Model Behavior

Moira considered going home. She had a few days before the show was to start and she didn’t really feel like staying in Paris. For some reason the romantic city had completely lost all allure to Moira. She knew it had to do with Harry and, should she have turned on her phone, she would realize he was trying to get in touch with her. She had spent the first day laying in bed and ordering room service and now she was essentially doing the same save for contemplating whether to stay or go, just like The Clash. Which, consequently, had been stuck in her head.

She decided she needed some motherly advice and began packing a bag that would have plenty in it for the next two days which she felt was a reasonable amount of time to take off from Paris. She had just finished neatly folding and perfectly stacking a pair of skinny jeans into her weekend bag when she heard a tapping on her door. Confused, and wondering if it was Niall and then she just felt guilty because he could have needed her when she had her phone turned off, she went to answer the door. She nearly fell over one of her flats and hit the door with a slight bang before pulling it open.

She was surprised to see Liam on the other side of her door and not her boss. And, a part of her was a little sad that it wasn’t Harry. He hadn’t even come after her when she stormed not so quietly out of the dressing room and she was deeply hurt by that. She should have known, though, and she had kicked herself the whole day yesterday for not realizing it until she had already gotten invested against her better judgment. But, it was not her boss or the model but the handyman who helped with the stage and even assisted in setting up the high lighting for Niall. She hadn’t spoken much to Liam except for a handful of times but he was very nice and she was curious as to why he was at her hotel room on a Friday afternoon.

“Hey, Moira.” He greeted warmly, shooting her a kind smile that made her heart thump loudly against her chest. “Did I startle you? I thought I heard a bang from inside when I knocked.”

She flushed. He didn’t know that bang was her elbow hitting the door but she still felt like he saw it all the same. “Yes, I mean no … I mean, I wasn’t expecting company but it’s not a bad surprise.” She mumbled, tripping over her words like she had her own shoe. She took a deep breath and started over. “Hello, Liam.”

His smile widened and he held up a folder marked ‘Paris Fashion Week Itinerary’ on the front in perfect handwriting she knew was her own. “You left this the other day. I begged Niall to be the one to bring it to you.”

“Oh, thank you.” She gushed, grabbing it from his hands but then faltered and stopped, pulling it into her chest. “Wait, what? Why would you do that?”

Having his hands freed by her shakier ones, he lifted one to the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, you seemed rather upset the other day and I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“Thank you, I’m fine.” She tried to say it without letting on that she was a bit upset still, but she knew she was never that good an actress.

It was obvious he wasn’t buying it from the slight smirk that tilted up the corner of his mouth. “I also wanted to know what you were doing tonight … I don’t really know many people in Paris and I haven’t gotten any real breaks at the show. If it’s not one thing …” He trailed off then suddenly seemed to remember he was in the middle of something and was not alone. “But, um, I’m free the rest of the day and thought you were taking some time off before the show, too, so maybe we could hang out?”

“You want to hang out with me?” She asked, dumbfounded. Harry was gorgeous in that he looked like he would be a model or an actor. Liam was gorgeous in the sense that he was a man’s man. He had muscle and wore flannels and hoodies all the time and worked with his hands. He could model probably, she thought, but he was more rugged than Harry and it made him attractive in a different way. But, he was still incredibly attractive and it left Moira a little confused as to why he would want to hang out with her now, too. Was it some kind of joke to see who could all get the nerdy girl on a date? She didn’t think so but she had been rather negative since seeing Harry and that model that she was thinking all sorts of mad things.

“Yeah, I mean … I wanted to before … when we first met? But then you were talking to Harry and I just thought, you know, that that was your type or whatever. But, um, if it’s not because now you don’t seem to be or … um, well, I was still hoping maybe we could? At least grab dinner?”

She made Liam nervous. She didn’t make Harry tumble over his words like she did with Liam and it was a strange feeling, but empowering. She was usually the one stumbling around physically and with her words so it was a nice change to not be the one looking nervous and intimidated. But she was thinking more about what he was saying – he had wanted to ask her out but Harry had beat him to it! She thought he might have been flirting when they first met but she hadn’t been sure until now. “So you want to go on a date?”

“Yes, if - if you would want to go on one with me. I would be honored.”

“Um, sure.” She found Liam’s nervousness to be completely endearing. He was always sweet to her on the set and seemed to genuinely like her, even if she didn’t understand it. And clearly Harry had a different agenda whereas she saw Liam blatantly ignore the models on the set. They would try to get his attention (especially when he’d remove his flannel or sweatshirt to reveal his muscles in a tight white tee) but he would just do his job and never bothered to even check them out. That won bonus points with her in lieu of everything.

“Dinner then? I’ll, uh, pick you up at seven?”

“Sounds good. Thank you for bringing this by.” She said, waving the folder.

“Of course, it was my pleasure.”