Still You (Niall Horan)

Chapter 5

November 6, 2012

“Liz, you’ve got a single at table 15,” Kate, the hostess said as she walked into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes at Martha, rather insulted that I was actually expected to do work while I was on the clock, and grabbed my notepad from the table before heading out into the dining room.

Almost immediately, I was reminded why I tried to avoid going into the seating area on Tuesdays at all costs. The karaoke stage was currently being taken over by a group of uni-aged boys who had taken it upon themselves to sing I’m Gonna Be by the Proclaimers acapella, each one taking a different part. They already looked wasted, although it wasn’t even midnight, and I had to wonder if we were only one stop on their list tonight. People rarely came to the Houndstooth just to get drunk, the cocktails and pints were far pricier than the local pubs.

I chuckled as I walked to the table, trying not to run into anything while I watched them. The performance was honestly more entertaining than most, but it was getting late and I wanted to go home. The thought brought me back to the customer who was now under my care, and I tried to hold in a sigh. I knew I was getting close to the time when Rose would say I could leave, but every person that came needed serving delayed that further.

I felt a few pieces of hair come loose from my bun as I approached the table, pulling out the pen that I stored underneath the elastic band that held my brown hair back. “How can I help you--hey,” I said as I looked up, realizing who it was.

“Hey,” Niall said back with a grin. “You really need to start looking where you’re going when you’re walking around here. I thought you would have seen me coming from a mile away.”

I shrugged. “How can you compete when you’ve got this sensational performance going on,” I joked, gesturing to the Uni boys behind me.

“You have a point, I should ask them if they’ll do backup for us next tour,” he replied.

“And lose the killer venue they have here?” I asked with a smirk. "It's a pretty sweet deal, we tip them with the leftovers." Niall laughed for a moment, before we both held a pause of awkward silence.

I suddenly felt inexplicably nervous, but I knew Ni well enough to know that I was likely going to be the one to speak first since he was so shy. May as well get it over with, I thought to myself.

I scratched an itch on my scalp with the cap of my pen. “So, um, what are you doing here?” I said finally.

“Looking for you, I guess. I was hoping you would be here, and I, erm, I may have asked to be put in your section.”

“Why?”

“Well, you…" Niall looked embarrassed, his cheeks turning slightly pink as he scratched at a spot above his left ear. "You never called.” His words tumbled out all at once.

“You never gave me your number,” I replied immediately.

“What?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing.

I sighed, wondering why I had to be the one to explain this. “You left, and I went to bed, and the next morning I realized you hadn’t left me any way to contact you, and it’s not like I can just Google your number. And you never called, either, so I figured you either had forgotten to get my number or purposely didn’t want to talk to me. There wasn't much I could do." I tapped my pen against my notepad, eager to do something with my hands.

“I stupidly assumed it would be the same as your old one, and very quickly figured out that was not the case,” he said sheepishly. I smiled a little, bemused at the thought of whomever had my old mobile number now getting a random call from Niall Horan. I had to change it when I moved to a new country. “But I left mine for you just in case. It was on one of the sugar packets we used, I wrote it while you were getting changed.”