Chapter Eighteen:
Zayn’s POV:
Where could she have gone? And how was she so fast for someone who looked absolutely dead on her feet? I looked in all of the nearby stores, the only place I had yet to check were the bathrooms and I was a little hesitant to do that as you can imagine because it’s embarrassing enough for an average male to be caught sneaking into the women’s bathroom but could you imagine the scandal a famous one would receive? Plus, the lads would never let me live it down.
But when I reached the restroom that was closest to the café-lounge that Paige and I had just been in and found it locked, I decided that scandal be damned because I had no clue what Paige was capable of in there. But whatever she was doing in there I knew I couldn’t be good, she was a highly upset, homeless teenage girl who had been through hell and back and felt like she had no one to lean on –not even herself.
There was only one thing I knew to do.
I had to find a way to get in that restroom. Dignity be damned.
I tried breaking the door down and even picking the lock but I quickly took note of the fact that it was a stainless steel door and had a dead-bolt lock so there was no way I was getting in there on my own.
So I did what any lad would do when someone they cared about was in trouble and they had to get to them.
I went to Forever 21 and bought myself an outfit and went to the men’s restroom and changed and tried to make my hair look a little girly –not that that was really possible, of course- and went in search of a security guard.
Luckily I didn’t have to go very far.
I tapped a rather large looking man on the shoulder and in an extremely high pitched voice I said, “Sir? Could you please help me? It seems I left my purse in the women’s restroom over there and it seems to be locked now. Could you let me in it?”
The man seemed to look me over and when he went to examine my face as if the truth would be written on it like a students cheat sheet for a test I looked down at my feet, making him think I was embarrassed about the situation; and I was, just not for the reasons he thought.
He shrugged and nodded and motioned for me to follow him.
He unlocked the door and said, “Have a good day, ma’am.” He left with a smirk and left me alone to attend to my “business”.
In an innocent manner I checked under all of the stalls and saw they were all empty except for the last one, where I heard someone faintly gasping for breath.
“Hello?” I called out. Not wanting to interrupt someone who wasn’t Paige or just having a rather..uhm..uncomfortable situation. “Uhm..I’m looking for a friend of mine, and unless you tell me otherwise I’m going to assume that either you’re her or you need help or both; so on the count of three I’m going to come in.
One.
Two.