“Are you sure it’s okay?” I asked Zayn.
He looked over his shoulder at the small crowd that had gathered outside and shrugged. “Yeah. It’s just a harmless get-together.” He turned his attention to me and grinned.
I smiled shyly and sipped on my iced-tea. To say I was uncomfortable would be an understatement. All the cameras and screams coming from the fans was a bit overwhelming. As soon as we got into this little café, fans erupted in screams of surprise and total admiration. They basically had to close down the place and ask for everyone to get out—expect us.
I felt bad.
They were here before us and didn’t deserve to be thrown out as they were still eating but even when Zayn insisted that it was okay and that they didn’t need to close the whole place down, they denied his request. Repeating that it was for his own safety.
So here we were, all alone in a little café with more than thirty pair of eyes scanned on us.
“So tell me about you. I want to know who Hayden Winters is.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and stared at me, as if he truly cared to know who I was.
My wandering eyes finally settled on his piercing ones and I suddenly got lost in them. He was just so effortlessly beautiful and I wondered for a second if he knew the impact he had on a lot people—mostly girls.
I scratched the side of my head and thought about my answer. “Well, I’m an eighteen year oldgirl from London who’s always wanted to work in the music industry and had the amazing opportunity to work with five incredible guys.”
“Oh stop it,” he waved his hand in front of me in a modest manner. I laughed and stuck my fork into the chocolate cake before taking a big bite out of it.
“I really mean it though, you guys are awesome. I didn’t expect things to turn out so well.” I admitted, leaning one elbow on the table and tousling my hair on one side.
“I’m glad to see you’re having a good time though.” He took a sip of his water and turned around when someone from outside shouted his name. He smiled and waved his hand towards the big window, making everyone else scream louder. “We’re happy to have you, too. We needed someone like you. Someone vibrant, sunny, young, good at what she does and able to handle our lifestyle. You’re the whole package.”
“Oh stop it,” it was his turn to laugh.
He took a bit of his sandwich and slowly chewed on it. I could have watched him eat that sandwich all day and wouldn’t have complained once but I knew people were watching an I would probably freak him out, so I focused on my cake instead.
“You didn’t pursuit your studies after high school?” He wondered aloud.
“No. To be honest, I hated school. I hated it so much that I made a promise to myself and that promise was to go as far away from it as possible once I graduated.”
“I see you kept that promise.” He remarked, flashing me that cute smile of his.
“I always keep my promises.” I smirked and stirred my iced-tea.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He winked and looked behind me. Waving his hand in the air, he called over the waiter who got rid of our table and wished us a good day before disappearing into the back.
Zayn helped me up from my chair and froze when he noticed that the crowd had only gotten bigger. I stood there and watched as the crowd tried to push through the door.
“Do we have to pass through that?” I asked him.
He looked at me, and then buried his hand in his pocket, retrieving his phone. “I’ll send for the car.”
I nodded and sat back down in my chair as Zayn pressed the phone to his ear. I didn’t miss the squints and mugs I was getting from some of the girls from the crowd but I didn’t let it get to me. I would probably be acting the same if the roles were reversed.
My attention shifted to Zayn who was on the phone.
“There’s a massive crowd in front of the restaurant and we can’t get out…So are you sending someone?…Yeah she’s with me…It was my idea, she had nothing to do with this…I practically begged her to come with me….It’s no biggie, really…” He glanced at me and turned around when he saw me staring. He was now whispering into the phone so I couldn’t hear anything no matter how hard I tried.
Great.
He was talking to his manager, I just knew it and as soon as we would get back, I was going to receive the lecture of a lifetime. I sighed and pulled my phone out, wanting to check the time.
I had several messages and a few missed calls. Work was calling but here I was dinning out with Zayn. I really hadn’t thought this through.
One week and I was already screwing things up.
“I’m sorry you have to go through this.” I hadn’t even realized he had ended his call and was now sitting across from me.
I waved him off and offered a smile. “I better start getting used to it right?”
He smiled and nodded. “Guess so but I mean about getting you in trouble and all.”
“I’ll just talk to him, no biggie.”
No biggie? Who was I trying to convince?
“Maybe next time—”
“Look, I had fun with you and if it were different circumstances, I would probably ask to do this again but it isn’t and I’m afraid we might never to this again.”
He frowned and ran a hand in his hair. “Is that what you want?”
“Of course, not. I had a good time, Zayn but I might lose my job if we do this again.” I explained.
“But if it were up to you, you’d want to do it again.” He ignored my protests and asked. I sighed but smile and nodded.
“Yes. You’re fun to be around and I enjoy your company.” I smirked, glancing down at my phone that had just buzzed.
It was a new message.
I clicked on the icon and cursed silently when my boss’ name appeared on the top.
We need to talk.
“I enjoy your company as well.” He grabbed my hand that was resting on the table and tugged it a little, trying to catch my attention but I was too frozen to even look up. I just knew I was in trouble.
Maybe this harmless get-together wasn’t so harmless after all.
