#let fall

Okay so here goes nothing! I have no posting schedule whatsoever, Uni is busy and I will get to it whenever I can!

There's gonna be a fair amount of smut, and I'll do my best to separate it from any actual plot. However, if you ever want a summary of anything, feel free to message me anytime!

HUGE TY TO @niallermybabe BELLA FOR BEING MY CHEERLEADER! ILYSM! COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YA! THIS IS FOR YOU

And a huge shoutout to you, A. I know we've changed a lot, and I don't even know if you'll see this, but thank you for giving me this idea, and the motivation to actually do it ily. Never gonna stop loving you. ! 💕

A/N: Here's my AO3 and Wattpad, if you ever wanna just drop by!

Their moodboards (A huge ty to Bella for these! ily darlin'; this one's for you!):

The music was thumping loud enough to aggravate me further. Just because someone was signed to the label, doesn’t mean they need to play their music at parties, I thought a bolt of irritation. I felt my phone buzz and was just about to reach into my bag but I saw a bejeweled woman walking towards me.

I sighed inwardly, putting on a fake smile. Probably the wife of one of yet another operations executive. Why do they think schmoozing up to me would get their husbands a promotion?  If that’s how people got higher up in this industry, wouldn’t everyone do it? Her nasal voice broke my train of thought.

"Hello, you must be Mrs. Rivera. I’m Jan Harmon, you must know my husband, Gavin. He works in Budgeting. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Gavin has nothing but praise for you.” She spoke with the ease of someone who had practiced this in her bedroom mirror a lot of times.

“It’s Ms. Rivera,” I said coolly, “and no, I’m sorry, I don’t think I know him. I don’t work directly with a lot of people.” I smiled, faking regret, and was about to tell her just how Gavin Harmon could get that raise he was pandering for when my gaze caught on a man in a russet suit.

He was nursing a glass of what looked like whiskey in his hands as he stared around the room. Weird, this wasn’t a whiskey kind of event. I found myself wondering why he was standing alone at a party like this. The way he held himself suggested something was off. He looked down, noticed his glass was empty, and went back to looking around the room. I was intrigued.

I excused myself and went to the bar. I ordered two whiskeys and was waiting on them when I noticed the man walking towards the bar. The barman slid the two tumblers towards me. I thanked him and saw that the man had sat on a stool just off to my right. I slid the glass across the wooden countertop, praying it didn’t bump and splatter all over him

It didn’t. It stopped against his forearm, sloshing inside the glass a little but thankfully none came out. He had his head in his hands, thumbs massaging his temples. At the sudden touch, he looked up, confused. His eyes were a startlingly clear blue, I noticed vaguely. I nodded at him with a small smirk. He blinked a few times, clearly dazed, before giving me a weak smile as he took the glass into his hands.

I got up with my own tumbler clutched in my hand and quickly walked over to my assistant, Blakely, nodding, as I stood in front of her.

“What have you been up to?” She whispered to me, her eyes focused somewhere behind me. I shrugged, “Nothing, I’ve been dealing with people begging me for promotions all night.” I looked at her from the corner of my eye. “Why, Blake? Something wrong?” She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re telling me you haven’t noticed that guy ogling you?” She whispered disbelievingly. 

“Huh? Who?” I asked, feigning confusion. Shit, how would I explain what I did, I thought hurriedly. She held me by my shoulders and pulled me until I was standing beside her. “Him!” She whispered, tilting her chin slightly to the man from before. I watched wordlessly as he brought the glass to his lips and threw his head back, downing all of the liquor in one go. That must’ve burnt, I found myself thinking. There was an air of melancholy that hung about him. I was intrigued as to what must’ve happened that had him drinking whiskey at a work party.

Blakely elbowed me, “Hello? Earth to Ayra?” I pulled my eyes away from him, turning to face her. “What? Who is he?” I whispered back sharply. She raised an eyebrow at me, “You don’t know who one of the biggest pop stars right now is?” she asked. “I don’t have time to keep up with them, I couldn’t care less!” I burst out. “Ayra Rivera!” She gasped exasperatedly, shaking her head.

I was about to reply to her when I saw another woman in a slinky dress coming my way and quickly threw back the whiskey. I was gonna need it, by the look of her. “Ugh, another one. Gotta go, Blake. Talk soon.” I whispered to her as I plastered on a smile. 

