I Loved You First
Chapter Two
I woke up the next morning to an empty bed.
“I guess Sam had morning shift,” I mumbled, slowly rising myself out of bed. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number to the only person I could talk to about what happened yesterday.
“Yo Elaine!” she answered quickly.
“Hey Rose…are you busy?”
“Not really. What’s up?”
“Stuff went down yesterday and I need to talk to you about it.”
“I’ll be over in ten with some bagels.”
---
“So what happened?” Rose asked as we sat down on my couch. She started stuffing a bagel
into her mouth as I began to talk.
“Well, on the way home yesterday, I decided to finally go through the park.”
“Howry sfhht, rllly?” she tried saying with food in her mouth.
I let out a small laugh. “Swallow and try that again.”
She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and repeated herself. “Holy shit, really?”
“Yeah. I sat down on the bench, too. The whole scene played in my head.”
“Damn, dude. Were you ready for it?”
“After I thought about it, Sam came to my head, so I got up. But when I did, I bumped into
someone. It was him.”
“No it fucking wasn’t.”
“I swear. He took me to a coffee shop and tried to explain himself.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me he was busy, and when he wasn’t, he figured I was mad at him. It just sounded like bull shit to me, so I told him I had Sam waiting for me back here and I left.”
She took another bite of her bagel and shook her head. “Well, did you tell Sam about it?”
“Yeah. He was mad at first but he asked me if that was all I was seeing of him and I told him yeah, he was fine.”
“Man. I can’t believe that. You’re a strong woman, though, you know? You handled the whole thing so well.”
“I guess so.” I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that it was a lot later than what I expected. “Shit. Rose, I have to go to the bank, but I’m actually expecting a package. Do you mind waiting here for it? Sam should be home soon, so if he gets here before the package you don’t have to stay.”
“Sure thing!”
---
I started my walk to the bank. I suppose I could have taken my car, but it was only a ten minute walk from the flat. I usually walked everywhere I went to save money on gas and to get a little bit of a workout at the same time.
When I got to the bank, I noticed a huge amount of people standing around it. It has never been like that before. I tried pushing my way through, but I just kept getting pushed around. When I finally made my way to the front of the crowd, the bank entrance was being blocked off by a few security guards.
“What…is the place being robbed or something?” I asked out loud.
“No ma’am. Just having to block off the area to non-bank customers for their own safety.”
I then pulled my bank card out of my pocket and showed it to the officer. “I need to get in before it closes…which is in about five minutes.”
He nodded and lightly grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the crowd. I then made my way inside, not knowing what to expect. I looked around and didn’t see anyone at all in the bank. No customers, no tellers, no one. Confused, I went to the ATM in the store and deposited the money I needed from my account. I started to walk out when I heard someone calling for me.
“Elaine? Elaine is that you?”
I recognized the accent coming from the person. I turned around and my assumptions were correct. “…Niall?”
He ran up and hugged me like he used to when we would hang out back before they all left for tour. I hugged him back, but not with as much enthusiasm. He pulled away and looked me up and down.
“You’re just as hot as ever!”
“Uh, thanks? … What the hell, what are you doing here?”
“I was putting some money into my account and all the tellers wanted a picture, so we took it in a back room. Christ, El, it’s so nice to see you again.”
“You haven’t talked to me in two years, Niall. None of you have.”
“We know, Elaine. But when Harry told us he guessed things were over, we didn’t want to hurt him, you know? It’s part of the bro code. So we just backed off and tried to help him out. We do have to see him all the time, you know.”
That made more sense than the excuse Harry gave me. They were just trying to help Harry, and I could see where talking to me would make things worse.
“I guess I understand that,” I said with a shrug.
“Come get lunch with me. I’m meeting up with Louis and he would be extremely excited to see you.”
I had to think about it for a moment. If I went out to lunch with them, Sam would be pissed at me. But they were in my life before Sam was, plus they were just old friends of mine.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll come. If you’re paying.”
He let out that same old laugh of his. “What makes you think I have the money?”
I shot him a look. Then he laughed again. “Right, right, I’ll pay for you. Let’s go.”
He took my hand and leaded me out a back door to his Range Rover and then we were on our way to wherever they were having lunch.
---
Lunch with Louis and Niall was a great throwback for me. It was nice to catch up with them after not hearing from them in so long. Louis was with someone named Eleanor, which I knew because of the tabloids. He seemed so happy with where he was in his life. They also talked about how they had a new movie coming out, and they invited me to the premier. I told them I didn’t know about that, though, because of certain people. But we exchanged numbers and then Niall took me home.
