PRIDE » Zarry ✅

17: That's Your Spot

I hadn't said anything about Kallie's father. That was a secret she trusted me with and I intended to keep it. Therefore I carried on as usual, only sharing with my father the snippet for my campaign. I didn't even tell Zayn. We kept things limited to us and getting to the set for the photoshoot. And of course there was my nosy friends who loved to ask about Kallie. But I remained oblivious about anything else they might have asked me that seemed like it could take me in the direction of Mr. Brown.

It seemed like it was only yesterday when my father told me to come up with a holiday season campaign. But time flew by so fast. It was less than two weeks before campaign launch. And though I was ready for that, there was one other thing I wasn't quite sure I was ready for just yet.

I didn't want to marry Kallie. I didn't even want to date her anymore. But knowing what I knew had forced me to take a step back from hurting her. She needed someone to be there. She did not need to be left alone.

One good thing that did come out of that bad news was that we hadn't kissed since she shared it with me. She felt that now that we knew just how much our parents were behind our relationship, we should wait on the intamicay just a little more and let it come to us again. For now, the goal was just to enjoy being around each other. I agreed because at least it allowed me to be her friend during such a tough time.

Which is why I didn't mind when she invited me to her place to do jigsaw puzzles. It seemed fun and lighthearted enough. Plus it would require focus and thinking, which meant it would take her mind off of her father, which was what we wanted to do anyway.

But around two thirty, I got a call to my office.

"Hello?"

"Harry."

It was Kallie. She sounded frantic.

"Kallie. Are you okay?"

"No. I was at lunch with my father and he had a seizure out of nowhere. This was about thirty minutes ago. I rushed him to the hospital. He's okay right now. But they're doing some tests."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. I just wanted you to know that I'm cancelling our evening. I'm not going to be able to do jigsaw puzzles with you."

"Of course not. You need to be with your father. We can do it some other time."

"Thank you for understanding. I know there isn't much I can do but I'm going to stay with him and monitor things."

"It's for the best that you do. And hey. You hang in there."

"I will. See you later."

"Bye."

When the line disconnected, I slowly hung up the phone. All I could think about was Kallie. What if her father hadn't told her he was sick? This seizure would have been a shock and she would have been more scared than she already was. Poor girl.

On the other hand, I was actually glad that she couldn't keep her plans. Because now I had new plans of my own to make. So I picked up my cellphone and dialled my home.

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Five hours later, I pulled into Zayn's driveway. Zayn came out of his house and got into my car.

"Spill it. What is this supposed surprise you have for me?"

"I will not."

He smiled over at me.

"You trying to be secretive is kind of adorable."

"It is?"

"Mhm? I didn't even realize this relationship was the kind of relationship with surprises. Unless of course we're celebrating something big... I said hopefully."