Since We're Alone |NH|

Chapter 40

The next couple of hours went by rather slowly for me.  Ophelia's bar got overcrowded and she was busy right up until closing.  She made sure to speak to me as much as she could but I knew she had to work.  Just being there and knowing she wanted me there and wanted to talk to me even though she couldn't made me feel good.

By the time the last customer left the bar, the restaurant had been closed for nearly an hour.

"Oh my god, halle-fucking-lujah!" I heard a familiar voice say.  Turning, I saw Matt run back to the kitchen and a minute later, the music changed and got louder.  A few seconds later he ran back out.  "Let's get this shit show on the road. Hey Niall!" He said, waving as he made his way back to his section to start cleaning.

I nodded my head at him, "Hey, Matt," I said. I really needed to thank him for what he had done for Ophelia.  Had he not been paying attention and intervened, a very different girl would be standing before me. 

"Want my help?" I asked, peering over the bar at her as she crouched down near where I was sitting.

"Nah, I got this.  Been trying to clean along the way so I, surprisingly, don't have too much to do.  Plus, Tomi doesn't leave until everything is caught up for me, as I like to do for her.  Helps us get out faster at the end of the night."  I just nodded at her.  "Shouldn't be too long and we can get out of here.  Did you have anything you wanted to do?"

I shook my head.  "No, just hanging out with you was all I planned for."

She smiled at me.  "Mind if we just hang out at my place then?"

"Not at all."

It took her about thirty minutes to finish up and I followed her back to her apartment. 

As she unlocked the door, the darkness enveloped us as it had done the night before forcing my mind to have a flashback of both the good and the bad. 

She turned on the lamp on the side table by her couch and tossed her keys on the little dish next to it.  We both kicked off our shoes.

"Let me go get a quick shower so I don't smell like alcohol and bar food.  I'll be quick.  Get comfy, be back shortly.  Promise I won't take too long." 

When she returned, she was wearing burgundy pajama shorts and the oversized t-shirt she was wearing this morning.  Her hair was wet and hanging down her shoulders.  Her makeup had been removed.  I couldn't get past the fact that she so freely walked around without makeup on.  And when she did wear it, it was simple and natural, not caked on the way Maggie always did hers.  Everything about this girl was simple and natural, the complete opposite of everything Maggie.

'Stop fucking comparing them, Niall!' I yelled at myself when I realized I was once again doing just that.  'Ophelia has proven they aren't the same person, you idiot.'

"Want anything to drink? Eat?" she asked, heading into her kitchen.

"Maybe just some water," I said, standing up and following her.

She filled two glasses up with water and handed one to me.  We both walked back into her living room and she looked at what was on the TV I had turned on while waiting for her.

"Anything interesting on?"  She asked, placing her glass down on a coaster on the table.

"Not really.  This movie seems to be about the only thing on, and it doesn't look promising," I said, sitting down on the center of the couch where I had been sitting.  "We don't have to watch anything.  I just turned it on not knowing how long you were going to be."

"I don't take ten hours like most girls," she said, laughing a little.  "I also use the restroom because I have to pee, not to put on makeup or gossip.  Shhh, don't tell anyone, I might have my girl card revoked."  She had a glint in her eye as she said this.