The Nanny Diaries

We were just leaving the hot Kentucky air and heading up to Ohio to play the show in Columbus. After that, it was Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and the rest of the East Coast. I was excited to see big cities like New York and Chicago. Since I loved London, I expected New York to be just as amazing, if not better.

The show in Kentucky went smooth. Since we didn’t spend a whole day in Kentucky, Lux and I didn’t sightsee. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to spend in Ohio either, but Lou assured me that I wasn’t missing much. She said they were “boring” states, but I don’t think she’s really even been around them herself. Even if they weren’t particularly exciting, they did have beautiful weather.

The show was set to start at 7:30 sharp and One Direction would probably go on around 9:30. We got to the venue pretty early to do sound rehearsal and I stuck around knowing that Lux loved to be apart of the hustle and bustle of concerts.

I kept her out of everyone’s way, but made sure that she could see all of her favorite people doing the things they loved. I was currently in one of the empty dressing rooms in the back with Lux. She was playing some sort of game on my phone while I made sure she didn’t get in trouble.

I heard my phone go off in Lux’s hands and she looked up with scared eyes like she broke my phone. I plucked it from her grip and answered the text.

Tatum, come up to makeup
xx

It was a text from Lou. I told Lux to follow me as I got up from the couch. It wasn’t crowded in the hallways and Lux and I made it to the makeup room relatively fast.

The makeup room was utter chaos. There could have been about forty people in that tiny room. I saw some of the opening bands standing idly around, probably waiting to get their makeup done. The other bands had their own “team” to help them get ready and I guess all of them decided it would be a smart idea to do it in one room. I shook my head and held onto Lux’s hand tighter.

I checked my phone for the time and it was 7 o’clock on the dot. I saw Lou fussing over one of the opening bands and I made my way over to her, with Lux’s hand firmly in my own.

“Lou?” She whipped around and had a look on her face that said she didn’t want to talk to anyone. Once she realized it was me, a smile adorned her face.

“Tatum! Could you do me a favor, dear? Can you take Harry’s earpieces to him? Leave Lux with me, it’ll only take a minute.” Once she mentioned Harry’s name, I rolled my eyes. Things have gotten worse for us. We were at each other’s throats more often than not. I think our behavior is irritating everyone around us.

“Lou, I don’t really want to deal with that twat today. Can’t you just get someone else to do it?” Lou gave me a hard look and it felt like my mother was standing in front of me.

“Tatum, just go!” She gestured to the boxes on the table with the earpieces and I sighed and swiped one.

“Where is he?”

“The dressing room, yeah? And hurry, he needs it for sound check,” she turned back towards whoever she was working on and I knew that I had been dismissed.

I dragged my feet towards One Direction’s dressing room and once I got there, I gave two curt knocks on the door. I wasn’t about to barge in there, who knows what I would have seen? After waking Harry up that one time, I wasn’t taking any more chances.

The door flew open and Harry was standing there looking frantic. He was wearing a Pink Floyd dark t-shirt and very tight, dark jeans. He realized that it was me and zeroed in on what was in my hands.

“Thank god.” He grabbed the box from me and opened it to reveal two tiny little ear buds. I thought everything was fine and dandy until I looked up at Harry. His face was getting all red and he was glaring at me.

“Tatum, these aren’t my ear buds. Goddamnit, can’t you do anything right?!” My mouth dropped open.

“What do you mean they’re not your ear buds?”

“These ones are Liam’s! They won’t fit my ear!” Harry was not screaming in my face about bloody earpieces. Bloody hell, I do not have the patience to deal with his inner diva today.

“Well, fuck Harry, how was I supposed to know that?! Calm down, they’re just ear buds!” Honestly, this is why I didn’t want to even look at Harry Styles. If a little intern gave him the wrong earpieces, I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t act this way towards them.

“Well, now I’m late Tatum, and it’s all your fault. Just stay out of my way!” He threw the box of ear buds at me and stalked away to find his own. I was left dumfounded and alone in the hallway.

I can’t believe Harry just had a little temper tantrum about ear buds. I picked the ones he threw at me off the floor and turned around only to run into someone.

“Oh, for the love of god.” I looked up to see Liam’s face grinning down at me.

“Sorry, love. Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay!” I threw his stupid earpieces at him and he fumbled for a bit before he caught them. It looked like didn’t want to be there anymore, but I didn’t give him a choice. I needed to vent and Liam was the only person in sight.

“You know, he’s such a dick. Why is he such a dick, Liam?” Liam looked really uncomfortable that I was venting to him but I didn’t have anyone else and Liam was the next best thing I had to a girlfriend.

“Who are we talking about again?”

“Harry! Why does he keep treating me like shit? I’ve tried to be nice to him, yeah?” When I mentioned Harry’s name, Liam finally realized why I was so frustrated.

“Love, he’ll come around eventually, yeah?”

“Why does everyone keep giving him excuses? Why can’t we all agree that he’s a giant prick towards me? I didn’t even do anything to him, he’s the one that just started actin’ mean towards me.” It felt really good to get my feelings off my chest. Even if I was venting to Liam Payne.

