Paparazzi

Chapter 3

"Do you want to go on a date with me?"

A loud cackling is heard through his phone and he has to grin broadly about it himself.

"You want to make it official now and make our drunk plan come true? You do know that the year isn't over yet, right?" he gets the answer from Niall.

"That's the way it is. I can't wait to call you mine. What do we actually use as a surname? Tomlinson? Horan? Horan-Tomlinson? There are so many possibilities. Maybe we can discuss that over a glass of wine tomorrow night?"

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you but unfortunately I can't tomorrow night. I have to take pictures at an event. I hope you forgive me and don't swap me directly for someone else," Niall sniffs in a mock sad voice and Louis can't help but laugh.

"Hmm, let's see. Your rejection has already hurt me a lot. I thought I was worth more to you than your work. But I see how it is," he replies in an equally sad tone. "Joking aside, can you really not have dinner with me tomorrow night? I need someone to go with to the restaurant where Harry Styles is. I don't want to show up there alone."

"No really not, sorry mate. Maybe you should start your dating app again. You might even get to meet your big love on the train tomorrow."

All Louis can do is snort, "I don't think so."

"Why not? Since when are you so pessimistic?"

"I'm not pessimistic. It just doesn't feel like now is the right time," Louis murmurs. Because since this morning in the office he can't think of anything else but his sexuality. That one man managed to shake his whole world. He's way too busy with himself and has absolutely no nerve to deal with anyone other than himself.

"Never mind Niall. I, um, gotta go. sorry. Bye," he yells quickly and hangs up without waiting for another word from Niall. There's no way he can talk to him about it, or anyone else. Just the thought of it makes his heart beat faster. First he wants to find out for himself what it all means, what it's doing to him and whether it's not just some kind of midlife crisis. Although he would be too young for this, Louis considers everything. Because he's been thinking about it all morning and afternoon, putting pressure on himself to find an answer for it all, so that after work he broke down crying for a moment. But Louis is not a person who wallows in his misery for long and so after the brief moment of weakness he had a plan for tomorrow in mind. Unfortunately, nothing will come of it. And so he really takes Niall's advice and has been opening Tinder again for months.

He knows it's going to be a long night because most of them are looking for a relationship or sex. Neither is an option for Louis, he just needs a date for tomorrow night. Under no circumstances will he sit alone at a table in the same restaurant as Harry Styles, in the worst case being spotted by him and listening to jokes about his miserable single life. Louis rolls his eyes at himself. Actually, he shouldn't care about the opinion of the arrogant singer, but he is partly to blame for the chaos in his head and Louis feels vulnerable around him.

And so he starts going through the profiles of the women. He doesn't really care what they look like or what interests they have. And so he swipes right here and there when it suits him and hopes for a match. In fact, he spends the whole evening curled up on his sofa like this. The first women refused straight away when they found out that it was only about a dinner date and now he has been writing to a woman for half an hour, only that she is texting to him right now that she is not interested in only a meal. Annoyed, Louis ends the chat and nervously strokes his fringe. It's getting late and Louis needs to find someone. Sighing, he now swipes right on every photo on his screen and in the next match he hopes it will go well this time. He immediately starts typing what he is looking for and receives a confirmation. Louis reads it three times and can't believe his luck. They chat back and forth a little while Louis keeps looking at the photos of her. Bree is pretty - she has medium brown hair and fawn eyes, a cute face and is sweet 22 years old. Louis would have guessed she is even younger because of her writing style, but in the end he doesn't care either. A dinner with her and after that he never sees her again. Before they say goodbye, he gives her the name of the restaurant, the time they meet there and his phone number.