Joelle

"A massive thank you to the One Direction boys for being here today to talk about their new single and chat with me about their lives! I hope the start of your tour goes well, as well as the work on the new album." I wrapped up the interview, since Carrie was by the door and using the well known hand signal for 'finish!'. It had been a long twenty minutes, as I tried my best to keep from favoring Zayn. It was hard, considering every time I looked at him, his eyes would light up and the beginnings of a smile would appear. The more I stole glances his way, the more I wanted to just ask him about things. So about a minute into the questions, I forced myself to watch Niall. He was a very animated talker and seemingly enjoyed answering whatever questions came his way. 

"Thanks, Joelle! It was lovely talking to you." Louis spoke on their behalf, his head bobbing along to his words. 

"This is 95.6, the radio station that never stops! Here's Paradise Fears with Battle Scars! And after, Martin Miller will be starting off the next hour with some new music from Parachute! Joelle Parker signing off." Once I had clicked on the song, I pushed the mic away from my mouth and took a long drink of water. 

"Great job, and thank you again for being here! There's plenty of pizza in the conference room, feel free to wander around! And if you don't mind, would you sign our wall of fame?" Carrie got the five guys' attention and quickly guided them out of the studio as Martin and I switched places. The silence that overtook the room was obvious, everyone following Carrie. Celebrities and pizza were this radio station's favorite things.

"You're so brilliant when it comes to interviews," Martin complimented me as I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder. My eyes, without my mind's consent, flitted to where I saw Zayn leave. 

"Thanks," I spoke quietly in response. 

"You should talk to that blonde one, you seemed pretty entranced by him." Martin winked. "And the sooner you get a boyfriend, the sooner we'll all stop bothering you about it!" 

I shook my head quickly, giving him a look that I hope he took as a 'don't say that again' warning. Laughter came from him before he shooed me out of what was now his studio. Keeping my face passive, I hurried out into the hall. The tall, raven haired intern stopped me before entering the conference room to grab my jacket. She was practically bubbling over with excitement. "Great job today, Joelle! Did you see them? They were watching you like every second! I can't believe that I got them coffee and they were so sweet about it!"

"Yeah, Kate." I said to the girl. Kate was a happy girl and absolutely stunning, with long legs and a gorgeous face. She had moved from the US to London when her mom got a job as a manager for Topshop. Kate applied for the same internship that I had, wanting to see what goes on in a radio station. She had already been there for five months and was fitting in perfectly, having one of those personalities that everyone just loved.

"Are you gonna go talk to them some more?" She asked, eyes bright with happiness. 

"No, I'm gonna grab my jacket and head home." 

"Oh," Kate's face fell momentarily before she shrugged. "You must be tired. I understand! Go home and get some rest, you'll sleep well knowing that all five boys of One Direction fancy you!" 

Giving her a weak smile, I sidestepped her and walked into the room that seemed to have become the party room. Everyone was standing around, eating pizza and laughing. I noticed that the coat rack was now a maze to get to. Silently cursing my luck, I began my trek. Dodging their management, Carrie and 'the boys', I finally got to my destination. I got frustrated when I noticed that about seven coats covered mine and started to ruffle through them, hoping to spot the familiar grey jacket quickly. The second I spotted it, I shoved my arms into the sleeves. 

"Hey, Joelle!" 

Caught off guard, I almost tripped over the coffee table on my way out. I looked up to where Zayn was trying to keep from laughing at me. "Hi."

"Can we talk?" As he asked, I found my stomach feeling as though someone had dropped acid into it. 

"Um, yeah, for a little while. I gotta get home soon, though." I responded, trying to keep myself from chickening out and running off. He nodded us towards the corner of the room, where no one was. 

"I know you remember me." The words were simple but I found myself getting worried. "So why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not. We talked once and I didn't know if it would matter how I reacted to you today." I shrugged. "Usually the conversations held in clubs are not discussed outside of clubs." 

"That's not what I was talking about. You're an incredible person-"

"You've known me for a total of three days. I wouldn't say that's enough time to figure out if someone is an incredible person or not." My head tilted to the side as I spoke.

"Fine, I'm assuming you're an incredible person. Would you like to get coffee sometime?" Zayn got straight to the point, and I guessed that it was probably because I was starting to become fidgety, my eyes flitting to the door a few times.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," I replied almost immediately, although I wanted to say yes more than anything. It just wasn't right, I couldn't go out with him and I couldn't set myself up for this.

"Come on, it's one cup of coffee. It's not like I'm asking you to marry me."  A smirk had taken place across his lips, and it grew as he continued to speak. "That comes after about a four hundred cups of coffee."

"I guess we'll have to make sure it doesn't get that far, then." I stated, not being able to hide a smile. 

"What harm will one cup do?" Zayn urged me to accept.

The longer we stood, the more worried I was that the people around us would notice the two of us talking. I sighed before fishing out the notebook I kept in my purse, along with a ballpoint pen. Scribbling my number across the white lined paper, I warned Zayn. "This doesn't mean anything. It's coffee. No one will know about it and avoid the paparazzi, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm good at that." He grinned. "I'll text you the details. If you have an absolute terrible time, I promise to dye my hair pink."

"That's kind of a huge deal, are you sure management would approve?" I cocked an eyebrow, surprised at how easily conversation flowed between the two of us. Usually in one on one conversations, I struggled to respond to anything they said. It was hard to joke around with people I had known for years, yet here I was with Zayn - acting as though he was a family member. My family were the only ones that I talked to for extended periods of time, it wasn't just a few sentences thrown their way. And this was the same way, I was actually holding a conversation.

He shrugged. "Guess you're going to have to have a great time with me."

"We'll see. I gotta go. Bye," with a final smile, I turned around and started to make my way through the people.  They paid no attention to me as I managed to slip away, my mind reeling with the finality of Zayn and I's conversation. I was going on a date. 

Not that I had never been on a date before, because I've been on plenty. Usually it was out of pity for the person who asked me, I didn't want them to be upset when I said no. The whole entirety of those dates, though, was me simply agreeing with everything they said and counting the second down until I could escape without being rude. I wasn't the type of person who was comfortable just going on dates.

But here I was, actually feeling excited to go out for coffee.