When I got to back to my flat, it had been about three hours since I left. I noticed Sam’s car was there, and Rose was walking out as soon as Niall dropped me off.
“Still here?” I asked Rose.
“Ah yeah, when Sam got here I just had a chat with him about how he had nothing to worry about with the whole Harry thing. I think he just needed a little reassuring, you know?”
I gave her a small grin. “Yeah. Thank you for that.”
“No problem! Call me later!” she yelled as she rode away on her bike.
When I walked inside, Sam was sitting at the kitchen’s dining room table looking at his laptop with a sad look on his face.
I walked over to the table and sat on the opposite side of him. “What’s wrong, babe?”
He just shook his head and turned the laptop around so I could see it. He had it up on a tabloid website. I read the headline in my head.
One Direction’s Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson spotted with mysterious new girl!
I looked at the pictures on the page and they were of our time at lunch. I didn’t even notice that there was anyone outside taking pictures.
I looked up at him, and his sad look changed to a pissed one.
“Sam, I ran into Niall at the bank and he invited me to lunch. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You know how I feel about them.”
“But you don’t even know them, babe. They used to be my best friends before they got super famous.”
“And now they’re just arrogant pricks who just probably see you as a good lay.”
I quickly stood up from the table. “You’re the one who is being a prick.” I quickly went into our room and shut the door behind me and started crying. Sam was being insensitive about all of this. I knew that he would get along with all of the boys – excluding Harry – if he just gave them a chance. But he wouldn’t because of their fame status.
I heard the front door slam and I looked out the window to see Sam get in his car and drive off. I let out a sigh, changed into a tank and shorts, just laid down on the bed. That is how he liked to cool off, so I let him go.
About fifteen minutes past and I had almost fallen asleep on the bed when I heard a knock at the door. I didn’t feel like answering, so I just stayed in the spot. After about a minute, I received a text message from an unknown number.
Please open the door, Elaine.
I sat there for a few seconds just staring at it before making my way to the door. I didn’t know what to expect, so I slowly and cautiously opened the door. I wish I wouldn’t have.
“Hi El.”
“I guess Sam had morning shift,” I mumbled, slowly rising myself out of bed. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number to the only person I could talk to about what happened yesterday.
“Yo Elaine!” she answered quickly.
“Hey Rose…are you busy?”
“Not really. What’s up?”
“Stuff went down yesterday and I need to talk to you about it.”
“I’ll be over in ten with some bagels.”
---
“So what happened?” Rose asked as we sat down on my couch. She started stuffing a bagel
into her mouth as I began to talk.
“Well, on the way home yesterday, I decided to finally go through the park.”
“Howry sfhht, rllly?” she tried saying with food in her mouth.
I let out a small laugh. “Swallow and try that again.”
She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and repeated herself. “Holy shit, really?”
“Yeah. I sat down on the bench, too. The whole scene played in my head.”
“Damn, dude. Were you ready for it?”
“After I thought about it, Sam came to my head, so I got up. But when I did, I bumped into
someone. It was him.”
“No it fucking wasn’t.”
“I swear. He took me to a coffee shop and tried to explain himself.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me he was busy, and when he wasn’t, he figured I was mad at him. It just sounded like bull shit to me, so I told him I had Sam waiting for me back here and I left.”
She took another bite of her bagel and shook her head. “Well, did you tell Sam about it?”
“Yeah. He was mad at first but he asked me if that was all I was seeing of him and I told him yeah, he was fine.”
“Man. I can’t believe that. You’re a strong woman, though, you know? You handled the whole thing so well.”
“I guess so.” I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that it was a lot later than what I expected. “Shit. Rose, I have to go to the bank, but I’m actually expecting a package. Do you mind waiting here for it? Sam should be home soon, so if he gets here before the package you don’t have to stay.”
“Sure thing!”
---
I started my walk to the bank. I suppose I could have taken my car, but it was only a ten minute walk from the flat. I usually walked everywhere I went to save money on gas and to get a little bit of a workout at the same time.
When I got to the bank, I noticed a huge amount of people standing around it. It has never been like that before. I tried pushing my way through, but I just kept getting pushed around. When I finally made my way to the front of the crowd, the bank entrance was being blocked off by a few security guards.
“What…is the place being robbed or something?” I asked out loud.
