by Theresa Jane
At one point, Martin had to pull me out of the way of a moving light that would have taken my head clean off my shoulders. When I tripped on several cables and knocked a cameraman over, it was decided that I should be taken back to the hotel to avoid any major catastrophes. At least any more catastrophes. I hoped the cameraman would make a full recovery and his nose would heal.
Due to my lack of coordination, I was reduced to watching Liam on the television just like the rest of the world. However, I wasn’t even able to watch the full interview, only the cut version that had a French translator talking over him. Meaning, I understood about two words in the entire interview. ‘Hello’ and ‘goodbye.’
* * *
“Frey?” Liam called into the lavish suite I had been deposited in. It was impossibly French, with such lavish furniture that I had almost been afraid to sit on the sofa when I had arrived. Eventually, self-pity won out, and I had crumpled on the plush, gold-trimmed sofa where I curled up to watch Liam’s interview.
“I’m here,” I answered sheepishly, slowly sitting myself up to look at him.
“What happened?” he demanded, coming around to sit beside me.
“I’m clumsy,” I shrugged. “I was a hindrance to the film crew. They shouted at me. In French.”
“They kicked you out?” he demanded, his fists tightening by his sides. “They had no right to kick you out,” he fumed.
“It was a mutual agreement.”
“This is unbelievable. I can’t stand the French.”
“I broke a guy’s nose.”
“What?” He frowned, but I could already detect a smirk building.
“I knocked something over when I tripped over the big black wires, and I broke a man’s nose,” I explained, completely embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
“You broke a man’s nose?” he repeated.
“Yes,” I ground out, anger beginning to mix with my embarrassment.
“I can’t believe you broke someone’s nose,” he chuckled, and my head snapped to him with an angry glare.
“It’s not funny,” I growled.
“It’s a little funny.” He was now trying to hold back his laughter, but it only seemed to make it worse. He looked like he was about to explode and I knew if he did, I would follow.
“Maybe a little,” I conceded.
“Or a lot,” then he lost it, collapsing on himself as he tried to catch his breath, and I wasn’t too far behind him.
Another night, another concert just as impressive as the last and before I knew it, we were on another flight headed to another city. I barely glimpsed the Eiffel Tower as our car drove us to the airport early the next morning. I watched it sadly pass, not for the first time wondering how much of Europe I would truly see on this trip.
When I glanced over at Liam, only to find him trapped in the glow of his phone, I couldn’t help but feel that this was going to be the pattern for the rest of the trip.
All I could do was hold out hope that maybe he would plan another night like the Van Gogh Museum. I could only believe that in a world bathed in bright lights and huge distractions, I might be able to hold his attention and not become a pale light left behind in his past.
Chapter 39: An Outsider’s Eye
Liam Henderson: Euro-Spotting
December 18 11:55amNY Chatter
Spotted! Barcelona, Roma, and Paris. He’s seen them all in the past two weeks and while that in itself may be amazing, what has us all talking is the piece of luggage he has been carrying from city to city. Freya Coleman, as sighted in all photos since Liam arrived in Amsterdam for the first leg of his European tour. Many of us suspected (hoped) this relationship would be well and truly over by now, but still he keeps her close and dotes on her like the loving boyfriend we all fantasized he would be. If only someone special came along to tame him, and I don’t know about you, but it was always me I fantasized capturing the rock star’s eye.
His concerts have been sellouts, with fans clamoring to beg, borrow, or steal a ticket to one of his heart-stopping shows. I would sell my soul to have a backstage pass to one of Liam Henderson’s concerts.
However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing on the European leg of his tour, with rumors circulating that police in Amsterdam spent hours with our rock star after a supposed mix-up with security on arrival in the city. Inside sources hint toward a miscommunication with Liam’s security team, leading to his girlfriend being lost somewhere in the city. No photos have emerged of the incident, nor has anyone stepped forward to confirm or deny the mix-up, but the increase in big men in black suits surrounding not just Liam but Freya suggests they’re rattled and taking precautions to protect the world’s hottest rock star.
Comments
Lady_of_the_lake90Can’t he tour the US first?! I’m dying to see my baby live!
Jazelle_is_my_girl12Maybe Liam was trying to lose her, she looks like a clingy b*tch
Star_gazer89I think these two are cute together. I ship them
Jazelle_is_my_girl12@Star_gazer89 you must have lost your mind to believe Liam is over Jazelle and in love with that plain Jane
Henderson97WHO’S THREATENING MY MAN!?
* * *
Liam Charming?
December 19Scooped
A picnic in the Van Gogh Museum at midnight. Dancing along the Barcelona beach at dawn and a candlelit dinner drifting down on a gondola in Berlin. Could this man get any more charming or be any more deserving of the title? It’s as if he is only moments away from whisking his princess off to his secluded castle to live happily ever after.
Yet, despite it all, my heart isn’t a mess of feels. Instead, it beats green with envy. However, it’s easy to say that our golden boy has rebounded faster than America’s former sweetheart. Her halo fell quickly after the break-up as we found her in all of Liam’s former haunts, drowning her sorrows of what might have been. Even she was never doted on like Liam’s current girlfriend is being.
