Prologue

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The plane lands with a slight bump. I have finally arrived. I exhale deeply before leaving the aircraft and facing Dublin's grey sky. It is not raining... yet. Knowing Ireland's weather it won't be long till the rain starts pouring down.

I go past the luggage carousel. Theoretically all my belongings are already waiting for me wherever I am staying. Out in the terminal, I search for the man or woman who should be picking me up.

I find him in barely seconds. There's a man taller than the rest and big as a wardrobe holding a white sheet with my surname written on it. I tuck my fingers into the cuffs of the sleeves of my sweater and walk to him.

"Hi" I greet with a shy smile. 

I've never been good at meeting people for the first time.

"Good morning, Miss Gomez, did you have a nice flight?" 

I would be lying if I said that I recognize his accent as Irish, but asking him would be not appropriate so I just nod and smile again.

The man asks me if I need help with my luggage but since my handbag is the only item I have with me I politely decline his offer and follow him outside the arrivals terminal to the parking lot.

Minutes later he opens the door of a black Mercedes and with a bow, invites me in. For a second I think about asking him if I could sit on the front seat instead of the ones in the back, so it doesn't look like I'm riding a taxi; but he is acting so professional that I convince myself I should do the same. 

The man starts the engine and we leave Dublin's airport.

Luckily our drive to the city is quite quick and I start recognizing some of the buildings from the visit I made with my family years ago.

"You will be staying at the Fitzwilliam Hotel" the driver informs me; those being the only words he has said during the whole drive.

I nod again and wait until he stops the car in front of the hotel.

A bellboy comes rushing to help with the suitcases and he is rather surprised when the driver tells him that I have none.

Still, he opens both the car and the hotel door for me and walks the driver out once he has made sure that I am being taken care of.

The man on the reception is really kind and much more talkative than the driver. He takes me to what will be my bedroom. He shows me how everything works: the sink, the shower, the ventilation system... (I could have figured that out myself, but I appreciate the effort) and walks out with a smile.

I leave the handbag on the king size bed and take a slower look around me: the walls are painted in cream. There's a sofa, an office table with a chair, a stand lamp and a three-double door closet. But what I like best of my room is the big window on the right with a bench beneath it. I sit on it and look outside. I guess I was expecting to see the beautiful park that's opposite the hotel but I find myself staring at an inside patio with stone floor and two lonely plants. 

As they promised, my trunk and my suitcase are next to the sofa, waiting for me to open them; but I really don't feel like doing it. Instead I lie on the bed and inhale deeply. I take my mobile phone and call my mum.

I also don't feel like talking much so I just say I have arrived okay, that the hotel room is really cool and lie to her saying that I have to meet some guy this afternoon and I will call her as soon as I can. Then I leave my mobile phone on the bedside table and stare at the ceiling.

I still cannot believe that my parents let me do this. I guess me complaining summer after summer about not having much to do and what happened with Daniel helped a lot. 

Apparently I fall sleep and my mind decides to take a journey to the past.

I dream about the day one of my friends sent me the link to their second music video, telling me they reminded her of the boys from the stories I wrote for fun whilst at school. I remember thinking one of them was pretty handsome, but nothing outstanding. The rest of them were quite good looking too, but not enough to drive me nuts.

I see myself growing up and them growing up to, and my sister becoming more and more obsessed with a band that was breaking many records at an unbelievable speed. I see myself in two of the concerts I got to go to.

I see myself creating that YouTube channel with my best friend that had nothing to do with them, but because of a video received a lot more attention than I could have ever imagined. And I also dream about the day I opened the mail account of the channel and found an email that was not from a fan. Before I get to open the email, I am awaken by a knock on my door.

Back to reality, in my hotel room in Dublin, I send my mind back in time to remember who was the email from and what was it about. 

It was One Direction's management staff asking me to become Niall Horan's new girlfriend.

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