The Paris Trip

Leah and I were sitting on the edge of the bed. We came back to the hotel after we went to the
Eiffel Tower and then went to dinner. We got back from dinner 10 minutes ago and Leah and I finally got to talk about the day’s events.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. The last thing I want to do is talk to Liam about it.” I rubbed my head, frustrated. “I don’t know what to think.” I laid back on the bed. “By the way, where is Ashley?”
“We went our own ways when we got to the place we were meeting the two of them. I got a text from her after my date with Niall that said that I could go back to the hotel and not wait for her. She said Harry would drive her back to the hotel before the tour came back.” She huffed, looking at her watch.
Just then, a loud knock came from the door.
“I got it…It’s probably Ashley.” Leah sighed as she got up. She made her way to the door and swung it open and gasped. I immediately sat up straight and stood up.
“Great to see you too, Ms. Samson and Ms. Wilmington.” Ms. Fleur walked past Leah and into our hotel room.
“May we help you?” Leah crossed her arms, trying to look natural.
“Where is Ashley?” Ms. Fleur ignored Leah and looked around.
“In the bathroom. She said she wasn’t feeling too well.” I lied. “So, anything we can do for you, Madame?” I added.
“Well, I told you I wanted to talk to you, actually both of you. You two are very talented French students.” Leah scoffed but Ms. Fleur ignored her and continued, “I let a lot of things slide for this trip already. Maybe, it’s because I trust more than others but just so you know, I know a lot of things that others don’t think I do.” She made her way towards the door. Leah and I stared at each other with puzzled looks. “Oh, and, the hotel has cameras. Just in case either of you think about sneaking out next time. Tell Ashley the same thing.” She half-grinned at us and closed the door behind her.
“I-“ I tried, but I was speechless. My heart had stopped and was starting to return to its normal pace. I was stunned; did she just let us off the hook? Was that considered a warning?
“Umm… Case-“ Leah attempted to break the silence that ensued after Ms. Fleur left. She just stopped and took another minute to gather her thoughts. “She knew. So we’re not in trouble?” She finally said.
“I suppose.” Was all that I could say. It was clearly stated in the rules that anyone breaking the rules would be sent home immediately. Could Ms. Fleur be capable of something this nice? Why would Ms. Fleur do something like this?
“Why?” Leah paced around the room.
“I decided not to question it. We owe her. Text Ashley and tell her to get back her ASAP.” I said to Leah, who nodded in agreement and whipped out her phone. The rest of the night was uneventful until I got a text from Liam. It read:

Hey, I thought we were gonna meet near the shops of the Eiffel Tower today? Is everything okay? Babe, pls talk to me… -Liam xx