Still, we know very little about his mystery girl other than she originated from L.A. and has an incomplete degree from UCLA, majoring in Art. One thing that is clear is she is as far from Liam’s world as possible, making us wonder how she could have possibly weaseled her way into our golden boy’s life.
In all the photos surfacing from his tour, it’s clear to see that he likes to keep her close, even bringing her out to greet the Amsterdam crowd on his first night there.
I don’t know about you but every time a new photo of the two pops up on social media, I can’t help but let the green monster of jealousy take over.
Comments
Jazzy_gurlJazelle was perfect for him. He’ll realize his mistake #bringbackjazz
HendersonloverDid anybody notice how in all the photos his body is always in front of hers?
Starstalker90@Hendersonlover There was a mess up when he was in Amsterdam with his security team. Maybe it has something to do with that?
howboutno75@Starstalker90 she never looks happy and he always looks worried. What’s with that?
Starstalker90@howboutno75 there was something wrong in Rome too. She wasn’t even seen the entire time he was there.
howboutno75this relationship should have been over before it started. this girl’s days are numbered. #freeliam
* * *
Nightlife
December 19 7:16pmNY Chatter
He’s at it again, but we all knew it was only a matter of time before the cracks in the doting boyfriend facade started to show. Liam was spotted leaving another nightclub in the early hours of the morning, this time in Berlin. As his tour progresses, it’s becoming clearer that the old Liam is alive and well and you can’t help but wonder how long it will take for Freya Coleman, his current girlfriend, to be tossed aside for the return of Liam’s wild ways.
Stumbling down the streets of Berlin in his favorite wingman’s arms, Jebediah Wright, it’s easy to dispel rumors of discontent between the two. Many would say it was in
evitable that Liam would fall back into old habits. After all, they have worked so well for him over the years, why break the habit now?
Freya Coleman, here is your warning. The clock is ticking, and it won’t be long now before your time runs out.
* * *
Slamming Liam’s laptop closed, I glared out the window of our suite in Berlin. Now I knew where he had been all night, and I couldn’t help but wish I had stayed far away from the disastrous Internet. Casting a glance at our room, I felt my blood boil, hearing his muffled, drunken snores seep out. How could he do this again?
This was the fourth time he had come back to our hotel room in the early hours of the morning and each time I had lain awake, fretting over where he might be and who he might be with.
Finally, the temptation had become too much, and I fell into the trap of searching the Internet for what he had been doing all night, and it didn’t disappoint. When I had seen the images of Liam being led down a street by Jebediah, my body flushed hot and cold with anger, fear, and betrayal.
When he came in, only hours before, he had stumbled into the bed, shoes still on his feet and his body emitting a smell akin to that of a sticky barroom floor. In his drunken state, he had reached for me to pull me closer, running his hands beneath my shirt and along my bare stomach, sending me shooting from the bed and into the living area.
I had curled up on the couch and tucked the thin blanket around me. I had used it the night before when I had sat in front of the TV watching a German movie, so lost in thought I hadn’t even realized it wasn’t in English.
Now, I sat glaring at the sunrise, letting my temper simmer as Liam slept off his hangover. I had been worried about him all night. Terrified of the trouble he could get himself into, and all this time he’d been out getting drunk with his buddy.
I wanted to scream at him, I wanted to throw him from our top floor balcony, but I knew, like all the times before, I would believe his excuses when he woke. I would listen to his apologies and promises that it wouldn’t happen again.
“I’ll never do it again. I just needed to let off a little steam.” Or “I was stressed and the night just got away from me.” Or my personal favorite, the one that always melts my hardened heart, “I’m falling for you, Frey. Don’t let this be the thing which comes between us.”
However, this time hurt more than the times before because this time I felt completely betrayed, and all I wanted to do was go home. I was tired of all the hotel rooms and waiting backstage, only for him to tell me he was going out with the band again for a few drinks. He always begged me to come, and each time I would decline, wary that it would be the night Jebediah joined them, and last night he had.
I had noticed the change in Liam with each day the tour progressed and with every day, I felt the space between Liam and I grow larger, the loneliness in my chest gaping.
Reading everything that the world thought of Liam and I together had only made me feel infinitely worse. I couldn’t help but scroll through their hateful words as they consumed my mind, reminding me of the world Liam existed within. The world I tried desperately to ignore, the one that would steal the man I was falling for. The one I didn’t fit in.
* * *
I sat on the couch until the sun fully rose and it was the only thing consuming the Berlin sky. I didn’t move when Daryl and Martin came into the room after announcing their arrival behind the closed door. I didn’t answer when they greeted me good morning, and when Liam finally stumbled from our room, I remained stoic. Only when he spoke was I pulled from my silence, my stillness.
“Hey Freya,” he started, his voice broken from sleep. He moved to sit beside me and in an instant I was on my feet.
“Don’t,” I warned, glaring at the bland piece of art on the hotel room wall. It was a brown vase filled with pink tulips on a blue background. Yet, I gazed at it as if it could hold my attention for hours.
