The Broken Beat |One Direction|HS|

Chapter 11

“Rosemary! Rosemary!” I hear a voice yell.

I had just left my room after I showered, thinking about what Niall and I discussed up on the roof.

I turn around and find Eleanor walking quickly towards me.

“Do you need something Eleanor?” I ask her.

“Just call me El.” She says with a playful, annoyed look.

“Fine. Do you need something EL?" I say, putting emphasize on her nickname.

“Actually, I do. The boys are currently preoccupied with looking at themselves  in the mirror, and I need a girl’s day; so you’re coming with me to shop until 11:30 because Liam wants to have lunch with you.” Eleanor says quickly.

I look at my watch.

It’s 9 AM. I haven’t gotten any sleep. And I’m lucky I even showered and changed my clothes from yesterday. Zayn was hogging the bathroom all morning, doing his hair. Now I have to go shopping with Eleanor. Yay?

“Alright then, I guess.” I say shrugging.

“Let’s go!” El says excitedly.

I let her pull my arm and somewhat drag me down the bright hallway.

As we get to the lobby, we can see girls beyond girls outside the glass door. We share a pointed look. Without talking, we make our way to the back entrance and quietly sneak out.

We get out successfully without getting detected by any of the fans. Thank God. Walking towards a strip of stores across the street from the hotel, we talk about random things. But somehow we ended up on the topic I’m sure Eleanor wanted to know about the most.

“So, what’s the relationship between you and cupid?” She asks me as we enter an awfully girly store.

“What do you mean?” I ask as we walk right back out.

The smell almost made me gag. I’m pretty sure Eleanor was about to too. It smelt like super sweet frosting, times about a billion. Not the best smell in the world. Or the universe. Maybe not even in the galaxy.

“I mean, how are you and love?” she as we walk pass a pet shop.

“The animals in the window are so cute” I say, trying to avoid the question.

“Stop trying to stall the question.” She says sternly.

“Love is stupid.” I say finally, my voice cold.

I never liked love.

“Oh please, a girl like you is bound to have guys hanging around you just waiting for a second glance.” She scoffs jokingly at me

“Ha. That is so far from the truth that it’s actually almost funny.” I say laughing slightly.

“Really?” she says surprised “That’s hard to believe.”

“How so?” I ask.

I stop walking, extremely curious what she means.

“Rosemary, are you really that clueless?” she asks as she stops, facing me.

“Clueless to what?” I ask exasperated.

Eleanor looks at me for a moment. She snaps out of her thoughts and just shakes her head.

“Never mind.” She tells me

“But y-”I try to say but she cuts me off.

“Oh! It’s almost 11:30! I have to get you to the restaurant that Liam told me to get you to.” She says.

Now I know how the boys feel when I cut them off…

And had it really been almost two hours?

 I follow Eleanor down the sidewalk, like a lost puppy.

We end up outside the door of a funky looking little diner. I look at Eleanor with a critical look.

“Liam said it was supposed to be amazing or something.” Eleanor says as she lifts her shoulders in a gesture that says I don’t know.

I walk towards the door but I don’t feel the presence of anyone behind me. I turn around and look at Eleanor.

“I’m not eating with you guys. Louis and I are getting one last date in before I leave.” She told me.

“Wait, when are you leaving?” I ask.

“After the Concert, before you guys set off on the bus.” She tells me.

“Oh! Alright then. Bye El!”  I say as she turns to leave.

“Bye!” she says over her shoulder, already halfway down the block.

I enter the small diner and immediately see Liam. He waves me over. The fumes from the kitchen fill up my nostrils, it did smell good.

“Hey.” I say as I sit down in the booth for two people.

“Hey, I hope you don’t think of this too odd, just me and you eating lunch, without everybody else.” He says “I just need some quiet time and I needed to get to know you. So, bam, this is my solution.”

“It’s fine, but where are the others?” I ask.

“Probably back at the hotel, playing around like small children.” he tells me.

We order our food and chit chat while we wait. He’s a really a nice guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him.

“You know, you’re the only one who calls me by my name.” I tell him after we finished our delicious food.

Liam was right; this was the best food I’ve eaten in a while. It was comfort food, full of home. It reminded me of how my family used to be, whole and loving.

“Yeah. I am, aren’t I?” he says, laughing.

“Yup, everybody calls me a different nick name.” I say.

We laugh over it for a while; well, more him than me. Our laughter dies down and we become quiet.

“Why’d you ask me out to lunch? I mean, really.” I ask him.

“I knew I couldn’t keep much from you. I asked you out to lunch because I wanted to tell you,” he pauses for a moment “that you can trust me.”

I look at him and smile. A real smile.

“I know. I trust you.” I say.

Learning to trust again Step 2: Accomplished.

Please don’t let this be another one of my horrible mistakes. Please.