𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 busy week of work flew by. Christmas is coming up in a couple weeks and I cannot wait to have that break to just relax and have absolutely nothing to do, but spend time with those around me.

Currently, I'm assisting a fabulous man. He has shoulder length wavy hair and an unbelievable overbite. He's chosen some black velvet flare pants—which are coming heavily in style—a coat of the same pattern but a deep burgundy colour, a pinkish t-shirt and a coral neck scarf with a diamond pattern on it.

  "Have a lovely day." I flash him a closed smile as I slide him his bag.

He flashes an introverted smile back and nods his head lightly as he folds his lips over his teeth and heads for the door.

All my other coworkers are spread out around the store succouring to the customers that need it. I rest my head in my hand as I lean on the counter, just admiring this store. I can't explain how much I adore this store.

...

I checked out the last customer right before closing so I decided to leave with Kadence around nine. One of my other coworkers closes today, so I wave goodbye to him and he waves a friendly wave back.

A choir sings a winsome Christmas carol a few blocks down.

"Boss said he'd give you your paycheck next Thursday, Kay."

"Cool." She says optimistically with a light smile on her face. I yank the key out of the door.

"You know, with this much work we've been doing and other stuff going on in your life, I don't know how you could possibly be this alive- this optimistic and all." I sigh. "I just don't see how one person could be so happy, all the time." I giggle in a joking manner as I bat my head to her beside me.

She shrugs it out, seeming completely oblivious to what I just said. I let out a light laugh to myself as I pull my jacket over my chest and cross my arms.

"Lately it is just so cold here it..."

What Kadence begins to say fades out of my attention as I see a new sign plastered on the nearest coffee shops' window. 'ONE DIRECTION' is written on the top of the sign in jarring print. I breathe out and fog blows out of my nose as I admire the poster. My eyes scan over the poster of four boys. My attention focuses to the only blonde of the group, and then I look at second man from the left. He has long majestic hair and plump lips. He has a angry look on his face with a light crease between his eyebrows. His image stares back, nearly scaring me with the intimidating look on his face. I lick my lips and scrunch my eyebrows as I examine him. Mick Jaggar. He looks like Mick Jaggar—knock off Rolling Stones. Considering the black and white printing of the photo, it's hard to distinguish their features well. I lift my hand and smooth out the words at the bottom on the poster, the glaze of ice frozen to the poster burns my finger tips.

I feel a hand place on my shoulder making me jump out of my trance.

"He looks just like-" Kadence says as she peers over my shoulder.

"I look like Mick Jagger, " I hear multiple crunching footsteps approach behind Kadence and I. "I know." A mans deep voice echos. I turn around startled to see two men from the poster standing right in front of me.

The one with longer hair, which is flipped over to one side, stares at me with a lighter expression than on the photo. He wears a sleekly smoothed white button down shirt and pants in the same condition, with a long navy coat hanging open over the outfit. The man beside him has lighter brown short hair. It's dark outside and only street lights and small store signs light the cold street. The short haired mans eyes get shined with a cars headlights passing by and bright blue crystal eyes look at me with his head tilted and hands in his pockets.

The long haired musician has the same crease between his eyebrows compared to the poster and he wipes the bottom of his nose with his index finger.

I stay completely silent as I pull my coat closer to me again. The long haired man eyes look me up and down and then looks over at Kadence. The two men step up on the sidewalk as one begins to speak.

  "You coming?" The blue eyes ask.

  "Uh, I'm sorry?" I look back at fourth at both men and then turn around to the poster as what they're asking clicks in my mind. "Ohh, I don't know" I awkwardly chuckle.

  "Mmm." The same man responds.

  "Louis and I were gonna' go get a couple drinks." He slips his hands in his coat pockets. "Mind to join us?"

Louis is blue eyes' name, but what's yours?

"Uhm...well, " I begin to shake my head. "I've had a long day and- uh Christmas..."

  "Christmas?" The gentleman in the matching navy coat and pants questions. He bites his cheek and then proceeds to smile at me making butterflies swarm in my core. His smile is so beautiful and bright, but it has an undercover sexiness to it.

  "Yeah...Christmas is soon and I'd prefer to go home and..." I nod and look at Kadence. She looks like she wants to laugh at me. A street light flicks on above us and I'm immediately drawn to his stinging green eyes—so green that they stab me like a dagger when our eyes connect. One side of his lips curve up into a skirmish smile. I lightly smile back and cross my arms awkwardly.

  "What about you?" Louis chuckles, asking Kadence.

  "Well- I think I'd quite like to go home as well. Boyfriend's waiting." She says politely. Silence occurs. "Yeah."

Louis and the snake eyed man look at each other and then to us with a joking smile on their faces. I'm immediately drawn to the green eyes' dimples and the way his chestnut waves flow in the winter breeze. I glance at Kadence and we return the same type of smile back at them.

