Summertime & Butterflies

“Oh my God!” Olivia exclaimed, laughing at herself as she watched the cue ball bounce down the table, widely avoiding any of the striped balls scattered across the cloth. She shrugged at her sister, who was also laughing, before taking a swig of her beer. “Good thing we don’t play by the rules, eh?”

“We don’t even know the rules,” Stephanie reminded her, taking her own shot and easily sinking one of Olivia’s balls. “Like, what’s actually supposed to happen now?”

Olivia shrugged. “You should keep going, so I can keep drinking,” she told her with a smirk. “But, I think it means it’s my turn.”

“Works for me,” answered Stephanie, slurping her vodka drink through the straw. As Olivia lined up her shot and managed to get the proper ball in the pocket, Stephanie examined the jukebox, trying to decide what 90s country song would blast through the bar next.

“Remember this one?” Stephanie chuckled, pressing a combination of buttons on the machine. A moment later, the twangy chords from Shake the Sugar Tree erupted from the speakers, and it wasn’t long before both girls were belting the lyrics into their pool cues.

“I’ll shaa-aa-ke the sugar tree, til I feel your love fallin’… all-lll-lll around me!” The sister’s voices were loud, off-key and filled with giggles. They were so enthralled with their attempts at singing that they didn’t notice anyone else had joined them in the small pool room. It wasn’t until Olivia felt the presence of someone standing near her side that she looked up from the pool table. A man in his twenties was standing beside her, his lips pursed together in a cheeky smirk.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the man said, his accented voice sounding solemn but his hint of a grin telling otherwise. “But I’d like to call next.” He placed his hand on the corner of the table, setting down what Olivia assumed was a quarter. But when he moved his hand, Olivia began to laugh.

“What is that?” she chuckled, pointing at the beer cap the man had placed on the table.

He shrugged, looking both sheepish and charming at the same time. “I didn’t have a quarter,” he explained.

“Then I guess you don’t have next,” Olivia teased, taking a drink from her bottle. “Hey, Steph, do you have a quarter?” She asked innocently, lining up her shot again.

Stephanie gasped. “I just might!” she exclaimed, feigning surprise. She stuck her hand in her pocket and grinned triumphantly as she pulled out not one, but two coins.

“I call this one Next,” she continued, placing one coin down on the table with a flourish. “And this one is Mr. Next-Next!”

“I just thought you might feel like you owe us next,” the man replied, “seeing as we’ve had to listen to you sing all night. It’s only fair,” he added, his voice taking on the same teasing tone the sister’s had. “Or we could play doubles,” he added before either of the sisters could counter with their own burn.

Stephanie pointed at the man, to the vacant spot beside him and back again, indicating that he was by himself. “We’re not seeing doubles yet, honey,” she told him playfully, taking another drink.

“Yet,” he countered with another cheeky grin. “Now, finish up your riveting game before I steal your quarters.”

“Push-y,” stated Olivia, but obliging as she finally took her shot. The man settled into one of the stools, sipping on his drink as he watched Olivia’s stance with amusement.

“Ay, your quarter didn’t work, mate!” the man called out as Olivia scratched the ball she was aiming for. She looked up to see who the man was talking to and her eyes widened when she realised she was face-to-face with the same man she’d thrown up on just hours earlier.

“You must not have been charming… enough…” the second man answered, pausing as he made eye contact with Olivia. She could tell he recognised her immediately and she felt her face heat up at the memory. She took a long drink and silently cursed the Patron Saint of… whoever made her mortifying moment return.

“Hey,” the second man continued, greeting Olivia with a knowing chuckle. “Well… long time, no see, isn’t it?” He asked, smiling his dimpled grin. Her face still felt warm but she matched his smile. It was rather infectious.

“It’s been a few,” she agreed, awkwardly running her hand through her hair before breaking eye contact with him.

“You two know one another?” the first man asked curiously, looking back and forth between Olivia and his friend.

“We, erm… We met on the plane,” the first man answered, giving his friend an intent look, telling him without telling him that she was that girl.

“Oh!” his friend exclaimed. “That girl! Well, that’s one way to be memorable,” he added teasingly.

“What did you do on the plane?” asked Stephanie incredulously. Olivia wasn’t exactly the type to join the Mile High Club with a stranger, no matter how attractive. Stephanie, on the other hand…

“Nothing,” Olivia answered quickly, her voice overlapping with the first man’s.

“She was just a dazzling conversationalist,” he told Stephanie charmingly. “She… spilled her guts to me in ways I have never experienced.”

