I am three weeks into my new job as a research assistant and things have been going great.  My new job gives me purpose for the first time in a while. Ihave something new and exciting to get me out of bed each morning.  I look forward to the hectic morning commute stuffed on to the bus with the rest of the working stiffs of the city. I love my morning routine and this morning is no different from any other I have had over the last three weeks.

I take the Rt. 188 to Westminster. It takes about 35 minutes without delays. Once I get off the bus, I have a short five minute walk to LSE. I stop at Costa along the way and grab a tea for myself and a flat white for Sean. After two days of working together, Professor Quinn "requested" that I call him Sean. I say "requested" because he asked in a very stern way. I felt like I was back in grade school getting in trouble by the teacher. I am still adjusting to his closed off demeanor. He is all business. In the past, I have worked in unprofessional environments causing problems with structure and boundaries.  This will be a good fresh start allowing me to learn what it is to work in a professional environment.   I feel like I have been adjusting pretty well to this new work structure.

Once I get into work, I head to Sean's office which is where my small work space is. I always leave his coffee on his desk; I get into to work a few minutes before him. He arrives every morning like clockwork at 8 a.m. He nods good morning to me and he places his bag next to the desk. He smiles down at the coffee on the desk and thanks me. He never asked me to get him a coffee each morning, it is something I did once and he was so appreciative that I continue to do it.

After quietly checking the emails for responses about interview requests, new leads, and LSE updates, I begin to enter data into a program that Sean created special for this research project. I do this for much of the morning while he teaches class. The data input is back logged because much to my surprise I am the only other person he has working on this project.  I thought with such a big university Sean would have had a team of research assistants. I don't mind being the only one and I actually love numbers as well as inputting data.  Research was one of my favorite courses during the masters part of my degree.

After my morning of data entry, I meet with Sean to go over my morning accomplishments and the schedule for the rest of the day. The afternoon is when we spend the most time working together.  We always have interviews or observation time in the afternoon. Interviews are usually conducted in the office but sometimes we do meet at coffee shops and rarely will we meet at the person's place of work or home. During observation time we head to various places in public for some good old people watching. People watching is something I do in my own free time. Sean is teaching me some new skills and is always making sure I am watching all of my surroundings.  The work day always varies.  Some days we end at 5pm and other we work into the night.

One of my favorite things about my commute home is that the bus stops at South Bank allowing me to get off if I want to skate for a bit before I head home for the night. Tonight, my usual plan of going home is changing up.  I got a text from Louis last night saying he was back in town and he asked to meet up for a skate.

I made sure to bring a change of clothes and my board to work. Sean and I ended our work day in the office at 5 p.m. and I head to the bathroom to change. When I came back, I was surprised to see that he was still in the office. He usually leaves quickly after we wrap up the day. I am slightly embarrassed that he is seeing me in my ripped up boyfriend jeans, loose fitting tank, and my vans. We have never discussed our outside hobbies so I am sure that my drastic change in appearance is a shock to him.

"I'm sorry. I was not expecting to you to still be in the office. I just have some plans after work and thought it would be ok to change here before I head out."

After taking in my appearance for a few seconds he says, "Don't worry about it. What are your plans for the evening?"

I my jaw almost drops open for the mere fact that he is curious about my after work plans. 

"I am meeting up with a friend to skate at South Bank."  I pick up my board to show him.

"Well enjoy your night and be safe."

I nod as he walks out of the office. I can't believe he showed even the smallest bit of interest in my personal life. I hope I didn't over step any boundaries with bringing a bit of my personal life to the office.  I know it sounds a like I am over thinking it but he is so formal that it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Once I get to South Bank, I hanging back chatting with the usual crew of people. Everyone is very nice and welcoming but I have not met anyone that I have become friends with just causal acquaintance. I usually hang with Flora and a few of her friends in my free time.  It would be nice to make some friends of my own. I suddenly remember that I have Liam's girlfriend Sophia's number. I really enjoyed hanging out with her on the tour. I will definitely have to set something up with her.

Just as I am about to send Sophia a text I see Louis walking up.  He has on a pair of tight black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue zip up hoodie left hanging open with the hood up.  I smile when I see him; he looks so cool with his sunken in cheeks while he takes a drag of his cigarette.  He drops his board and skates over to me.

"Hey Love!"

As soon as he is in front of me, I give him a really tight hug.  It was nice to have him standing right here in front of me.

"You break it you buy it." He says with a laugh.

"Sorry, I am just excited to see someone I know in this big city of strangers."

"Well, we're all back in London so you will a few friends around for a bit."

"Won't that just be weird for everyone? I mean I am just some girl Niall hung out with for a few weeks on tour."

"I think we all know that you were a little more than just some girl. Besides the length of time you know someone doesn't decide a friendship."

"It's nice to hear you say that because I missed you guys. Especially your crazy ass."

I can't get rid of the huge smile across my face. I really thought none of them really considered me anything more than Niall's hookup.

Louis puts his arm around me and says, "Come on and skate with a friend."

After skating for an hour or so, we grabbed some food from a cart vendor and sit on a bench looking out at the river. It is a nice summer night. It had been raining for the past few days so it is nice to see the clear sky as the sun is setting. We sit and eat our food in quiet. Louis is first to break the silence.

"Niall misses you, you know?"

"How do you mean?"

"When you left that morning after the fight, he jumped on the plane with only one thing on his mind. He was coming to apologize for getting upset with you. You know we were all really surprised when he told us you are a fan."

"Oh god, he told you?"  I start to blush and cover my face with my hands. "I am so embarrassed."

"Don't be. We love our fans. They are what we keep going for."

"I am not embarrassed because you know I am a fan. I am embarrassed because he told you about the fight and that I hid it from everyone. It was not one of my finest moments...and maybe a little because you know I am a fan."

