Given A Chance (1D Version)

26.

January started off quite hectic and stressful for Louis due to the restaurant and everything new he needed to learn before Maria and Paul would leave. In the span of three weeks, he got introduced to everyone he needed to know like their accountant, all of the suppliers he hasn't met yet, the landlord of the building and way too many other people. Every night, his head was spinning and aching and all he wanted to do was sleep for days but he couldn't. As soon as the sun was up, everything started again.

The majority of the time, Louis was happy and eager to learn all the new things but the downside to all this was that he barely had time to see his boyfriend. According to him and Sean, they've had a few pretty stressful weeks at work as well with many renewals and some changes but Louis had no idea what that meant. Every day after work, his leftover energy was spent on his daughters and afterwards, he felt too drained to even think about holding a long conversation with anyone. Thankfully, Harry understood that and never pushed him to talk for longer than a few minutes before they headed to bed together because Harry was still the best partner ever. Even though Louis hardly had time for him, he still showed up at his place every day after work to just be there for him and the girls and help wherever he could. It made Louis wanna cry.

But even that overly stressful time passed eventually. By the end of January, Louis felt like he could breathe again. Ironically that was the weekend that Harry was supposed to visit his family in Patriley. To at least see each other before he had to leave, Louis had offered to pick him up from work and have lunch together. So, that's why Louis was currently on his way to Harry's doctor's office and that made him realise that he has never been there before. He had never had a reason to visit him there. For no reason at all, Louis was nervous now. Maybe there has been a reason why he had never suggested it to Louis. Maybe he didn't actually want him there and he had only agreed this time to spare Louis' feelings.

"Get your shit together, Tomlinson" Louis admonished himself. He really needed to stop overthinking everything and drive himself into a frenzy. It wasn't necessary with Harry and he knew that. There was nothing he needed to be worried about.

Arriving at the building, Louis pushed the door open and went inside the doctor's office. The first thing he noticed was Zayn's paintings on the walls and that made him smile. They really did fit into the cute waiting area of this place. At the reception, a young blonde woman looked up at him, a bit of confusion on her face.

"Hello. How can I help you? I'm afraid we're already closed for the day" she addressed him politely.

Stupidly caught off guard, Louis didn't really know what to say. "Um ... I ... I'm here for Harry? He's expecting me, I guess".

At that, her eyes grew big and a huge smile spread across her face. "Then you must be Louis, right? His boyfriend".

"That's me" Louis cleared his throat awkwardly, his throat suddenly dry.

"It's so nice to finally meet you. He talks about you every chance he gets and I'm not gonna lie. It intrigued me and I was begging him to introduce you to me because ... Well, I'm nosy" the woman told him openly, which made Louis relax in her presence.

"Me too, so I get it" Louis chuckled lightly. "Is he here somewhere? We wanted to eat lunch together before he drives up to his family".

"Oh, yeah. He's still in an interview but he has to be done in a few minutes" the woman checked her watch, glancing at a nearby door.

"An interview? For what?" Louis hooked bewildered.

"It's a job interview? Didn't he tell you about this?" the woman suddenly looked very confused as if she had thought Louis knew.

"No" Louis answered simply, wondering why he didn't know.

"I'm sure he wanted to tell you later. Forget that I said anything, okay? I don't wanna cause any problems between you two ...".