| The Heart Is Never Wrong |
| By �isl�ng |
| It has finally happened. I was going to Ireland to meet Westlife. I had tried to convince Jie to come with me. I even tried telling her that this was her big chance to meet Shane Filan and sweep him off his feet. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it. As always, she was only thinking of me, my big chance and she didn't want to ruin it for me. I begged with her that it would be "the icing on the cake" if she came, but I wasn't gonna force her. Maybe next time!! And yes, I intended for there to be a next time. I was gonna meet Westlife and impress them so much that we would become friends and keep in contact after my dream trip was done. I met with Louie Walsh the day after I arrived in Dublin. That gave me some time to organize myself in my hotel, do a little shopping, and take a hot bath in preparation for "The Big Meeting". Louie talked about my tape and how impressed he was with what I had done. Although he had wished I'd recorded some Westlife songs with no voices other than my own. We arranged my meeting with Westlife for the following afternoon at around lunch-time. A car would pick me up at the hotel, take me to a favourite hang-out of the guys and they would meet me there. "Once you're at the restaurant, you'll be left with the guys for the rest of the day" Louie explained. "They'll probably take around the city, show you the sites, or at least the ones you haven't seen since you were last here. And be warned, they'll probably try and drag ya out dancing". "I've got no problem with that" I laughed. "Next to singing, dancing is what I love the most". "Then you'll be in good hands" he assured me. I think I knew that already. I hadn't even met the guys yet, but I had a feeling we were gonna do just fine in each other's company. I actually did sleep that night, but I had to keep reminding myself that "Yes Aisling, tomorrow you will be hanging out with Kian, Shane, Nicky, Bryan and Mark of Westlife". It was almost too good to be true, but there I was, sleeping (well, trying anyways) in a hotel room in Dublin, Ireland barely 12 hours away from expereincing the day that Jie and I had talked about for months. "I just she was with me right now to live this with me" I thought. "But I've got 4 rolls of film and a good memory to capture every single thing that happens and then I'll tell her everything, remembering even the smallest details. She'd kill me if I forgot a simple thing, like what colour socks Shane was wearing". With that thought, I finally got some sleep. "Here you go Aisling. The lads should be here shortly" the driver told me. "Thanks very much" I replied and off I went to hang with my Kian and the others. I knew this was gonna be an unforgettable day, but I had no idea how unforgettable it would be. The guys arrived just as I was being seated by the hostess. I didn't even have time to double-check my make-up or my hair, but I guess I'd done that about 50 times before I left the hotel and in the car, probably another 50 times. I think it was safe to say I looked presentable. Nicky, always appearing to be the leader, introduced himself first and then introduced the other four. You can imagine the looks I was getting from other patrons from the restaurant - here I was, one young woman with five, very handsome young men. How lucky was I. After the meal, we talked for a while about nothing in particular, just getting to know each other. Bryan talked a lot about Kerry and the baby. You should have seen his face light up when he talked about being a father. He was young, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone as proud as he was. Nicky also talked a little about Georgina and their 6 years together. He did confirm that they were engaged, but no date had been set yet. Mark and Shane didn't talk too much about themselves. They seemed to be more interested in me, about my life. They wanted to know all about living in Canada and how different it was from when I grew up in Ireland. Although I was really enjoying getting to know those four, the one I wanted to know the most was so quiet, almost invisible at times. Kian barely spoke a word throughout the whole meal. "Maybe he's tired or he's got a lot on his mind" I thought. "I mean after all, he does take on a lot more of the management side of the group and that must be a lot to deal with". I'd managed to justify Kians invisibility. "Ok, who's up for dancing the night away?" Shane smiled, winking in my direction. "I was waiting for somebody to ask that. I've been dying to experience the club scene here", I said. So, off the six of us went to an area in Dublin called Temple Bar. It's quite a touristy place, but it has some of the best night-life in the city apparently. Shane and I seemed to be the most comfortable with each other and we spent the most time talking and dancing. However, I had to make an effort to get to know Kian. After all, he was my favourite Westlifer. I couldn't come all the way to Ireland, meet Westlife and go back to Canada knowing that I didn't get to know Kian at all. I had noticed that while Shane and I were dancing, Kian was always looking in our direction, but when he caught me looking at him, he'd quickly turn away. "Shane, do ya mind if we sit for a while?" I asked. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to Kian yet and I'd really like to". "No problem at all, Ash. I was actually thinking about giving your best friend Jie a call and letting her know that she should be here with ya. She's missing a great time". "I know Shane, I know. I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen to me". Bryan, Mark and Nicky were over playing video games in the corner of the club and Shane was on the telephone to Jie. And there was Kian and I sitting alone at last at the table. I smiled shly across the table at him and barely got a reaction from him at all. I started to ask him a few questions about touring and stuff that I thought might spark a conversation. The next thing I knew, Kian pushed his chair back, stood up and said "Don't you have anything original material"? and stormed out of the club. Bryan at this point had just come back at the table to grab his wallet for more change for the games. I sat there with this look of total confusion on my face. "What the heck just happened there", Bryan asked. "I'm sorry