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DOUBLE-UPDATE: Make sure you read 24 before 25!!

Side note b4 this starts: I want to mention what's going on right now in the US because I think it's extremely important, no matter where you live. To all black Americans: I see you. I hear you. I mourn with you. And most of all, I respect you.  As a white person, I will never speak for you, but I will listen and make sure you're heard. Change WILL happen.

In other news, please enjoy the return of Events. There's so much I have in store for Norah & Harry <3

Norah

"Sam, are you closing?"

He nodded his head and placed a rag over his shoulder. "You?"

"Yup. Do you think you can walk me to my car tonight?" I hated walking alone in the back alley when I closed.

He slid past with a tray of dirty plates, giving me a wink. "I don't mind at all."

"Thank you." I tightened my ponytail and walked over to the second register. "Hi, welcome to Cid's Pizza. What can I get you?"

The woman rattled off her order and I tapped the corresponding icons on the touchscreen. She gave me her credit card to swipe, and I handed it back along with her receipt. I repeated this process another few dozen or so times until it was finally time to close up.

I was stacking the chairs onto the tables when my manager called me into his office. I locked eyes with Sam as I made my way over. His gaze held a question, and I shrugged my shoulders. Who knows what Mike wanted?

Mike closed the door behind me. "Take a seat, please, Norah."

I sat in the chair across from his metal desk. With a grunt, he sat down in his own.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause while Mike shuffled around some papers and tapped awake the monitor for his computer.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" I asked unsurely.

My manager cleared his throat and made eye contact with me. His hands folded together on top of his desk. Frankly, it looked like he was about to deliver some bad news, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear it.

"My nephew recently moved to town with his kid after the mother bailed on them. He needs money to support the two of them."

I stayed still, waiting for him to inevitably finish his anecdote that would most likely end with me without a second job.

"I offered him a job here. You work the least hours here, and though you are a great asset to this place and you generate a lot of tips—I'm sorry, but I have to let you go."

Fuck.

I depended on the immediate cash I got from here. I generated a shitload of tips by working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Those tips paid for my gas and food. Plus, my hours here were flexible with my hours at the Yogurt Island. Not a lot of places around here just let me pick and choose when I wanted to work as a new hire.

"This is nothing personal, Norah. I'll give you a hell of a recommendation. It's just...blood over everything else, right?"

Events || Harry Styles Where stories live. Discover now