So Few

"I just miss you." His voice, though slurred, never failed to entice me.

"I know, bub. I miss you, too."

"I wanna see you."

At this point I sighed. His drunken calls were getting old- not to mention, my phone bills were racking up. I shifted the phone to my other ear restlessly.

"Bub, you're going to be back before you know it. In the meantime, you're living your dream out there. Don't waste precious moments calling little old me." I laughed.

It was silent for a moment. All I heard was the music booming in the background on his line. And his breathing. He was a heavy breather when drunk, I'd come to find. There was a bit of rustling and hushed voices.

"Jenny? It's Liam."

"Lee? Oh, hey. Is Niall alright?" I knew I sounded drained. Even to myself I sounded pathetic. I heard Liam sigh.

"Niall is fine. Just one too many drinks, as usual. Always thinks he can handle it, but he never can." As if he had to explain this to me.

"Take care of him, okay?"

More rustling on their end. I could faintly hear Niall's voice, sounding whiny and, well, drunk. I heard Harry, as well. From what I could decipher, he was holding Niall up.

"Jen? Niall says he wants to talk to you. I'll take the phone away after a minute, okay?" Liam reassured me. I smiled at his predictable ways, though he couldn't see.

"Jenny? Jenny?!" Niall sounded a bit frenzied. I missed the little bugger.

"Hey, bub." I said softly. He sighed in relief.

"Jen-Jen, I thought I lost you."

"I'm right here, bub. You've got to stop doing this to yourself, though. It's not healthy. And I don't appreciate these calls at all hours of the day and night." I tried to explain. I don't know why. I knew it was useless using sense and logic when Niall was drunk.

"But you said you would always have time for me. You said you would always be there for me. Whenever and wherever." It was surprising the things he recalled so vividly when drunk. It was not surprising, however, how many times he had thrown this little promise back in my face.

"Why don't you hand the phone over to Liam or Harry, bub." I said, rubbing my forehead in frustration. I didn't want to go crazy on Niall. He was drunk, afterall.

"Jenny?" Harry's slow voice came over the line. It was my breaking point, I think. The moment I heard Harr's voice, I cracked. I started to cry like a fucking baby.

"Harry. I don't- I can't.... please, I think I-" I sobbed, bawling my eyes out. I was quite embarrassed, as I was sitting at my cubicle at work and was earning a few curious stares.

"Love? Love, I think you're breaking up. Are you crying?" he was right, though. His voice faded in and out of frequency. Suddenly, I was met with an angry sounding dial tone.

I gingerly placed the phone back in its cradle and reached to grab some tissues from the box on my desk. As I attempted to casually wipe away the sure-to-be running make-up and snot from my face, someone cleared their throat behind me. I whirled around in my chair.

"Is everything alright, Ms. Lake?" my boss, Grant Harper, stood before me, looking particularly uncomfortable. What was it with men and crying girls? If I wasn't feeling so incredibly embarrassed, I would've rolled my eyes.

"My apologies, Mr. Harper. Everything is dandy. I simply lost composure there for a moment. I know better than to take personal calls at work. It was a one-time thing. Won't happen again."

With another small murmur and a few cautious backward glances, he retreated back into his office. I resumed dabbing at my face. I noticed mostly everyone had gone back to their own work. I sighed and went back to it, as well.



Niall didn't quite know what was happening. He knew he was drunk, but everything was in and out of focus and from what he could catch, Harry and Liam were arguing about Jenny. He groaned in confusion. Why would they be arguing over his Jenny?

"Wha's goin' on?" Niall managed to voice. Harry and Liam both looked at him, disgust and sympathy shown on their faces.

"Niall, we're taking you home okay?" Liam reassured him. Niall nodded. Liam turned back to Harry. "Harry, he won't even remember in the morning. What's the use of lecturing him now?"

Harry huffed in anger, pushing back his hair. "He needs a good fucking talking to, Liam. He can't treat her like this! She's breaking under the pressure."

"I know that. We'll talk to him tomorrow okay. Tomorrow..." Liam was saying. Niall slowly fell asleep, effectively cutting off his drunken eavesdropping.