Dreaming about London

The first thing I did when I got home at my room was not to take the usual shower, though it was very much needed. I immediately took out my scrapbook and started to write on the lyrics to Blue Eyes, which I couldn’t manage to finish earlier. But this time my hand wouldn’t move fast enough to keep up with all the words in my head.

Half an hour later I looked down at a slightly included page with loads of closely written words. The ink from the pen was messed up a few places because of me sweating when I wrote it.

Some people cry, I just start to sweat.


I now had a finished song with more lyrics that I wasn’t ashamed of. It felt great! And so I went upstairs to take a shower, but I bumped in to my mum the way up.

“Hi sweety,” he said when she saw me. “That was quite a long run wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I just decided to take a long walk at first, so… Why are you home so early?” I tried to change the subject.

“Monday is my short and also favorite day, remember?” We both smiled and I nodded. My mum was a school teacher and sometimes the days could feel a bit long with all the loud children to keep in control.

“Wait, I was thinking that maybe you could make a birthday cake for Laura’s 17th birthday on Friday? She’s having some friends coming over in the afternoon,” she asked me.

“Yes, I’ll do that then,” I answered.

“Thank you!”



When I got out of the shower I called Aida.

“Hello,” a familiar voice answered.

“Hi Aida, it’s me. Do you want to have lunch tomorrow at the coffee shop? I mean, since we didn’t get to do it properly yesterday. I have something to talk to you about.”

“Uuuh that sounds exciting! Looking forward already. Let’s say at 2 o’clock?”

“That would be lovely. I’ll just call Em then.”



A few minutes later I made the same appointment with Em, 2 o’clock at the coffee shop tomorrow.

Just as I hung up my phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number:

“I’m guessing ‘The Running Egg’ is you, Maja?” It was from Niall.

I couldn’t help but jump and squeal when I read it. But then you very quickly get concerned – what the hell do you write back?! I wanted to appear happy and flirtatious, yet still a bit mysterious and friendly.

“Catch me if you can,” I wrote back before I started to reconsider it. My phone buzzed almost immediately after I’d sent it.

“Is that a challenge?”

“Well. Yes.”

Suddenly I worried if I seemed a bit rejecting. But then again, I wouldn’t want to seem too pushy either, would I? Then I got another message from him.

“C’mon you’ve seen my legs. You will never win!”

I couldn’t resist the urge to write “C’mon c’mon” back as my answer. I hope he didn’t think I was some sort of freaky fan. Though I had been – and sometimes I still was.


I laughed at his next answer: “BEST SONG EVER”.


Oh great, he did take it as a joke and not as an expression of my former scary obsession with him and his band. I didn’t get to answer his message before I received another one from him.

“Would you like to visit us again soon?”

I didn’t think at all about what to answer to this, I just quickly typed “I would love that!” Send.

“Great! Tomorrow?” He responded.

“Oh I’m sorry, I have to see my friends for lunch and work right after that. But Wednesday?”

“Come early Wednesday then!”

“Deal!”



Man, I needed to talk to someone about this! I knocked on the door to my brother, Niels’ room.

“Mmh,” a deep voice said from behind the door. I opened it and stuck my head inside.

“Hey yo, may I come in?” I asked with a smile.

“Yeah, sure,” he answered. He started to notice my face expression, which was probably a horrible mix of foolish happiness and something that to others might look like weed. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked without further compassion. At first I was a bit stunned by his question but then I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I jumped in to his bed, where he sat with his computer on his lap.

“Okay, I have something to tell you, but you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone.” I waited for an answer. Niels just looked a bit confused at me for some time and then nodded.

“I’ve met Niall Horan. And Harry Styles. And Perrie Edwards, Zayn’s wife. They are living in the white house down by the sea. Isn’t that crazy?!” My palms started to sweat and I suddenly had trouble breathing.

“Wait, wait, take it easy, sis,” he said. “You’re talking about those boys you used to stalk like a maniac a few years ago?”

