In This Life (n.h.)

THREE

"Ready to go?" Louise asked.

They were meeting at Ingrid's apartment before going out. Louise had showed up early, wearing a stylish outfit of heeled boots, tight dark jeans and low cut top underneath her long coat. She was sitting on the couch as Ingrid bustled around, collecting her wallet, phone, and jacket.  Ingrid had a different style than Louise as she was wearing a black skirt, a turtleneck, and her black combat boots, but whenever they went out together, their differences seemed to complement each other.

"Ready," Ingrid said, sliding everything into her coat's deep pockets and grabbing her keys to lock up.

//

Niall walked along the snowy, downtown streets. The sky was almost fully dark and the yellow light of the streetlamps glowed in unison. He ran a hand through his shaggy, light brown hair. He was thinking about Ingrid. He had been pondering of the events of that night and constantly debating whether he did the right thing. He wanted to help her and hoped that he had, although he didn't know her at all. What if she was laying in some ditch right now anyways? What if she was angry that he had taken her back to his house?

Niall kept walking and thinking until he ended up at a Irish pub called Ferguson's. He walked inside, shaking snow off his jacket as he entered. There was a bar, about a dozen tables and a small stage. Only a few people were there, but it was still early. The manager spotted him and came to shake his hand.

"Niall. How are you?" the manager said to him.

"Hello sir, I'm doing well," Niall replied with a smile.

"You can start setting up and I'll grab you a drink," the manager said.

Niall walked over to the stage and set down his guitar case. The manager brought over a pint and the two of them discussed soundcheck and set up details. An hour later, Niall was sitting on a stool on the stage, tuning his guitar. The cozy pub had filled up and become noisy and warm, a familiar surrounding for him.

"Good evening," Niall spoke into the mic and the voices hushed. "I'm Niall and I'm going to be playing a few tunes for ya tonight,"

There was small applause from the happy crowd.

"I'm gonna start the night off with a song I wrote called, "Too Much to Ask","

//

Ingrid and Louise walked downtown, searching for a place to grab a drink and seek shelter from the windy night. Faint music sounded from a small pub they were nearing. The two of them entered and noticed there was a live performer. 

"My heart is hoping 
You'll walk right in tonight
And tell me there are things that you regret
'Cause if I'm being honest I ain't over you yet" sang the voice.

"I love live music," Louise said, smiling, and pointed at two available seats. "Over there, by the bar,"

They sat down, took off their jackets, and ordered their drinks. There were a bunch of people standing near the stage, so Ingrid couldn't clearly see who was performing, but his voice was beautiful. When the song finished, there was applause, and the performer spoke. Ingrid recognized the voice.

"Thank you very much," he said, while continuing to quietly finger his guitar strings. "Next I'm going to turn it up a bit and get things rollin' with a song called "Nice to Meet Ya"," 

His Irish accent was hard to mistake. 

//

Ingrid was awakened by prisms of light coming through her window. Last night was much better than she expected. She talked and drank with Louise all night, catching up and reminiscing old times, and she actually enjoyed it. She also learned something new. The guy who saved her that night, Niall, was a musician. She listened to his music the whole night at the pub and was genuinely impressed. He was incredibly talented. At the end of his second set, Ingrid remembered Niall mentioning that he played at that pub every Friday night. Something inside of her wanted to see him perform again. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She had to admit, he was really attractive. He looked different at the pub from how he looked the morning she met him. He was wearing a navy blue long sleeve shirt that fit him extremely well and grey trousers, and his hair was styled, yet still had that slightly tousled look. Throughout the night, in between songs, he would run his hand through his dark, messy hair and, more than once, Ingrid had to catch herself from staring at him. He had a big, crinkly-eyed smile that he showed off many times while performing and she could not get it out of her mind. She stayed at the pub with Louise until Niall was done performing and she was nervous that he would recognize her, but he disappeared before she knew it and she didn't see him for the rest of the night.

Ingrid glanced at the clock. 8:00am. 20 minutes later, she appeared at Lana's.

"You're late," her manager, Paul, grumbled.

Ingrid just grabbed her apron and starting taking orders without a word.

About an hour later, someone walked in and caught her eye.

"Hey," Niall said and smiled, clearly recognizing her.

She was caught off guard and just looked at him without replying for a few seconds. He was wearing dark jeans, a grey coat, and a newsboy cap that made him look especially Irish amidst all the North Americans. He had a small half smile on his face and for the first time, Ingrid saw his blue eyes up close. She realized she had been looking at him for far too long and looked down, pretending to clean the counter. She cleared her throat.

"What would you like to order?" she asked.

"Ingrid, right?" he said and she looked up, meeting his eyes again.

"Yeah,"

"I'm Niall,"

"I remember,"

It took another few seconds for her snap back into reality. She did not know why she was being so awkward in front of him, but she prayed that she would stop.

"I'll take a tall coffee, black is fine. And one of those cookies," he said, pointing to the baked good display.

"$3.87," she said.

He paid and walked over to a table near the window while Ingrid started pouring his coffee. He came back to the counter to grab his drink and cookie and gave a smile in return. Ingrid watched him as he sat. She observed the way he took quick sips from his cup and nodded at strangers who walked past him. She noticed him pull out an old, brown, leather journal and start writing in it. She wanted to read it and know what he wrote about. She wanted to sit in the chair across from him and talk to him. But she couldn't. She was working, and even if she wasn't, she was far too shy. She was a listener, not a talker. Not to mention, he had found her unconscious in a cemetery a few days ago and that made things a bit awkward to say the least. So, she kept working, but not without frequent glances in his direction.

//

The following weekend, Ingrid visited her parents. When she returned on Monday, she had a shift at Lana's until 7:00 pm. As she exited the cafe to go home, she bumped into someone. 

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Niall cried.

"It's okay," Ingrid said with a small smile and kept walking.

"Hey Ingrid, I was just about to grab a drink... would you like to join me?" he offered, pointing into the cafe.

"I have to be in there all day, so I'd rather not," she replied.

"Fair enough. Well, are you hungry?" 

"Why?"

"I know a great, underrated burger place nearby. They have the best curly fries," 

The truth was, she was really hungry. She still felt nervous around him but replied without hesitiation.

"I love curly fries," she said and a smile spread across his face.

"So that's a yes?" he asked.

Ingrid nodded and they began to walk together down the street.

A/N

I hope you're enjoying these Niall scenes as much as I am!! Let me know what you want to see between the two of them. Also, should I add more photos within the chapters?

Thanks very much for reading!

Sincerely,
lavenjhder