At first, all I could do was laugh. Maddie probably just used the best pun she’s ever used in her entire life, and I was the only person to hear it. After I finished laughing, reality set it. My best friend just slept with one of the most famous people in the world! I could be jealous, but I wasn’t. In a strange way, I was proud. Ev deserved to be happy, and if Harry made her that way, so be it.
“B, don’t look so excited. She really regrets it.” Maddie must have seen my confused look, because she continued, “She was supposed to go on a date with Niall, remember? And she just slept with his best friend! And she’s really shaken up about it, there were double the paparazzi around here when they were here, some were waiting for me to get home from going to the store, and some had followed them from the shop. There are already news stories up about them!” She turned her laptop towards me, a news article featuring a picture of the two of them was underneath the headline HARRY STYLES HAS A NEW LOVER?
Our star photographer Lorenzo Hernandez caught these two going into what we think is her apartment hand in hand. He said there was magic going on in there!
“You could hear moaning coming from inside the place. It only started once they went in there and it stopped when Harry came back out!” Harry’s new lover is said to be Madelyn Baker’s younger sister Evelyn. She works at a local coffee shop in London.
“Shit, does she know about this?” Maddie nodded as the front door opened.
“Where did you go?” Madelyn asked her.
“Niall took me out on the date.”
“What?!” I screeched, “I was supposed to doll you up for it!”
“Well, I called him over to tell him about Harry and I, and then afterwards he just told me he wanted to go on the date tonight.”
“How did he take the news?” Maddie asked. I was wondering the same thing.
Ev sat down in a chair before continuing, “He took me to this secluded area that had a lake and he took us on a boat to a gazebo, and there was a picnic set up. It was beautiful. It reminded me of mine and Daddy’s walks.”
Maddie smiled, “Then what happened?”
“Turns out, it was Harry’s land. Because he showed up.” A joint gasp was let out by both of us. It seemed like Harry always seemed to turn up out of the blue. “Yeah. He really wants me to date him or give him a chance or whatever, but he just wants me for my body, and we all know how that turns out.”
“Niall seems like he treats you really well. I wouldn’t mess shit up with him,” Maddie had a point, though by the way Ev was wording it, she didn’t want to deal with Harry.
“I didn’t plan on it,” Ev replied and then turned to me, “Brooklyn, are you sleeping over?”
I shrugged, “If you don’t mind. I haven’t slept over in awhile. Plus, tomorrow is our off day, so we can have a girl’s day!” Even though I couldn’t doll her up for her date, we could still go get dolled up just because! Especially if she was going to start being photographed a lot more.
She smiled at me, “Okay. You can come to bed whenever, but I’m going to bed now. Goodnight, both of you.” And she headed out of the room.
“Well,” Maddie started, “She seems rather chipper considering all that has happened today!”
“I would be chipper! On top of having lunch and getting to know all the boys in One Direction, she was also taken on the sweetest date by Niall Horan! Anyways, she’s been here two months and hasn’t been much further than the coffee shop!”
“You do have a point. I just hope she can get this whole Harry/Niall situation straightened out, soon.” Maddie said as she headed to the kitchen to get some green tea. “She deserves to be happy. Two months is a ong time to only talk to your sister and coworkers.”
“Preach!” I replied.
“Well, I think I’m going to head off to bed. Make sure you turn all the lights off before you go to sleep. You want me to leave my laptop out here for you?” I nodded. “Okay, then. Goodnight, B!”
“’Night, Maddie. Sleep tight!” I grinned. My parents used to always tell me to sleep tight, and ‘not let the bedbugs bite’. Maddie got a kick out of it when I told her that, and ever since it’s been a running joke between us two.
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” She laughed as she closed her bedroom door, leaving me alone in the flat. Even though I was only running off of about two hours of sleep, I was in no way tired. I was, however, extremely ready for a shower, considering I hadn’t taken one since yesterday morning. I went into Evelyn’s room, where she was already fast asleep, and quietly grabbed a pair of her sleep shorts and an extremely oversized tee shirt from her drawers. I headed into the bathroom, turned on the water, and hopped in the shower.
I do some of my best thinking in the shower, just like any normal person. I ponder anything and everything. Tonight, my thoughts fell on my family. I felt as if I never saw them anymore; as soon as I finished high school, I left. I was so tired of being stuck under their tight belt, I felt like I had to get out. So I moved eight hours away, and got started at The Coffee Shop, and that’s where I’ve been for two years.
It’s not like I didn’t like my parents; they were just very extreme. Not like the cool-extreme parents like you see in movies or anything, where the parents are super cool and laid back and awesome, but extreme like the-Lord-will-smite-you-unless-you-pray-every-second extreme. I couldn’t handle it, so a week after graduation, I packed up my car, and started driving.
I didn’t mean to end up here; I really didn’t mean to end up anywhere. I was just driving to drive, and get away. I was three days into my journey, when I came across the shop. Just driving around aimlessly, I saw this cute free-standing building on the corner. It was made of brick, with a poorly hand-painted sign that said ‘The Coffee Shop’ on it, and had a weathered Help-Wanted poster in the window. I parked my car, and pushed the door open. It was a long shot; I knew it. I was a disheveled mess. There was practically no chance in hell of me getting the job. I mean, I would be living out of my car, but I knew I had to start somewhere.
“Hi! Welcome to The Coffee Shop. I’m Jess. Do you have an idea of what you want?” A girl with dark curly hair and a warm smile greeted me from behind the counter. Soon, she would become one of my closest friends.
