Transcontinental Overload

After another night spent drinking, the house was quiet when Noémie awoke the following morning. She’d grown used to the constant noise after a week and a half, so waking up to a silent house was strange. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, her eyes widened when the time read well after noon.

“Merde!” she swore, jumping out of bed in search of a producer. She felt like a complete jerk staying in bed until noon when everyone else had probably gotten up early to go sightseeing.

“I don’ know what merde means but—”

Noémie nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Harry’s voice. “What are you doing ‘ere?” she shrieked.

Harry nodded at his shoulder. “Everyone else went to see some rocks or something. Wasn’ really sure it was the best idea with my shoulder an’ all. S’pretty sore today.”

As she calmed herself from Harry’s scare, she took a moment to look around the room. Other than Harry, there truly wasn’t anyone else in the house. No producers, no cameramen, just Harry. For the first time since they began filming, Noémie was able to relax. She no longer felt like she had to put on a facade for the sake of television.

“They went to Batu Caves?” she asked. Harry nodded, earning a pout from her. “But Eliska said there are little petit monkeys there!”

Harry’s eyes lit up with laughter. “Monkeys? You’ve come all the way to Malaysia an’ you’re most excited for monkeys?”

“There are no petit monkeys in France,” Noémie snapped, now glaring. “Sorry I am not in famous boy band and see monkeys all the time like you!”

Harry couldn’t help it as he laughed harder. There was something about Noémie’s accent that made her less than threatening — when he could make out what she was saying, at least — but she was also endlessly excited about everything. “I don’ see many monkeys, love,” he said. “But maybe we can still catch up.”

“Non, non,” Noémie sighed. She’d taken a look at herself and decided it’d take her entirely too long to get ready. The rest of the group would probably be halfway to New Zealand by the time she was finished. “Maybe we should do something else.”

“All right,” Harry shrugged. “Do you, em, want to get dressed and I’ll look through some tourist pamphlets?”

Nodding, Noémie disappeared back into her room to find something to wear. She didn’t have time to shower and fuss with her make-up and was somewhat thankful. Malaysia’s weather hadn’t exactly been friendly to her make-up, and by the time the group got back from the club last night it had looked like her face was melting off. Just thinking of seeing that scene on television was enough to put a permanent scowl on her face for the rest of the day.

While she was gone, Harry began sorting through the pamphlets the producers handed out. He knew very little about Noémie except that she studied architecture. However, he knew even less about Malaysia and hadn’t a clue where good architectural hot-spots were.

Thinking on his feet, he grabbed his mobile from his pocket and dialed Louis.

“Ello?”

“Mate! Is Eliska with you?”

“Aye, why?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I have to ask her something.” There was some shuffling before Eliska got on the line. “Eliska, love, how are you this beautiful afternoon?” Before she had a chance to answer, Harry continued, “That’s brilliant! Listen, Noémie’s here with me an’ I was thinking of taking her somewhere good for architecture. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Um, maybe she would like Putrajaya?”

“Sounds fantastic!” Harry boasted. “Now, where is that?”

“It’s about 25 kilometers away.”

“Perfect! Thanks, love!”

Hanging up, Harry rummaged through the pamphlets in search of a map. Only one had one and he pocketed it quickly. After calling a taxi service to pick them up, Harry all but trotted to Noémie’s room. He was visibly excited to tell her how good of a job he’d done in planning their day.

“Noémie?” he called out, knocking lightly on her door. “Are you decent?”

The door swung open. “Oui,” Noémie said. She’d just pulled a loose-fitting shirt over head and Harry tried to keep his eyes from lingering. “Who were you talking to? Are we meeting up with the group?”

“N-no,” he stammered. “I called a cab to come get us. We’re going to Putrajaya.”

His smile was large and contagious. As much as she didn’t want to be, Noémie found herself infected by Harry’s excitement. She hadn’t a clue where Putrajaya was or what they’d be doing there, but she figured there were only good things in store if Harry was that excited for them to go.

“Are you sure your arm is okay?”

Harry’s animated smile slowly turned into a cheeky grin. “Are you worried about me?”

“No,” Noémie snapped, “I just do not want to ‘ear you whine all day because your arm hurts. If you are going to whine, you should stay ‘ere.”

Harry watched her for a moment, trying to figure her out. “I think you like me but you don’ wanna admit it.”

Noémie scoffed, pushing by Harry to check her hair in the bathroom. “I do not like you, ‘arry, and ‘onestly I am quite annoyed I keep getting stuck with you.”

“Noémie,” he whined, placing his good hand over his heart, “I’m offended. I broke my shoulder trying to impress you an’ this is the thanks I get?”

From her spot in the bathroom, Noémie glared again. “You sprained it, ‘arry. And a sprained shoulder is not a very impressive gift for a girl. Flowers or chocolates would be much better.”

Harry moved to lean against the doorframe of the bathroom. His cheeky grin was back again and his eyes gleamed with mischief. “So…what’s your favorite type of flower?”