Chapter Text
“Guess what?” An older man asks his son during dinner.
“What?” The son replies.
“I got Daniel Howell as a client next week.”
“Wow, really? Nice.”
“Maybe that will boost business, you think?” The older man asks enthusiastically
“Probably.”
Eric Lester owns a small photography business in London. The most famous person to step foot in the little shop was a local meteorologist for Channel 7 News. So the fact that Actor Daniel Howell was coming to get his portrait taken for his portfolio at Lester’s Portraits was a big deal.
“Are you going to come with me and see him?”
“That would be kind of weird, dad.”
As much as Eric Lester’s son, Phil, would love to see Daniel Howell in person he finds that it would be slightly creepy and intimating to meet him when all he is trying to do is get his picture taken
“Why?”
“I never meet your clients, that would be weird. Just because this one is a A-list celebrity doesn’t make it any less weird.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
But I doesn’t matter how sure Phil was, because he ended up having no choice but to go to his father’s business on Thursday at 3:40 P.M. – the exact same time as Daniel Howell’s appointment.
“Dad, can’t you just drop me off at home, then go back to work?” Phil asks his father, as he gets in the black Impala.
“There just isn’t enough time. His appointment is at 3:40 and it’s 3:20 right now. Maybe if you got out of school earlier-”
“It’s not my fault I had to ask Mr. Higgins a question! He wouldn’t stop telling some stupid story about his children to someone, which is why I got out late!”
“You’re just going to have to come with me. I can’t make the trip to the house and back without being late!” Eric Lester responded tensely. Phil got the message, he was going with him and that was final.
“Whatever.”
There were teenage girls everywhere. Some held signs, some were shaking so much that the looked as if they would explode. Was this all for Daniel Howell? How do these girls even know that Daniel Howell had an appointment today at this time? It’s not like he would be stupid enough to tell people where his appointments are. He must realize how famous he is, and that if he mentions going out to do something that people will follow.
“Look at all this free publicity!” Eric mentions excitedly. At least Phil’s father was happy about all the people.
The got into the building with minimal shoving. One of the girls screamed, “Where is he!” Phil rolled his eyes.
“You wait for him to arrive. I need to set up the camera. If he gets here before I’m finished, just tell him what I’m doing.” Phil’s father runs off into a room in the back, and leaves Phil alone in the front of the building.
There is a small lounge area in one corner, so Phil takes a seat on the couch facing away from the windows so he doesn’t have to watch the hoard of crazy fan girls. Phil gets out is phone and plays on it as he waits.
Dan was only slightly surprised at the crowd waiting for him. They always seem to know where he is, even if the only people he tells is his family and manager. Wanting to just get this over with, Dan parks his car on the side of the street and hopes to god that none of the girls tries to touch him.
“There he is!” Oh boy.
And so it begins.
“Can I have your autograph?!”
“Dan, Dan! Look over here!” Followed by a shutter and a click.
“Dan! I heard you slept with Kylie Jenner!”
“I love you!”
Dan didn’t stop to sign any autographs, or take any pictures. He focused on his target – getting into the door.
“Dan! I’m naming my first born son after you!” Dan almost laughed at that one. Almost.
“Dan! How’s Kylie?” Dan has never meet Kylie Jenner once in his life.
“Dan, I want you!” Eck.
“Oh my gosh it’s Connor!” Connor was a character Dan played in his newest movie.
“You’re so sexy, Dan!” Do these people have no filter?
Phil watched as Dan made his way through the crowd. He almost felt bad for him. He had a glazed over expression on his face and Phil saw him sigh.
‘Oh, no. One of them has made it into the building.’ Dan thought to himself as he saw Phil sitting on the couch as he walked in. He was still in his school uniform, so Dan knew he had to be one of them.
‘This one actually had the balls to come inside!’ Dan waited for the questions. An autograph, or maybe a photo?
“Daniel Howell?” The school boy asks him. Dan waits for the questions to come, but when they don’t he responds.
“Yes?”
“The camera is being set up, so just wait here for a minute.” The boy says. So maybe he isn’t a fan? Dan tries to hold back his confusion.
“Do you work here?”
“No, just the owner’s kid.”
“Oh.” There was an awkward silence until one of the girls outside decided to tap on the window and mouth ‘I love you’ against it.
Oh, bother.
“I know you’re famous and all that, but does your fan club follow you everywhere?” The boy asks.
So he does know who Dan is?. And he’s talking to him like he’s normal, and not an academy award-winning actor?
“I shouldn’t have tweeted about going outside today.” Dan says simply. That just gives the fans reasons to stalk him. They wanted to find out where I was going, so they did.
Phil wanted to ask for his autograph, it was true. But he refrained from doing so. Daniel Howell’s face when he walked through the crowd was enough to tell Phil that he was not in the mood.
When they started talking to each other, Phil tried to remain as calm as he could. He imagined talking to a friend. But inside, he was screaming. He was having a conversation with the Daniel Howell. He was so talented. He was so good-looking in his leather jacket and black skinny jeans. He was much taller in real life, even taller than Phil: who happened to be taller than most.
Whenever Phil looked him in the eyes, he tried not to get lost in the brown and gold flecked irises.
A man walks into the room, interrupting the conversation that Dan was slightly enjoying. The man looked around fifty, with graying hair and wrinkled features. His eyes were kind, but looked too excited.
“A bit early, I see.” Dan was only ten minutes early. “That’s good, it gives us more time to look over the photos. I’m Eric, nice to meet you.” He holds out his hand, and Dan shakes it. “Alright, let’s get started shall we?”
Phil watched them walk off into the other room, and let out a breath once they were out of sight.
Dan-freaking-Howell.
Wow.
The star of Phil’s favorite book-turned-into-a-movie – Unwind.
He still can’t believe that the conversation happened. Dan Howell talked to him! Him! Oh wait until his friends find out! But wait, should he tell his friends? Wouldn’t that be weird? Almost like an invasion of privacy for Daniel Howell?
Phil knows that his father’s photo shoots last at least two hours. First his father takes the photos, then he sits down at his computer in his small office and goes through every single one of the photos taken. Then he takes his clients through the editing process, letting the client choose what needs to be edited and what should stay.
Phil gets out his earphones from his backpack that is lying against the side of the couch, and gets out his textbook to do some homework.
It’s really hard to focus on homework when images of Daniel Howell in his leather jacket keeps floating through one’s mind.