CLOSER | H.S.

43.

Valerie's pov.

"One step, not much, but it said enough." 

Taylor Swift - You're In Love

-

That afternoon Zayn took me to a place called 'Café Sans Souci', which was a beautifully decorated café that made a small part of London look like Paris. I was under dressed, misplaced - a feeling that became each day more common when it came to dating Zayn. He was rich all right, and he made sure everyone around him was aware of that.

Knowing him for almost a year now, I came to the conclusion that he liked showing off more than he has. The truth was, he wasn't even remotely as rich as Harry. It doesn't matter who's richer, it's just that nobody likes a show-off.

"This place is nice", I told him after we placed our orders, hugging myself over the cheap coat that wasn't actually meant for snow. Our table was outside, where shy snowflakes were falling inches from us.

The streets were covered by a thick layer of snow, but the floor from the café was miraculously free of that. The day was bright, even though it was cloudy.

"I like it here, the Parisian mood soothes me", he gave me a toothless smile as he rubbed his hands in between his thighs.

"So, what's the occasion?" I asked him, not thinking too much before saying the words. "You never call me unless you want something."

His expression darkened rapidly and I realised I had said the wrong thing. "That is not true, Scarlet. It's not a nice thing to say about your boyfriend."

"You're right, I'm sorry", I raised a hand apologetically. "But it's the truth. It makes me doubt you even care about me at all."

The words poured out of me effortlessly, things I didn't even know that I felt - or maybe I didn't let myself feel it and sound as needy as I was.

"My love", he started, placing his hand on top of the small round table with his palm up for me to take. I did it reluctantly. "There is nothing in this world I think about more than you. It may seem like I don't, but you have to understand that I'm a very busy man. I can barely gather enough time to have lunch", Zayn looked deeply into my eyes. "Today my schedule was a little loose, so I thought of spending time with you."

I fought back a smirk. "That's nice", I looked down and looked right up when a question emerged into my head. "What is it that you do anyway?"

"Well", he withdrew his hand - almost as if saying that his work was done, he had successfully dodged a bullet -, leaving mine alone in the cold. I quickly held myself again. "Every morning I work on my father's company as a lawyer, it's quite boring. A lot of papers. And on the afternoons and most of my nights, I work as a private investigator, which is what I really love to do."

I was surprised with his answer, with both of my eyebrows raised, he caught my interest. "That is honestly really cool. But, why aren't you a district attorney then?"

"Being a prosecutor has always been my dream, but I couldn't work for both of the state and my father, and he wouldn't admit that", I could feel the exasperation slowly building up in his voice. It was a sensitive subject for him.

"I think you're old enough to decide what you want", I tried to encourage him.

"I'm old enough to know when to make sacrifices", he surly talked back.

"Sorry, but you're clearly unhappy with your choices."

"And you? Are you happy with being a stripper?" I inhaled. "You, out of all people should know that sometimes we do what it takes."