His choice of words caused his friend to let out a loud guffaw, and Olivia covered her mouth to hide her smile. Stephanie frowned, unamused with being out of the know. Olivia didn’t want her embarrassing moment to be a damper on her and Stephanie’s night out, so she rolled her eyes and blew her bangs off her forehead.

“I threw up on him on the plane so can we please play doubles now?” she stated, uttering the words as quickly as she could.

Stephanie snickered, still looking unimpressed as the first man laughed loudly. “So?” she countered, sinking the last of her balls. “She’s thrown up on me on every road trip we’ve ever taken. Talk to me when you’ve got a lap full of undigested cherry pits in the back of a Cutlass in July.” She nudged her sister playfully, joining in on the laughter as she sunk the eight ball, winning the game.

“Oh Jesus, Stephanie,” moaned Olivia, covering her eyes with the palm of her hand. She knew the comments and laughter were all in jest, but she really just wanted to play pool. “And you can’t even let me win!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” the second man said, giving Olivia another smile as he scooted off the stool and selected his own pool cue. “Still keen on doubles?” he wondered, his question directed at Olivia.

Despite her embarrassment, Olivia nodded. “For sure,” she answered, pulling the triangle off the hook and sticking the last of her balls in the centre. “But we don’t play by the proper rules.”

“It’s alright, love. Neither do we,” the first man cracked, his comment open to interpretation as he continued to fill the triangle. Olivia snickered, leaning against the window and bending her knee, the sole of her foot resting against the wall.

“Did we miss something, or are they married?” the second man asked Olivia, leaning on the wall beside her and nodding towards Stephanie and his friend, who were arguing over the proper placement of the pool balls.

Olivia let out a quiet giggle. “I’m insulted I wasn’t invited,” she answered, turning her head slightly and looking at the man out of the corner of her eye. She was certain his jawline could cut through glass as though it were butter.

He laughed. “You and me both,” he agreed, taking a sip of his drink. “So,” he continued after a few moments. “Do you have a name, or can I come up with one on my own?”

Olivia laughed, peeling at the label on her bottle. “Depends what you can come up with, I suppose,” she challenged him.

He pursed his lips together and crossed his arms across his chest, appearing deep in thought, “I think you look like a… Chad,” he determined, that infectious smile crossing his lips again.

“You’re exactly right!” Olivia exclaimed. “How incredible! But, for fun, you can call me Olivia.”

He grinned widely, as though her name brought up an inside joke she wasn’t privy to. “Olivia,” he repeated, his British accent causing a slight R sound at the end of her name. “That’s a great name,” he told her, his grin still apparent.

“I’ll keep it for a while,” she told him. “So, can I call you Chad?” she asked, turning her attention away momentarily as the first man broke the rack – rather poorly, Olivia was pleased to see.

“Absolutely not,” he advised her teasingly. He stuck his hand towards Olivia. “I’m Harry,” he said as their hands connected.

“Way better than Chad,” Olivia told him decidedly. “Nice to meet you. Officially,” she added with a slight shake of her head. She pointed across the table where Stephanie was taking her turn. “My sister, Stephanie,” she told him. Hearing her name, Stephanie looked up.

Harry waved at her. “Hi, I’m Harry,” he called over to her. “That’s Louis,” he told Olivia and Stephanie, nodding in his friend’s direction. “Lou,” he added. “This is Olivia.” He said her name with the same tone as before, and Olivia felt she was missing something.

Louis chuckled and gestured for Harry to take his turn. “I live for you, I long for you, Olivia,” he sang out. “Hey, hey!” he added, taking Harry’s spot next to her.

Olivia furrowed her brow at his words. “Is that a song?” she asked, wondering why she hadn’t heard it before. “I’ve never heard it.”

“It is,” Louis answered. “You ought to give it a listen. It’s pretty okay.”

Olivia wasn’t sure why his statement caused him and Harry to both snicker and she was having a hard time determining whether or not they were making fun of her. She didn’t know what was so funny about her name, but told herself to brush it off – clearly, the two men had been friends for a long time and had silly inside jokes, just like Olivia and her own friends.

“Maybe I will,” answered Olivia, chalking up her cue for her own turn. “Who sings it?”

“I can’t remember,” answered Harry quickly. If Olivia hadn’t been paying attention to her cue, she would have noticed the stern look he was shooting to Louis.

“I’ll find out and let you know,” Louis told Olivia, grinning cheekily at Harry.

