We Took A Chance

The following morning I found it incredibly hard to get out of bed. Yesterday, after I left his place, I walked aimlessly for a bit before pulling out my phone and calling a cab. I didn't leave my bed until it was time to go to work. I was kind of nervous to face my manager seeing as I was a no show yesterday.

Walking into the cafe, I was immediately approached by Ezra who warned me about the manager, John, wanting to talk to me. I made my way to his office where he was typing away on his laptop.

"Ezra told me you wanted to talk to me, Sir?" I start closing the door lightly behind me.
"Yes, Zoe. What happened yesterday? We were so busy and short a person, you know that can't happen!" he says loudly, short of yelling.
"I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't feeling well so I decided to stay home." I say knowing it's not completely a lie. I did feel terrible but not because I was sick.
"Sick, eh? Zoe, your pictures are all over the internet! You were not sick, you were hungover!" he accuses and in one swift motion turns his laptop to face me. Paparazzi pictures displayed on the screen, probably from Twitter.
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I promise!" I plead feeling tears forming in my eyes knowing the evidence was right in front of me.
"I don't like to involve myself in my employees personal lives, but Zoe, yours has become rather public. I can't have this type of behavior affecting our company. I made it clear that you can't miss more work. You were irresponsible and did it again. I have zero tolerance!" he dismisses me and continues to work on his laptop.

I had no other choice but to leave. I could hear Ezra calling me as I stormed through the cafe and out the door but I didn't want to look back. Tears streamed down my face as I walked down the street towards the halls. How did my life become such a shit show in a matter of 2 days? Just Friday I had the best boyfriend and a decent job. Now I have neither and I'm left feeling down like never before. The tears rolling down my cheeks were unstoppable as I walked towards the halls.

The world around me was nothing but a blur, all I could focus on was how empty I felt. I realized I didn't even care about the job, it's the fact that it topped such a shitty time in my life. I couldn't get Niall's face out of my head, his smile, his dumb jokes... I didn't even know what I did wrong much less how to fix it. I checked my phone and realized it's 9:30 and that's when I remembered Leah and Tom were leaving this afternoon. Without second thought, I start running in the direction of Leah's hotel.

If anything, I was glad Leah was in London and I knew she'd offer her support. I felt so dumb that just a couple of days ago I confessed that Niall and I were in a relationship and now I'm dumped. I knocked quickly once I got to her door and waited for her response.

"Zoe? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She asks surprised to see me.
"Leah, I'm a fucking mess." I say before letting the tears fall again. She steps to the side to allow me into her room and follows me to the sofa by the tv.
"Zoe.. I hope this doesn't have to do with what I'm imagining." she says making me look up at her with confused expression.
"What are you talking about?" I ask standing up and wiping my tear stained cheeks. The serious look on her face further confusing me.
"Yikes. Okay, before I say anything, have you talked to Niall?" her tip toeing around the subject was really irritating me.
"Fuck, Leah! Just say what you gotta say!" I yell out moving my way closer to her.
"Zoe, Twitter basically blew up yesterday with pictures taken of you inside the club. They're of you and Tom and they look incredibly misleading. I didn't want to tell you anything because I figured maybe it wasn't an issue or anything but now I'm not so sure." her words hit me like a ton of bricks. How did pictures from inside the club even emerge? What does she mean misleading?

"Show me." is all I manage to say before she pulls out her phone and after a few taps and swipes she hands it to me.

I couldn't believe what was before my eyes. It really was me and Tom inside the club. This has got to be why Niall broke up with me, it looks like we were kissing! Part of me is glad that this seems to be all a misunderstanding but part of me worries about how I'm going to get through to Niall. I hand Leah the phone back and begin to pace back in forth in thought.

"What time are you and Tom leaving for the airport?" I say suddenly breaking the silence that had filled the room.
"Um, at 12. Zoe, are you ok?" she asks looking worried.
"He needs to talk to Niall." I say more to myself than at Leah.

I walk out of Leah's room straight to Tom's next door and knock. I could hear Leah right behind me probably wondering what I was going to do. After a few more knocks Tom, who looked like he was still asleep, opens the door slightly.

"Zoe? Leah? What's going on?" he asks fully opening the door to face us.
"I need you to go talk to Niall. He thinks I cheated on him with you!" I say without hesitation. All I could think about was getting through to Niall. Nothing else.

Tom looked confused but agreed. I insisted I go with him but Leah agreed with Tom that I stay with her and let Tom handle it. If I were to go, Niall might be more hesitant to listen to what we had to say. I followed Leah back to her room and hoped for the best. This was probably my only shot at clearing things up with Niall. As we waited, I could do nothing but think about what was going on. The minutes seemed like hours at this point.

After about 2 hours, we hear a loud knock at Leah's hotel room door. My stomach drops to the floor knowing this could either go really well or really bad. I bite my lip as Leah goes to open the door hoping that it's Niall behind it.

Notes

Well what a shitty time for Zoe! Who do you think is at the door? Good news or bad news? What will Zoe do now that she doesn't have a job?!

I wish I had posted this chapter earlier but I wrote like half of it and then the weekend happened. I'll start working on the next chapter soon! Also, I'm brewing another story but this time it's a Harry AU. I'm pretty excited about it but I definitely want to finish Ziall's story and then I have the Spring Semester, too! So many ideas so little time!

Don't forget to comment, rate, and/or sub! Love ya'll! <33