“Freya,” he groaned, and from the corner of my eye, I could see him roughly rubbing his temples. All the muscles in his chest were highlighted perfectly in the morning sun. It only caused my rage to burn hotter, my arms tightening across my chest as my hands scrunched into fists. “I was-”
“I don’t want to hear it, Liam,” I cut across, refusing to look at him. “Not this time.”
“You don’t get it, Freya," he started, but again I refused to let him finish. I was mad at him. I needed to be mad at him.
“No I don’t, Liam, and I don’t want you to explain it to me.”
“Wait,” he called when I spun and headed straight for the door of the suite. “Where are you going?”
“Out,” I answered harshly, pausing with my hand clutching tightly to the door handle. “I suggest you don’t follow me,” I warned. “Any of you.”
“Freya, you-”
“I mean it, Liam,” I answered flatly. “Do. Not. Follow. Me.” Then I pulled the door open harshly before storming down the carpeted corridor and slamming the button for the ancient elevator.
* * *
“I just need to be mad at him, Harri,” I sighed from where I sat across from her in the small café. It was filled to breaking point with early morning workers looking for their morning jolt. We had waited almost forty-five minutes to get a table after I had come to her door all but begging her to go with me.
I had been coming to her more often these past few days. Each time Liam reminded me of who he was before, the man he was becoming again now.
“Be mad at him, he's an ass,” she agreed, taking a sip of her coffee.
“I don’t understand why he’s being this way.”
“Freya, can I be honest with you?” Harri started, seeming to be tired of my ranting, and I didn’t blame her. The conversation was becoming repetitive, and each time she had sat there and listened, offering advice here and there but never disagreeing with me.
When I didn’t protest, she continued. “You don’t understand Liam’s world.” I was about to interrupt her, but she held up her hand before she spoke again. “He’s under a lot of pressure with the whole world watching his every move, not to mention this whole stalker issue. This is how he deals with that. This is how he’s always dealt with this. You’re new,” she shrugged, and I tried not to flinch from the harshness of her words.
“In this business, it’s hard enough to survive in the lights that come with fame, but no one has it as bad as Liam. I know it’s hard for you to watch him act this way, but don’t be that girl.” Instantly, I felt guilt and shame wash over me as the words sunk in.
I was being selfish and more than anything, I was being a burden. Anything between Liam and I was new, tentative and foreign. I wanted to know where I stood in this world of his. Yet, I barely knew where I stood when it was just the two of us. Then you threw the whole world into the mix, and I couldn’t help but feel in the dark, cast in the shadows of Liam’s light.
I didn’t want to be that girl, the girl that whined for her boyfriend’s attention. He had already done so much and gifted me so much of his precious time, but in the back of my mind, there was a voice that asked the questions I was too afraid to acknowledge. I was too scared to voice them because I knew if I did, something would change between Liam and I. Everything would change.
“This is the last night we have before we head back for the North American leg of the tour, just…just wait until we go back.”
“All right,” I frowned, squashing all my questions back down and allowing an unchecked silence to fall between Harri and myself. I was too distracted to focus on a conversation, and so we both sat in silence in the hectic Berlin café, lost in ourselves until finally, I let out a tired sigh.
“I should probably get back,” I admitted, casting a look over at the entrance of the café where Daryl’s hulking form loomed, trying to remain unseen.
“I’ll see you tonight?” Harri asked as I pushed to my feet and nodded absently, my mind a whirl of emotions and jumbled thoughts. “It will get b
etter, Freya, just give him time.” Again, I nodded before I started weaving through the throngs of people, leaving Harri behind.
“Daryl,” I nodded, and his gaze fell on me, guilt written across his face.
“Sorry, Miss Freya. Mr. Henderson wanted to ensure you were safe.”
“I know,” I answered emotionlessly as Daryl led me to a waiting car outside the café. “It’s fine.”
* * *
He’s Coming Home!
December 23 8:14pmThe Squeeze
Our beloved rocker is finally returning to familiar shores just in time for Christmas. I don’t know about you, but this is a pretty good Christmas present. After nearly three weeks abroad, amazing those across the ocean with not only his musical talents but also his extracurricular activities in the bars of some of the most famous cities in the world, it’s finally time for him to return home.
No one seems more in need of a trip back to our shores than his girlfriend, Freya Coleman. The girl who shocked the world only months ago appearing beside the international superstar looks thinner, and she appears more worn out than when she left our shores a few short weeks ago, departing for the trip after her short stay in the hospital for reasons yet to be determined. Even an expert hand would find it challenging to hide the bags from Freya’s eyes as she boarded the plane in Berlin.
What’s to blame for her haggard appearance, you might ask? Well, again we are at a loss. Many have speculated that she has fallen into Liam’s lifestyle, but others suggest she has been spending her nights worrying about where her man might be going or whose bed he might be in.
Whichever it might be, it’s clear Freya is struggling with the adjustment to Liam’s wild ways. The fuse may be lit for this relationship, and the world is waiting (impatiently) for the moment it explodes, thousands of girls hoping they’ll be the next. Maybe we’ll see a new girl on his arm for his New York tour launch party tomorrow night?
Chapter 40: Broken Pasts
“Liam,” the crowd chanted as we stepped out of JFK Airport.“Liam, over here.”
