Harry Who?

It was no secret that One D was in town. Girls (all of whom seemed to think it was okay to stop in to the 24 hour bookstore I worked nights at to use our bathroom) lined up outside their hotel waiting to catch a glimpse of one of them. Occasionally one of the fans would buy a book to read to pass the time waiting, so I can’t complain. However, I could have done without the difficulty finding a parking spot and having to walk nearly half a mile from my car to the bookstore at night because some teen-aged girls had parked in all the store’s parking spots.

Around 2:30 AM on day two of the Directioner’s occupation, I got a knock on the back door of the book store. It was a little unusual, but the store was empty, so I cautiously made my way to the back door, which I usually only used for taking out the trash or accepting book deliveries. I opened the door a crack and was faced with two large guys dressed in black. ‘Damn, this is how I die’ I thought, and grabbed the closest thing I could find to a weapon: an umbrella.

“Is the store empty?” One of the guys asked.

I froze and didn’t know how to respond. I tightened my grip on the umbrella and jabbed it through the door at the two men. “We don’t have any money here, and I’m calling the police!” I shrieked and slammed the door. I leaned my back against the door and slowly slid to the ground as I tried to reach for my phone.

But they knocked again. “I’m sorry miss! We just wanted to know if the store was empty so they don’t get attacked by any fans!”

‘What? Fans?’ I stood up and slowly opened the door. The two really big dudes were still there, with two other smaller guys, both snickering. “She nearly got you, mate,” the one with shorter hair said.

“Sorry, I should have explained, we’re with One Direction’s security detail. A couple of the boys wanted to pick up a few books.” He held up his hands as he spotted the umbrella still clutched in my hand. “I probably should have called ahead.”

I nodded; he should have called ahead. “I’ll just lock the front door, and close the blinds, so the girls outside won’t see them. Do you want me to turn the light’s off too?”

“Um, no that’s fine.” The one with longer hair said. “How would we see the books?” He added with a shy smirk.

Maybe it was the adrenaline still coursing through my veins, but damn he had a cute dimple! I think I might have blushed, so I turned around to start locking up the store for our guests. ‘So this is what all those girls outside have been waiting to see…’ I was beginning to understand, and it kind of scared me. ‘I’m not a teen-aged girl? I don’t like boy bands?’

“Sorry miss…?” He appeared again, taking me by surprise. ‘Damn that accent’.

“Ellie,” I answered.

“Ellie, that’s a nice name. I’m Harry,” he smiled, and the dimples came out again. “My mate Louis and I are looking for a book.”

I nodded and smiled, trying to remember my customer service manners, considerably failing. “Well, this is a good place to find books.” No flirting with customers! I took a deep breath. “What title are you interested in?”

“You Get so Alone at Times that it Just Makes Sense” he started, and I nodded.

‘It’s like he’s looking directly into my soul’ I thought, but he continued.

“By Charles Bukowski,” he added.

I nodded, I should have known that was a book title, but honestly I wasn’t too into working at the bookstore and had not committed the entire stock to memory. “I believe that would be right over here.” I started to lead him to the aisle and he called out to his friend.

“Louis! This cute librarian found our book!” He shouted, and Louis came running over.

“I’m actually not a librarian, this is just a bookstore.” I corrected, but they kept talking.

“I’m going to get this cute teddy bear for my girlfriend,” Louis held up a stuffed bear and squeezed it. “It says ‘I love you!’ when you squeeze it!”

Harry raised his eyebrows. “Wow, so you’re at that stage now? Saying the ‘L’ word?”

Louis shrugged. “We’ve been saying it for weeks.”

“But you’ve only been dating a few weeks?” Harry looked confused, but Louis shrugged and moved on. “I don’t understand him sometimes,” he said to me quietly.

I laughed, hoping that was a joke, and he smiled again. “So, I think this is the book you’re looking for. It does not say I love you when you squeeze it,” I smiled crookedly.

Luckily he caught onto my lame attempt at humor and smirked again. “Good, it’s for my girlfriend of five years, and we’re not ready to say it yet.”

We both laughed, and Louis in the next aisle over, shouted, “I heard that!” and shot Harry a teasing look as I rang up their merchandise.

“Just kidding, I don’t have a girlfriend.” He bit his lip shyly and looked away. “I feel like I should clarify that, so it’s not awkward when I ask for your number. You know, so you don’t hit my bodyguard with an umbrella next time I want a book.”

“Right,” I blushed again, and searched for a pen. “Sorry about that.” I nodded toward his guard. I scratched my number on the receipt and tucked it in his book.

“See you around,” Harry winked as they filed out the back door into the alley, leaving me, once again, alone in the bookstore.

‘Why shouldn’t I find this random long-haired guy with an adorable dimple cute? So what if he’s in a boy band?’