3 Years Later
Christmas Eve
"Marsela, one steak well done, a corn on the cob, grilled onions, and a chicken soup," I said sticking the order on the rotating belt. She nodded her head and grinned.
"Your baby girl back here is telling me you made some cookies for Santa at home," Marsela said laughing. I peered on my tiptoes to look over the counter and found Angela with an oversized apron tied around her waist and wearing a hair net.
"Oh yeah Angela decorated them all, did she tell you that? Don't let her make a mess Marsela, she's a handful that one. If you feel she needs a spanking you go ahead and don't be shy handing her one," I said while grabbing a new order pad and pen. "I can't believe it's been three years working here already," I said reminiscently. Marsela nodded her head and got a bit teary eyed.
"I can't believe that either. I remember when you first walked in asking for a job you looked so nervous! Angela's grown up so fast. She'll be four next year in August, right?"
"Yeah," I said with a heavy sigh. Though Marsela was in her late forties she was a nice lady and almost like a mom to me since I moved here. I had originally met her in my apartment complex because she lived next door and I found out that she had an older son who lived with her because she was diagnosed with a fatal disease and only had a few years left. I didn't want to think about her leaving me alone because I had depended on her help and guidance for the past three years. Marsela was a brave, independent woman and I had grown to admire her so much. She was a single mother like myself too and it wasn't a bother for her to help me out during the early years of my pregnancy.
"Oh honey you've got some customers waiting out there, you better go check them out," Marsela pointed out with her spatula. I laughed and tightened my ponytail. I had just begun to walk over to a group of guys standing around the front entrance when Kathy, another waiter helping out this Christmas Eve, stepped in front of me.
"Hi Valerie, it's okay I got this covered. You go spend some time with little Angie," she offered.
"Oh are you sure Kathy? Because I wouldn't want to impose-"
"Oh you're not Val! Go on," she said slapping my bum playfully. I swatted her hand away and laughed. She was another good friend I made at the restaurant and was obviously much younger than me by the way she acted. She was 16 and lively. Kathy always had a smile upon her face and though she hadn't planned on working during Christmas Eve, she had gotten into a little fight with her boyfriend and said she'd rather spend her Christmas Eve with us girls.
As I walked back to Marsela and Angela, I couldn't hear her familiar little voice or laugh and I felt my heart drop. I wasn't supposed to bring her to work but my boss was feeling a bit generous and allowed me to bring her on the condition that she stay put in the kitchen with Marsela while I worked. Angela was a bit of a trouble maker and she certainly had not inherited that from me.Now I had no idea where she went and Marsela suggested I look around the back booths in the restaurant.
"She ran away before I give her little bottom a tap after she stole my cooking oil!" She said trying not to laugh. I grinned sheepishly and ran out the swinging doors. I searched and searched for her because I knew she liked playing hide and seek once in a while, but I couldn't find her. I decided to go check the bathrooms and hoped my boss wouldn't come out of his office looking for me.
Niall's POV
"No one's in there," Louis pointed out. Harry immediately ran inside then and we all followed suit. Our last show in America just so happened to be here in Los Angeles and we were fortunate enough to sneak out sight from our security guards. All we asked for was for one night where we did as we pleased and spent Christmas Eve just us as the band. No management team, stylists, body guards, and etc. So when we were just walking down different streets in L.A. it was then when Louis found a lonely restaurant where we could have a Christmas meal. Our management team was going to roast us alive when they found us, but it would be worth it.
We waited for a while, for a waitress to come and lead us to a booth and while we waited, the Boys talked amongst themselves while I just stood there thinking. I wondered, like I had done lately, what Valerie was doing during her Christmas Eve. There were two waitresses talking from afar and one of them had her back turned to me, but reminded me of Valerie for a moment. She had her same height, hair color, the only thing different was her body shape. Where Valerie had been lean, this waitress had a few curves and more of an hour glass shape. I continued looking around the restaurant and could feel the warmth emanate from it. Everyone seemed to be genuinely happy to be working here, despite the important event, and it was beautifully decorated. It kind of reminded me of home. There had been a little girl, no more than five-years old, running around and dragging an apron behind her and I laughed to myself. The Boys looked at me oddly and I shook my head.
