Wherever You Are

Being a personal assistant was nothing like I thought it would be. It's a lot less shopping, and a lot more going through thousands of emails. I only get about six hours of sleep every night because I have to wake up early and start making both coffee and tea. Dani's an incredibly nice person, but she won't get out of bed until she's had enough caffeine to be deemed legally cocaine. We spend two hours every morning watching the news together while I skim through tabloids and twitter. I carry a backpack at all times with a change of clothes for her and a binder of information she may need at any given moment, because we never know what's going to happen. Don't even get me started on the paranoia. We spend thirty minutes in every dressing room and bathroom to look for cameras or wire taps or microphones before she'll even take off her coat. Still, it's nice to work for someone who thinks of me as a human being. As an assistant, I've met several other assistants who are easily described as suicidal. In fact, I know several book stores around the city that host at least a dozen complaining assistants on any given Saturday. So it is the truth when I say that being a PA is nothing like I thought it would be, but it's still delightful.

Even on panic stricken days like the first day of tour, I don't hate my life. I had to wake up extra early, get Dani up and around, make sure that we had all necessary travel documents for the airport and make sure that Paul had packed all of Dani's daily luggage into the car. We would be flying from Los Angeles and into London, then take buses across the UK before flying to Asia. There were five legs of the tour, and each leg required different traveling itinerary. It was difficult enough being Dani's assistant, but since Dani was paying for all of the band's traveling expenses, it also turned me into their personal assistants as well. I tried stay up late one night to learn more about them in order to be efficient but wound up going to bed right on time after running into at least fifteen gay love fan fictions. At that point, I figured that internet research just wasn't worth it. Anything that could happen on the job, wouldn't need preparing for. On the way to the airport, I used one of my two works phones (that's right, I carry three phones) to check-in all of our tickets online. It made it so that when we finally arrived, Paul carted the luggage to be tagged while the rest of us walked through a special security line. At the gate, the band was waiting with their legs propped out and sprawled out. One of them was audibly watching Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy while Michael snored gently with his head propped against a support beam.I couldn't help but feel that it was a refreshing thing to see. Most times, Dani and I would wait with Richard in the airline's private lounge but today we had all agreed to meet directly at the gate. Delaney was there, but she sat apart from the band as if disinterested. She wasn't going to be joining us on the journey, and apparently was ready to toss aside the reigns as it was. When her eyes met mine, she wasted no time in standing to her feet and handing me the visas and boarding passes for all of the boys.

"They're not allowed to handle them aside from at the gate." The creaking in her voice told me that she wasn't used to being awake this early. A quick glance to Ashton and Luke shoving each other and laughing negated any reason for questioning her instructions. I took the paperwork and made quick work to pair it with everyone else's documents that I held in a small traveling booklet. "They all have my number, I know you do as well. Always try the office first. Don't worry, they're used to sharing rooms, but don't expect them to behave." With a quick pat on my shoulder, she was off and I didn't get a chance to ask any questions. She said not to expect them to behave. If she hadn't said anything, then it all would have been fine. I've been around other performers before, like the stage band that backed Dani at every show. They seemed just as wild and playful, and I was certain that 5 Seconds of Summer was the same. Why is it then that her statement made me begin to doubt how easy I assumed this would be? Dani took a seat with the boys and I set down my backpack while Richard found a comfortable place to stand for the next thirty minutes. I didn't bother looking for a seat, either. Dani didn't have to ask for me to know that she needed some coffee, and quickly. Otherwise, she wasn't going to survive takeoff. She did well on most occasions and loved the travel, but she always forgot how nervous she was about takeoff and landing. "I'm going to go get some coffee. Would anyone like anything?" A buzz of orders droned in my direction and, when I was finally at the small Starbucks three gates down, I regretted not writing it all down. I stacked the two drink carriers, one on top of the other, to looks of bewilderment from the staff. "Do you need any help?" She was young Hispanic girl, and I felt rather envious of her short pixie haircut. I shook my head gently and braced myself for the slow walk back.

