She

Chapter Thirteen

Zaid had proven to me within the last three hours that he hated London. And England for that matter. He was nonstop complaining about everything, the crowded streets, the lack of sun, even the accents.

I got annoyed with him quickly and snapped telling him to just waltz back to the hotel alone if he wasn't going to shut up. Of course with his mad trust issues, he was to stubborn to let me alone, but he did shut up, glaring at me every time we made eye contact.

I was fed up with it, only a little over a day and passes and he was already turning into his problem causing self.

It had just stopped raining and I was quickly walking ahead of him, hoping that in the sea of people walking home he'd loose me and go back to the hotel to give me the space I wanted.

I heard him call my name once or twice, but I pretended not to, the people on the street were loud and the music and noise from cars was even louder.

Soon enough I passed the people flowing by, and to my pleasure Zaid too. Smiling to myself I took a left and walked down a road that was much quieter, a quaint little street that had a small bakery on it, I decided to enter.

As I walked through the door a bell rang, and to my surprise nobody was at the counter. However, a man yelled from another room telling me he would only be a minute.

I quietly viewed the treats that were on display and tried my best to pick only a few things to take with me. Everything looked so perfect, so neat, and so yummy.

"So sorry about that, was finishing up a cake that is being picked up today," said the man from the back, "what can I help you with today?"

I instantly looked up when I realized I had recognized his voice, I hadn't been paying attention before but now I knew I was talking with a friend of the past.

I was bending down, looking into the display of sweets, but now I fully stood up to face Ezra. His mouth slightly dropped when he finally realized who I was as well.

"Ezra..." I said returning the stare of awe that he had on his face, we stood there for a while like that, until he ran from behind the counter and engulfed me into a huge hug. He smelt the same way he did all that time ago, something I had been so used to.

"Delilah, what are- I didn't know you- what the hell?" He still had his hands placed on my shoulders and was looking at me. He had a huge idiot smile on his face and was raising his brows, signaling for me to tell him why I was here.

"I just missed this place, I wanted to visit and show my fiance the city that has my heart." His mouth dropped again at that.

"Fiance? You're engaged? Wow. America must make dreams come true if it was able to cure you of the love bug." He was shaking his head and finally let go of my arms.

I nodded, "yeah, something like that anyway." We stood still in silence for another moment, trying to figure one another out. We were strangers now, I had not kept in touch with anyone from London, I wanted my past to remain my past.

Ezra walked back behind the counter and motioned toward the glass, "so what do you want? I can grab you something to go and take a lunch break? I want to catch up."

I smiled at him, choosing a small cupcake that was designed with flowers and candy on it, Ezra handed me the cupcake and then invited to sit with him in the back room.

I followed him to a table and chairs, where we sat and began to talk.

"So, tell me all about this new Delilah, I'm very intrigued about her." He rested his face on his hand and gave me his full attention waiting for me to begin with the story of my journey.

"Well," I took a deep breath, "at first I hated being home in America. It felt as if I had reached an all time low, I felt even more miserable there then I had here. My heart had been broken, and being homeless in a big city was difficult. And then I met Zaid, my fiance, and at first I didn't like him much either. He was obnoxious and ran his mouth like no other. We began as only being drinking buddies, but slowly he started opening up to me, relating, and then bam! I fell in love with him, and now I'm here." I shrugged after saying that.

Although I felt like I was a completely different person, not much had really occurred during my time in America. Zaid and I fell in love fairly quickly, and we had gotten engaged even quicker. He was determined that I was the one and that nothing was ever going to change that. The change that happened within me was an internal one, the way I thought and viewed the world compared to now was so different. I could believe that I was the girl who had a sex and drinking problem.

Ezra rambled on about how he took up the bakery shop after his grandma had gotten ill and could no longer care for the shop. "I'm pretty good at baking, Nana thinks otherwise but that's alright. The stuff sells and it gets me by."

I smiled at Ezra as he ran his hand through his hair, I had not realized how much I missed his presence and the way he smiled at stupid things I said. He too had changed since the last time we met, he was a more mature man who seemed to approach life differently.

"And Hayden," my heart began to race at the mention of her name, I hadn't even asked and yet he brought her up, "she and Michael broke things off a few months ago."

I choked, and began to cough when I heard that. "What? They-they broke up?" I felt dizzy and felt my mind drifting to the thought of a lonely Hayden dealing with the pain I had once felt.

"Yeah, yeah. She took it hard, but she was also the one to break it off. He had a violent manner about him and she was beginning to see it. He has harassed her a few times, but she's alright. Her and I have brunch every Sunday, to catch up."

I closed my eyes, and found myself wishing that I was back at the hotel room with Zaid, under the covers and cuddling him. I did not want to think of Hayden, she was the main reason I needed a change. I couldn't stand to think that Michael brought her pain.

Silence took over the room, Ezra and I both kept quiet and began to run through our minds all that had been put out into the open. Hayden's beautiful face took up my mind, clouding any other thoughts. If I focused hard enough I could hear her laugh and feel her hand smack me as I told her a funny joke.

"Delilah, I wanted to tell you something before you left..." Ezra trailed off with his words, I opened my eyes and looked toward him. His head was facing the ceiling and he was rubbing his temple.

"Okay, what was it?" I asked, trying to sweetly at him to ease nerves he had.

"Well I-I.. I lov-" Ezra was shut up by the sound of the door opening, signaling that someone had come in.

He sighed, and turned his head, "I'll be right with you," he yelled and turned his attention to me again. "Don't worry about it," he forced a smile, "it's all ancient anyway."

I smiled back to him, "You should probably check on that customer, and I should probably get going."

He looked a little disappointed but nodded, "Of course," we both stood up and quickly hugged then began to walk toward to shop entrance, "It was so nice seeing you Delilah, I really hope I can see you again."

I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I saw a dark haired girl looking down at the display, without looking up she said, "Hell Ezra what took you so long? I wanted to drop by and say hi." She smiled, still not looking up, I went completely unnoticed.

"Uh, Hayden." Ezra fell into silence, immediately she looked up and her eyes met mine.