Niall looks like a little puppy over here and I just can't get over how cute he is.

_

Carina's POV

THE NEXT DAY.

Talking to Niall seemed pretty easy. I was less nervous after I told him about what Mike had done.

And I was over the moon when he hugged me.

I couldn't believe that Niall actually hugged me.

Today was a less tiring day. There weren't many customers who visited my cafe as yet.

This only means one thing: my staff and I were free and had nothing much to do. So, we were sitting at a large table and talking about how excited we were for Christmas.

"I can't even wait to eat the turkey roast and the fries around it. Talk about the special pudding my mom makes," Noah said as he placed his hands dreamily under his chin with a tiny bit of drool oozing out of his mouth.

"I can't wait to meet my girlfriend's parents. I'll be spending Christmas in Cork with her family this year. They're really sweet and prepare the best spiced beef in all of Ireland," Caleb said excitedly.

"I can't wait to meet my sister, who'll be back home for her Christmas break," Katie said with a huge smile.

"I can't wait to visit my grandmother in Baltimore and have her handmade, delicious meat pie," Aiden said, grinning like a kid.

I smiled at all of them. Behind my hardworking and serious staff, there's such a free spirit in them.

"And what about you, Carina?" Aiden asked me.

"I can't wait to spend Christmas with my family. I'll be more than happy to abandon my little apartment and live in my parents huge bungalow, which can accommodate my three other siblings and me. Ever since I was a kid, we'd make it a point to spend every Christmas in Galway with our grandparents. But this year, my grandparents wanted to visit Dublin. So yes, it's going to be a busy Christmas with many people around," I smiled as I thought about my family.

"You look so good when you smile," Aiden said, looking into my eyes.

His eyes were a beautiful mixture of grey and green. They were like pieces of sparkling marble.

"Thanks, Aiden."

"So, tell us something about your family," Noah added.

"Well, my parents live in Dublin, in their fancy bungalow, which is 20 minutes away from my apartment. My older brother Carl, who is presently working for the Irish Embassy, is in America. My second older brother, Craig, is a journalist and keeps travelling around the world, and I have no idea where he even lives. Then there's me, the third child of our family, and then there's my baby brother Chris, who's in his last year of graduation and still lives with my parents," I said, thinking of my siblings.

"Aw, that's sweet. The perfect family," Katie purred like a kitten.

"I know, right?" I said, happily.

But then Christmas was almost two months away!

"Sooooooo," Noah said, stretching the word as we all thought of something to speak about.

"Oh, I wanted to ask you something, Carina," Katie said, and all eyes turned to her.

"Yeah?" I replied, wondering what she wanted to ask me.

"Are you and Niall friends?" she asked.

I didn't expect her to ask me something about Niall.

But then hold on; this is the same Katie who keeps drooling over Niall. I should have seen this one coming.

"Yes, we are," I replied confidently.

"Wow, that's amazing. How did you two actually become friends?" She asked as her eyes widened with interest.

"Well, on the opening of my cafe, when everyone was gone, Niall walked in, and I served him a latte with muffins before closing the cafe. He appreciated me and asked if we could be friends," I said as I thought about the first day we met.

They all nodded as if they were present that particular day and witnessed what I had just narrated.

"Yeah, so since that day, we've been friends," I said, looking at Katie.

"Wow, you're lucky," Katie mumbled as she played with her fingers.

"Yeah, the dude is pretty good-looking. If I were gay, I'd definitely shoot my shot," Noah said, making us all laugh.

.

.

Time went by pretty quickly, and it was almost time for Niall to collect his coffee.

There were barely around six people in my cafe as we lazily plonked ourselves around.

I prepared Niall's coffee and sat on the coffee counter as I pulled out my phone.

There were ten new messages.

Who in the world sent me ten messages?

Mike: Hey, babe, how are you doing? I'm pretty fine, as my nose is recovering.

Mike: My poor little perfect nose was broken by your precious little fingers, the very same fingers on which I wish to put a ring.

Mike: I'm not mad at you, baby girl. After all that I've done, you deserve to punch my nose. So, no, I'm not mad at you.

Mike: Can we please meet soon? We need to talk things out. Please?

Mike: The sooner we meet, the better things will get.

Mike: Can you not ignore me and reply already?

Mike: Are you not replying to me because your little boyfriend asked you not to do so?

Mike: Oh, come on, it's me who deserves to be your boyfriend. Not that Irish idiot.

Mike: We need to meet. Today.

Mike: You know what? I'm going to come and bless your cafe with my presence. I'll be there, and there won't be anything you can do about it this time.

Maybe I was stupid to not delete his number ever since we broke up, but he still used the same number.

The first six texts weren't like Mike's. They were different. They were sweet, charming, and apologetic.

And the last four texts were typically like Mike. They were demanding, stubborn, and arrogant.

I ignored his texts. He didn't deserve my replies anymore.

A shiver ran down my spine when the thought of him visiting my cafe came back to my mind.

This made me nervous.

The wind chime sounded, and Niall walked in, smiling brightly at me.

"Hello, Carina. How have you been so far?"

"Good, now that you're here," I said, and I realised that I actually said that out loud.

I covered my mouth with both my hands, and he smirked.

"Well, I'm glad," he said, winking at me.

Okay, we're making progress here.

He smiled at me like he was a five-year-old and I was a piece of candy.

I handed him his coffee, and he paid for it.

"I'll call you later tonight," he smiled.

"Yes, of course," I replied.

"Alright, bye, Carina," he waved as he exited my cafe.

I waved back at him with the biggest smile on my face, unable to get a single word out of my mouth.

As Niall exited my cafe, he bumped into a tall and muscular man.

Niall said something to the man and exited, but the man had a frown plastered on his face. And then he looked at me and smiled.

No, he smirked.

He walked closer to me with that smirk plastered on his face, not breaking eye contact with me.

"Well, hello, my princess. I'm pretty sure that's the last time you saw your blondie," Mike smirked as he tapped his fingers on the coffee counter.