And You Let Her Go

7 months later

I moaned, taking a sip of my black tea.

“He was very kind, handsome…” I visualized the guy from last night’s date, “he was just… missing something.”

Emily smirked and reached over for another donut on the table.

I raised my eyebrows at her, “What?”

“He was missing Harry’s face is what he was missing,” she muttered.

I rolled my eyes at her, pushing my chair from the table, “Okay, Em. Whatever you say. It’s hard enough to forget about him with all the articles, pictures, and now their album on the radio. But now you?”

She frowned, “I’m sorry, I just… I just wish things would have gone differently between you two.”

“Me too,” I whispered, taking a deep breath.

I left our small kitchen and entered my room, jumping onto my white comforter. Reaching for my phone, I opened the text message I received only two minutes ago.

From: Nialler your BESTEST MATE EVER<3
Just a reminder we’ll be visitin in two days ;) xx.

Niall had been texting me everyday for the past two weeks that they were coming to Chicago as a part of the North American leg of their tour. They had a couple days to relax before moving on to Miami, so he insisted on meeting me before they were off again. He was like my own personal countdown.

My phone buzzed again and I frowned when “Cal Murray” appeared at my screen. Cal was the guy from last night.

I tried putting on my best smile, not that he could see…

“Hello?”

“Hi Charlie!” he exclaimed in my ear.

“Hey Cal, how are you?” Sighing, I looked out my window.

“Just calling to see if you’re free Wednesday night?” Wednesday. That was in two days.

“Ah, I’m not actually, I’m sorry.” I wasn’t going to miss seeing the boys.

“Oh,” he sounded surprised, “Plans with the girls?” Girls? What girls?

“Uhh no, my friends are visiting from London,” I answered. The line was silent for about 13 seconds before he spoke again.

“Is it that boy band?”

I sighed, “My friends, yes,” I wasn’t apart of one direction but it still upset me when they were referred to as a boy band; they were more than that.

I heard Cal take a deep breath on the other line, “How about next week?”

I thought about how to answer this question. If I said yes I would be inclined to more dates with him. If I said no—well I couldn’t say that. I didn’t want to the disappointment in his voice so instead I decided on a different response.

“Sure, I’ll call you, yeah?”

“Okay, Charlie. Take care,” he hung up. I groaned and collided with my pillow.

Maybe this was it for me. I mean who was I kidding; I was 19 so I still had the rest of my life, but I couldn’t help but think like every other teenage girl. Cal was sweet, caring, handsome—all the traits a girl could want.

“We accept the love we think we deserve,” I muttered to myself, quoting one of my favorite books.

I reached for my new composition notebook on the bedside table. I used every single blank space I could find in my old notebook; therefore, hello new one!

Absentmindedly, I started playing with my ring, thinking about what will happen on Wednesday. I couldn’t hide my excitement enough to Emily when Niall had first texted me about it.

Louis, Liam, and Zayn had all expressed their excitement when they gave me a call the other day. My mood instantly turned around as I giggled at their jokes and smiled when they updated me about their families.

Harry was “out” each time they called or “very busy,” so I hadn’t heard from him in the seven months since I’d left Holmes Chapel.

I was interrupted with my thoughts by a knock on the door. Emily’s head popped in.

“Fancy some shopping?” she asked in her best English accent.

I rolled my eyes, laughing, “Always.”