Love is Blind

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I pulled my pen from its usual place in my pocket. My notebook was already opened in front me, the pages laced with several facts the boys. Everything ranging from their stay in New York to their next tour dates, and any other information I might need.

I had my tape recorder out and ready. The black box sat on the coffee table in front of me, ready to be turned on when the boys arrived.

With my feet crossed in front of me, I sat on the large armchair next to Cosmo’s trademark pink sofa. Just the thought that the boys would be forced to sit on it made me laugh. The entire interview room was decorated in pinks, whites, and zebra print patterns. It usually fit perfectly for the female celebrities we interviewed, but on the rare occasion a piece about boys was going to be done, the room seemed out of place and over the top.

My phone buzzed against my leg, alerting me to the text that lay waiting inside of it. I knew it would be from Kathleen, my internship head, reminding me once again not to blow the interview. The woman trusted me – I was sure of that – but letting an intern do a celebrity interview was a big risk, and I was thankful she was willing to take it. I didn’t mind that she was constantly pressuring me about asking all the right questions.

One of Cosmo’s few high school interns, a blonde girl whose name I didn’t catch, came into the interview room to announce that the boys would be arriving any minute. She left before I could thank her, making it even more obvious she hadn’t been with Cosmo long.

I had been in her place less than a year ago, when I first received one of Cosmopolitan Magazine’s college internships. I was just as nervous as she was, and some of those nerves still came out, especially when I got a big project like doing a celebrity interview. It was my first, and my hands were shaking, but I hid it well.

The sound of the boys’ laughter hit my ears before their hands hit the doorknob, and I stood up quickly. Their manager entered first and approached me immediately, locking our hands in a firm shake. I was polite and my smile was the largest it had ever been, just as Kathleen had taught me.

The man reminded me of the list of questions I wasn’t allowed to ask them – ones about their love lives, families, and celebrity crushes. I wasn’t surprised. Kathleen had told me this was the case for many celebrities. There were certain things they just didn’t want the public to know, and I respected that.

I was to only ask questions about their tour, music, and friendships. He laughed a lot and admitted that he was going to go easy on me and let me ask questions about their many shenanigans.

After his spiel, he turned on his heel and headed out of the interview room to bring the boys in. I took deep breaths and clenched my fists to help relieve my nerves. As much as I loved journalism, interviews were always nerve racking, this one especially.

A few seconds later, the boys stepped through the door, their eyes immediately growing wide at the sight of the room. I let out a chuckle, before approaching them with my hand held out.

“Olivia Lucas,” I said, reaching my hand out to the closest boy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The curly haired boy laughed, taking my hand. With a smile, he shook it. “Harry Styles. Pleasure to meet you as well.”

Each of the other boys followed suit, shaking my hand and introducing themselves, as Niall, Zayn, Louis, and Liam, from left to right.

Of all the unique things about these boys, from their hair to their style of clothing, their accents were what caught my attention the most. Harry Potter flashbacks began flowing through my mind each time they spoke, and I had to refrain from yelling Expecto Patronum at each of them.

“Would you guys like to have a seat?” I asked, motioning towards the pink sofa to my right.

Niall looked from the sofa, to me, and let out a laugh. “Did you guys do this on purpose?”

Shaking my head, I smiled at them. “No, I swear. If you’d like, the five of you can sit in my seat and I’ll take the sofa.”

Niall’s eyes grew wide, flashing between the boys, before he dived onto the chair. He spread out his arms and legs comfortably, enjoying the white cushions beneath him.

The other boys took their place on the pink sofa with large grins on their faces. They were spread out evenly, taking up the entire seat. Their arms were throw over the sides and they took to making themselves as at home as they possibly could.

Reaching for my notebook, I pulled the black book from its place on the coffee table, before flashing my eyes around the room. The boys quickly realized, at the same time I did, that all of the seats were taken.

“Oh, here,” Liam said, scooting closer to Zayn. “You can sit here.”

The boys each moved over, giving themselves a little less space, until there was enough room for me to sit at the end. Harry’s bright green eyes glared at Niall from across the room, and the blonde boy looked over at me, mouthing a soft ‘sorry’.

I smiled at him, mouthing back ‘it’s okay’, and we had a silent agreement that all would be forgiven.

Leaning forward, I pressed the button at the top of my recorder and set the interview in motion.

“So, where do you guys want to begin?” I asked, looking from Niall in his chair, to the boys next to me.

From the opposite end of the sofa, Harry laughed. “Aren’t we supposed to ask you that?”

Two minutes into the interview and I had already embarrassed myself. Honestly, it didn’t surprise me, but I had hoped it would happen later rather than sooner. I hadn’t gotten to any of my questions yet, and Kathleen was going to murder me if I didn’t get answers.