When I arrived, Luke got up from his seat and took the drink carrier on top. Together, we sorted through the cups until every person held a hot morning beverage of their preference. Everything was coffee, except for Paul who preferred hot chocolate since he was going to sleep through the whole flight. He had to drive the van waiting for us on the other side, afterall. Dani was mid-conversation about her favorite city: Paris. She loved the shopping and the warm bread served with tea at cafes. She also enjoyed Glasgow because of all of the brick buildings at Argyle St. She asked everyone to share their own favorite stories and asked me to start. All of their faces, looking rather sleepless, turned to my direction. Their eyes burned at my skin and I suddenly felt my throat swell. I had to say something, quickly. Surely, they wouldn't care about whatever my answer was. "Tokyo." My voice sounded crippled, shaky even, but I had at least said something that seemed to interest many of the people involved. "It's so different than anything I've seen, and Leda grew up there so she always points out cool things." Their faces turned from me and onto Leda, who was slouched across the gate's lounge and scrolling through something on her phone. Just like that, the conversation drifted away. I stood quietly and pretended to follow along until an attendant approached us and let us board. One by one, our group boarded. Dani and Richard always flew first class for the privacy it provided. The rest of our group traveled to seating group B and spent a few minutes putting away luggage and figuring out who was going to be sitting where. Group B seating wasn't so bad. We had bigger seats than those in coach, but didn't get the leg room and dedicated entertainment and services provided for first and business class. I sat on the right side of the aisle, in the window seat. Luke had the seat next to me, and next to him was Calum. I thought it was a strange name the first time I had heard it. In Barrow, we had lots of Lukes and Michaels and even a handful of Ashtons sprinkled near the point. Calum, however, was a name I was unsure actually existed. Still, he seemed pretty alright and didn't complain about having the aisle seat.

Take off was a breeze. I sat back in my seat and gripped the arms of the chair tightly. Luke didn't fight me for the arm rest and instead looked over my lap and out the window as we ascended. When we reached proper altitude, the captain announced that he would keep the seat belt light on but that we were now free to move across the cabin. I couldn't stifle a sigh of relief. Luke looked slightly discontented. "Do you hate flying?" His voice was somehow different than I remembered it. To be fair, I had never been fully paying attention to him before. I'm always so busy that most of the time, people wind up just serving as background noise. I wanted to shake my head, but as I actually thought about it and glanced out of the window, I had to admit it. "Don't tell anyone." I whimpered it, and Luke's face seemed to soften at my request. "There's nothing wrong with feeling nervous. I get nervous about lots of things." He reached a thin arm over me and slid the cover for the window down, and I muttered a gracious thanks in his direction. "No problem." His voice was nearly a whisper. We were quiet for brief moments of time, but then one of us would pipe up from the silence and discuss things that we felt relevant at the time. We found ourselves browsing Sky Mall together, and we each pointed out all of the useless things we would take home with us if they were free. Hours passed like minutes somehow. Our flight was ten hours long but I honestly didn't begin to feel it until I could hear Calum snoring albeit peacefully. I glanced down at my watch and sighed at the desire for sleep. "We have about four hours to nap, Luke." He smiled and leaned back in his seat, his eyes flicking to the in-flight entertainment: presented episodes of Parks and Recreation. "Okay," he said finally. His breath seemed sharp before his eyes darted to me. "Try to get some rest, alright?" How incredibly kind of him, to think of me. He was right, I needed to sleep if I was going to be able to keep all of us on time. So I leaned back into the cushion of my seat, too. He put his headphones in, and I gave one last glance in his direction. I was actually feeling excited about the year to come, because Luke was being so nice. If he was nice, then surely his friends were as well. And if everyone was so nice, then nothing bad could happen. We could all have fun. We could all make memories. We could be friends. As I slept, I replayed the moment he closed the window again and again except this time, I heard him laughing.