“Don’t say that, but yes, it’s those guys I’m talking about. One Direction in our village!”

“Wow. That is crazy,” he admitted even though he wasn’t a fan of the boys.

“And I think…” I took a deep breath. “I think that Niall likes me. Just a bit. Or something – I hope so, he really seems like a nice guy. But what do I know…” I started to get my doubts about this thing between me and Niall. It may felt like I liked him, but deep down inside I slowly realized how I didn’t know him at all – and he didn’t know me either. None of us could know if we would get on in any way, I mean, who knows? I might find him extremely annoying, once I get to know him, I thought to myself.


It seemed like Niels was reading my mind as he said: “Well. But you don’t him at all, do you?”

I shook my head looking down at my hands.

“Man, just take it easy, Maja. This is so typical for you girls. It doesn’t take more than a smile and a few cute text messages, before you think there’s a great deal going on. Remember what I always tell you: He will do something about it if he wants to be with you, okay? And Niall is just a guy like any other, it’s quite simple actually. Promise me you’ll remember that.”

When I didn’t answer he repeated: “Promise?” And I nodded. He truly was a ladies man, my brother. He knew exactly how to treat girls and sometimes he knew a little too well, if you ask me. I’ve always thought that he needed a girl that wouldn’t play his games, but apparently he didn’t find any girls attractive, because they were all too stupid, according to him. Arrogant bastard.

“Thank you,” I said. “I think I needed that.”

“You don’t say. You looked like you were about to go crazy on me, I had to calm you down, you know – for my own safety,” he said with a smirk. I hit him at his shoulder before leaving his room.



I went to bed that night feeling happy and surprisingly calm, and I felt the exact same way when I woke up the next morning. I was looking forward to see my two dear friends for lunch, it felt like ages since we last had been together all the three of us.

I put on a white oversize t-shirt that said Rolling Stones on the back. I rolled up the sleeves and added a pair of denim shorts and my worn-out blue All Stars. I quickly put on some makeup and then headed towards the coffee shop.



Both Aida and Em had already arrived and they sat outside in the sun, waving at me when they saw me. Aida was wearing a white top with a tight pair of black shorts and her blue Vans that she’d had for at least 4 years now. Em just wore an oversized t-shirt with weed plants all over with a pair of sandals and her thick long hair in a messy bun on top of her head.

I gave each of them a kiss on the cheek before I sat down.

“What has happened to your thighs?” Em asked concerned when she saw the burn blisters on my legs.

“I’ll tell you that in a minute,” I answered.

Almost immediately Christian came running out with a little white block and huge smirk on his face.

“Hello ladies!” he said. “So lovely to see you again. What can I get for you?”

“The usual,” we all said at the same time. We didn’t even laugh at that coincidence anymore, it was always like that when we came to the coffee shop. Christian went inside looking at me with a flirtatious smile, and I smiled back at him. He was back a few seconds later with our glasses of wine.

“On the house,” he said still smiling his flirtatious smile and we thanked him.

When he was gone Aida suddenly said smiling: “Man, I really like that you had sex with that guy, Maja. Even though you’re not particularly proud of it.”

I just lid up a cigarette and took a sip of my wine. “You’re never proud when you meet a person you’ve slept with on each street corner.”

“Oh come on,” Em said. “He’s actually quite cute and obviously in to you. Why do you complain about the lack of love for you when you have someone like him begging for you right here?”

“Jesus girls,” I said. “I told you I just don’t feel like he’s something special. And I want something special, just like you guys. Am I right?”

They both nodded.

“And actually,” I started with a smile on my face forming, “I have some news. Big news.”

Two pairs of eyes now looked at me, one of them green and one of them blue.

“Last week I was doing my usual morning workout, and guess who I bumped in to. Niall Horan! Apparently him and the boys are living in the white house down by the sea for a couple of weeks, before they’re going back to London to record their new album.”

They both just stared at me. We all used to drive each other crazy with our One Direction fandom.

“You’re kidding me?” Em said and I shook my head.

