A Tale of TOMS, Coffee, and Five Boys

Chapter Twenty Seven: Meeting Eleanor!

“Isabel, wake up.” a voice said into my ear. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at Louis.

“Why are we on a couch?” I asked while rubbing my sore neck.

“We fell asleep while watching movies.” replied Louis. “You might want to get ready. We have about thirty minutes before we need to be on the bus.” I jumped off of the couch and ran to the bathroom. I quickly showered, dried myself off, and did my usual morning routine. I brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and applied makeup. I left the bathroom and went to go pick out my clothes.

“Louis, close your eyes!” I told him and he laughed.

“I’m going into the bathroom, love. You can have the room to yourself for a while.” he said and walked into the bathroom to get ready.

I picked out my clothes for the day and decided on a white long sleeve blouse, black skinny jeans, and red flats. I also put on a few skinny silver chain necklaces. For my hair, I put it up in a high ponytail and then braided it. I wrapped the braid into a bun and bobby pinned it into place. After both Louis and I were ready, we walked to the elevator to meet the other boys and Paul. All of us got onto the bus and began the journey to Manchester.

We arrived in Manchester after an hour and a half and checked into the hotel at 1:00pm. I roomed with Harry this time and after we carried our stuff to our rooms, we went out for lunch.

At the restaurant, we headed over to a table where a really gorgeous girl sat. She had wavy dark brown hair, brown eyes, and fairly tanned skin. When she saw us, she jumped up and ran over to Louis. They embraced and he spun her around as she giggled. When he set her down, her pecked her on the lips and turned to me.

“This is my beautiful girlfriend, Eleanor.” he announced with a smile.

“Hi. I’m Isabel, Harry’s girlfriend.” I said with a smile. She hugged me.

“I’ve heard so much about you! How about we go shopping together before the boys’ concert tonight?” she said, her voice overflowing with kindness.

“Sure! That would be lovely.” I replied. I could already tell that I would like this girl. We all sat down and ordered our food. After chatting with Eleanor, I learned that she was from Manchester, was born on July 16th, and has a step-brother. She was also funny and incredibly sweet. After we finished lunch, the boys went back to the hotel with Paul and I drove with Eleanor in her car to the mall.

“How long have you been dating Harry?” Eleanor asked me while taking us to the mall.

“About a month.” I replied. “What about you and Louis?”

“A little over a year.” she said with a huge smile.

“How did you two meet?” I questioned.

“Believe it or not, Harry actually set us up.” she answered. We kept chatting until we got to the mall. We both headed to Jack Wills to look for dresses for the concert. Just in case you were wondering why I needed a dress if I would just be backstage, Lou gave me a night off. Tonight, I would be allowed to watch the concert from the audience.

After a couple minutes of looking around, Eleanor squealed and hurried over to me from the other side of the store. She was holding a beautiful white, strapless Knighton dress which was dotted with mini navy flowers.

“This is perfect for you!” she said excitedly. I smiled happily and took it to the dressing room to try it on. As soon as I looked in the mirror, I knew it was perfect. I walked out and Eleanor grinned.

“This is the one.” we said at the same time. Eleanor grabbed a dress and went into the changing room. She stepped out in a sea blue Arklow dress with ruffles on the skirt, a sweetheart neckline with spaghetti straps, and a waist tie. We both agreed on the dress and purchased our clothes. It was 3:30pm by the time we were done shopping, so we texted the boys that we would meet them at the hotel at 5:30pm and went to Eleanor’s apartment to get ready.

Two hours later, Eleanor and I were both ready for the concert. Eleanor was wearing her Arklow dress with a long, silver key necklace, pearl earrings, and black stilettos. For her makeup, she had a smoky eye and dark red lipstick. I had on my Knighton dress with some small diamond studs, a silver locket, and navy stilettos. For my makeup, I also had a smoky eye, but it was soft and less defined. Also, I had light pink lipstick with some lip gloss. We left the apartment and drove to the hotel.

As soon as we got to the hotel room, Louis opened the door. His eyes popped open and Eleanor laughed. We both stepped in and Eleanor started kissing Louis. I stood there awkwardly until Harry came out of the living room. His eyes lit up and he came over to me.

“You look gorgeous, love.” said Harry and I blushed. He leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips.

“Oi, are we having a group make-out session or are we leaving for the concert?” asked Niall. I pulled away from Harry, embarrassed.

“Right, then let’s go.” said Harry and we all got into the rental car. Louis and Eleanor sat up front, Liam and Niall sat in the middle row, and I sat in the back in between Harry and Zayn. Paul and the band got into another rental car and we followed behind them to go to the venue. Harry intertwined our fingers and I leaned my head on his shoulder as we started driving.

“You are the most beautiful girl in the world.” whispered Harry. I grinned and kissed him. Zayn coughed and I pulled away. Zayn was glaring out the window at the passing cars. What is up with him? I wondered. I had already talked to him and told him that I wouldn’t hurt Harry to be with Zayn. We arrived at the venue soon enough and entered the building. The boys began sound check and Eleanor and I sat in the audience, awaiting the show.