'Ah, there you are, Rog. We were wondering when you were going to show up,' Gerry chuckled, before quickly glancing over at me, 'Charis, I'd like you to meet Roger, the band's drummer. Roger, this is Charis - our new photographer. She'll be travelling with us throughout the length of the tour.'

The tension in the office reached a record high as Roger and I stared at each other from across the room intensely, not exactly sure what to do next. Knowing that if we stood here still any longer than necessary as the others would surely suspect something, Roger approached me and put his hand out towards me, waiting for me to shake it with mine.

'Nice to meet you, Charis.' he spoke, his eyes still as piercing as I remembered them.

Mentally taking a deep breath, I reached my hand out tentatively and clasped it around his, the feeling of his skin against my own bringing back images which I'd rather wish to forget, 'As to you, Roger.'

Giving me a small smile, Roger rejoined his bandmates again, meaning I could relax a bit and not have to look at him directly in the eye, although my heart was still palpitating at a thousand beats per minute.

Now I knew why I'd thought I'd recognised his face when we first met. I'd seen pictures of him in magazines and newspapers before, but couldn't recall at the time. Sneaky move keeping that hidden from me, I must say. He never told what he did for a living. But certainly didn't I think I would ever see Roger again, never mind work along side him. So the shock of seeing him alone was enough to make me feel like I'd been hit by a train.

The whole situation made me wonder if the unexpectedness of this job offer could have been his doing in the first place? Did he set this whole thing up so he could see me again? Would it be really that surprising?

But I decided to not think about this possibility and stayed silent as Gerry and the band began chatting away about the drinks list for this party they kept going on about. Roger kept stealing glances at me every so often, which I could see him doing out of the corner of my eye, until I couldn't take it any longer and suddenly blurted out;

'Sorry, but I have an appointment at half past, so I really need to get going.' I told Gerry as I swung the strap of my bag over my shoulder and started making my way towards the door.

'Of course - you must have other places to be. I'm sorry for keeping you back. Oh, but before you go, here's a copy of the itinerary,' he informed me, handing me the folder, 'Found one eventually.'

'Great, I'll read that tonight,' I said, taking it from his grip and putting it in my bag. Shaking his hand one last time, I smiled kindly, 'See you in a few weeks then, boss.'

'Until then,' he beamed, 'America awaits.'

Chuckling lightly, I also said a quick goodbye to the band, ignoring the gaze of you-know-who, before leaving the office and closing the door behind me, exhaling deeply as I did. Eventually regaining my composure, I tried to push my thoughts to the back of my mind as I began hastily making my way along the corridor to the lift at the end of the of the hallway. But before I was even halfway there, I heard rushed footsteps following behind me and someone whisper-shouting my name.

'Psst! Charis!' the all-too-familiar voice desperately called. Oh no.

Trying my best to ignore the pleading drummer, I upped my paced as I strode down the corridor with gritted teeth.

'Charis, wait!'

'I have nothing to say to you.'

'Love, please,' Roger cried out, 'I promise, I don't want to cause any trouble.'

Rolling my eyes and feeling the anger boiling up inside of me, I didn't dare look back as I snarled at him, 'Don't you have a meeting to be in right now?'

''W-well,' he stuttered, 'Y-yes, I do, but I-'

'Then fuck off.'

He seemed surprised by my harsh words as he fell silent for a second, but he wasn't going to let my defiance force him to give up that easily. Roger continued to follow my footsteps until I reached the doors of the lift ahead and immediately pressed the button for it to open. I soon realised that the lift was at the bottom floor, meaning I'd have to wait for it to make its way up.

But I didn't have time for that; I needed to get out of here now. So instead, I quickly turned to my left and carried on down another corridor which lead to an empty stairwell. Behind me, Roger proceeded to try everything he could to stop me in my tracks, as he chased after me down the flight of steps, but I was having none of it. I wasn't interested in anything he had to say.

'Please, Charis, slow down,' Roger panted, his shrill voice echoing throughout the stairwell, 'I...I just want to talk -'

'Talk?' I scoffed, shaking my head in utter disbelief, 'There's nothing to 'talk' about, Roger. And even if there was, I wouldn't want to talk about it anyway. So just leave me alone!'

'Oh, for god's sake...you're acting like a child!' Roger retorted, as he rushed down the stairs, whilst my energy was rapidly beginning to fizzle out.

Eventually, I couldn't run for any longer and had no choice but to stop when I reached the bottom of the stairs. Doubled over and panting like a dog, Roger, who was also considerably out of breath, descended the final few steps and stood next to me. There was a quiet pause between the two of us, before I heard the drummer saying softly.

'Five minutes. That's all I ask.'

Staring down at the ground and keeping quiet  for a moment, I finally looked up so I could see Roger's sympathetic face past my long, dark hair, as I sighed heavily in defeat. I knew that there was no point in trying to run again - I wouldn't get very far, and he would probably just come after me anyway. So, pushing aside my frustration and finding whatever confidence I had in my body, I stood up straight and faced the drummer as I gazed at him with a blank expression across my face.

'Make it two...then we'll talk.'

-

Hi guys!

This chapter was originally supposed to be longer but I want to stick to the whole short chapter thing and keep them like 10-11 pages or less. Hope you still liked it. If you did, a  vote/comment would be fab.

Thank you!

- Anna :-)