little do you know // niall horan au

chapter 14: say something (part ii)

(trigger warning: includes detailed description of a panic attack. please read at your own discretion)

Mona was finding it hard to breathe.

She had a gut feeling that something was wrong but couldn't figure out what it was. Every nerve ending in her body was sending her a signal, but her mind was too crammed with thoughts of California to work it out.

The fact that it was so loud in Connemara's wasn't helping matters. Liam wasn't DJ-ing tonight, but the place was filled to maximum capacity with people. Mona was so stressed and tired and overworked that every pint of beer she pulled had her hands shaking. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She knew she wasn't sick, but there was a looming presence of the beginning of a wave of nausea that followed her up and down the counter as she served orders.

Even Jingle was working up a sweat. Her bright orange hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail as she tried to meet as many customers' demands as possible. They hadn't had such a hectic night like this since New Years', and it wasn't helping that there was only three of them on staff at the counter and two waiters.

"Where the fuck are these people coming from?" muttered Alice under her breath. Her spirally curls were beginning to pop out of her bun and she kept blowing them away as she mixed drinks. "Like it's great business and all but it's way too busy for a Wednesday night."

"College students stressed for midterms?" Mona offered, and she had a feeling she was right. She saw a group of people sitting at a table in the back with their heads still crammed in their books while still ordering round after round. There was tension seeping into the air all over the place, it seemed. Alice grunted in response but then disappeared down her end of the counter where a group of already tipsy guys had arrived.

Mona was manning the middle of the counter tonight. It wasn't as hectic as the two ends but still quite busy. Because more people dispersed towards the corners of the counter due to most of the barstools being there, she had a better view of the whole pub and everyone that was in it. She had long lost sight of Zayn and Harlow, but Harry and Liam had gathered around with some of their friends in a booth nearby and Harry was already laughing too loudly for only being two drinks in. Mona wondered if she'd have to cut him off early tonight, which was never fun because then he became whiny and annoying on the walk home.

She wasn't able to search around the place for the rest of her friends for long because just as waves of people were leaving, more of them were coming in. Mona served and served until her hands started to shake, and it was only then that she took a step back to get her body in check. Thankfully, there was a lull in the crowd for a few moments, and she took advantage of it, regrouping her thoughts in her brain to figure out what the issue was. Her body was giving her warning signs, and that very faint wave of nausea came back for a split second before she reached for her water bottle under the counter and took a long swig.

"Babe, you okay?" Jingle called out to her from her side of the bar. There were strands of orange hair slipping from her ponytail and her forehead was shiny with sweat. If Jingle, who was always very put together, looked like that, Mona could only imagine what she looked like. "Need a break?"

Mona gulped, taking a deep breath before her attention was diverted to a new wave of people making their way through the front doors. She thought of the rent due next week. "No," she replied, ignoring Jingle's look of concern, "I'm good."

And Mona really believed she was, she did. She only had a few more hours left of her shift, she knew she could pull herself together enough to finish it. But she had already known it was going to be a bad day from the morning she'd had, and when she looked up from pouring a round of shots, she finally understood why.