The Bodyguard » Niall Horan

11 » Cheers to the free life

The day after, Niall received a message from his manager Tom, whose name I finally figured out, telling Niall we had to go on another date. This time, a dinner date at a restaurant in Mayfair's Sheperd Market, a well-known neighborhood close to Hyde Park.

I exchanged my sweatpants for a light pair of jeans, gray Adidas Gazelle sneakers and a t-shirt with red trimming with 'I want pizza, not your opinion.' on it I once found in a vintage shop in Camden. On top of that, I wore a grey bomber jacket. As usual, I had my gun with me, hidden in the lining of my jacket.

I had allowed Niall to drive the armored car, who now crossed through the busy London traffic. In the meantime, I kept an eye out on the road. He had put on the radio to break the silence. A familiar tune sounded through the speakers.

" Oh, Jesus..." he groaned. I pulled up my eyebrows and broke my gaze off the rear-view mirror. When the singing of the song started, a wide grin appeared on my face. " I feel so privileged!  Two Niall Horan's in one car. The dream of every young lady," I swooned.

Niall shook his head and changed stations. " What's wrong? Are you incapable of listening to your own songs?" I asked, the grin still on my face.

" I have no problem with listening to my own music, I'm just doing you a favor." 

I laughed. " I haven't got any problems with your music either if you really want to know.  But, it's indeed not really the genre I'm typically listening to," I admitted.

Niall parked his car in an empty parking spot, a miracle in London. I got out of the car at the same time as Niall and started walking next to him. The restaurant was roughly three minutes away from the car. I hope it wouldn't be too far if anything would happen.

He put his arm around my shoulders, and in that split second, I noticed the press. I tried to ignore them.

It was still strange to have his arm around me. I doubted I'd ever get used to it. Not that I wanted to, hell no.

" Since my music isn't good enough for you, what kind of music are you into?" Niall asked as if this whole situation was normal for him. The agent and the artist. Ha.

" You probably think I'm lying, but besides the normal pop rock and normal rock, I really love old blues and country music. " 

Niall let go of me, laughing hard as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. I stared at him with my eyebrows pulled up. 

" What? Didn't you expect that a robot like me would enjoy that kind of music?" I asked him. He was still grinning and shook his head. " To be fair, no. I did not expect your cold heart would get warmed up by men playing guitar on their porches in Tennessee." 

I shrugged. " Even I can be surprising sometimes." Niall took my hand. " To be fair, I think you will be the one who will be surprising everyone." 

We arrived at the restaurant I'd normally just walk past, as it was barely noticeable from the street. Inside, it was small and dark. Despite that, the atmosphere was nice and it looked pretty decent. Many tables were already taken, but none seemed to take any interest in my companion.

We were lead to our table by the host, who also worked as a waiter. He handed us both the menu. Niall sat in front of me, and his head was split in two by the dinner candle in the middle of the table.

" Have you ever been here before?" I asked Niall when the waiter left to another table. Niall shook his head. 

" Haven't you heard of this restaurant before?" He asked, slightly surprised. " It's really difficult to get a table at this place. It's supposedly going so well, they're fully booked for the next two months." 

I hadn't heard of it before. Was this tiny restaurant, shoved away in a corner of Sheperd's Market really that popular?

Niall ordered the rib eye menu and I ordered Devon crab. We both ordered water to wash it down, as we both couldn't consume alcohol, and they only served cocktails.

" How old are you anyway?" Niall asked after a while.

" Twenty-three, just like you," I answered.

" Oh, right. Of course. You know all about me," Niall nodded.

" And, are you seeing anyone?" His question came out of the blue, that it took a bit longer than usual for me to answer.

" No, with my job it's impossible to keep friends, let alone a love interest. Besides, I wouldn't be able to tell them what job I do until I'd be married, and that's pretty much impossible." I said, shrugging.

Our drinks were served. I knew I couldn't test his drink with the powder with all these eyes around us, so I just decided to take a sip of his drink.

Niall's eyes grew wide. ' What if-" He started. " You will grab my phone, and dial the first number on my speed dial, along with 999, please," I said quietly.

Niall dropped back in his seat and nodded. 

" Have you ever been in a relationship before?" Niall asked, his concerned gaze still all over my face to see any symptoms.

I shrugged and put my elbows on the table. " I don't know if you can call a three-month get-together in secondary school a relationship," I said.

" That's all? You've never been with anyone else?" I nodded. " I finished my A-levels at fifteen, signed up for the army when I was sixteen. I was too busy killing terrorists." Niall didn't seem to believe me.

" How about you? Are you dating someone?" I asked. Niall laughed and shook his head.

" No, first of all, it's hard to find someone who doesn't see me just as Niall of One Direction. Second, it's hard to find someone who doesn't want to be famous for like, ten minutes and lastly, I barely got the time to find someone who doesn't fit in those two boxes." 

" Well, here I am," I said and spread my arms. Niall started laughing. " Right, well..." He scratched the back of his neck. " In that department, we both have a hard time blooming," He said.

I picked up my glass. " Cheers on the free life." Niall looked down at his glass, doubting. " I'm still alive," I remembered him.

Niall took his glass off the table and clinked his glass against mine. " On the free life."