Love is Blind

It had been a week since I’d seen Liam at the red carpet, and I hadn’t heard from him since. I’d tweeted him right after, but hadn’t received a response. I should have expected as much. He was a celebrity and they tended to be very busy. Even though I should have known, I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

With my notebook in hand, I made the short walk from my flat to Cosmo’s building just a few blocks away. I didn’t have anything on my agenda, so I hoped to use my time at the office to get closer to Kathleen. I wanted another project, and I needed her to give it to me.

By the time I reached Kathleen’s office, on the top floor of the building, my body had completely thawed and my nose was no longer the bright cherry red that the wind had made it. Luckily, my sniffing was kept to a minimum and I would still look fairly presentable in front of Kathleen.

I tapped three quick knocks on Kathleen’s closed door and heard her voice call from within it. When I entered, she smiled up at me from her desk, while pushing her glasses further up her nose.

“Just the person I wanted to see,” Kathleen said, stacking her papers in front of her. “I just got a phone call about you.”

My face twisted immediately, as my body caught up with her words before my mind could. I tried to mask the confusions and fear I was feeling, but she’d already noticed.

“It’s nothing bad,” she continued to say, smiling up at me from underneath her glasses. “You’ve got a request.”

Requests were unusual for interns. It wasn’t often a celebrity requested to do an interview with a particular columnist, but that was the words meant. A celebrity had requested to do an interview with me. Before I had a chance to ask any questions, Kathleen answered them for me.

“I just got off the phone with the manager for that boy band you did a while back, One Direction.” Her eyes moved back to her papers, as she spoke with her most casual voice. “We wanted to do a follow up interview and the boys requested that you lead it.”

That was exactly the type of project that I wanted. My last interview with One Direction had been well received by all of my coworkers, including Kathleen. With any luck, this one would go just as well and could put me up another step on the Cosmo scale.

“Here’s the deal,” Kathleen said, as she leaned further back in her chair. “What I want you to do is dig up some dirt on these boys. You got in good with them at the first interview, and I want you to use this one to gather up the good stuff.”

“What do you mean?” I was fully aware of what she meant, but I didn’t want her to say it. I didn’t want it to be true.

Looking up at me, Kathleen smirked. “I want secrets. Juicy secrets. I want something big that is going to put Cosmo on top of celebrity gossip.”

Kathleen saw something in my eyes that I hadn’t known I’d been showing. She saw that glimmer of weakness within me that I always tried to keep hidden from her.

Her eyes tightened, while her lips pursed. “I’m not asking, Olivia. You better come out of there with something good. Don’t miss your chance because it’s the only one you’re going to get.”

Pressing my lips together, I prevented myself from letting out the sigh that tried so hard to leave my body. I knew Kathleen was right. I only had one chance to become a top writer for Cosmo, and she held that power. She could make or break my career with a simple letter. If I didn’t come out of the interview with something, she could take me down faster than Obama took down Mitt Romney. She’d done it before, to many interns before me, and she could do it again.



The boys were all sitting in front of me with their legs thrown around, looking as comfortable as ever. This time, Niall let me sit in the armchair and I was thankful for that. The further I could be from them the better.

After our short hello’s, the boys had headed straight for the sofa, as if they knew exactly what to do. I was just about to start the interview when Liam cleared his throat.

“So, Olivia.” Liam’s voice trailed off at the end, as he moved his eyes over to me.

“So, Liam.”

I made the exact same motions as he did in my pathetic attempt to look just as confident as he was. I was nervous. I was so far beyond nervous that nervous was the Atlantic Ocean and I was a giant octopus flailing about within it. Not only was I doing another interview with the biggest celebrities in the world, I had to make the interview good. I had to get dirt and I had no clue how to do it.

“What happened to that secret you promised me?”

The secret I had promised him had never really been thought of. I had never actually decided what I was going to tell him, so it was easy to lie.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, a small smile forming on my lips. “I don’t have any secrets.”

Liam’s eyes moved to mine, focusing in on me. There was something about his eyes that made me forget there was anyone else in the room. His eyes were all I could focus on and the only thing I could see.

“How about this?” Liam smiled back at me, folding his hands in his lap. “If you tell me your secret, I’ll tell you mine. Off the record, of course.”

Biting my lip, I took in a deep breath. I knew how I could get my dirt. Now it was just a matter of making it happen.

I nodded my head. “I think I can do that.”

“But.” Liam paused, as he rubbed his fingers together. “You have to tell me over dinner.”