Niall's POV:
"Alright, guys," one of the security guards came up to us. "Your new manager will be arriving any minute now."
"Manager?" Louis grinned.
"Get those thoughts out of your head right now," Roy immediately warned. "She's very influential, and if you mess up, insult her, disappoint her, or anything like that, she can end your career with a snap, and you won't be able to do anything to her. But if everything goes perfectly, you'll go from playing arenas to performing in the biggest stadiums in the world," he explained, though I wasn't really paying attention. "You cannot mess this up."
"Sounds like she's a real witch," Liam muttered.
"Don't try saying that near her," Roy frowned. "Remember. She has taken over your entire management, so if you become friends with her, she'll decide your future actions."
"Does that mean the girls will be able to come on tour with us?" Harry immediately asked.
"I don't know," Roy shrugged. "That will be up to her. Good luck, lads," he shook hands with everyone, while I just sat leaning against the back of the sofa. "Niall!" he clapped his hands in front of my face, making me jump. "Don't fall asleep. Good luck," he shook my hand and left the office—one of the many in this recording studio.
"Niall, are you okay?" Liam put a hand on my shoulder.
"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled quickly.
"You know you can talk to us," Louis smiled. "That's what best friends are for," I just nodded.
"Who do you think our 'new manager' will be?" Harry asked, making air quotes.
"I don't know, but I hope she's better than the impression I got from Roy's words," Louis said thoughtfully.
"I completely agree," Liam chimed in.
Finally, we heard voices outside the door.
"Everyone, be quiet now."
"One Direction? What kind of idiot could come up with a name like that?" a girl laughed outside the door.
"-Is that...?" Harry began.
"No," Louis's eyes widened.
"It's impossible," Liam shook his head.
"She's here. She came back," my eyes shone.
Revitalized, I turned toward the door, as did the other guys. The redhead walked in without looking at us, her eyes still glued to the papers in her hands.
"Mm, all 22-year-olds," she muttered to herself. "Well, hello, guys," she greeted us, still not looking up from the papers. "Don't you welcome an old friend better than this?" she grinned, looking up at us and extending her arms, waiting for hugs.
We all immediately rushed toward her and hugged her tightly. Especially me. I still couldn't believe it was really her.
"Luanna!" we yelled. "We missed you so much."
"I missed you too, guys, but I think you've started working out even more, and I'm suffocating," she chuckled, and we released her from the middle.
Luanna turned to Roy, who was still watching us, confused. "Dude, old friends gathering, bye," she waved and shut the door.
"What are you doing here?" Liam asked happily.
"Working from now on," she grinned even wider.
"So you're our new manager?" Harry gasped.
"Not exactly," she laughed.
We collapsed back onto the sofa, and Luanna sat on the table across from us. "So, tell me, how have you been?"
"Perfect now," I murmured very quietly to myself.
"Great, but what about you? What have you been up to? We haven't seen you in two years," Louis was happy too. We all were.
"Well, I opened a hotel chain all over the world, and we'll have to stay there during your tour, but otherwise, nothing," she shrugged. "I see you guys are doing well with that singing thing too," she smiled that perfect smile.
"As you can see," I replied, grinning as much as I could.
"Alright, guys, we'll have time to talk later, but I know you have a concert in about an hour, so let's get ready and head to the arena. I'm very curious what you guys can do that everyone loves you so much," she laughed and jumped off the table.
We grabbed our stuff, and all five of us left in our bus. Before, I would have been looking out the window at the London scenery, but now, I couldn't take my eyes off Luanna. She's just perfect.
We soon arrived at the arena, and the five of us slowly walked inside.
"Why is everyone looking at me so strangely?" the girl asked as we stepped inside and saw the huge space.
"You haven't met our musicians yet," Harry laughed, pointing to the guys tuning their instruments.
"Jake!" she shrieked. I'm not kidding, I thought my eardrums would burst. The sound echoed throughout the arena.
She rushed toward the stage at full speed, and as soon as she reached it, she jumped into Jake's arms. "How I missed you!" she yelled while we tried to catch up to her and get onto the stage too.
"Me too," he replied, swaying with her.
"Oh, Josh, I missed you too," she mocked, with Josh standing behind them. "Wow, Luanna, I missed you too."
"Come here, come here. I missed you too," the girl laughed and hugged him.
"Hi," he chuckled. When they pulled apart, Luanna began:
"Hi, I'm Luanna, and you are?" she introduced herself.
"Eric," he greeted her.
"What do you play?" she asked, examining Jake's guitar.
"Bass guitar," he replied. It was obvious he felt awkward.
"Seriously?" she was surprised. "Will you teach me sometime?" she asked.
"Sure?" he answered, sounding unsure of himself.
"Awesome," she beamed like a child who received candy.
Finally, she decided to sit behind Josh's drum set.
"Don't touch those," Josh squealed.
"I'm giving the orders here, not you," she laughed and tried to play something, but it didn't sound great.
"I forgot how annoying you can be sometimes," he sighed.
"You'll remember because you'll be seeing this face every day," she smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake frowned.
"She's the new manager," Liam sighed, chuckling briefly.
"What?!" he was surprised.
"Oh yeah," Luanna grinned. "Now you'll listen to me," she said ominously, and Eric looked even more confused. Maybe scared? "Don't worry, Eric," she started laughing. "I'm not that bad. It's a joke," she laughed, and he relaxed. "Or maybe not," she gave another creepy smile, scaring him even more, but couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Finally, she stood up from Josh's chair and went to the center of the stage. "You guys get ready with what you need, and I'm heading backstage," she stretched.
"And what are you going to do there?" I asked.
"I don't know, possibly nap, perhaps grab a bite. You have food there, right?" she asked, and we nodded. "There you go. Good luck," she said, passing Eric and patting him on the shoulder.
"She scares me," he said as soon as she disappeared.
"Don't be afraid," Josh laughed. "Our first meeting was much worse," he said, recalling the bet.
"Still, she's creepy," he shivered.
"But sometimes she saves and brightens lives," Louis said, with everyone turning to look at me.
Luanna's POV:
I was roaming backstage, trying to find people or something similar. I reached a corner with many mirrors, clothes, and hair and makeup supplies. And a girl who was tidying up and putting everything in place.
"Hello," I greeted her, startling her slightly.
"Oh, hi. Who are you?" she inquired.
"I'm Luanna, the new manager," I introduced myself.
"Lou, the stylist," she shook my hand. "You're much better than I expected," she smiled.
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "And what were you expecting?"
"Some old, cranky woman who wouldn't be satisfied with anything," she laughed.
We talked for about fifteen minutes until the guys came in to quickly get ready, as their rehearsal had taken longer than expected, and the fans were already gathering.
"If you want, you can go find Beth. She just arrived," Harry told me while Lou was fixing his hair.
"Beth is here?" I yelled and ran out to meet her.