The Bourbon Diaries ✢ The Vampire Diaries FanFiction ✢ TVD FanFic ✢ TVDU FanFic

Chapter Five - Zara Ali

Present day

Atlanta, GA

"So what part am I playing?"

Stefanie almost missed Zara's question as she lingered in reminiscence outside the window of the coffee shop, gazing inside.

There they were: Raid and Adam. Full-grown men---older, broader and more stylish.

It was strange seeing them this way. They had both turned from thin, smoothed-skin boys to muscular men with facial hair. Stubble really, though Adam's was slightly heavier than Raid's. Raid's skin, once the same tone as his light-skinned mother, was now darker than Adam's. Stef suppressed a smile, imagining him on a tanning bed, as was most likely the case.

Raid now had black ink tattoos covering his neck and both his forearms, while Adam, who was always far more observant of their religion than Raid, appeared to have none. She could still imagine Raid deliberately shocking and taunting Adam with his 'haram' behaviour. Not that Raid cared: he'd always said he hoped to one day show his father the mess of a son he'd left behind. He was rebellious for that reason. Perhaps they never would have all ended up in the cellar that dreadful night if he wasn't.

Her mind taking a dark turn, Stef pulled herself back into the present. She took a deep breath. "They think you're going to write an article on them. Just ask them as many questions as you can. Try to find out why they're back. Then gauge their reaction when I walk in. I need to see how much of their compulsion has worn off and whether they still remember me."

Zara took to the role confidently, that was clear from the moment she strode in like she meant business, and sat down at their table without saying a word. It was the first time she had seen them up close after having monitored them both from a distance, but she had a way of making men feel intimidated, like she owned all their secrets.

She looked first at Raid, directly into his eyes, scrutinising, unblinking, and then at Adam. She blinked. It was the most peculiar of tells, but Zara blinking so soon meant she found him attractive. Otherwise she was capable of staring men down until they felt like cowering at her feet. Adam smiled and drew his bottom lip into his mouth as though he was about to fall at her feet for a completely different reason. Zara attempted to resume her stony stare, but unfortunately her mask had already slipped. Luckily, male magnetism never stopped her from being the boss of them verbally.

"I have a few questions and you're going to answer them."

"You're from the press?" Raid asked skeptically.

Zara turned to him. Her response time was deliberately delayed with a hard stare. "Yes."

"You got some ID?"

"You got me a coffee?" She looked down at their own cups.

Adam pressed his lips together to supress a laugh, drawing Zara's eyes back to him. He composed himself and asked, "Would you like a coffee?"

"I'd like you to answer my damn questions, so I can get to my next celebrity interview," Zara snapped. Her expression then turned wicked. "He's someone far more famous than you. Better looking too," she teased him. "I'm just using you both to fill my time."

Raid stood up, insulted. "Consider your time wasted," he told her.

"Raid, sit down," Adam commanded. At Raid's reluctance, Adam signalled him with his eyes---a bro code hidden within there somewhere---until he returned to his seat defeated. Focus resumed on Zara, Adam relaxed back and grinned. "Feel free to use me."

Zara's lips quirked at the idea. Though she had never interacted with Adam or Raid until now, she had been expected to keep tabs on their whereabouts in Canada. One of the things she noticed was that Adam enjoyed challenging and domineering women. There had been no lack of fawning fans offering him their number, only for him to bin the slips of paper the moment they were out of sight. Once, a fan took Raid's autograph, but, for whatever reason, refused Adam's. Adam retaliated by scribbling his unwanted signature spitefully over Raid's autograph. This resulted in a slap from her, and they were dating within the week. So Zara knew that nothing short of an aggressive approach would get answers out of Adam.