Just My Luck

“You know, I have a daughter who would have loved to have been in your situation,” Kate said, smiling. “But nonetheless, I see why you felt uncomfortable with it.”

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“Louis, can I speak to you?” Liam asked, grabbing the older boy’s shoulder and dragging him off to the side, the other three boys following. Ollie sighed and leaned back against the desk.

“What are you thinking, Lou?” Zayn questioned once they were out of Ollie’s earshot. “You’re inviting a random girl off the side of the road to stay with you? Have you gone mad?”

“What’s she going to do? Kill us?” Louis countered. “She’s barely able to see over the desk and the size of a rail. Harry and I could take her if need be. We’re a pair of fit young lads.”

“There are other ways of killing,” Zayn added. “She could poison you, or shoot you, or-“

Louis shook his head and took of the other boy’s arm. He spun him around to face the direction where said girl was standing. “Does that innocent face look like it could hurt anyone? That’s like saying Liam wants to kill us all.”

“Sometimes, I do,” Liam grumbled. He was a bit irked at his friend for offering up his place to stay so quickly. Of course, Louis was just trying to be a gentleman, but he didn’t think when came to this sort of things. It wasn’t that Ollie seemed like a bad person, either. The oldest boy just didn’t think things through long enough to think of the outcome.

Ollie rolled her eyes at their squabbling. Did they think she couldn’t hear them? She could; loud and clear. So, pretty boy thought she was going to kill them all? How nice of him.

Pushing herself away from the desk, she made her way over to them. They all stopped talking once they saw her approach.

“Well, it was wonderful to meet you all and if I knew what One Direction was, I’m sure it would have been even better,” Ollie said, causing Niall to laugh loudly and the others to chuckle along. “The ride was much appreciated and I would pay you if I had any money. As much as I would love for you all to converse about my apparent wanting to murder innocent people, “ Louis sent an annoyed glare at Zayn, who shrugged, “I think I’m just going to call my parents to arrange a flight home. Seeing as they had no idea of my grandparent’s random vacation, I’m sure they won’t be too happy.”

“We can take you back to the airport, if you’d like,” Louis chimed in, almost eagerly.

Ollie laughed and shook her head. “No, that’s alright. I couldn’t ask you to do more than you already have. Besides, I’m sure being in a famous boy band you have many other things you need to be doing right now.”

When she said this, a million alarms went off in Liam’s head. He clapped his hands together and looked at the other boys.

“We have an interview in,” he looked down at his watch, “twenty minutes. We need to go. It was lovely to meet you, Ollie. Take care.”

Each boy said their goodbyes and they all walked to the door.

“Thank you!” Ollie called after them. Louis looked back, smiled and waved. The brunette turned back to the lady. “Do you know where I can get something to eat for,” she rummaged through the bottom of her bag, hoping to find some change, “five dollars in American money?”

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The older woman had directed Ollie to a place to exchange her money for the local currency. Once she had done that, she found a Starbucks, where she bought a muffin. She sat outside, taking in the view of the beautiful city. It had finally stopped raining by the time Ollie had left the apartment complex.

It occurred to her that the first thing she should have done was to call her parents but a bigger part of her wanted to stay. She hated the idea of having to stay in London for a whole summer but now she didn’t want to leave. So, she had some bad luck since getting there but maybe things could turn around for her.

If she did stay, though, where would she live? She knew no one, aside from her grandparents but that option was obviously out the window for a couple of weeks. She had no clothes, besides the ones on her back, and no money to buy clothes with. Those things put a bit of damper on her dreams of staying. Where was this rebellious need to stay in London without her parent’s knowledge of her grandparent’s absence coming from anyway? She knew they would have wanted to her call the minute she lost her luggage. Or when she found out she had no money or when she had no place to stay. They would freak out if they found out.

“Oh my God, I’m so dead,” Ollie murmured to herself. She picked up her things and began to walk out of the eating area.

She was nearly to the sidewalk when she bumped into someone, causing the boy to drop his coffee to the ground.

“I am so sorry! I wasn’t paying any attention!” Ollie began apologizing over and over. The boy looked up and her talking stopped.

“Ol?” Louis questioned, his bright blue eyes meeting her brown ones.

“Oh, Louis. Uh, sorry, again. I should go.” Before she could walk away, Louis grabbed her arm.

“Wait a minute, will ya? I want to tell you goodbye properly. Last time was a bit rushed.”

“Shouldn’t you be at an interview? I could have sworn that’s where you were headed when I got rid of you,” Ollie replied, smirking.

“Liam, the idiot, got the times wrong. The interview’s not until four so I have an hour or two to spare. Now, wait here while I get another coffee. Someone made me drop mine,” he added, jokingly. Ollie laughed and nodded her head, saying she wouldn’t leave.

Her cell phone rang a minute later and her mother’s number flashed across the screen. Ollie’s eyes widened in panic. What was she going to tell her? She was probably the worst liar ever and even worse when it came to lying to her parents. She just couldn’t do it but she’d give it a shot.

“Hello?” she answered, biting her lip, willing Louis to hurry up.

“Olivia! How are you? Did you get to your grandparent’s safely?” Her mother immediately bombarded her with questions.

“I’m fine and I did.”

“How are your grandparents, then? Are they there? Can I speak to them?”

Ollie sighed. Typical. Her mother was being completely crazy about the whole thing. She barely let Ollie get a word in before asking another question.

“Um, I- uh…“ She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t think of anything that her mother would believe. Ollie had to tell her the truth. There was no way she couldn’t. “Mom, they’re in Ireland. I don’t know if Dad didn’t tell them or they just forgot I was coming but they’re not here.”

“What?” She could hear the panic in her mother’s voice. “They’re not? How could they not be there? We told them the exact date of your arrival.” Margret rambled on for a good minute, trying to make sense of what happened. “You have to come home,” she finally said.

Ollie caught sight of Louis and a wild thought popped into her head. That could work, she thought to herself. “Mom, I guess, they already had it their trip booked. They actually have someone for me to stay with while they’re gone.”

Louis smiled when he saw her and she returned it half-heartedly. He noticed quickly that she was on her phone. Ollie held her breath as she waited for her mother’s response.

“Oh, well, then, who is it that’s staying with you?” Ollie felt her eyes widen. Her mother actually believed it? “What’s their name?”

“Lou- Lou! That’s her name!” Ollie replied, smoothly. Louis raised an eyebrow at her, questioningly. She held up one finger, indicating that she would explain in a moment. “She’s a lovely old woman with tons of cats.”

“Are you talking about me? Harry’s the one who likes pussy,” Louis whispered. Ollie shushed him, quickly. “What are you doing, Ol?”

“One second, Mom. Lou is bit annoying and keeps asking for help on something.” She held the phone away. She looked up at Louis, their eyes meeting, and mustered up the most charming smile that she could. “I need a favor.”