Seeing Blind |NH|

Chapter Four

The next day, I heard a loud banging on my door.  When I opened it, there was only a mildly hungover Esta staring at me.  She didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at me, arched an eyebrow, and stifled a laugh.

"What?" I said, grumpily.  She looked at me and then looked down.  That's when I realized I was in nothing but my underwear and it was morning.

"Shit, sorry, Esta," I said, covering myself up and running back inside to throw on some shorts and readjust myself.

"Good morning to you, too, Niall.  Get dressed, I know the best place to get a morning after breakfast," she yelled at me as I ran down the hallway. I heard her giggling as I started grabbing clothes.

When I returned, fully clothed, she was still leaning against the door frame, her head hanging low.  I bent down and saw that her eyes were shut.

"Esta?"

She jumped.  "Shit, Niall.  Don't scare a girl!"

I laughed, "Sorry.  You know, you can go back to bed, if you want?"

"Ohh, nooo, pal.  I've got a massive headache and it's partially your fault.  Plus, at some point, I need to get my ass in gear but I can't do that until I have horridly greasy food in my system.  C'mon."

She grabbed my hand and yanked me out the door and down the hallway. 

Neither of us said a word as we walked the few blocks to this cute little retro-styled diner.  Sitting ourselves, we pulled out the menus and took in the site of food, our eyes definitely more hungry than our stomachs.

"Can I get the strongest coffee you have, lots of sugar and cream, please?  And three eggs, scrambled, with cheese?  Oh, and two waffles, please? Oh! And some hot sauce?  Thanks."

I stared at Esta as she ordered, my mouth dropping the more she ordered. "And for you, sir?" The server turned to look at me and her eyes widened.  I could tell she recognized me but my eyes pled with her to not say anything.

"I'd like a coffee, as well.  Actually, honestly, everything she ordered sounds great, so I'll just have the same.  Thanks," I said.

The girl nodded and walked off.  I told myself I'd allow her a photo or something as a thank you.  We both sat there in the booth, our heads leaning against the back of the booth.  At some point, I nodded off because the next thing I knew, Esta was hurling a French fry at me.

"What the hell?" I said, opening my eyes.  She giggled as she took a bite of another fry.  "When did you order fries?"

"The waitress realized we're hungover and brought them over while we wait on our food."  She laughed a little more.

"Oh, that was nice," I said, reaching out for some of my own.

A few minutes later, our massive order arrived, taking up the entire table.  We both had to maneuver things around for it to all fit.  I greedily looked at my plates as I dug in.  She seemed to perk up, as well.  We ate in silence for a few minutes as we devoured what was in front of us.

"So have you always lived here in LA?" I asked, shuffling more eggs onto my fork.

"For a good portion of my life.  Since I was nine.  My mother and I came out here after she and my father divorced.  Lived with my grandfather."

"Where are you originally from?"

"The bay area.  Oakland."

"Oh?  Was that nice?"

"It was alright.  Nothing special."  She took a bite of her food before she asked me, "So what brings you to the US?  No record labels to work for in Ireland?"

"Oh, there are.  Just signed with one that's in London and here."

"Signed?  Are you a singer?"

"I, uh—" I was interrupted by my own phone ringing.  "Hold on a sec," I said, answering it.  "Yeah, okay.  I'll be there."  I hung up.  "I, uh, gotta cut this short.  Work.  Sorry, Esta."

She looked at me a little puzzled but said, "It's okay.  You go, I got this." 

"I feel bad for just bailing."

"Don't.  You gotta get to work.  Don't need you losing your job.  I don't think I can handle two nights in a row of cheering up," she joked. 

I got up to leave and looked down at her as she continued to eat.  I immediately sat back down and continued to eat myself. 

"Don't you need to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'm hungry, still.  And I don't need this food to go to waste."

I smiled at her.  She smiled back at me as she kept eating.  We didn't really say much else.  Once we finished, she went up to pay for our food and I left a tip and note for the waitress, thanking her for not saying anything.

We walked out and back towards our apartment building.  Once we got back to the building, I had to say goodbye.

"Thanks for breakfast, Esta."

"No problem.  Thanks for cheering me up, Niall."  She gave me a sweet smile.

"Not a problem at all.  I don't like seeing my one friend in this place upset."

She looked at me, "So, we're friends?"

"After the roasting you gave me last night, I'd say so."

She nodded, "Good." 

I started to walk off but turned around and went back up to her, "Can we exchange numbers?  Friend."

She smiled at me, "Of course, friend."

I gave her my number and she gave me hers. 

"Last night was fun."

"It was," she smiled.

"See ya, Esta."

"See ya, Niall."