"It's nothing," I said reassuring them. They laughed as well then continued talking. I watched the girl with fascination, since the Boys had been ignoring me, and she caught my eye.
"Good evening gentlemen, sorry for the wait, let me show you your table," a blonde waitress by the name of Kathy greeted us. The Boys and I followed her to a table in the middle of the restaurant where we received a clear view of the kitchen and all the people helping out in the back. The peppy waitress took our orders very quickly then reassured us our meal would be out just as quickly. We laughed then took in the scene around us.
"This place is so nice and quiet," Liam said happily.
"I know, it makes me miss home," Zayn admitted. "My mom's got the same Christmas lights like the ones up there," he said pointing to the ceiling. We all laughed again then began to talk about our last performance and upcoming 2016 tour.
"Can you believe how old we are now? 22, well most of us. It seems like just yesterday we were on the X-Factor," Harry said saddly. There was a moment of silence then and it was hard to believe that One Direction was still going strong.
"And it seemed like just yesterday Liam was just Danielle's boyfriend," Louis said sighing.
"Lou, it was yesterday!" Liam exclaimed with a laugh.
"Oh right, I forgot you finally proposed to Danielle tonight, congrats mate," Louis said patting him on the back. I laughed while drinking my water and then Harry opened his mouth to say something when the little girl from earlier came running into his lap.
"Boo! I'm a ghost!" she replied while throwing the apron over her head. We all laughed and looked at her oddly.
"Where's your mum love?" Harry asked while trying to pry her off his chest. We didn't want to look like some pedophiles so we tried getting her off of him but she threatened to cry.
"Hiding," the little girl replied. Harry looked at us nervously and raised his hands in the air slightly to not make the situation look wrong.
"We need to find her mum," Harry said frantically. The little girl then snatched the apron from her head and stared at Harry.
"Hazza!" she exclaimed once she recognized him. We all dropped our jaws and stared at her.
"Harry do you know her?" Louis asked Harry suspiciously. Harry widened his eyes and shook his head full of curls.
"No! Oh my God when her parents find her, I'm going to be dead," he said in a high-pitched voice. I couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of the situation and Liam joined in.
"Lou Lou Lou!" The little girl began to chant when she caught Louis staring at her. Now it was Louis' turn to panic and he shook his head.
"I don't know her, I don't know you!" He told the little girl. She laughed for no reason and jumped over to his lap.
"Leeyum, DJ Malik," she began to babble and danced on Louis' lap. Liam stopped laughing then and Zayn remained totally calm.
"She's probably seen us somewhere," Zayn concluded. Harry nodded his head and instead stood up from his seat.
"Love, where's your mummy or daddy?" Harry asked her again. She turned to him thoughtfully and you could literally see the little gears in her brain working.
"She'soverthereintheitchentalkingtoSela," she began to ramble. None of us were able to decipher whatever the hell this little girl was trying to say because her mouth was speeding. She got frustrated whenever we asked her to repeat her sentence slowly and would slam her little fists on Liam's shoulder or wave her hands in the air frantically while she spoke. I sighed rubbing my eyes and that caught her attention.
"Nialler," she said without any struggle and reached her little hands out to me. I grabbed her for no apparent reason and bounced her in my lap.
"Hi cutie, look at me," I said staring her in the eyes. She narrowed her eyes playfully at me and grinned. "Where is your momma?"
"Right there-" she pointed to a waitress coming out of the bathrooms and looking underneath tables and in booths nervously. "I'm hiding." She laughed happily and clapped her hands.
"You shouldn't go around hiding from your momma cutie," I said scolding her slightly. Her large brown eyes began to water and I pinched her cheeks playfully. "Look she's over there looking for you." The little girl turned to her mother and watched her as she came closer and closer.
