QUARANTINE - N.H.

four

After Niall had told me who he was and that he was part of One Direction, I was a little speechless. Obviously I knew One Direction, but I never knew who was part of it and I didn't know any faces of the boys.
Well, now I did.
„You know Olivia, I really want to get to know you. And it was nice that you didn't treat me as this famous singer, that I apparently am. You just treated me like everybody else. I was just hoping, you would keep doing that", Niall tried to explain. He sounded sad and I suddenly felt bad for my sudden reaction. „I am so sorry Niall. I didn't mean to make a big thing out of this. Obviously, you keep being the guy from next door with the cute Irish accent", I smiled and tried to calm him down.
Did I just say, his accent was cute? What the hell? What was I thinking?
„Thank you Olivia, I just didn't want to lie to you, because you were gonna find out sooner or later anyways." He paused for a second, before a small smirk appeared on his face: „Also, did you just call my accent cute?" „Oh shut up", I laughed and threw the towel at him, that I used for wiping over my kitchen counter. Niall laughed even louder. I realized how fast Niall and I clicked. We knew each other for only one day and I already felt so good around him. He just had this nice vibe around him that made me happy. The towel got thrown back into my face made me come back to reality. Niall looked at me smiling: „Did you even listen to me?" „Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts? What's up?", I asked. „I said that I really like your accent too". I blushed. „Thanks." „Tell me something about you. Your family. How was it to grow up in LA?", he questioned. I sat down on the other barstool in front of Niall, on the other side of the kitchen counter. „Well, my Dad is German and he met my Mom on a trip when he went to LA when he was around 20 years old. My dad always said they fell in love immediately. They got married a few years later and then they had my older brother Steven. Three years later they had me", I told him and started thinking about my childhood. „That's so cool. So do you have some family in Germany too?", he asked. „Yeah, my whole dads side of the family lives in Germany. We visited them a lot when I was a teenager. Now, with my job and everything, it's hard to see them regularly. I miss them", I took a sip of my beer to cover up my sadness. „I bet you miss them. It's hard being away from your family. Trust me, I know how it feels", he explained. „Does your family still live in Ireland?", I asked him now. I didn't really like talking about my life a lot. I was more curious about him.
„Yeah. They still live in Ireland. I love it there and I visit them a lot. Well, right now I can't. But whenever this is over, I'll visit them for a week and then I'll move back to LA for a while", he told me. „Why do you move between these two cities? Isn't it easier just to stay in one of them?"
„It probably is, but I have my record label in LA, but I also love living in London. There are some great producers and music studios in London, so I travel a lot. I love it though. It never gets boring", he said and looked me in the eyes. „Yeah for sure. Traveling between these two cities definitely never gets boring", I agreed.
„Hey, are you hungry? I wanted to make some homemade pizza. Do you want some?"
Are you seriously inviting him for dinner? What the hell, Olivia?
„Just if you are free and you have nothing to do", I quickly added. „I would love to have some pizza with you", he said and finished his beer.
Oh my god.
He was driving me crazy.

We were sitting on my kitchen counter eating pizza. We were having a good time. We constantly asked each other about the most random things. It was great. I could finally calm down and not think about work. „Favorite sport?", I asked him. „Well, to watch, Football... I mean soccer", he laughed. „I figured", I smiled. „And my favorite sport to play, probably golf", he said and took a bite of his pizza. „Wow, I never met someone who plays golf." „I'll show you what you were missing", he said and winked at me. I blushed.
God, what is he doing? What am I doing?
„What about you?", he wanted to know. „Well, during high school, I was a swimmer. I was pretty decent, but I gave it up to become a doctor", I answered. „Do you miss it?" He looked me like he could see into my brain to figure out my answer. „I do. I miss it a lot. Competitive swimming was my whole life. But I enjoy my job. Saving lives is one of the best things you could do." Saying this kind of felt like convincing myself. „Do you enjoy your job?", he exclaimed. My head shot up and I looked at him in shook. „I'm sorry. I didn't want to say something bad about your job. It just seems like you are trying to convince yourself that you like your job, because we need people like you", he added. I sighed. „I think I enjoy it. Every time somebody leaves the hospital cured or healthy again it brings me so much happiness and joy. Helping people is such a great thing to do. I think right now is just a hard time." That was the first time I opened up to someone about my concerns. „You know Olivia, whenever you need someone to talk to. I am here, okay? You can just come over and knock. Whenever you want", he assured me. For a second he touched my hand that was laying on the table. He brushed over it with his thumb to show comfort before he pulled away again. The spot where he touched my hand started to tingle and I started to blush at his lovely actions. He was being so nice to me. „Thank you so much Niall. I really appreciate you. That's so nice of you. The same for you, by the way. You can always come over. I feel lonely sometimes in this big apartment and I need distraction or I go crazy", I laughed. „Me too, Olivia. It's the first week of lockdown and I am going crazy", he made a funny face and I started to laugh.

An hour later I was laying on my couch, watching Netflix. Niall left half an hour ago, after he helped me put away the dishes. It was nice to eat dinner with someone else. Niall was really a nice guy.
Maybe I really like him. Especially after today and I got to know him a little more. I hope I'll see him soon.