Seeing Blind |NH|

Chapter Three

A couple of days went by before I saw her again.  I was waiting on the elevator when she came to stand next to me.  At first, I didn't know she was there.  I was on my phone and she didn't say anything.  I have no idea how long she was there before I noticed someone was next to me, I smiled at her.

"Hey, Esta," I said.

She looked over at me, she was wearing large sunglasses, despite it being a cloudy day.  "Hey, Niall," she whispered.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Well, no.  I, uh, just got fired."

"What?  Why? I'm sorry," I said.

"Don't be.  Not your fault.  I'm pretty flighty, as I'm sure you have guessed by now.  Don't always show up on time, if at all.  I guess, they got tired of it."

"Still, that sucks, Esta.  You okay?"

"I will be.  Can always find a job in this town."

"True, I suppose."

We got onto the elevator and I went to hit the 10 button.  "Thanks," she whispered.

"Of course."

We rode in silence until the ding of the elevator announced our arrival to our floor.  I let her exit first and slowly walked behind her.  I barely knew this girl but seeing her down just didn't seem right.

"Hey, uh, Esta, you doing anything tonight?"

She shook her head, "Probably just wallow for a bit and then get drunk.  Jace is out of town for the next couple of nights.  Probably a good thing, he's going to be so upset I lost another job."

"Well, if you feel like some company, I'm right next door.  I promise, I'm a good neighbor."

She smiled at me as she let herself into her apartment and shut the door.

A little while later, I was bored.  And I knew that if she was wallowing, she wasn't doing herself any favors.  And since her asshole of a boyfriend wasn't around, I figured it was safe to try knocking on her door again.  So, I did.

It took a few knocks before she answered,  "Hey, Niall," she said, softly.  She looked as if she was already in her pajamas.  Had she not looked so depressed, I would've said she was super cute in that moment.

"Hey, Esta.  I'm sorry to bother you but I was hoping you'd join me for a drink?" I asked, hopefully.  I was bored and she needed cheering up.

"I don't really feel like hanging out.  I'm tired and a bit panicked about what I'm going to do, at the moment."

"You sure?"

Just as she was about to answer, her phone rang.  "Excuse me for a moment," she said before walking away, leaving her door open and me at her door. 

I peeked in to see her place was a bit ransacked with clothing and random crap all over the place.  Several suitcases were in the hallway, half packed, half unpacked.

"What do you mean you called my job?" I snapped out of my head, as I heard her talking to whoever she was talking to.  "Why didn't you just call me?...No....Yes, I did but....I realize that but—"  Suddenly, the voice on the other end got so loud, I could hear him. 

"You are always getting fired, Esta!" He said.  Jace.  Asshole.  "How can you never manage to keep a damn job?!  It's not that difficult."

"That job just wasn't suited for me," she said, a little more timidly than before. 

"Jesus Christ, Esta, not every job is going to be perfect but for fuck's sake!" 

Jace must've hung up because the room went silent.  Esta threw her phone across the room in aggravation.  I could tell she was trying not to cry.