my hands in recognition of Harry's reply.

'On my way now. Don't worry love, you definitely are. X'