I didn’t respond. I debated whether or not I should tell him about the magazine article. What was I going to do? Avoid him till the end of the trip? I huffed as I slammed my phone down and got into bed.
“You, okay there, Huffy?” Leah chuckled.
“No.” I turned to face her.
“You’re going to ignore him? Knowing him, he won’t stop till he figures out why you’re avoiding him.” She said as she flipped through the TV channels.
“That picture of them on the cover of the magazine was taken the day we landed in Paris! There was one at dinner too!” I sat up straight.
“He better have a damn good excuse. That’s all I can say.” She sighed. I nodded as I looked down at my hands.
“So tell me about your day with Niall!” I nudged her. Her face lit up and she realized she hadn’t told me anything about it.
“It was amazing! He took me to a little local café on the edge of town. It was beautiful! Then we walked around and went in some of the shops. He even bought me this!” She held her hand up to reveal a stunning sterling silver bracelet. It had hearts and little gems in it; also, engraved on the side it said “From Niall ;)”.
“It’s beautiful!!!!” I yanked her hand towards me and studied it closely.
“He is so romantic. He asked me to never take it off!” She smiled.
“That’s really sweet.” I slide under the covers of the bed and tried to go to sleep. All of a sudden, the door opened and I saw Ashley lazily waltz into our room.
“Ashley!” Leah and I said together as we rushed up to her.
“Where were you?” I asked; making sure she was okay.
“Guys, I’m fine! I was out with Harry at a local restaurant.” She smiled and giggled.
“Dude, did you get my text about Ms. Fleur?” Leah asked.
“Oh yeah, I saw that text on my way back with Harry.” She seemed a little serious after Leah asked the question. “Are you sure we’re not in trouble?” She bit her fingernails, nervously.
“I think we’re in the clear, but the fact that she knew and let us off the hook is quite surprising.” I scratched the back of my head, still reliving the shock.
“So, I guess we can’t see either of them anymore?” Leah sighed.
“I guess.” I shrugged, still unsure of what I should do about Liam.
“Guys, it’ll be okay. Do you wanna hear about my day with Harry?” She broke into a smile.
“Alright, spill!” I giggled.
“So after Leah and Niall walked the opposite way from us at that shop we went to this local garden coffee shop and sat there for 3 hours talking. He’s cuter and funnier in person, oh my god. He’s just so sweet and caring. And his eyes, his eyes are the prettiest shade of green. He smiled at me all the time and it was heaven. And then we went to a local dinner place around the corner and then went to go get ice cream. We walked around a tiny suburban village as we ate our ice cream and then he drove me back here!” She squealed.
“Oh my god!” I hugged her. “That sounds absolutely romantic!”
“Oooo, fancy!” Leah laughed.
“This is absolutely insane! Like this morning he didn’t even know I existed and now he’s texting me constantly and I just love it! Thank you guy so much! Thanks Leah for hooking us up! I just want to say that I’m glad that we’re friends, you guys are the best…” Ashley winked at Leah and hugged us both.
“Awww.” We all said as we released each other from our group embrace.
“Both of your days sound a lot better than mine.” I chuckled as I jumped back into bed.
“What? What happened?” Ashley asked curiously as she took out her dangly earrings.
“Well it turns out that Liam actually has a girlfriend. She was with him after we got off the plan and after the dinner date. Apparently they’re staying together in Paris, that’s what the magazine article was saying.” I threw her my phone which had the magazine pulled up online.
“Oh my god! That’s terrible.” She sounded angry. “Listen, it’s a magazine. Tabloids aren’t necessarily true!”
“I’m just going to avoid him as long as possible.” I sighed as I cuddled in my blanket.
“No, you can’t just avoid him. He’s Liam Payne; he’ll keep asking you till he finds out what’s bothering you. You owe it to yourself to ask him.” Ashley sat down next to me.
“That’s what I was saying!” Leah said with a mouthful of ice cream she got from the refrigerator.
“Casey, you need to talk to him.” Ashley handed back my phone with a “you know I’m right” face.
“I know, I know. I’ll do it…. Eventually….” I muttered.
Just then, my phone buzzed again. I knew it was Liam so I decided to not look at it tonight. I quickly turned off the light on the beside table and covered my face with the comforter and blanket.
“Goodnight!” I said.

****
In the morning, the buzzing of the alarm was enough to drag us out of bed. I quickly grabbed my phone to see that I had 20 unread messages, all from Liam. I opened the first three that read:

Casey, are you ok? This is starting to worry me… are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Babe, pls tell me? Can we meet?

Casey, I don’t know what I did. But we need to talk. Pls tell me you’re seeing these. I’m worried abt you…

Hey, I don’t know if you’re seeing these but I don’t know what I did, but I am sooooooooooooo sorry. Pls talk to me. Babe?

I sighed as I threw my phone on the floor and walked into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and ran my fingers through my hair, exhaling and trying to think clearly. Every single moment with Liam had replayed in my head. Him not telling me about a girlfriend and saying that he loved me was like lying to my face. I was upset, angry, betrayed and I didn’t know what else to do but let the tears form once again and slip down the sides of my face. I sniffled and rubbed my nose, trying to compose myself.
All of a sudden, there was a loud knock at the door. Startled, I gasped and wiped my face, trying to make sure it didn’t look like I was crying.
“Casey! You might want to get out here.” I heard Leah’s voice, which was shaky.
“Yeah, Casey, come out… now!” I heard Ashley call.
I grabbed the handle of the door and swung it open saying, “Guys, what the heck, I’m in the-“ I stopped as I saw who was in the doorway, meeting my gaze as I walked out the bathroom.
“Liam?” I sniffled.

Notes

Hey guys, so here it is! The next chapter! Hope you like and tell me what you think in the comments section below!

-N. ^-^