Where To?

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"I found you," I tell her, realizing how creepy I must've sounded. It wasn't my intention, but when those brown eyes that I absolutely adored met my watery blue eyes, time stopped. The rustling of the trees became quiet, and all the voices in range didn't seem to exist. It was really her, the woman I thought I'd never see again.

"You look familiar," she stresses, trying to remember who I am. "But, c-can I help you?" She hesitates, a hint of recognition in her voice. It hasn't even been twenty four hours and she already forgot me. It was six forty five and I 'met' her no longer than three hours ago. I hope my despondent tone wasn't obvious enough for her to notice.

Was I that forgettable?

"Yeah, actually I wanted to-"

"Ketsia?" a man beset in adidas apparel beamed. "I've been calling you, love," he walks toward her, lifting his cellphone, indicating that he had no luck reaching her. I stood there, clueless and baffled.

"Love."  His British accent echoed in my mind, making me envious and insecure. From the corner of my eye, I could see Zusa gesturing for me to abort the plan. She looked more high-strung than I did, even though she wasn't facing Mr. Adidas over here. With his toned skin and unmistakably fit structure, he could've been mistaken for a model. 

"Louis, I'm sorry, I was just talking to..."  she looks at me, realizing she never got my name.
"Niall," I feverishly blurt, trying to not be awkward.
"Niall, yeah, Niall," she nods her head, directing her attention back to Louis. The inopportune pitch in her voice made it seem as if she was hiding something, like she got caught in a lie. Louis, however, had a boastful, borderline arrogant vibe to him. The cheeky expression that was glued to his face made me want to flinch.

"So Niall," Louis wraps his arm around Ketsia. "Why are you talking to my girlfriend?" He kisses her on the cheek playfully, making her blush.
"Well," I struggle for words. "I work for, um a cereal company, and I was er wondering if I could survey you?" I lie. There was no way I could tell the truth now, I would just embarrass myself. Louis was practically telling me to back off, and I don't know what he'd do if he found out my true intentions.

"A cereal company?" they question at the same time. "I guess we could take a survey," Ketsia smiles, nudging Louis to participate.

Damn.

"Cool, let me just bring my assistant to quicken the process," I panic, signaling to Zusa to come over. She better not blow the falsehood that I have created, because if she does, I'm screwed. Lying has always bothered me, but now I understand why people do it in these circumstances.

Zusa stood behind me, contemplating if she should walk closer or not. I don't know how I was going to tell her what was going on, but hopefully she would just go along with what I was saying.

"Ketsia, Louis, this is Zusa my assistant," I pull Zusa closer and give a nervous smile. "So, I'll just ask you a few questions and my assistant will write them down."

Ketsia continued to smile and lean against Louis. I kept telling myself I wasn't jealous, but having her feel secure in my arms was something I wanted to experience. Visions of her with me took over my thoughts, and all I wanted to do was hold her hand. I wish I could get a chance to take her on one date, to show her I'm much more than I seem.

"We know how a survey works, just get on with it," Louis sasses, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Right," I begin. Zusa pulls out her phone, shockingly being silent the whole time. "Cheerios or Honey Bunches of oats?"

"Honey bunches of oats," they both agree, waiting for the next question. I couldn't think of any cereal related questions, so they probably thought I was an idiot for not having my questions prepared.

"Niall!" Zusa gently slaps my arm. "Please don't tell me you forgot to ask them if they would be more satisfied having more marshmallows than toasted oats in their Lucky Charms cereal box?" she finishes, putting her hands on her hips as if I was a moron for not asking that question.

"So, what's your opinion on that?" I face them, pretending to be inventively listening.

"I'm not a fan of Lucky Charms," Louis admits. "The little Irish fella bothers me on the commercial," he smirks. I was fuming inside, I wanted nothing more than to punch his perfect jawline. Violence was never really in my nature, but he was pushing my buttons, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I'll take that as a no," Zusa types on her phone, giving Louis a forced smile when she's done. "Ketsia, what about you?"

"Um, uh, I would be happy if they just sold a se-seprate box for the marshmallows to be honest," she stuttered, noticing the tension between me and Louis.

"Okay, thank you for your time!" Zusa exaggeratedly trumpeted, shoving her phone into her pocket. "Niall and I really have to get going, but we appreciate your time," she grabs my hand and leads me back to the bench.

"Zusa," I hiss.

What the heck was she doing?

---

"I send you over there to return a book and talk to your mystery girl, and fifteen minutes later I'm your assistant?" she slightly raises her voice.

"Look," I try to explain. "I was going to return the book and everything, but her boyfriend came and was giving me a hard time, so I had to lie," I shamefully look away from her, disappointed that nothing went as planned. For a moment, I was starting to believe karma was paying me back, but now I realize I was being selfish and asking for too much. That's the weird part about karma, it rewards you at the most unexpected times.

"I sorry," she sympathizes. "I just had to pull you out of there because you were about to strangle Louis, and I could tell you were on your last nerve."

"Thanks for doing that, I don't even know what I was thinking, of course she had a boyfriend,"
I pathetically slouch on the bench. Today was an unplanned day, I was prepared to go check out my campus, explore a little, head back home and maybe grab a bite. But instead, I wound up meeting the best stranger and surveying my very -not-single- subway crush.

"Hey Zusa?" I pat my stomach. "Want to grab a bite? My treat."

Ketsia was gone, maybe forever, but this time, I wasn't going to search for her. If it's meant to be; maybe, just maybe I'll see her again.

A/N
I'm so exciteddd, writing gets me so pumped even though I take forever. Late night writing is legit the best feeling. Anyways, thank you for those of you who are still bearing with me and are going to keep reading! I love all of you and I hope this chapter didn't suck.
Xoxox
-Azalea