I was right about the whiskey. The rest of the night passed by in a daze, people coming randomly, wanting to chat. I kept catching sight of the man from before, here and there; sometimes absorbed in a conversation, mostly just nursing a glass.

The party was coming to an end and I thought it would be appropriate to get drunk now, all the polished teeth and botoxed cheeks had made my head throb. I had just sat down on the stool, looking to check if Blakely was around, when a glass slid across the countertop and bumped into my forearm. I looked up, surprised, and saw the man from before looking at me intently. I raised an eyebrow questioningly at him and he stood up and walked over, taking the stool beside mine. His fingers were still wrapped around a crystal glass.

He cleared his throat and looked at me again. “Thanks for the drink earlier, it hasn’t been the best day, if you were wonderin’. Let me return the favor. Pay you back, if you will.”He slurred his s’ as he spoke, and I couldn’t quite place his accent. The way his voice sounded smooth despite the drinks, I figured he wasn’t an executive; must be an artist signed to the label. “It’s a party, hon?” I replied sarcastically.

This was all a bit ridiculous. He shot me a dazzling smile, “Not the way I intended to return the favor, darlin’” he said suggestively with a small wink. His accent made everything that came out of his mouth salacious, I thought in a fugue. I would be lying if I said his tone didn’t make me clench my thighs together. My eyebrows went up in surprise as I considered his offer for a moment. I didn’t have much to do tomorrow, just one meeting, and it was quite late. And he looked like he would be a good time.

I shifted on my stool, turning towards him slightly so that my knee brushed his thigh. I saw him take a sharp inhale and bite his lower lip. His fingers tightened around the glass. They were long, the pads looked rough, I noticed, mind jumping to what else I would like to have his fingers on. He caught my eye, staring intensely. I gave him a small smirk, dropping my eyes to his lips. 

He pushed his glass away as he stood up, eyes still fixed on me. I took a few seconds to throw back the whiskey he’d gotten. Wouldn’t wanna let it go to waste. As I stood up, I saw a look of worry fleet over his face. Must’ve thought I was going to reject his offer, I thought, suppressing a laugh and got up. He waited until I was a step ahead of him and put his hand on the small of my back. “This okay?” he whispered, hot breath fanning across the back of my neck. I nodded, “Better than okay,” He smirked slightly, and a small dimple popped out on his left cheek

“You’re too forward for someone whose name I don’t even know,” I said, as we headed toward the door. “You don’t know who I am?” he asked, disbelief apparent in his voice. I shrugged with a little laugh, “Nope,” I said, popping the p. “But I want to,” I said as I turned a little to catch his eyes. I put my palm on his chest to motion for him to stop. I leaned in on my tiptoes; he had a few inches on me despite my heels. “I want to know what I’ll be screaming tonight,” I said with a smirk as I pulled back. I saw his eyes darken, the clear blue turning stormy. “ ‘M Name’s Niall,” he murmured.

I turned as I took his hand, placed it on my waist, and resumed walking. “Well, Niall - My hotel or yours?” I whispered we were nearly at the exit, and I didn’t want anyone to overhear. “Mine,” he replied in a raspy voice “It’s just two blocks down. I messaged my driver, he’ll be here soon.” I nodded at him, not trusting myself to say anything. There was something about his voice that made me doubt my ability to think straight.

We stepped out, crisp autumn air feeling cool against my skin. I didn’t realize I had been feeling a bit hot until now. My attention was on making sure Blakely didn’t spot me leaving with him, she would kill me but I was watching Niall out of the corner of my eye, as we stood there silently, air thick with tension. “I never caught your name,” he asked shortly. “Ayra,” I replied with a small smile.

He shot me a quick smile back, but his was loaded with all his intentions for the night, and I felt like my collar was suddenly too tight. His eyes weren’t on me anymore, he was pointedly looking around for his car. It was almost like he didn’t trust himself to look at me and not do anything he’d regret later. I couldn’t help but smirk at the thought.

He suddenly said, “He’s here,” before taking my waist again to lead me to his car. I reached out to open the door, but he stopped me, reaching out himself “Least I can do, and I don’t mean it chauvinistically.” He said with a small smile. 

Read it on AO3 or Wattpad!

Won't be posting any of the NSFW chapters on my blog sorry!