He chuckles and continues on with his story. "He over reacted and really wanted you to come back. We all thought you would show up with him in Miami. When you didn't, we were all surprised. I get it. You were still fixing your broken heart from one guy and didn't know how to let another in."

"It wasn't about letting him in. When I got home the morning after the fight, I ending up going out with my roommate and ran into my ex. We got very drunk over a long conversation about our relationship and discussed why it didn't work out. From that conversation, I realized while Vinnie was out following his passion, I was left behind with nothing. When we broke, up I realized how much I depended on his happiness to keep me going. Then I met Niall and he brought happiness back into my life. When I spoke with Vinnie, I realized that I was just depending on another guy to make me happy. I needed to find my own happiness. I needed to learn how to be happy on my own. I can't depend on someone else to make me feel that way. I took a look at my life an realized that I lost my drive and passion for my work as well. I have a lot of work to do on myself here in London."

"I get it. It's important to find what you love. I was lucky it happened early on for me. Let me say this one thing and I will not bring up your relationship with Niall again."  I nod at him and give him permission to go on.  "Do not ignore your feelings for him. If you think there is even a chance for a future together you should consider talking to him. You never know if and when the opportunity to be together will be waiting for you again."  He smiles at me as he takes a drag of this cigarette.  "There I said what I had to. I am done."

I am just sitting here listening to him talk. I am staring out across the river and I don't really have anything to say back to him. Do I see a future with Niall? I honestly don't know. I had fun with him and we made each other happy. He was there for me when I need someone but he was also quick to turn his back on me when things caught him off guard. Everything happened so quickly with him I don't even know if we really had time to know each other properly. Damn you Louis Tomlinson for making me think about all of this again.

I quietly mumble, "It's something to think about."

I see Louis looking around and staring off in the distance.  "Olivia does any one know you are here in London?"

"Like who? Of course my family, Riley, and Vinnie know I'm here."

"No not like that. Do the paps know you are here?"

"I don't think so. I have not seen anyone following me around and no stories have popped up on the internet. Why?"

He nods over at a guy with a camera off in the distance.   "I think we have just been spotted."

"Shit Louis. This is not good. I can't have articles posted about me again. I just got a job at a well known school. Plus what will it look like me being out with you and not having been seen with Niall for over a month."

"It's ok love. I have my car. Let me take you home before more people recognize us."

He gives me his hoodie as we get up.  "Put this on. Maybe he hasn't made out who you are yet."

"Here is to hoping."  I throw on his sweatshirt and put the hood over my head.

We hop on our skateboards and make our way to his car. We hop into his black Range Rover and start to laugh because we gave the photographer the slip. Thank god for having our boards with us.

I give him a high five.  "We really know how to cause some trouble. Remember that time at the hotel?"

"Yea, but you bitched out and left us to get into trouble alone."

"Whatever!"

Louis smiles, "So where are we going?"

I punch in my address into his navigation system and we head to my apartment.

"Wow. This is where you live? I can't say I have ever been over this way."

"Do you want to come up and check it out?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "Sure. Why not?"

He parks out front of my apartment and we head inside. When I open the door I can hear the TV.  I was hoping that Flora would be out, I am afraid of what she will say about a member of One Direction in the apartment.  She would probably make fun of me.

When Flora hears me come in she calls from the living room, "Hey. O. I am in here."

"Ok. I have company with me. Is it ok to bring him in the living room?  You have clothes on right?"

I turn to Louis, "With it being just two girls we don't always tend to walk around fully clothed.  There are a lot of boy shorts and t shirts. I know you wouldn't mind see us running around like that but I am sure Flora would not be happy if you caught her in her underwear."

She laughs from the other room, "Of course. I am dressed"

We walk into the living room so I can introduce them.  "Louis this Flora. Flora this is Louis."

Flora turns to look at us and doesn't seem to recognize him. I love that she is totally clueless to the One Direction world. She gets up to come over and greet him.

Louis says, "Hi, Flora. It is nice to meet you."

"You too. How do you know O?"

Louis and I both laugh at the same time.

"Well, you know I was tour with this band little known band, One Direction?  You probably never heard of them before, they really aren't your scene."

"Oh shit. Sorry. I don't realize who you were." A sarcastic smile falls across her face. "I feel like I have to curtsy in front of you or something. Should I roll out the red carpet?   We have boy band royalty in the house."

"No, love. No need for all that."

I am pretty sure she would never curtsy for a member of One Direction. She was totally busting his balls. Louis may just have met someone to give him a run for his money. I show Louis around the apartment and we all sit down for a few beers. The three of us chat for a little over an hour before Louis has to leave. We promise to get in touch again to skate. He tells me there are some other places he wants to take me to skate.

As I am getting ready for bed, Flora comes into my room.  "He's cool for a member of a boy band. I could actually see myself being friends with him."

"What did you think he was going to be like?"

"I don't know. Like a pretty boy who thinks the world is at his beckon call."

"Do you think I would hang out with a bunch of assholes? I love them all."

"I bet you love one of them more than the others?"

I throw my pillow at her, hitting her in the face.  "Hush your mouth. I am going to bed."

"You don't need me tonight?"  She gives me a pouty face.

"Oh, I do. That is why I am telling you I am going to bed so you can get your ass ready and into my bed as well."

"We should have invited Louis to join us."

"Ewe, no. He is my friend. Plus he wouldn't be interested in you, he has a girlfriend."

"Boo."

I laugh at her and shake my head. "What is wrong with you?  You wouldn't want him anyway so don't act all upset."  I roll over onto my side and look at her. "Come on Flora get into bed, I am tried.  And turn off the light too." 

"Goodnight O."

"Goodnight Flora. Thank you for everything."