Mutuals

[58]

I walk outside, trying to wipe the tears away carefully because the smudged mascara look isn't cute.
"Zara!" I hear Adil calling from behind but I keep walking until I'm outside
I take a deep breath once the fresh air hits my face and swallow the lump in my throat

He catches up to me and grabs me by my shoulders, "What happened to you?"
"Nothing" I sniffle looking up to keep the tears down
"Obviously not nothing, tell me" he says pushing me to the side
I sigh, "it's just Harris"
"Who's that?"
I give him a look and he clicks on and nods his head,
"The Ex"

"I'm going home" I say taking my car keys out my bag
"No you're not man" he says putting them back into my bag
"I don't wanna be here seeing him talk to... like a million girls" I reply
"Talking to a million girls means nothing, having one that means something to you is a flex" he explains and my features soften at what he just said

"What?" He asks shuffling on his feet
"Nothing I just didn't expect you to say stuff like that" I shrug
"You think I'm a player?" He asks
"You said it" I shrug and he scoffs

"Anyways come on let's go back in" he grabs my hand and I pull my hand out of his
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Alright listen, I'll go in and sit down and you come in later" he suggests but it's more like an order

He starts walking away and turns back around,
"Oh and play along"
"Play along to what?" I ask but he turns around and walks in
I huff in annoyance because I have no idea where he's going to try and take this

Obviously use this situation to his advantage

After a couple minutes, I check myself in my phone screen reflection, fix my lipstick and hijab and walk back in. Adil sitting on his own comes into my view and I glance over to the table on the left where Harris is sat, now with a girl around his arm

What the fuck

As I get closer to Adil he gives me a smile which I return as he stands up to hug me
"You alright?" He asks wrapping his arms around my waist and I put mine around his neck
"Yeah I'm good"
He pulls me in closer and I feel his scent rubbing off on me
He pulls away and kisses me on my temple which takes me aback and he feels me tense up
"Act normal" he whispers and I nod my head

He grabs my hand and leads me back to the table
"Which one is he?" He asks
"He's got curly hair, wears a nose ring" I describe
"Dimples?" He asks and I nod my head

His cute ass dimples

"He's sat with a girl" he states and I scoff pulling myself away from him
"Jheez thanks for the reminder" I say sarcastically
"Relax" he says pulling me back into his chest
I sigh and end up melting into his chest and he senses it so he pulls his arms around me

"What happened with him anyways?" He asks and I sigh not knowing whether I wanna tell him or not
He looks down at me and I look up at him so our eyes meet, "you can tell me"

After thinking about it for a minute I pull away from his embrace and put my feet up on my seat and lean myself on the backrest, facing Adil.
"My brother got married whilst we were together and after that my mum and dad's attention turned to me and marriage and obviously I was with Harris and marrying him was what felt right. So I spoke about it with him and I told him that if he wasn't ready he didn't have to say yeah to asking for my hand but he insisted that he wanted this so we went ahead with it. The day he was supposed to come for my rishta, all my family were together and my mum had cooked and I was all dressed up ready for him and they didn't turn up and his brother rang me to say that Harris couldn't do it"

"He didn't have the guts to tell you himself?" Adil asks and I shake my head
He kisses his teeth and shakes his head, "that's trash man"

I nod my head feeling a lump in the back of my throat
"Are you gonna cry?" He asks and I roll my eyes
"No"
"Yeah you are"
"Do you want me to cry?" I ask raising an eyebrow to which he shakes his head
"Shut up then"

I look the other way, take a deep breath, recollect myself and turn back to him to catch him staring
"What?" I ask
"You're so peng man" he answers which takes me aback
"Erm... thanks" I say looking down
"Ahhhh look at you, acting shy again" he laughs
"Shut up oh my god" I laugh
"Come here" he says holding his arms out which I, for some reason, gladly accept

"It's shit that had to happen to you, I'm sorry" he speaks up and his chest vibrates under my head
"It's okay, weren't your fault"

We sit in a peaceful silence for what feels like 30 seconds until a familiar pair of shoes come into view

Well actually 3 pairs of shoes
I look up to see Harris, Adam and Slim staring at me

Ah shit