“No ma’am. Just having to block off the area to non-bank customers for their own safety.”
I then pulled my bank card out of my pocket and showed it to the officer. “I need to get in before it closes…which is in about five minutes.”
He nodded and lightly grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the crowd. I then made my way inside, not knowing what to expect. I looked around and didn’t see anyone at all in the bank. No customers, no tellers, no one. Confused, I went to the ATM in the store and deposited the money I needed from my account. I started to walk out when I heard someone calling for me.
“Elaine? Elaine is that you?”
I recognized the accent coming from the person. I turned around and my assumptions were correct. “…Niall?”
He ran up and hugged me like he used to when we would hang out back before they all left for tour. I hugged him back, but not with as much enthusiasm. He pulled away and looked me up and down.
“You’re just as hot as ever!”
“Uh, thanks? … What the hell, what are you doing here?”
“I was putting some money into my account and all the tellers wanted a picture, so we took it in a back room. Christ, El, it’s so nice to see you again.”
“You haven’t talked to me in two years, Niall. None of you have.”
“We know, Elaine. But when Harry told us he guessed things were over, we didn’t want to hurt him, you know? It’s part of the bro code. So we just backed off and tried to help him out. We do have to see him all the time, you know.”
That made more sense than the excuse Harry gave me. They were just trying to help Harry, and I could see where talking to me would make things worse.
“I guess I understand that,” I said with a shrug.
“Come get lunch with me. I’m meeting up with Louis and he would be extremely excited to see you.”
I had to think about it for a moment. If I went out to lunch with them, Sam would be pissed at me. But they were in my life before Sam was, plus they were just old friends of mine.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll come. If you’re paying.”
He let out that same old laugh of his. “What makes you think I have the money?”
I shot him a look. Then he laughed again. “Right, right, I’ll pay for you. Let’s go.”
He took my hand and leaded me out a back door to his Range Rover and then we were on our way to wherever they were having lunch.
---
Lunch with Louis and Niall was a great throwback for me. It was nice to catch up with them after not hearing from them in so long. Louis was with someone named Eleanor, which I knew because of the tabloids. He seemed so happy with where he was in his life. They also talked about how they had a new movie coming out, and they invited me to the premier. I told them I didn’t know about that, though, because of certain people. But we exchanged numbers and then Niall took me home.
When I got to back to my flat, it had been about three hours since I left. I noticed Sam’s car was there, and Rose was walking out as soon as Niall dropped me off.
“Still here?” I asked Rose.
“Ah yeah, when Sam got here I just had a chat with him about how he had nothing to worry about with the whole Harry thing. I think he just needed a little reassuring, you know?”
I gave her a small grin. “Yeah. Thank you for that.”
“No problem! Call me later!” she yelled as she rode away on her bike.
When I walked inside, Sam was sitting at the kitchen’s dining room table looking at his laptop with a sad look on his face.
I walked over to the table and sat on the opposite side of him. “What’s wrong, babe?”
He just shook his head and turned the laptop around so I could see it. He had it up on a tabloid website. I read the headline in my head.
One Direction’s Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson spotted with mysterious new girl!
I looked at the pictures on the page and they were of our time at lunch. I didn’t even notice that there was anyone outside taking pictures.
I looked up at him, and his sad look changed to a pissed one.
“Sam, I ran into Niall at the bank and he invited me to lunch. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You know how I feel about them.”
“But you don’t even know them, babe. They used to be my best friends before they got super famous.”
“And now they’re just arrogant pricks who just probably see you as a good lay.”
I quickly stood up from the table. “You’re the one who is being a prick.” I quickly went into our room and shut the door behind me and started crying. Sam was being insensitive about all of this. I knew that he would get along with all of the boys – excluding Harry – if he just gave them a chance. But he wouldn’t because of their fame status.
I heard the front door slam and I looked out the window to see Sam get in his car and drive off. I let out a sigh, changed into a tank and shorts, just laid down on the bed. That is how he liked to cool off, so I let him go.
About fifteen minutes past and I had almost fallen asleep on the bed when I heard a knock at the door. I didn’t feel like answering, so I just stayed in the spot. After about a minute, I received a text message from an unknown number.
Please open the door, Elaine.
I sat there for a few seconds just staring at it before making my way to the door. I didn’t know what to expect, so I slowly and cautiously opened the door. I wish I wouldn’t have.
“Hi El.”
10/30/13