“Nice shot,” Harry commented, ignoring Louis and watching Olivia sink one of her balls.

If Olivia hadn’t been playing pool with two attractive strangers, she would have giddily jumped up and down at the shot that came across as completely intentional. Instead, she only allowed herself a wide grin. “Thanks.” She answered, attempting to remain modest but doing a poor job of hiding her pleasure.

“Oh, that’s my phone,” Stephanie stated suddenly, jumping up and grabbing her phone from the table. She looked at the caller ID and groaned loudly. “Shit, it’s the sitter. I’ll be right back,” she told the others, disappearing towards the rest rooms.

“Is your sister married?” asked Louis once Stephanie was out of earshot. “Please say no!”

Olivia nodded sympathetically. “Yep,” she told him, sitting down at the table to wait for her partner. “With three kids.”

“Ugh, no, don’t tell me that!” Louis groaned, dropping dramatically into a chair across from Olivia. He paused, wiggling his eyebrows in Harry’s direction. “Are you married?”

Olivia had to laugh at his brazenness. “I’m not, no,” she answered, her eyes meeting Harry’s for a brief moment. “I, uh… have four cats,” she added, immediately wincing. Crazy cat ladies weren’t exactly a hot commodity. She decided to refrain from telling them she also enjoyed chamomile tea and knitting.

“So you’re single,” Louis determined, the cheeky smirk gracing his face again. Harry massaged his forehead with his fingertips, resembling a mother who was at her wits’ end with her child. “Interesting,” Louis continued slowly, tapping his chin with his finger. Due to his tonality, Olivia couldn’t help but wonder what Harry had said to Louis about the girl who threw up on him.

“What are their names?” asked Harry loudly, attempting to change the subject. He stood at the head of the table between Louis and Olivia, as though he was unsure as to where to sit.

“My cats?” asked Olivia. She chuckled bashfully, feeling like a fool talking about her cats. But, Harry had asked. “Uhm… Ruby, Casper, Binx and… Puff Catty. Also known as P. Kitty.”

“P. Kitty!” Harry repeated, laughing loudly. His laugh was as infectious as his smile and even Louis chuckled at Puff Catty, even though he seemed less than impressed that his friend was asking a girl about her cat’s names.

“That’s quite original,” Harry added, pulling out the chair beside Olivia and settling in. As he adjusted the chair, Olivia noticed he’d inched it closer to her own. “Casper. You don’t hear that name too often.”

Olivia smiled, realising she was pleased that he’d decided to sit next to her. She wasn’t used to getting men’s attention. She was attractive enough – a bit soft in spots, but she was pretty – and her fun-loving attitude made drunk married men tell her they’d wished they found her before they got married. But she was always the friend, the buddy, the bubbly chick who would rather share pints with boys than bitch at them. She was often told by her sisters that her independence was intimating, though she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Besides, she told them, she didn’t want a man who was scared by a woman who had her life together.

“I’ll be honest, I wanted to name him Leonardo DiCatrio, but thought it was too common.” Olivia told him, giggling at her own joke. “I love puns,” she confessed with a shrug. She was still feeling a bit foolish, talking about her cats, but was happy she was getting an entertained reaction out of Harry.

“Liv!”

Olivia jumped suddenly, her sister’s sudden voice startling her. She turned to face Stephanie, who reached out and grabbed Olivia by the elbow. “Is everything okay?” Olivia asked, concerned by Stephanie’s outburst.

“Yeah, just come to the bathroom with me,” Stephanie urged, pulling on Olivia’s arm.

Olivia made a face, standing up and grabbing her purse. Stephanie had a tendency to be overdramatic and likely just needed a tampon. “Uhm… I’ll be right back,” Olivia said to Harry and Louis, hoping they would still be sitting at the table when she returned.

“We’ll be here,” answered Harry, standing up respectfully as the girls stepped out of the pool room. Olivia took a second glance at his gesture, surprised by what she saw. She thought manners like that only existed in the movies. It made Harry even more intriguing than Olivia was already finding him.

“Wait, we aren’t leaving, are we?” asked Olivia, stopping suddenly as Stephanie pushed open the entrance doors. “I said I’d be right back!”

“Shut up, we’re not leaving!” Stephanie hissed, gesturing for Olivia to step outside. “I have to show you something!”

Furrowing her brow curiously, Olivia followed her sister outside, watching as Stephanie unlocked her phone and scrolled through it. “What is it?” Olivia urged, suddenly worried that if she didn’t go back inside, some other girl would be sitting in her seat. She wasn’t sure why she cared – she didn’t even know Harry – but that was her seat.