Harry laughed again, smiling at me. “I’m just messing with you.”

“We have a tour coming up,” Liam said, quick to get the conversation moving. “We can talk about that.”

I nodded my head, pulling open my notebook. I flipped through the pages as quickly as I could, hoping to land on something about their tour. There were several moments of awkward silence as I attempted to find my notes. I had completely forgotten where I’d put everything, and the moment got increasingly more awkward.

My hands were beginning to sweat, causing the pages to slip between my fingers. My heart racing within my chest caused my hands to shake and it was becoming even more difficult to flip through my notebook.

The boys were obviously beginning to pick up on my nervous cues. Reaching over, Liam placed his hand against my notebook and shut it closed.

“Just relax,” Liam said, smiling at me. “Pretend we’re just a bunch of friends hanging out in a thirteen year old girl’s room."

I took a deep breath, chuckling as I let it out. “I can do that.”

Placing my notebook down on the coffee table, I folded my hands in my lap. Each of the boys looked at me with encouraging smiles, and it amazed me how kind the boys were.

Kathleen had told me countless horror stories about rude celebrities. She had warned me that one slip up would cause the boys to scold me, but that wasn’t the case. They were nothing but bright smiles and soft eyes.

“So,” I said, feeling my body relax beneath me. “How are you enjoying your stay in New York?”

Louis was the first to answer, a large grin on his face. “It’s going quite well. This city has some of the prettiest women I’ve ever seen. Giving us lots of inspiration for our new album.”

My train of thought immediately made a stop at asking them if they’d met anyone in their first week in NYC, but it was on the list of things not to ask, so I changed the topic as smoothly as I could.

“Let’s play a game,” I said. I could practically hear Kathleen yelling in my ear that this was not the way interviews were supposed to go. Stay on topic. Address the issues. Get the information. Playing games was nowhere on the list of pointers she gave me.

I blamed my high school journalism teacher. He had always told me to make my interviews memorable, and what better time to put that phrase to practice than in an interview with One Direction?

From his place on the chair, Niall chuckled. “I like where this is going.”

“It’s two truths and a lie,” I said, looking at each of the boys. “You tell me three things. Two of them are true, and one is a lie. I have to guess which is which. If I get it right, you have to tell me a secret.”

The boys smiled, their faces brighter than when they’d walked in. Niall was the most enthusiastic, and immediately sat up in his chair.

“I’ve from Ireland,” he said, counting on his fingers. “I wear two pairs of socks to make me look taller. I can eat me own weight in Nando’s.”

Pausing for a moment, a placed my hand on my chin, as I thought about his three facts. He was from Ireland; that was obvious. The other two were basically stabs in the dark.

“You can’t eat your weight in Nano’s?” I said, more of a question than a statement.

Niall shook his head quickly, letting out a laugh. “Next.”

I moved my attention to the sofa, starting with Harry on the end. He grinned as he spoke, naming off his three facts.

“I came up with the band name. I color my hair. And I talk in my sleep.”

“You didn’t come up with the band name?”

Laughing, Harry shook his head. “Come on, that’s basic One Direction trivia right there.” He let out a fake sigh. “Next.”

We went around in the circle, one boy after another. My correct answers earned me two secrets, one from Louis and another from Zayn. The dark haired boy admitted to wetting the bed when he was young, while Louis confessed he had a crush on Paula Abdul when he was young.

When we got around to Liam, he paused for a moment, slower to name off his facts than the other boys.

“Alright,” he said, leaning forward and placing his elbows against his legs. “I have two sisters. I broke my toe in May. And I cheated on my ex-girlfriend.”

His three facts gave me pause. Liam didn’t appear to be the cheating type, but it seemed like an odd fact to throw out if it wasn’t true. Of all the random lies he could’ve told, it would be a strange one if it was.

“You didn’t cheat?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

The left corner of his lip pulled up in a smile and he nodded his head.

“For my secret,” he paused again, scratching the back of his shaved head. “When I was little, I always practiced kissing on the back of my hand.”

I didn’t mean to, but his secret caused me to burst out in laughter. Just the thought of a younger version of him worrying about charming the ladies brought a smile to my lips. The other boys thought it was funny as well, and shared in my laughter.

From that moment on, the interview went smoothly. I asked about their upcoming tour, their recording in New York, and offered up a few sites for them to see while they visited.

When their manager walked through the door, signaling that they had other places to be, I was sad that they had to go. I knew it was going to happen, and I had another interview to take care of after they left, but I only wished I had more time with them.

With smiles on their faces, they each shook my hand as they said their goodbyes. I thanked them for being so laidback in our interview and they assured me it was no problem.

After they had walked out the door, I stopped my recorder and made sure to save the interview. My head was spinning with different directions to take the article and I couldn’t wait to get started on it.