Liam fixed his collar as he stood in front of the restaurant. He was a little surprised when Zayn told him where they would be going. It was a fancy place, and one usually had to wait weeks if not months to be able to book a reservation there.
Liam knew that very well. His dad owned a chain of hotels and restaurants all over the world, and the building he was standing in was one of them.
Liam finally walked inside, and the attendant immediately lit up when she saw the man she was quite familiar with. She didn't know exactly who Liam was, but just that he was a very important guest.
"Mr. Payne! I wasn't aware you were coming tonight," she said as she looked down at the list of reservations, "but I'm sure I can get a table for you! Give me just a-"
"The reservation should actually be under the name Zayn Malik tonight," Liam said.
"Oh, yes! Mr. Malik is waiting for his guest, I'll walk you there myself," the attendant said. Liam thanked her, and followed her as she led them to where Zayn was, "If you would like me to upgrade you to a private room, then I can do that as well."
"That won't be unnecessary, but thank you," Liam replied with a polite smile. His eyes fell at the back of Zayn's head, as he continued, "also, Hilary? Could you do me a favor?"
"Anything, Mr. Payne."
"Could you send a server that doesn't know me?" He asked, Hilary gave him a confused look, but immediately nodded nonetheless.
"Of course."
"Thank you."
Once Liam reassured her that there was nothing else she could help him with, she walked away back to her post. Liam made his way towards Zayn, who gave his employee a polite smile as he noticed his arrival.
"Sorry to to keep you you waiting, I still tend to forget how bad the city traffic is" Liam said as he sat down.
"You're still a couple minutes early, actually" Zayn said as he looked down at his watch, "Besides, I got here barely a minute before you. No need to apologise."
"So, we're settled on the fact that nobody is going to apologise to anyone today? Good," Liam said as he opened the menu.
Zayn chuckled, before doing the same.
They placed their orders shortly after that. The server came first with their drinks, and there was a slight awkwardness between the two men till then. It was their first time hanging out alone outside work.
Liam could tell that Zayn was still embarassed about his behavior the whole weak, and he didn't know how to help him get past it. The two made small talk. They talked about what their weekend plans were, Zayn asked if Liam watched the football game, to which Liam replied saying he wasn't a sports fan. With each new topic, it was getting harder and harder to find a middle ground or common interest to talk about.
"If you don't mind me asking... Why is this presentation so important?" Liam decided that talking about work was probably the best idea.
"Well, it's to raise funds for the company, so of course it's really important" Zayn answered.
Liam noticed that his boss had immediately gone stif, as he answered while looking away and then taking a sip of his scotch. As if he wanted to avoid the topic.
And it was very unlike Zayn to not want to talk about work.
"You know what I mean" Liam continued, "I’ve never seen you quite so worked un over one meeting"
"It's noticable?" Zayn asked, looking back at the other man, a frown appearing on his face as Liam nodded.
Zayn was usually always calm and collected at work, but it was becoming clear with every passing day that he was really stressing about their upcoming presentation.