  "We must be off now, I'm freezing." I say to break the awkwardness. I eye the long haired man up and down just showing I have slight interest in his looks and his well groomed style. He gives the smallest smirk back as I drag Kadence along with me.

  "Goodnight." I hear the groggy voice of the man I fancied moderately. I turn around to them and Kadence and I break out laughing at the ridiculousness of the two boys. I shake my head and cover my mouth.

That was a first in a very long time.

...

I arrive home and go to my room completely exhausted. I plop down on my bed, throw my coat across the room and lazily push the shoes off my feet. I lie down in bed expecting to immediately fall asleep, but my eyes refuse to close as I keep thinking about those green eyes. Who is One Direction and why do I not know who they are?

I keep switching sides of my bed trying to find a spot of comfort. I sit up in bed and I look over at the crates and crates of vinyl my dad had given me sitting in the corner.

Remembering that I really haven't throughly looked through them, I jolt out of bed and wrap my blanket around my shoulders.

Still in my work pants and long sleeve turtle neck, I turn a lamp on and walk over to the old crates. I sit criss-crossed on the wood floor and wrap myself completely with the blanket. I tuck my hair behind my ears to get my curtain bangs out of my view as I begin to look through every album one by one. I read every title and every artist just to make sure I don't miss 'One Direction'. Every artist you could possibly think of—old and new—are in these crates.

None of the albums are in any possible order, so I sit there for an hour just sifting through the first three crates. Dust flys out from the middle of every LP, making my nose itch. I sneeze and shake my head.

I take the next heavy stack of vinyls out and lean them against the crates behind them and flip the albums slowly making sure not to miss anything. I get excited to see a new print of Led Zeppelin II. I pull it out with a light smile and set it next to me. I look back to the albums and seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. I quickly sit up on my knees as I grab the album. The remarkable words 'One Direction' are printed on the front cover, along with the title:

Midnight Memories.

I slowly sit back down on the floor. I look over the albums' cover and lightly smile when I see the green eyed man (with shorter hair then) smiling at the ground. Louis is standing on the very far left of the cover. There's the blonde as well as the other brown hair and dark eyed man, but there's another with dark facial hair. Where was he on the poster down at the coffee shop?

Their wardrobe is surprisingly good, considering they're dressed in out-dated sixties fashion from a few years ago. The smiling cutie is dressed in a similar styled outfit as I saw him in today, but with more colours and patterns included.

I turn the album over to read the track list. Fourteen songs are listed.  I look at the bottom of the album to see the release date and it says '©1967', I giggle to myself. I stand back up on my feet, dropping the blanket on the ground as I open the top of the turntable beside my radio. I slide the record out and the lyric sheet falls to the ground beside my feet. I leave it as I remove the record from its sleeve and plop it onto the revolving platter. I carefully grab the needle and place it on the beginning of the
EP. I push the switch on and the record starts spinning. The static plays through the speakers and I get excited as I watch the title in the center spin into a blob. I grab the lyric sheet from the ground and sit on the end of my bed.

The title "Best Song Ever" begins and I fall back on my bed with the sheet in front of my face.

I raise my eyebrows at the lyrics 'Said I had a dirty mouth' and I laugh to myself.

...

I listen to the entire album and end up on my stomach laying on the carpet.

The final track "Better than Words" begins and ends before I know it.

Overall, I'm not too impressed with the album honestly. I would rather some Beatles or, ironically, The Stones. I feel like those two bands just have a more timeless sound to them, and maybe One Directions' music just isn't my cup of tea.

I get up on my knees as the record stops spinning. I move the needle away and flip the record back over to the A side and place the needle back on the beginning on the disc. I switch the turntable on again, letting the opening song play once more.

This time I start dancing around like an idiot as the album goes on. I laugh at myself so hard that my stomach cramps.

...

I repeat Midnight Memories over and over for hours through the night. I'm eventually catching on to the lyrics and the album is growing more on me. I bang my head to the upbeat songs and flip my hair back.

I'm loving this album now.

I throw myself on the bed as the album comes to an end for the eleventh time tonight.

...

The next cold and foggy morning I walk to work with the Midnight Memories lyric sheet poster in my hand.

I jog up the concrete stairs and swing the glass door open.

  "Hello, hello." I say sanguinely. I saunter over to the collage of music posters and memorabilia on a large wall beside the front entrance. "Hey Kevin, there should be tacks behind the counter there. Mind handing me a couple?"

My coworker smiles and nods as he walks over to me.

  "What's that? New edition?" He places the tacks in my hand.

  "Mhm." I sniffle. I lay the poster on top of the others around it and push the tacks into the cork board. "I saw this bands promotion poster on the wall of a coffee shop down the street and I found their album in the ones my dad gave me—thought it was pretty good." I smooth the paper out.

  "Ahh, I like the blonde. Blondes are my thing." He winks through his round wired glasses and he shrugs one shoulder. I chuckle as he walks back over to the counter to welcome a customer.

I admire the poster from a distance as I walk to the back to clock in.

I'm kinda into it.