Single Father (Ziall Horlik) AU

Chapter 11

Zayn's POV

Being back at work after having two snow days off was the hardest thing I'd ever done since becoming a father. Mr.Scott seemed to be lazier than usual and told me to do all the work he hadn't caught up while I also had to fill out new orders and keep track of what orders had gotten where it needed to be. Laila was a little more fussy today because she didn't want to sit in her carrier all day so I had to keep making her quiet because of all the other people working.

"Zayn, you need to get these orders in before lunch." Mr.Scott said then dropped a thick file on my desk. I just nodded and opened a new tab on my computer to send the orders out. Laila stuck her thumb in her mouth and just looked at me from her carrier with her big blue eyes like she wished I would be nicer and just hold her. I didn't want to teach her that every time she cries or whines she'll get held. I wanted her to be independent in a way because there was only one of me and I need to do other things too.

Lunch time came and rolled around, but I didn't take a break because I was nearly finished with the orders. I was pretty much the only one on the floor because everyone else had gone to the break room. I placed the last order in and sat back in my chair wishing the day could just be over by now.

"It was more fun being with Niall, right?" I asked Laila even though she was asleep. I think if she could talk she would confirm that being with Niall was allot more fun than being here. He was helpful, but because he wanted to be not because I asked him to. He also made me feel happier than I had felt just being stuck with my own thoughts constantly because I had no one that I could carry a conversation with.

There was something about the way Niall and I could talk to each other that made it feel like we had already met before. It was like a street you had driven down when you were a child that only seemed familiar when you went down at as an adult. Touching him felt the same way. I could have him in my arms and it didn't feel like I was holding a stranger. I saw in his eyes that he enjoyed it and felt it in the way he would hold me back. There was something that made him feel like I'd been with him before but also like he was still a new person. It was incredible to have that because I knew there wasn't going to be many things in life that make you feel that.

My phone buzzed softly on my desk making me think of other things than just the cute Irish man. I saw Louis' name flash across my phone so I answered it immediately. He doesn't usually call me in the middle of the day, so I went to thinking something he'd to be wrong.

"Hey, Zayn. I was just checking on how you and Laila are doing." He said. I smiled and sat beck in my chair. The feeling of relief flood through me because I knew he wasn't in trouble or needing anything.

"Everything is great. I need to take her in for her one month check up tomorrow to make sure everything is okay, but she's good. How's school?" I asked him. He mumbled that school was stupid but he was nearly on break for Christmas so it would be bearable.

"So Perrie came by the restaurant the other day with her friends..." He mumbled. I sat up straighter and reached to play with a pen to distract myself from feeling too many things that would cause me to explode.

"Did you talk to her?" I asked him. There was a long silence that was caused me to think of all the things that the small British man could have done to the girl. One of those was him jumping on her and slamming her head into the floor.

"I put extra garlic in her food before I took it out to the table and didn't ever fill up her drink. I didn't talk to her, but she didn't even look at me when they all walked in." He told me. I let out a deep breath because he didn't do anything violent. I guess he's calmed down in the month that I've been a single father. Before he was always saying he wanted to teach her a lesson or make her pay for being a bitch to our child. He was civil now with just making her have garlic breath and making sure she wasn't hydrated.