“Wait a second!” Aida exclaimed. “So this means that Harry Styles is there as well?” Harry Styles had always been her favorite, and she was about to explode when I said: “Yes, I met him yesterday, when Niall invited me home.”

“WHAT?!” they both shouted. I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve met him? You’ve been at their house? What’s he like? Did you meet the others as well?” The questions were endless and my two friends looked like they were about to cry any second.

“Calm down, girls, people can hear you. The boys are here to relax after their tour, so don’t tell anyone,” I said trying to keep it down. “I met Perrie as well, but the rest I didn’t meet. I’m going there again tomorrow though, and I thought that maybe you would like to join me?”

Aida was about to fall off her chair but then a lost expression suddenly formed on her face. “We have to go to work. Almost all week. To make money for London. I can’t believe this is happening!” There were actual tears in her eyes and Em was looking down at her fists. They worked at the same restaurant a few miles outside the village. As they sat there I began to feel incredibly bad.

“Listen girls. You’ll just meet them another day. I can ask Niall tomorrow if we can do something next week, where you could meet them.”

“So,” Aida said, “you and Niall?”

“I don’t know anything about that yet,” I said remembering my brother’s speech from last night. “But he seems like a great guy, we just enjoy each other’s company, I guess.” I couldn’t help but smile a bit too wide as I finished my sentence. They both nodded still looking completely stunned.

“Now, let’s talk about something else,” I said. “I would really like it if you guys would help me at my concert next Thursday. Em, I would like you to sing To Open Up My Heart with me on piano and if we all could perform Copenhagen. What do you say?”

“I’m in!” Aida said, suddenly cheered up at bit. That made me glad.

“Okay, so we need to find a day to practice. How’s Saturday?”

“I think I’m free,” Em said.

“Fine with me,” Aida confirmed.

That same second Christian arrived with our food; Salad Caprese for Aida, a grilled plain salmon burger for Em and a sea food salad for me.



At 4 o’clock I had to leave to go to work. It was probably that last thing I wanted to do that day, but every Tuesday I had the closing shift. This time I ended up deciding that ice cream was going to be the thing worth binging and throwing up for…



I went to sleep as soon as I got home, figured I needed a very long run tomorrow before I went to Niall’s house. And I don’t think I’d ever been that fast out of bed. When I woke up I saw that I’d gotten a message last night from him saying: “Looking forward to see you tomorrow!”


I smiled, but didn’t answer. I’d rather get the run over with so that I could get going as fast as possible. I set myself a new personal record in running my route – no matter what, Niall had only been good for my workout.
I quickly took a cold shower when I got back to cool me down and maybe get rid of some of that red facial color I had going on. I dried my hair upside down, cause it was naturally complete flat and straight, and added some makeup. I decided to wear my new tight cotton shorts with grey print and a long white tank top.


I grabbed my phone and texted Niall: “On my way!” as I left the house. Only a few seconds later I received one from him saying: “Hurry.”

I smiled once again. On my way down to their house I stopped by a supermarket to get some beers. I thought it might help on my nerves.



“Hi Maja!” Niall said with a smile when he opened the door. “Come on in.”

I gave him a hug. “It’s good to see you,” I said. “How are your knees?”

“Almost back to normal.” He lightly rubbed my back as I followed the voices from inside the living room, where I found a huge load of people sitting on the couches and on some chairs.

“Maja!” Harry exclaimed reaching his arms out for a hug. I smiled and put down the two six packs of beer on the end table and hugged him. “What’ve you brought?”

“It’s Danish beer!” I said cheerfully. “I didn’t get to bring any host gift the other day and I felt incredibly rude.”

“Wow, drinking beer before 12 o’clock. I guess you Danes really are World Champions in drinking alcohol,” Louis said laughing.

“And unfortunately we’re awfully proud of that!” I said and shook his hand. “Hi, I’m Maja.”

“Louis,” he smiled.