"Am I going to get a coco?" she asked worriedly. I furrowed my eyebrows and smirked.
"A what?" I asked her laughing.
"Coco," she repeated. I looked at the other Boys for help but they all shrugged their shoulders.
"Coco?" I repeated stupidly.
"Yeah, coco," the little girl reassured me.
"Uhh...yes. You're gonna get a coco," I said nodding my head. For some reason this made her burst into tears and she let out a high pitched wail. I clammed my hand over her little mouth but not in time because her mom had super-power hearing abilities and had her eyes on me like a hawk. She stomped her way over to our direction and the closer she got the more odd I felt. Her bouncy ponytail was complimented with a large fringe on her forehead and her familiar brown eyes had a look of determination and worry in them. I gaped my mouth for a second and when she came over she looked not at me but her daughter.
"Angela what are you doing?" she asked swooping her up from my lap and clutching her to her chest. Angela instantly wrapped her arm around her neck and her legs around her mom's waist. Her mom rocked her gently and whispered furiously in her ear. "Angie be quiet," she said scolding her, "don't you go running around here and talking to strangers. You know better than that." Angela cried for a little bit then sniffled once she was calmed down.
"I didn't mean to upset her," I said hoping she'd turn around. The mom instead kept rocking her daughter with her back towards me and patted Angela's back.
"It's fine, she probably deserved it anyways. What exactly did you do?" She asked with a hint of amusement.
"I told her she was going to get a coco. Does she not like coconut?" I asked her. The waitress burst out in laughter then and slowly began to turn around with Angela tugging on her hair.
"Oh no! 'Coco' doesn't mean coconut it's slang for like a 'booboo' or a spank in another language," she said still laughing. Once she turned and completely faced me her smile and laugh slightly faltered and then she breathed in deeply.
"Hey Valerie," I said just as breathless. The Boys stared at us, waiting for our next moves and in less than a second Valerie shoved Angela into Harry's arms and we both embraced each other in what felt like the longest hug in the world. I hadn't realized how tall I'd grown until I could feel myself practically lifting Valerie off the ground slightly because she was standing on her tippytoes. I buried my face into her hair while she ran her fingers up and down at the nape of my neck. We slowly swayed in our hug and I took in her scent as much as possible. She smelled like a Christmas tree and chocolates.
Valerie's POV
And my Niall, oh my gorgeous Niall , he smelled even better than I remembered. And our hug felt so good like I had just taken a very warm shower after a long day or taken a first bite of pumpkin pie. He got taller! And his hair wasn't as blonde as before, he was starting to grow out his natural brown hair I think. Either that or he just forgot to bleach and dye his roots blonde like usual. Seeing Niall and the Boys in the media didn't feel like this. In the media I always knew that they were okay and doing good, but seeing them here in the flesh made all my worries go away. Niall looked extremely good and the years just kept being kind to him as he matured. I probably couldn't say the same for myself, but he seemed relieved to see me again. I honestly don't even know how long we stood there hugging each other but I could've gone on forever.
"I missed you," Niall whispered after a while. I shivered at how close his breath was on my neck and I smiled.
"I'm such a bad person," I admitted while playing with his hair. "Niall I know what I did was such a horrendous thing to do, especially to you, and I'm sorry, I really am. I've really missed you too." Niall didn't say anything but just squeezed me tighter and I assumed this was his way of accepting my apology. I kissed his cheek softly and when I broke apart our hug I rubbed away at the spot where my red lipstick had left a stain. I averted my gaze away from Niall's eyes because I knew that if I got sucked into those ocean-blue wonders I'd ruin my mascara and eyeliner. Niall forced me to look him in the eye though and cradled my face in the palm of his hand.
"Are you doing anything tonight?" He asked with some urgency. I shook my head, then gently left his embrace.
"My shift's almost done, if you could wait for a little while, we can go to my place," I offered. He nodded his head then walked back to his seat.
"Just let me know when you're ready to leave." He threw me that melt-worthy grin of his and I blushed madly. Yeah, I was still in love with this boy.