“I’m actually coming to ask about the help wanted sign in the window? I’m Brooke.” I returned her smile.
“Oh! Sure, let me call up the owner really quick, I’ll be back in a second!” She walked through a door to the back of the store. She returned about five minutes later and told me that the owner would be here in about ten minutes and to just have a seat until he got here.
While I waited, Jess came over and talked to me, “So tell me about yourself!”
“Well… I’m from about ten hours north of here. My parents are crazy religious, and I couldn’t handle them much more. I’ve been out for three days; each day I’ve been driving for a little bit, and then exploring some small towns. I was pretty intrigued by the sign so that’s why I stopped! I’m living out of my car for the moment,” I didn’t mean to spill my freaking life story to her, but being alone for three days will make that happen I guess.
“What was intriguing about it?” She seemed genuinely interested; I felt that if I got the job, we would become great friends (which, lo and behold, we did!)
I didn’t really know why it was so intriguing, to tell the truth. “Maybe because I used to be a manager in a coffee shop back home, but the owner was crazy and when he wanted to hire someone he made it like, super well known and it was a huge deal, and here it seems like you guys have more important things on your hands, you know?” I had no idea if that made any sense, but I tried.
A bell chimed and an extremely elderly man walked into the shop.
“Mr. Eugene!” Jess smiled and offered him her seat.
“Ah, Jess. Always nice to see you. And who might this lovely lady be?” he asked, turning towards me.
I stuck my hand out, “Hi. I’m Brooklyn Joseph, but you can just call me Brooke.”
He grasped my hand and shook it before saying, “So Jess tells me you are looking for a job?”
“Yes sir. I saw your help wanted sign and figured I’d come in and apply! Do you have an application you need me to fill out?”
“Not really,” he said shaking his head. “Let’s see.. Have you ever worked somewhere like this before?”
“I was manager of a coffee shop back home.”
He nodded. “That’s good. Any criminal background?”
“Speeding tickets every once in a while.”
“I can work around that. Where do you live?”
That I was a little skeptical about, since I was living in my car. Jess piped in, “She lives with me for now. She’s going to try and get her own place.” I flashed her a grateful smile.
“How nice of you Jess!” He truly seemed to think that it was a great thing; I loved Mr. Eugene already.”Well Brooklyn, if you get tired of her, there’s a flat above the shop. Right now it’s filled with junk and spider webs. If you take the job and clean it out, you can live there.” I started to protest, but he continued, “Your first two month’s rent will be free, but afterwards I’ll charge you, say, sixty a month?”
“Sixty?! That’s barely anything, Mr. Eugene. I’m sure I can pay you more than that, at least let me give you one hundred!” Thirty minutes ago I was driving around in my car, and now I had a job and two separate places to live here.
He chuckled, “Brooklyn, do you see how old I am? Any money you give me will probably not be much use. I’ve already lived my full life, I’m happy. You will pay me 60 pounds a month, and be manager. Do we have a deal?”
I was going to argue, but then decided I won’t find anything better, and I already really liked these people. “You have a deal, Mr. Eugene! Thank you so much. I do have a question though: What do you want me to do with anything that is up there?”
“It’s yours, dear! Do whatever you want with it. Keep it, throw it away, whatever you please. Now, I am very tired so I think I will go home. Brooklyn, I would like for you to start working here as soon as possible. Here’s a key to the store, which will also unlock the door for your flat. You have a great day.” With that, the old man shuffled out of the store and down the street.
“Did.. What?!?!” I stammered.
“Mr. Eugene is pretty giving, Brooklyn. Just accept it! Welcome aboard, Manager!” Jess grinned at me and went to turn the sign in the window to say ‘closed’. She turned back around and told me that we were going to check out the flat. It was perfect for me. A small living room with a couch, table, and dusty tv greeted me. There were two doors, one on the left which led to a bathroom that had just a sink and toilet, and one on the back wall, which led to my bedroom and another bathroom. The room had a full size bed, a dresser, and a night table. It had a closet that wouldn’t hold much, but I didn’t have much. The bathroom didn’t have a tub; just a shower stall. I went back out and checked out the small kitchen that was open towards the living room. It had a table with two mismatched chairs. It was all I could have hoped for and more.
“I thought he said it needed to be cleaned out?” Jess had come up behind me.
“I guess there isn’t anything really up here. It’s fully furnished! I love it”
Jess ended up staying with me until at least midnight; the next morning, she got to work early and came up and woke me up so we could go for groceries.
Seeing how far I had come since that first night was crazy; maybe not as far as some would think considering I still had the same job and lived in the same place, but far as I’ve figured out who I am, or at least who I think I am. My shower started to turn cold, so I quickly washed my hair and shaved my legs and jumped out. I still wasn’t tired, so I got dressed, wrapped my hair up in a towel, and headed back out to the living room. I scrolled through tumblr until about five in the morning, and finally headed off to bed.
Ev was sprawled out all over the bed, but I easily pushed her over and climbed in, stealing most of the blankets. I drifted off into a nice, peaceful sleep.
After what seemed like no time at all, I felt an earthquake. It went on a little while longer before I realized it was no earthquake, but rather someone shaking me awake.
“Wh... what do you want?” I murmured without even opening my eyes.
“Get up and get dressed. We’re going to Harry’s tonight.” Ev said and then walked out of the room.
Tonight I would meet the rest of One Direction, and a boy that I would ultimately fall in love with.

Notes

I know it's short, and it took so long!
My computer charger broke and I had no way to post it.
Next chapter won't disappoint!