Imagine Niall talking to you on the phone. I can't get myself to imagine, I'm already freaking out lol.

_

Carina's POV

TWO DAYS LATER.

It was the second week since my cafe operated, and by the grace of God, it was doing really well.

Today was my turn to prepare the orders, as Katie would be taking them.

"Serving caramel lattes and chocolate muffins," I said to Noah, who rushed to the counter to serve the given order to the customer.

"Carina, what about the strawberry cream latte and hot chocolate? Those girls have been impatient ever since they got here," Caleb said nervously as he looked at the two girls sitting at the back of my cafe.

"Yeah, hold on. Here you go," I said as I placed the order in front of Caleb, who rushed towards the girls.

Phew, today is such a busy day!

"Carina, we've got an order for a vanilla-caramel latte and three coffee brownies," Katie said as she punched in the orders given by a lady at the counter.

"Alright," I said, starting right away.

"I'll have two brownies," said a tiny, squeaky voice.

I turned around to see a little girl standing behind the lady who just ordered.

"Yes, Lilly. I've asked for two brownies for you, and I'll have one," said her mother.

"Okay," she grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Once they were sitting on a table away from us, "Hungry kid," Katie muttered and passed me a wink.

"Don't just wink; help me out too," I said, and we both laughed.

.

.

.

Later, at noon, when there weren't any customers in our cafe, we decided to treat ourselves to some chicken croissants.

I ordered a few confectionaries from a bakery not far from mine, which I'd be selling in my cafe from now on.

I mean, this is a cafe. There's got to be something people can eat other than cakes.

I would be baking four cakes, which would be sold in my cafe every day. I've put out vacancies for two staff members who could bake some really good cakes.

I hope I get quick and genuine applicants because it's been just one day of baking cakes and I'm almost dead with the workload.

So the five of us, my staff, and me randomly selected one of the many empty tables and feasted on our croissants as we chatted about random customers, appreciating and booing some.

"Katie, what's with you and that blond-haired guy?" Aiden asked as he passed Katie a wink.

"Who? There are three blond-haired dudes whom I fancy," she said, making us laugh.

"The guy who speaks to Carina. He also happens to be the guy whom you crazily check out," Noah joked, and we laughed again.

Okay, that better not be Niall.

"I don't really know his name, but he's the boy with blue eyes," she said as she nervously looked at me.

Yes, it is Niall.

"Oh, him," I say, trying my level best to not disclose Niall's name.

"Yeah, him," she blushed and looked at her now empty plate.

"Alright, forget the blue-eyed and blond-haired dude. Who's gonna have a strawberry smoothie by Carina? Because that's the only thing I'm interested in," Noah said, rising from his seat.

Thanks Noah!

"Yeah, you make fantastic smoothies. I'm in," Caleb said.

"Me too."

"Yup, count me in," Katie and Caleb said at the same time.

"Alright, time to get you guys some delicious smoothies," I said as I made my way to the counter to prepare some smoothies.

.

.

Later in the evening, I was in the middle of preparing an order when my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

I glanced at the clock in my cafe, which read 5:08 p.m. I didn't expect anyone to call me right now, so I continued with my order.

Once I was done preparing the order, I took my phone out of my back pocket and unlocked it.

My phone displayed a missed call from an unknown number.

Just then, my phone rang again, displaying a call from the same unknown number.

I answered the call and pressed my cell phone to my right ear.

"Hello."

"Hey Carina, this is Niall," he said from the other end, causing me to instantly grin.

"Oh, hey there!" I almost squealed.

Katie wiggled her eyebrows and smirked at me.

If only she knew I was talking to Niall, I'd be the one smirking at her.

"Carina, can you keep my coffee ready? You know, we talked about it the other day? If you remember?" He sounded nervous.

"Of course. I do," I blurted, making my reply sound like a wedding vow.

"I mean, of course, I do remember," I added immediately.

I heard him chuckle on the other end and smiled at myself.

"Alright. I'll see ya in sometime," he said, sounding tired.

"Yes, soon," I said cheerfully.

"Soon," he repeated, and I don't know why, but I felt he smiled when he said this.

After he hung up, I saved his contact information and began preparing his coffee.

"Um, there isn't any order for a strong coffee, Carina," Katie said, sounding confused.

"Oh yes, there is," I said, and continued what I was doing.

I suddenly realised that none of my staff members were aware of my friendship with Niall.

"Oh yeah, I need to prepare this because I was asked to prepare it," I said like a silly person, making Katie look at me weirdly.

"Yo, what's up, ladies?" Noah interrupted us and winked.

Noah is such a life saver!

"Okay, I was bored and couldn't stand in one place, so I randomly walked up to y'all. I greeted Caleb before I made my way to y'all, but he's busy staring at that chick in the red hoodie. So I decided to interrupt y'all instead," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Stupid loser," Katie said, rolling her eyes, making Noah and me laugh.

At that very moment, in walked Niall, with a weary expression on his face.

He was dressed in a checked blue button-down with navy blue trousers. His blond hair, which was perhaps perfectly set, was now slightly fizzy and messy.

"Hey there!" he said, waving his hand right in front of my face like an excited kid.

"Hey!" I exclaimed from behind the counter, completely ignoring the people surrounding us.

"Hey there," Noah said to Niall, and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Hey," Niall replied to him with a polite smile.

"So you're the dude with the blue eyes?" Noah asked as he observed Niall's irises.

"Shut up." I whacked the back of Noah's shoulder, causing him to fake flinch and laugh.

"The dude?" Niall asked, bewildered.

"Uh, nothing. Forget him. He's crazy," I said to Niall as Noah walked away with a fake look of pain on his face.

"Yes, sir, how may I help you?" Katie suddenly asked Niall in her sweetest voice.

What the literal fuck?

"Well, isn't my order taken and prepared by you?" Niall said, looking directly into my eyes.

In your face, Katie. Hah!

"Oh yes, it is," I said dreamily as I gazed into those beautiful blue eyes.

Katie awkwardly cleared her throat, at which we both gave her an ugly look.

"I'll get your coffee," I said as I walked towards the back of the counter, where Niall's coffee was.

I handed his coffee to him as he paid for it.

"Carina, a word with you, please?" He asked, motioning towards the front of my cafe.

"Of course," I said as I made my way out of my cafe, with Niall following close behind.

Once out of my cafe, Niall joked, "What's with your staff? Do they spy on me, or what's going on?"

"Nah, Noah's always the funny one, saying lame things randomly."

He nodded and made a weird face.

"So, how have you been?" He blurted out.

"Yeah, really well. The weekend was great. All I did was sleep and eat Dorito's."

"Well, all I did was watch soccer and eat Dorito's too," he said thoughtfully.

"Alright, I guess I should head back home. I can stand here and talk to you all day, but I'm really tired. Please excuse me, Carina," he said a minute later. "Thanks for the coffee!"

"You're welcome. I'll see ya tomorrow," I said as I waved at him.

He crossed the road with almost no traffic and headed into his tower after waving at me.

I waved back, and suddenly a man walked right in front of my face.

"Who's he?" He questioned me as his tall frame overpowered me.

He was the last person I wanted to see.

Mike.