“The babysitter just sent me this,” Stephanie told Olivia, thrusting her phone towards Olivia. Taking the phone, Olivia peered at the screen.

“What?” Olivia asked, squinting as she tried to understand what she was looking at. It was a blurry picture, but it was obvious the two girls in the picture were herself and Stephanie, and the two men in the picture were clearly Harry and Louis. The four of them were standing around the pool table in the pub they were visiting that very night. It was obvious another patron at the bar had taken the photo just minutes prior, but Olivia was confused.

“How did… I don’t get it,” she told her sister, handing her phone back to her. “Is your babysitter here? Why is she here? I don’t get it,” she repeated, her eyes still squinted as she tried to connect the dots in her mind.

“Read the text, dummy,” Stephanie told her, handing the phone back. Olivia scrolled through the messages, reading silently to herself until she came to the obvious part.

“One Direction?” she asked, dumbfounded. “Wait. What?”

Stephanie let out a laugh, more high-pitched than usual. “Apparently we’re hanging out with a boyband,” she told her sister, unable to control herself. “And we didn’t even know! How fucking old are we?”

“How the fuck does your babysitter know?” Olivia asked, shaking her head incredulously. “Like, are we on the internet now? Are my students gonna know?” she asked, suddenly mortified at the thought of her grade eleven and twelve students seeing her picture on the internet.

“You’re fine,” Stephanie reassured her sister, still giggling and sounding giddy at the development. “Lisa only knew it was us because of the outfits. Did you see the one waitress? She’s like barely twenty. She probably took the picture and posted it to Instagram or Snapbook or whatever.”

“This is so weird,” Olivia determined, running her hands through her hair. She hadn’t followed pop culture since her teen years, but working in a high school, she’d heard the name countless times. Was it Harry the girls always talked about? She couldn’t be sure. “What do we do?”

Stephanie gripped the door handle, ready to go back inside. “Go back inside?” she suggested. “That one’s really vibing on you. Wonder how jealous you could make your students,” she added with another laugh.

Olivia flushed at the thought of Harry vibing on her. Was he? Reading signs were far from her forte, but she felt even more apprehensive knowing that he was in a hugely successful boyband. She ran her tongue across her teeth nervously, suddenly feeling incredibly insecure, fat and boring.

“Let’s just go back in,” Stephanie urged. “They’re really nice…”

Olivia nodded slowly. “They are…” she agreed, tugging on her shirt and wishing she weighed about twenty pounds less. She felt a twist in the pit of her stomach, remembering how she’d been drinking high calorie beer and talking about her cats. Cool rock star, she was not.

“Wait, Steph,” Olivia whispered as her sister opened the door. “Let’s not say anything, okay? Like, it feels weird. They can tell us if they want to, right?”

Stephanie shrugged. “Sure,” she agreed, though already planning on breaking the promise. She led the way back to the pool room, being sure to flash a cocky smile at the waitress, who frowned and looked longingly into the pool room, obviously under strict orders to leave the boys alone.

“Oh my God, we’re back again!” Stephanie sang out, plopping down next to Louis and giving Olivia a knowing smirk. Olivia closed her eyes briefly, silently willing her sister to keep her mouth shut, before sitting back down in her seat.

“I hope you don’t mind but we ordered you another drink,” Harry told Olivia, smiling at her. That smile was killer. “We were optimistic you’d come back.”

“Well, we talked about leaving,” Stephanie told him, taking a drink and smiling coyly. “But we didn’t know what direction to take, so… we came back!”

Louis chuckled at her choice of words. “Cute,” he affirmed. “Did the little lass blow our cover?” he asked, nodding towards the young waitress.

“And my babysitter,” Stephanie told him. “Cool to know she’s searching you guys on Instagram instead of colouring with my kids,” she added teasingly.

“Sorry, love,” Louis teased back. “But we are slightly cooler than colouring.”

“Couldn’t prove it by me,” Stephanie sassed. She reached under her chair, fishing around for her purse. “Either of you guys smoke?” she wondered, pulling a pack out. “I’m a drinky-smoker, but I get lonely too!”

Louis stood up. “I’ll keep you company,” he told her. “Harry wants to know more about Olivia’s cats, anyway,” he added, his choice of words intended to be an innuendo. “After you,” he told Stephanie, flashing Harry a pair of finger guns before disappearing onto the patio.

“So…”

Notes