candy man ▰ zjm

v.

"All my dreams and the lights mean nothing without you." Without You - Lana Del Rey

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I bit the inside of my cheek as we pulled up into the restaurant, my nerves beginning to jumble up. There were a couple people outside the building, some looking lost and others lighting up cigarettes. I shivered as Zayn placed a hand on my thigh, thumb rubbing my skin softly.

"Don't be so tense, babygirl. It's only you and me to worry about." he leaned over and kissed my cheek before getting out the car. Zayn walked around the car and opened the door for me, helping me out. I mumbled a thank you and linked arms with him.

We paused at the entrance. Zayn stuck a hand into his suit pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to the man. He lifted his glasses to observe it better before handing it back to him. The guard nodded and we continued to walk.

I was curious to what just happened, but I knew that wasn't any of my business.

The inside was gorgeous, it was almost golden and white everything. There was a lovely golden chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, with dangling lights coming from it. The tables were set perfectly with a complimentary bottle of white wine sitting in the middle. Soft classical music was playing in the back.

"Do you like this place? If you don't we can go somewhere else."

"No, no. Zayn this place is great. How'd you get this on such short notice?"

He chuckled and pulled my chair out for me. "A couple hundred pounds and a high status can get you anything on short notice, babe."

Zayn walked around the table and sat down. There was a silence as we both took a moment to check through the menu. Everything sounded so proper and I was debating if I should eat things I couldn't even pronounce.

I didn't exactly eat too much or too little when I went out. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to eat a large steak and I was sure that I didn't want some weak salad.

So I went with a soup.

Just as I set the menu down a waiter began to approach us, he quickly whipped out his little notepad and pen. "My name's Leo and I'll be here to assist you two on your night out. Would you like to place your orders now?" His eyes darted between Zayn and me.

"I'll take the usual, Leo. Lana, what would you like?" Zayn folded his menu and handed it to Leo, who took it without even looking up for his notepad.

'The usual? I guess he's a regular here then.'

"I, uh, I'll just have this soup here.." I mumbled and pointed to the desired food.

Leo glanced up at the soup and nodded, writing it down on the notepad before taking the menu.

"Would you like another type of wine, or perhaps anything besides wine?"

I looked at Zayn, who was already making eye contact with me.

Zayn leaned on his elbow, rubbing his chin. "I'll take some red wine, please. Lana?"

"The white wine is fine, thank you."

"Alright, I'll be back before you know it." Leo nodded and quickly wandered off. He was so polite.

"The food here is amazing, I promise. Oh, and I've got better plans for dessert." Zayn spoke up, his hand sitting atop of mine. My heart beat increased and I felt like I was going to choke. All he did was touch my hand I feel like somebody just punched the wind out of me.

I simply nodded instead of speaking, afraid I'd say something ridiculous. The sound of Zayn's phone going off made me look up, him flashing me an apologetic glance.

"Sorry, I've got to take this. Business stuff." He mumbled and pressed the phone to his ear, "Malik speaking, what do you want?"

I couldn't help but slightly listen into his conversation. I happened to be a nosey person, but I knew when to control my curiosity. The person on the other line spoke a bit too loud, so I could occasionally hear them scream something.

Zayn sat there with a frown upon his face with his eyes closed, rubbing his temples. He looked like he was ready to punch a wall and I decided that I would try to never make him mad.

Suddenly his eyes opened and he began to speak up. "What the fuck do you mean, 'Naldo? I thought you had this shit covered!" I leaned back in the chair as his voice began to rise. Hesitantly I took a large sip of the white wine, looking around the room.

"Fuck, I can't get you to do shit right. Tell him I'll meet them later and just leave her out of this. Get the stuff ready and tell the rest of the boys. Do this right or I'll have your ass maimed."

Zayn turned off the phone and shoved it into his pocket. He stood up and placed a twenty on the table. Dark mocha eyes glanced at me, ink covered hand running through his pushed back hair.

"Lana I'm sorry, but we have to leave. Now."

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