Sometimes

Chapter 27

Before I knew it Monday morning had arrived and I was flung back into the routine of work. As usual I arrived at the office before everyone else, however once people began to arrive I noticed a distinct difference. People acknowledged me as I walked down the corridors, or said hello as they passed my desk. However as the week progressed there were a few occasions where I felt there was an elephant in the room, or I had simply walked into a room where they were talking about me. All this behaviour told me that the world was aware of who I was and who I was dating, I was yet to work out if this was a good or a bad thing, only time would tell.

After work on the Monday I dropped by Sophie's to pick up Squiggle and return her to her rightful place on my sofa, a place I was sure she would have missed.

"Jem" she said as she opened the door enthusiastically "How are you?" she asked as she gave me a hug "I invited a few of the girls round, thought we could catch up" she said as she closed the door behind me and ushered me into her lounge. I was greeted by five smiling faces; Kelly, Milly, Jess and Helen. They were all really pleased to see me, and the feeling was mutual, but I couldn't help thinking it was planned without me knowing.

"Wine?" Jess asked as she poured me a glass of rose.

"Just the one, I've yet to eat so..." I said taking the glass from her and taking a seat on the sofa.

"Oh we've got pizza in the oven so no need to worry about that" Kelly said as she ran off to the kitchen, returning a few moments later with a bowl of Doritos.

"Has Squiggle been alright Soph?" I asked as I de-layered myself.

"Good as gold, she's in the spare room I think" Sophie said reassuringly, knowing how attached I was to the feline.

Conversation danced around what they all wanted to talk about, before finally Helen asked me straight.

"So how exactly did you end up dating a boyband member without us knowing first?" she asked before four sets of eyes stared in my direction awaiting my response. I felt myself blush slightly, I was never the most open when it came to talking about relationships with guys, I was the member of our circle that would offer the advice but never ask for it, so running through the details of me and Harry was going to be new for me.

"Well" I said before taking a sip of wine, I'd listened to them all for hours waffle on about who ever was flavour of that week at any given moment, so surely I just needed to do the same. "Well we met like" I flicked through my mental calendar "Four or five weeks ago, I was covering Simon's reception and he was early for a meeting, so we just got talking. He seemed really nice, but I thought nothing else of it. Then I was asked to go to a meeting about some tour thing and it was for One Direction and he was there" I said with a smile, taking myself back to the moment I saw him turn the corner of my corridor, looking back it was obvious I liked him, my unnecessary nerves told me that, but at the time I just hadn't realised it "And well after the meeting he came and said hi and then I was put on the tour with them, I later discovered this was down to Harry sweet talking their manager and getting him to request I be on the team" they all gushed at this, and chorused that is was romantic and thoughtful and everything else that went with a guy being thoughtful.

"So then what happened?" Milly asked as she refilled everyone's glass.

"She clearly booshed him" Kelly said with a laugh. You could always rely on her crude humour at moments like this.

"I did not!" I denied immediately.

"So..." Jess probed.

"Well he seemed really off and his band mates were all concerned, and he didn't seem to want to talk to them, so during the first days rehearsal I spoke to him and said if he needed to talk he knew where I was, because there was clearly something on his mind. He was then made roomless when Louis' girlfriend visited..."

"Which was when you bedded Harry?" Kelly interjected.

"No!" I said with a laugh, before continuing "So I kept him company in the bar, well I say company, we just did our own thing but shared the rounds and the sofa."

"Coleman, alcohol again? We know how you get...remember Lee!" Helen joked playfully, reminding me of an alcohol fuelled evening that I cared to forget, forever.

"It was only a few. I was thinking perfectly straight I'll have you know. So anyway, I left him downstairs and went to my room. A couple of minutes later he knocked on the door and said he had a problem. At this stage I thought I was dealing with some PR disaster, then I thought he was asking me for sex, before he finally got to the point and said he liked me, and that he couldn't figure me out" I stopped and took a sip of wine.

"And then what happened?" Sophie asked as they all sat with their eyes wide waiting for the next instalment.

"And then he kissed me and that was that" I said flippantly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"And that was it?" Kelly asked, seemingly disappointed.

"Yeah" I said as the cooker timer sounded and Sophie made her way to the kitchen to retrieve the pizza's.

"Jesus Jem, we're talking about one of the" she accentuated the 'the' "hottest bachelors in the country and you didn't bed him. Surely this was the occasion to put the morals to one side!" Kelly said in a shocked tone. The room was fully aware of my views on sex, and mine and Kelly's opinions differed massively. She was happy with one-night stand, with nameless men, I on the other hand wanted something a little more special. It was clearly the romantic coming out in me, but all the same, I liked to wait a while before giving guys the key to the door, so to speak.

"Well he did stay the night, but nothing happened" I said as I received uproar from the room.

"You mean you shared a bed with him and nothing happened? Not a thing?" Jess asked, her face saying it all.

"We shared a bed for most of the week and nothing happened" I said casually as Sophie placed two pizza's on the coffee table.

"Fuck me Jem, you have a level of self control I have never come across before" Kelly said as she sat back and bit into a slice of pizza.

"I think it's sweet" Milly said with an admiral look. I could always rely on her to support my romantic look on the world.

"So how exactly does the world know about it if he only confessed his undying love for you on Monday?" Helen asked as she bit into a slice of pizza, drawing my attention to my empty and grumbling stomach.

"Well the next night a fan spotted him kiss me and I went into full meltdown thinking I'd get the sack and the world would end, as I have a tendency to do" I said as I leant over and grabbed a slice of pizza "and he calmed me down and said it would all be fine. The next morning he called Simon, told him how he felt about me and Simon was fine about it, as for the Mail story, I think they let it run as they couldn't really deny it".

"I totally love how you are dating someone who has Simon freakin' Cowell on speed dial" Milly stated in an excited tone.

"You freak. You get excited about that" Sophie said "and not how utterly beautiful Harry is, sorry Jem, but he is" she said in a flattering, non-jealous way.

With that the familiar sound of my phone filled the room. Their eyes subconsciously shot to my bag as I lifted it onto my lap and rummaged through for my phone. I flipped it over to see 'Harry calling' on the display.

"It's him" I said as I jumped up and headed to the kitchen, and closed the glass door behind me.