Deadly Stalker

Chapter XIX: The Game of Pretending

Not edited. Please point out mistakes.

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"Zaid"

"Yea"

"Do you need anything? I am going down to refill the water jug."

"A cup of tea?"

"Okay."

Refilling the water jug and keeping the pan of water on the stove, I waited for it to boil as I sat on the counter.

Staring at nothing in particular, my thoughts wonder around the parcel that I had not so courageously refused to open it, but instead forced Zaid to open it for me. As expected there were pictures of me in various different places that were shot during our recent family vacation. But the main question was, from where did the person receive those pictures? It was a big question mark. Thinking of different persons I had completely forgotten about the boiling water.

"Hey." Zaid's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I rushed to the stove to see that the water was almost evaporated in to steam that was quickly forming smoke in the kitchen. If it weren't for Zaid then God knows what would happen today.

I wasn't this careless before.

"I am sorry about that." I spoke to Zaid while we were quietly making our way towards the room.

He just nodded his head and moved on without uttering a word and I stood there on the same spot comprehending what just happened.

He could have at least said a word instead of just walking away. Like seriously was that a way to react? That's when I decided to behave like a normal person with all those smiles and dreams. My problems have been affecting lives of people around me too so why not behave like nothing happened? Like there was no stalker or there was no one stalking me or I was never being stalked by anyone.

I entered the room with a bright smile on my face and stopped right at the threshold. What am I supposed to do now? Just keep smiling and go inside the covers or have a small talk? The latter one sounded too much for the first day so I chose the former one.

Keep smiling and go inside the covers.

I turned off the lights on my side and pulled the covers up to my chin. All this while Zaid was watching me with his eyes not even blinking for a second.

"You don't want to sleep?" I asked with a cheerful voice.

"Yeah. I am sleeping now." With that he shut of the book he was reading and turned off the lights. The room was in complete darkness and I immediately clutched his hand. He chuckled in the dark before giving my hand a light squeeze.

I mentally slapped my forehead. Why hadn't I thought about this before? Now all my being cheerful and acting like nothing happened attitude went down the drain. I have to work really hard on this if I want it to be successful.

I turned over so that I was facing him. The light from the moon fell on his face so that I could see him. His jawline became more prominent as his face broke in to a smile and I reached over to trace it with my fingers. He took hold of my wrists and moved it away from his face.

"That tickles." He gave a full smile as I let out giggle before burying my face in his shoulders, taking in his usual mint and musk smell. He pulled me by my waist so that there wasn't any space left between us. My breath hitched in my throat as I realised that we weren't this close before. Of course I had hugged him but that was either when I was crying or I was too depressed. But this time it was neither of the two. The thought of it made my cheeks go scarlet as he whispered in my ears,