They all started passing some beers around, as I too went around the end table to say hello to the rest of the people. Zayn, Liam and Eleanor all shook my hand with a smile. I sat down on one of the couches between Niall and Perrie.

“Cheers!” I said holding up my beer. “May you all have a fantastic vacation.”

“Cheers,” everyone said in unison.



The beers quickly disappeared because of the many people sharing them, so Harry and Louis went out in the kitchen to make some drinks instead. A few minutes later they came back with two big pitchers of something light green that looked like margaritas and some plastic cups.
It didn’t take a lot of time for the party to start after those pitches. Soon Niall had taken out his guitar while asking: “Ok, we need to sing a song that everybody knows.”


Through my fog of margarita I heard myself spontaneously begin singing This Little Light of Mine on top of my voice. It only took Perrie one second to join in and so did the rest of the laughing people. Then I couldn’t resist the urge to sing a lighter second voice while smiling at Perrie, knowing that she would understand a singer’s joke like that. She laughed and then people around us were suddenly silent, so that you could only hear Perrie’s beautiful voice and my lighter voice above hers. I don’t remember whether it sounded good or bad, but according to the approving looks we got from around the living room, it wasn’t horrendous. We finished and gave each other a high five.

“You’re not too bad of a singer,” she said looking at me.

“Oh I don’t really know, I just do it for fun,” I said looking down, hating the way people were all looking at me. “I have a friend though, called Em. She’s a really talented singer.”


Harry noticed how uncomfortable I felt and quickly said: “Let’s put on some music.” He walked over to a big music system that was placed inside a cabinet and put on Queen with Don’t Stop Me Now.

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “I love Queen!”

“Yeah me too,” Harry said trying to mimic my voice which I realized had been a bit too light and loud during my music ecstasy. “I didn’t know you were a Queen-fan?”

“Of course! I love Freddie Mercury, he’s a legend!” I said with admiration.

“Totally! Do you play any music yourself?”

“I do actually, yes. Uhm… the violin and the piano.”

“And sing apparently,” Harry added, while I started to blush and mumble “Not really…”

“What kind of music do you play then?” Niall suddenly interrupted.

“A bit of different kinds. On the piano it’s mostly pop and jazz and on the violin I play, well… folk music.” I always mentioned that last bit with hesitation, you never knew how people would react.

“Get out!” Niall exclaimed. “What, do you play any Irish folk music?” Harry and I laughed. He looked so eager and cute sitting there with his eyes wide open.

“Well. Not much, but I do know a couple of Irish tunes actually.”

“Man, that’s cool!”

I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“Can we hear any sometime? You could one day maybe bring your violin over here!” Harry said with excitement.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. It seems a bit weird, I think.”

Niall looked a bit disappointed, so I quickly managed to add: “But I’m playing a concert next Thursday, on the 1st of August. In the local church. If you want and have some extra time you can come hear me play then?” I suddenly became extremely nervous and my palms started to sweat heavily.

“Louis, didn’t you and El walk past the church the other day?” Harry suddenly asked across the living room.

“Yeah,” Louis answered. “It’s right up there.” He pointed demonstratively to the right. Harry then looked me and nodded while saying: “We’ll be there.”

I couldn’t help but smile and feel a bit proud, so I said: “That’s so nice of you!” But the next second I got something else to think about. My bladder started to complain heavily from all the beers and drinks and I stood up and hurried out in the hall where I remembered Harry had shown me a toilet on our tour around the house a couple of days earlier.

“Where are you going?” Niall asked.

“The toilet!” I squealed and I heard him laugh from behind me, which didn’t really help me at all because I would smile as well.

I managed to keep myself from wetting myself, but what a relief it was to sit down on the toilet! I washed my hands and took a glance in the mirror to fix my hair a bit. I opened the door to get back to the living room, but I ended up bumping my face against something. “What the…” I looked up to see Niall standing right in front of me with a light smirk on his face.

Notes

Another chapter! Just because it's Christmas. Love you all, enjoy the holidays, I will try to update as much as possible xx
Merry Christmas!