“I don’t know, honestly. He’s never acted this way with new people before. Not even Lux’s old nanny. Maybe you two just don’t mesh, yeah?” He nodded his head like he actually believed what he was saying. I was so frustrated that I slid down the wall of the hallway and put my head in my hands.

I heard shuffling and assumed that Liam had walked away. Until I felt an arm being draped across my shoulders. I picked my head up and looked up at Liam giving me a sad smile.

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

“God, no!” If Liam even mentioned this to Harry, Harry would never let me forget it. And he’d probably hate me even more.

“It’s not like I want us to be best friends. Or even acquaintances, I just want him to act like a proper lad with manners, yeah? Is that too much to ask?” I looked over at Liam and he shook his head at me, agreeing with my last question.

“Okay, I’m gonna say it again, but don’t get mad. Give Harry time. If he doesn’t lighten up by…let’s say New York, then we’ll call him a wanker and never talk to him again, yeah? Don’t tell anyone, but I’m on your side.” He gave me a cheeky grin and looked down at his phone. His eyebrows sprung up and he hopped up from the ground. He extended his arm out for me to take and lifted me from the floor with ease.

“Well, I have a ton of missed calls. I guess I’m late for sound check! See ya later, yeah?” He gave me a wink and then started running towards the stage area of the arena. I sighed and got up from the dirty floor and wiped off my butt before going to fetch Lux. Talking with Liam made me feel loads better, not to mention that he was rooting for me.

I arrived back in makeup and there were considerably less people in the tiny room than before. I spotted Lou putting some powder on Lux’s face and making her giggle. I almost didn’t want to interrupt them, but I’m guessing Lou was wondering where I had been.

Lux saw me before Lou did and ran over to me, almost running into my legs. I picked her up and spun her around before setting her back on the floor. Her giggles filled the room and she darted back over to Lou’s side.

“Tatum! Where were you darling?” She looked concerned before her attention was diverted by Lux pulling on her mum’s hand.

“Oh, I, uh, feminine problems, yeah.” I stuttered, hoping that she wouldn’t see through my horrible attempt at lying. By the look Lou was shooting me, she could read me like a book. Thankfully, she didn’t pry, and just started packing up her makeup supplies with her assistances.

“I hope you’re feel okay, love. Go take Lux backstage so she can watch Harry. She’s been driving me nuts!” I smiled at her and grabbed Lux and lugged her down the hallway towards the sound of the screaming fans.

There was this part of the stage that was hidden to the crowd, but you could perfectly see the boys perform. It was the best seat in the house and very popular with me. Imagine being down in the crowd with all the teenage girls pushing and shoving? It sounded like my perfect hell.

Thankfully, there were chairs and couches so I sat down while maintaining a hard grip on Lux’s body. Lou informed me that she’s been known to rush out on stage. The little stinker.

The boys were all sitting on speakers or at the end of the stage. I assumed that they were going to start “Little Things” by the look of it. I surprisingly, liked the song. It was cute and the lyrics were very moving. What a surprise to learn that the boys didn’t actually write it.

Lux was wriggling like no other in my arms during the song. I swear, she was part human, part worm with the gyrations her body was doing.

“Lux,” I hissed, “cut that out!” She didn’t listen to my commands and actually I think she was becoming full-bodied worm at this point. My biggest fear that she was going to run out on stage during the most popular song and I just couldn’t let that happen.

I stood up and held my grip on her as I walked further away from the stage. She started to scream a little and I hoped that I was far enough away that fans didn’t hear the commotion. I went back into the vacated dressing room where Lux’s playpen was set up. I set her in it and looked down at her while she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“Lux, you’re killin’ me! Maybe if you wouldn’t dart onto stage, you wouldn’t be back here, yeah?” She looked up at me with a blank look on her face. Right, she had no idea what I was saying. I propped the door open so that we could both hear the music as it carried down the hallway. This seemed to make her a little more stable as she plopped her butt down in her pen and stared at the door with awe.

By the time the show was over, Lux was conked out in her playpen. I checked the time and it was almost 12 o’clock at night. It was way past my bedtime, that was for sure, but I had to get Lux back on the bus without waking her up.

Of course, the moment my hands touched her body, she was wide-awake. I walked her to the bus where we met the band. They looked like they were on top of the world and they were definitely high on energy. They were the perfect match for Lux, actually.

“Hey!” I yelled out to them before they got onto their bus. All of their heads turned around at once, and if I weren't so damn tired, I would’ve laughed at the ridiculousness of it.

“Do you guys wanna take Lux for the drive? Since you guys are all energized, you could keep her preoccupied!” I tried to make it sound convincing, but I just wanted the toddler out of my hair. The boys looked a little skeptical, especially Harry. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Liam.

“Yeah, we’ll take her! Give ‘er ‘ere.” I gave him a grateful smile as I walked closer to them while Lux held onto my hand. I could feel Harry’s stare burn holes into the side of my head, but I didn’t have enough energy to glare at him. I just handed Lux over to Liam and promptly spun on my heel towards my own bus.

“What’s her problem?” I heard one of them mumble.

“She’s just had a hard day,” Liam defended me. I smiled and climbed into the bus that would take us to Tennessee over night. I really hoped that Liam was right about Harry getting used to me by New York. If he didn’t, I would have to take some drastic measures, like smothering him in his sleep.