Spaces

Chapter 5

ELLIE HORAN

It's my fourth cup of coffee. I add the instant coffee mix into the cup as the water boils up in the kettle. My hotel room is in a mess. There are clothes all over the bed and couch. Toiletries in the bathroom.
It's 3 a.m.
I just had a shower. A cold shower. Helps to keep me awake. Though I don't think I'll last longer after this cup of coffee.
I take my steaming cup and stand near the window. A few cars are on the street. It reminds me of home.
Mullingar.
Sometimes I would drive a through the night. Without a direction. Driving keeps me awake. I would leave the windows of my car open and blast loud music. The wind made my hair fly in a mess but there was no feeling like that. Slumber would float away like the steam from my coffee. However, I would return home after sunrise and crash anyway.
Here, I don't have a car.
But I can still go out right? Just to take a walk. The roads were still wet from the rain yesterday. Yesterday I went all around London. Re-visiting places I had been to before. Niall and Zyan accompanied me. We ate so much. The food here is amazing. Zayn has been most connected to me. Actually, all the guys have. Except Harry.
When Harry missed lunch that day, all of us settled in Niall's room while we talked for hours. I introduced them about me even more. Later Niall and I indulged in a battle where we spilled out all the embarrassing moments of each other, which everyone enjoyed thoroughly. We laughed until our stomach hurt and tears dripped from our eyes. All the snacks which my mother had packed for the trip was devoured by us.
I'm surprised by how well I have gelled into the group. All of them are very amicable. All of them except Harry. I remember the look he gave me at dinner. The nasty, annoyed and unimpressed feeling in that judgy smirk of his. We haven't spoken a single word to each other but I already know he is trouble.

Trouble I have no desire to bare.

I finish my coffee and head toward the mountain-pile of clothes on the bed. It's pretty cold outside, so I extract my favourite hoodie from the pile and a pair of black joggers. Over it I put on a sports jacket. My body is always cold. Even in the slightest decrease of temperature, I feel like I am at the top of a heavily snow capped-mountain. I wear my shoes and leave room, shutting the door behind me. Niall's room is three doors down. Zayn and Liam are on seventh floor. We are on the eighth.
I last saw Liam, Louis and harry at dinner a day ago. The most boring dinner I have ever been to. I didn't know it was going to be so formal. There I was with five men (one of them happens to be my brother)who dressed in expensive formal attire while I joined them in denim shorts and an over-sized shirt. I felt like I worked in a lousy corporate company who were having their monthly meeting at dinner, excluding the fact that I was dressed in a total informal outfit. Yesterday was far more interesting. We visited so many places.

Now my footsteps echo in the hallway as I approach the elevator. Naturally, no one wanders in the hall at 3 a.m. I press the button, summoning the lift and wait. I take out my airpods and pop one of them in my right ear leaving the left without one. It always fears me that I might not be able to hear anything of I put on both of them. Like if someone is calling out my name or worse, if some danger waits ahead. That is why I always keep only one ear engaged. I open my music app and play Stronger by Kelly Clarkson. It is one of my favourite songs. I love the music and when I play it on full volume my body starts reacting to the beats.
The ding of the elevator indicates me that it has arrived. The doors open and I step inside, pressing my finger against ground floor button.
The doors shut and the elevator starts descending from the Eighth floor. The only thing I can hear right now is the hum of the elevator. I unlock my phone, which directly opens to the photo gallery. I was seeing the pictures we took yesterday around the city, back in my room. The same app opened. A smile spread across my lips seeing those pictures.

I remember the first time we came to London. It was when Niall auditioned for the talent show where he met rest of the guys. The audition went so well, Ma took us to a restaurant with very good food. It was like the best meal I had ever had in my life. Then we took a stroll through a beautiful garden. Niall chased me a through the bushes and trees.