Months passed, we rarely communicate. There would be an ocassional “hi” or “hello” but it happens once in a blue moon.
I did what he wanted me to. I did my best at work, and now I’ve saved the New York branch, and currently managing it.
One busy day at the office, as I was proofreading articles for the next magazine issue, my phone rang.
“Hello?” I picked up.
“Hey, babe. Zayn told me you’re in New York.” Louis said.
“Oh. Hey, Lou. Yeah. I am. Why?”
“I’m here in New York as well. Wanna hang out? Maybe have dinner.”
“I’m kinda busy right now. Call you later?”
“I can see. You have loads of papers on your desk. You actually have to read all those?”
“Wha-?”
I looked up at my office window and saw Louis wave, smiling at me. I waved back and motioned for him to get in.
“Hey, babe.” He smiled as he got in.
“Hey, Lou. What brings you here?” I asked.
“Like I said, it’s been a while since we hung out.”
“Yeah, but I’m busy. And I get off work at six pm, it’s just three.”
“I can wait here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“Where are the other lads?”
“Harry and Niall are in LA. Zayn is here in New York too. Liam and Dani went on holiday in Paris.”
“Ohh… LA… Paris…”
“Yeah. Why? What’s wrong with LA and Paris?”
“Nothing… Just… Uhh… How long would you be here?”
“A couple of months, I guess.”
After all the small talk, he let me work in peace. While I proofread stuff, he was playing with his iPhone. A little while later, I got off work and we went out for dinner.
“So, why the sudden invitation?” I asked, biting into my bagel.
We bought bagels, took a stroll down Central Park, and sat down on one of the park benches.
“Nothing it’s just ‘cause I miss my baby girl so much.” Louis smiled at me.
“Seriously?” I laughed.
“Yes. Seriously.”
“Don’t you have a love life of some sort?”
“Nada. None yet, at least. I’m not sure if the girl I like is already up for a new relationship. What’s up with you and Grant, though? Heard you broke up when you moved here a couple of months ago.”
“Well, yeah. We decided to focus on our careers first. If we’re meant to be together, we’ll be back in each others arms in no time.”
“You still communicate?”
“Not really… Our schedules are wrecks, so we both don’t have time to talk…”
“That sucks. I guess…”
“Nah. It’s all cool… I’m okay. I think.”
“Aww..”
He hugged me for a short time, stood up from the bench and held his hand out for me.
“Let’s get you home. Nikki and Allie might be looking for you already.” Louis said.
“Oh. Yeah.” I answered, held onto his hand and he helped me up.
We walked to our apartment, chatting about tons of random stuff. Eventually, we arrived.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in for tea?” I asked for the nth time.
“Yeah. I’m good.” He smiled.
“Okay. If you say so.”
“Bye, babe. Good night.”
“You too, Lou. Take care.”
“Will do.”
He kissed me on the cheek and walked away.
“Oh! Kate!” He called before I got inside the apartment.
“Yeah?” I turned back.
“See you tomorrow.” Louis winked and turned to walk away.
Tomorrow? Weird, weird lad. I went inside and went on with my normal everyday cycle. I did some house chores, freshened up for bed, and slept. The next day, my boring life continued. I went to work and stuff. A couple of hours before I got off, Louis arrived, yet again. This time, with a bouquet of flowers.
That routine went on for a couple of months more. Louis would stop by at the office in the afternoon, and we’d go out for dinner somewhere.
Tonight was Allie’s birthday celebration. We decided to hit up some clubs in the metro. There were the 10 of us. Nikki, Allie, Josh, Dani, Liam, Niall, Harry, Zayn, Louis and I.
“This one looks decent. Not too crowded. I like this one. Let’s stay here.” Allie smiled as we got inside a bar called BlackHole.
“That’s good.” Nikki answered as Zayn pulled her into the dancefloor.
“We’ll be at the bar if you need us.” Harry called as he and Niall left towards the bar.
Allie, Josh, Dani and Liam walked over to one of the tables at the bar, leaving Louis and I by the entrance.
“Bar or dancefloor?” Louis grinned at me.
“Bar. Definitely.” I answered.
We walked over to the bar, I sat on the bar stool next to Harry’s.
“Hey Hazza. Hey Nialler” I greeted.
“Hey Katie. Hey Louis.” They chorused.
We ordered tons of shots. We had tequila shots, gin shots, and vodka shots. We had a couple of bottles of beer. My mind was buzzing.
I looked over to the dancefloor, and saw Allie and Josh making out somewhere in the middle. A giggle escaped my lips, and I went back to drinking. Harry, Niall and Louis were talking about hating on their management, how they are too controlling. Not even allowing them to date someone. Then Niall and Harry shifted their topics to them recently getting heartbroken or something.
“Hey, let’s dance.” Louis said, pulling me up from my stool.
I stood up and we stumbled our way to the dancefloor. We went right down the middle and danced to the beat. Our insanely drunk alter-egos were taking control of our bodies. We were going wild. Seriously. My head was too fuzzy to give much of a damn.
“And it goes like this! Take me by the tongue and I’ll know you.” The music boomed from all over the pub.
Louis inched closer, wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in. He leaned down and kissed me passionately. I was too buzzed and I was experiencing deja vù so I responded by kissing him back.
“Kiss me ‘til you’re drunk and I’ll show you all the moves like Jagger. I’ve got the moves like Jagger. I’ve got the mooooooves like Jagger.”
This time nobody pulled me away from Louis. It was just the two of us. Eventually, we pulled away for breath. Louis rested his forehead on mine and looked at me intently. His blue-gray eyes were sparkling, mesmerizing, and oddly familiar.
“I love you, Kate. I’ve waited almost six years to tell you that. I’ve watched you fall in love with someone else, and endured it, because I truly love you. Now that Grant’s out of the picture, will you love me too?” Louis whispered, our faces extremely close together, his lips brushing a bit over mine with every word he utters.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in closer. I kissed him hard, he kissed back. We were at a full make out session in the middle of the dancefloor. He pulled me closer to him, the kiss went harder and deeper.
“I’ve got the moves like Jagger, I’ve got the moves like Jagger, I’ve got the moooooooooves like Jagger.” The song wrapped up.