Imagines with Niall Horan

74. Names

A/N: In which Niall works at a coffee shop.

Somedays, Niall was absolutely certain that she was doing it just to drive him insane.

Niall met her his very first day at work. He'd managed to score a part-time job after school as a barista at the local coffee shop. He'd completed all of his training and was quick to get the hang of taking orders and preparing drinks with a smile on his face at all times. (He'd always been a rather social kind of guy, after all.) He knew at once that he would love this job.

But then she walked in.

Their eyes met, and Niall's face froze. His entire body froze. This was no ordinary customer; this was an outright princess. She had artfully styled hair, beautiful eyes, thin pink lips, and a cute frame clad in something Niall was sure would be on a catwalk. Keep it together, he warned himself. Don't hit on the customers. That's totally inappropriate. I'll get fired. Just stay cool...

"Hi!"

His resolution promptly went up in flames the second he heard that angelic voice.

"Hey," he returned cheerfully, mirroring the girl's bright smile.

"Can I have a grande nonfat mocha, please?"

"I- uh," was Niall's intelligent response. Oh god. Snap out of it! He cleared his throat. "Of course. That'll be four-fifty." He rung up the order and grabbed an empty cup and Sharpie. "What's your name?"

"Eponine," the girl answered, handing over the correct amount. Niall scribbled the name onto the cup - feeling a little conniving without quite knowing why - and quickly put the money into the cash register before turning to make the mocha. I had to ask her name, he defended. I wasn't hitting on her. It was part of the job description. That's all. It's not like I asked for her number, too.

He turned to find Eponine still standing there, smiling expectantly. It made his heart flip. Ignoring his body's reaction, he flashed back a smile of his own and handed over the drink with a cheerful, "Here you go! Have a nice day."

"You, too!"

And with that, Eponine spun gracefully on her toe and all but drifted out of the coffee shop. Niall stared after her with what was probably an idiotic, dazed expression, only snapping out of it when his coworker Carry appeared from the back room with the new coffee beans. He returned to the cash register.

But Eponine kept cropping into his thoughts for the rest of the day.

...

The following afternoon, a Tuesday, Eponine returned, flashing that same brilliant smile at him as if she was actually glad to see him or something. It took all of Niall's efforts to keep himself from beaming at her like a complete fool.

"A grande nonfat mocha?" Eponine ordered again.

"Sure thing. That'll be four-fifty." He took Eponine's money and grabbed a cup, adding, "Name?" even though he already knew the answer. He didn't want to come off as a creep, though, so he pretended he didn't remember.

"Hermione."

His Sharpie - already beginning the 'E' - faltered. What? His smile twitched as he turned to study the girl's face closely. It was definitely the same girl from the day previous. What the hell? Deciding to think about it later, he scribbled down the new name and handed it off to Carry to make, returning to the cash register to ring up the next customer. He watched from the corner of his eye as Carry handed over Eponine's - Hermione's? - drink, and the girl nodded her thanks and departed. Niall almost missed what the elderly man in front of him was ordering, too fixated as he was on watching the retreating back. Who are you?