Aisling, I'm sure that wasn't necessary". "Don't worry about it. I can handle it. Guess he's just having a tough day or something. He's barely spoken a word to me all day. I'm thinking that for some reason he's not too fond of me". "I can't see how that could be. You're one of the nicest, most fun people I've ever met. Kian hasn't even given you a chance". That was really nice of Bryan to say, but I knew he was just trying to cheer me up. Coming to the realization of what had just happened, I got up and walked outside with a few things to say to Kian. "You know what? You're a real ass, Mr. Bigshot Kian Egan. Who the hell do you think you are, not talking to me all day and then when I try to talk to you, you treat me like that?". Kian responded "Look, I'm tired ok. It's tough travelling through all those different time-zones and stuff". Oh ya, my heart really bled for the guy, getting to travel all over the world, living out his dream and he's tired. Please!!! "That's no excuse" I said. "I just asked you one bloody question and you ripped into me like I'd just insulted you or something. You're lucky you even have fans if you treat all of them this way. And you may have just lost your biggest fan as of tonight". With that, I turned around and walked back inside. I couldn't believe that I'd just said those words to Kian, but he had to know that he can't treat people like that. I tapped Shane on the shoulder and asked him if it was alright if we left a little early. Bryan, by this time, had filled the others in on what had happened between Kian and I and Shane understood my reason for wanting to leave. But he did try to persuade me to stay a little longer. "Aw come one Ash" he whined. "We're just starting to have fun and you're becoming like one of the lads". "I'm sorry Shane, but I really need to get away from here right now". Nicky grabbed the car keys, while Mark picked up my jacket off the chair. Kian was still pacing back and forth outside, wondering what had just happened. As Shane and I walked out of the club and passed Kian, Shane lifted his hand, clipped Kian across the head, muttering "ya eejit. Look what ya did". Bryan stayed behind with Kian to drive him home while Nicky, Mark and Shane drove me back to the hotel. As we arrived at the hotel, the guys had managed to convinve me to go for a drink the hotel lounge and I agreed. I mean why should I let Kian ruin my night with the others, right? It was pretty obvious however to Shane that Kian had ruined my night, but Mark was the first to say anything about it. "Aisling, I'm really sorry about Kian's behaviour back there" Mark said trying hard to defend his friend. "Well, it wasn't a total loss" I replied. "I've had a lot of fun hanging with you guys and Bryan". It was funny, I had only met Westlife earlier that day, but they already knew me so well. Shane could see this look of utter disappointment on my face with how things turned out with Kian. He was fully aware that Kian was the one I wanted to get to know and it had been disastrous. Nicky added his two-cents "I think you may have scared him a little, Aisling", he tried to explain. "Kian and I were talking while you were out dancing with Shane and he was telling me that even though he had barely spoken a word to you all day, he knew there was something about you that frightened him. But that's a good thing" Nicky continued to explain. "Ya" Mark went on "You know how sometimes when you meet a girl, or in your case Aisling, a boy and you feel all nervous inside because there's just something about them that makes you that way. Well, that's what Kian feels about you. You should have seen him every time you came back to the table to take a sip of your drink. He wanted to say something, he wanted to take you out on the dance floor himself, but he just couldn't do it". Still with this look of confusion on my face I asked "well then why did he yell at me the way he did?". Shane answered "I don't know about that, but I've know Kian all my life and I know when he's falling for a girl and he's got it bad for you Miss Aisling O'Hagan". I was absolutely stunned. Kian Egan had actually fallen for me. Only in my dreams right? Not this time. This was the real thing. But we didn't know for sure that this was the case. "Give Kian a chance, Aisling. He'll come around" Nicky said. With that, Bryan walked in looking for us. "Bry, over here" Mark called out. "Is Kian with ya?". "Ya, he's in the car" and no sooner had that been said, Shane looked over at me and I knew what he was trying to say, without actually saying it. I excused myself from the table and went out to Bryan's car. "Can I join you?", I asked as I opened the car door. "Sure" Kian replied as he fiddled with the cd player. We both went to say something and, realizing we were in unison, started to laugh. Kian put his hand on mine and softly said "Aisling, I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. I'm not sure why I reacted the way I did. Actually that's not true, I do know why. When you started to ask about the touring and stuff, I got this image of a typical Westlife fan, only caring about Kian Egan, member of Westlife, not Kian Egan, regular person". "But Kian, I know there is much more to you than just being a member of the group. And I want to know that other part of you. I just didn't know where to start and was so nervous I just asked the first question that came to my head", I explained. "I was really nervous too" Kian said. "I've never felt this way about anyone before, where I'm totally speechless because I don't want to say anything stupid. But I ended up screwing it all up anyways because I didn't know how to react to what I was feeling". "Well, how bout we start over and take it from there, ok?" I suggested. I extended my hand and said "Hi. My name is Aisling O'Hagan, it's very nice to meet you". "Hi Aisling, I'm Kian, nice to meet you" and to my surprise, Kian then leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. We may have had a rough start, but as a wise person once told me "Never trust a first impression" (thanks for that Jie!!). If I had let my first impression of Kian Egan be the only one I trusted, I would never have given him a second chance and I would never have fallen in love with the greatest guy in the world. Believe in what you feel, Follow your heart, because your heart is never wrong. |