Leap Year

Febuary 18th

Niall felt an anxiousness spread through him as he stepped off the elevator. He gave a tight lipped smile and a nod to the receptionist who just smiled at him before buzzing him in, Niall took a deep breath before making his way down the hall towards the office he was looking for. He felt his heart start to beat fast as her office came into view but before he could get any closer he felt a hand on his shoulder forcing him to stop his movements.

"Hello Horan," Niall turned around and saw a very annoyed looking Vivian staring at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Surprising Alice at work now? That's weird you've never done that before." Her voice was low but full of annoyance as she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Uh yeah jus thought it'd be nice ta take er out for lunch or something." Niall explained as he ran a hand through his hair. "Figured it would be a good way ta get over da little issue we had while I was gone." Niall added making Vivian just roll her eyes as before smiling at someone who passed by them in the hallway.

"Listen Niall," she leaned closer to him so she could poke his chest with one of her fingers causing him to glare at her for a moment. "You fucked up, now she may have forgiven you or whatever but I care about her and I just want to warn you that if you pull another stunt like you did on Valentine's Day I will hurt you." Niall just stood there and let Vivian threaten him because he's known her long enough to know that it was pointless to interrupt her when she was on a rant.

"M'not gonna do that again Viv, I'm not an idiot I learned me lesson." Niall mumbled as Vivian just dropped her hand from his chest and gave him one last glare while Niall just gave her his best smile making her just roll her eye.

"I can see why she wants to-" Niall raised an eyebrow as Vivian stopped mid sentence, he was about to ask her what she was talking about when he noticed her looking over his shoulder.

"Niall?" Alice's voice was full of shock as she walked out of her office to see Vivian glaring at Niall. "What are you doing here?" She placed the file she was carrying under her arm as she walked closer to them. Niall turned around and he couldn't help the smile that took over his face as he saw Alice walking towards him, he couldn't ignore the fact she looked quite good in her work attire it wasn't something he got to see often. He knew she worked for a well known marketing company, but he didn't know exactly how high up she was until he noticed people turning and acting like they were busy working when she walked past them as she made her way over to him.

"Was in the area an thought I'd come by and see if ya wanted to get some lunch?" Alice watched Vivian roll her eyes before walking off to her office as Niall spoke, he raised an eyebrow at her as he shoved a hand in his pocket.

"Sure, let me go give these presentations to my boss and I'll meet you in the lobby?" Niall smiled and nodded his head making Alice give him a sweet smile in return before turning and heading for her Boss's Office.

"Don't fuck it up Horan." Niall rolled his eyes as he passed Vivian's office where she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a glare in her eyes.

Alice couldn't help but chew nervously on her bottom lip as Niall drove to their favorite little cafe near her work, she hadn't seen him since he got home a few days ago and this awkward tension was the reason why. Niall looked over and felt his bottom lip drop into a small frown when he noticed how tense Alice looked in his passenger seat, he couldn't stop himself from reaching over and placing a hand on top of her thigh that was covered by her skirt. Alice flinched when his warm hand gave her leg a soft squeeze making her look over and give Niall a reassuring smile while she placed her hand on top of his.

"I know what yer thinkin," Alice let out a huff as Niall pulled into the parking lot of the cafe. He put the car in park so he could unbuckle his seatbelt and move his body so he was looking her in the eyes. "I'm an asshole, a proper one too not like one of them dat bump into ya on the street and don't say sorry. It's shitty because I know ya, yer not some random person ta me yer my Alice and I hurt ya. Makes me the worst kinda asshole der is." Alice felt her mouth fall open as Niall reached over and grabbed both of her hands so he could run his thumb over the knuckles.