Promises

"Hey Scar, uh... I don't know if you've seen the news yet, but I just wanted to call to see how you were taking it. Give me a ring when you get this. Bye."

What in the bloody hell was Niall talking about?

I checked my phone and had multiple texts from people. My parents, Miss Jay, Violet, the lads, Grimmy, a few girls from the bakery, and.. Seeley?

"Scarlett! Whatever you do, don't do anything that could get you into trouble!"

Rossy came barreling in the front door and into the kitchen. I was making a lot of coffee while Addi sat in her bouncy seat on the table. She made me jump and spill some of my coffee on the counter.

"Shit, Rossy," I scolded. "Don't do that."

"Sorry!" She breathed. She was out of breath as if she had ran all the way from her and Zayn's flat. "But I had to get here before you went and murdered Jenny."

My brows furrowed as I wiped up the spilt coffee. "What about Jenny?"

She didn't answer me for the longest time. She just looked between her phone and a gurgling Addi. My mind was winding up and my heart sped up. What was she on about?

"What's going on, Rosalie?" Instead of answering me, she slid her phone across the granite countertop. Picking it up, I read the article she had pulled up.



I wanted to throw the phone. I wanted to smash something. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit Jenny someone. I wanted to do something.







"I'll be right back." I grabbed my car keys off the table. "Watch Addi for me, yeah? She'll need her nappy changed here in a bit. And she might be ready for nap too."

With that said, I left.


The fact that I was calm was odd. It didn't mean anything good. I was driving like a normal person. My breathing was calm. My hands weren't twitching. I wasn't showing any signs of being completely and utterly outraged.

For one of my workers that I trusted to do that, really chapped my arse. I mean, she knew that Louis and I didn't want anyone to see her. But she went against our wishes and not only took a picture, but gave it to a magazine who slapped it on the front page of their newest issue. Her face was printed on paper and on websites. They knew her name. They knew what she looked like. And they didn't care what Louis or I had to say about it. As long as they got what they wanted, they were good.

"Where's Jenny?"

"In the kitchen. Why?" I ignored Violet and marched back into the kitchen. She was over by one of the big mixers making a double batch of buttercream icing. There were two other people in the kitchen; Millie who was taking a batch of chewy double chocolate cookies out of the oven and Laken who was making white chocolate crown molds. "I need a second with Jenny. Go clean up the front before we open."

Millie and Laken took one look at me and scurried away. Jenny kept a straight face as she glanced at me for a mere second before turning back to tend to the icing. She had some balls. I'd give her that. But what she didn't know was that I had bigger ones. And I had the upper hand. This was my business. I paid her. I hired her. And I could fire her.

"Can I ask why you did it?"

All she did was shrug. A bloody shrug. I let out a loud scoff. She jumped at the sudden noise.

"You're bloody fucking stupid," I stated. "I mean, full on bloody fucking stupid if you think I wouldn't know it was you. You were the only one who was even remotely close enough to get a picture that day."

She didn't look the least bit fazed. But she would be.

"She's my child and I would do anything in this world to protect her. I was protecting her from the fans and paparazzi. I didn't want my daughter growing up in the spotlight."

She turned off the mixer and chanced a look up at me. I was fuming. The calm had since left, and the anger had taken over.

"She's going to grow up in the spotlight no matter what," she said. "Look at who her dad is. And look at what he does. It was inevitable. I just sped up the process."

Another scoff sounded from me. "But that wasn't your decision to make! You aren't her mother or father. Louis and I are. You—"

"Honest—"

"Don't even think about saying anything else," I snapped. "Turn in your apron and go home. Don't bother coming back tomorrow. You're fired."

She didn't move. She just stood there. That made me snap. "Give me your bloody apron and get the fuck out of me bakery!" She jumped, scrambling to untie her apron. She fumbled with the straps for a few minutes before finally handing it to me and walking out with her head down.

I took a few deep breaths before walking out into the front of the bakery. Millie and Laken were huddled around the register with Violet. When my lovely sister heard my footsteps she shot up with a glare planted on her face. Oh god.

"If I had known she was the one who leaked the picture and her name, I would've killed her," she seethed. "I'm gonna give her a nice knock in the teeth next time I see her."

Laken snickered. "I'll be the getaway car!" He was ridiculous. But at least he offered to be the getaway car and not hit her. Millie however offered her services for that part.

"I've got a tazer I'm itching to use," she spoke with a nonchalant shrug. "And some mace."

My eyebrows shot up. "Should I be worried about you, Mill?" Laken gave her a side glance, then slowly scooted away from her. She shook her head. "No. Why should you be?" She questioned.

"Oh." I cut myself off with a chuckle. "No reason."

I really needed to start doing background checks on people I hired.


"I need a new baker at the bakery," I whined.

It was time for one of Louis's many calls of the day. I was whining about my problems when I should've been asking him how touring was. But I was a man down. I needed three people in the kitchen at all times. Normally I'd be in the kitchen but having a two month old child but a damper on that. She needed all my attention and I didn't want to hire a nanny. My Mum and Miss Jay said it was a first time mothers thing. When Miss Jay first had Louis she said she didn't want to leave him with anyone, even her own mum. My Mum was the same way. Now when she had Emmy and Grayer, she was more then happy to hand them over. Same goes for Miss Jay when she had Lottie.

"I wish I could help. Maybe the lads know someone who could help?"

"I wish you were home," I murmured. "This wouldn't be as stressful."

He let out a sigh. "I'll be home before you know it. But—Niall! Shut your trap! I'm on the phone with Letty!"

I heard Niall in the background shouting. Along with Harry and the others. What were they doing? Niall was shouting about someone named Monroe and the others were teasing him about it. Oh my god. They were teasing him about a girl. Poor Nialler.

"Tell those gits to leave poor Nialler alone." Total Mum voice there. "He's just a child!"

"Letty said leave Niall alone, that he's just a child!" Louis shouted. "Niall wants to say hello. Here he is." There was rustling on his end and then a short second later, Niall's Irish accented voice flooded through the phones small speaker.

"They're teasing me about this lass I'm chatting up," he whined. I chuckled. "They're just jealous. But for real, I need to meet this girl. Get to know her and all that," I spoke. "Make sure she's good for yeh."

He let our a groan-slash-whine. "Scar."

An idea popped into my head. "Hey! Does she need a job? Because I could totally give her a job. I had to fire someone today, so now I only have two people baking. Vi needs to be back there baking, so she could work the register." I rushed it out in one big breath.

He stumbled over his words. "I, uh... I don't know. I'll ask her. But Scar," he started. I knew what was coming next, so I cut him off. "I won't interrogate her, Nialler. I was only joking. I'll be polite."

"Mkay, I'll call her. Thanks Scar."

"How's Addi doing? Did you take care of the whole Jenny thing?" Louis questioned. I guess Niall was done talking to me. Addi was asleep on my chest as I rocked her in the rocking chair. She had this thing recently where she wouldn't go to sleep without me rocking her. Of course I went along with it. How could you deny her adorable little face? "She's good, she's asleep right now. And uh, yeah. I fired her."

"Well good. That slag deserved to be fired."

I nodded. "Agreed. So what do you know about this girl Niall's talking to?"

"Not much. Her names Monroe Lake, she's nineteen, she has pink hair, tattoos, and she hates when people ask if she's named after Marilyn Monroe."

I chortled a laugh. "Not much? Sure seems like you know a lot."

He chuckled. "She's all Niall talks about. They met like right before we left for tour."

"Aw," I cooed. "Our little Nialler has a crush!"