Chapter 6
Zack's POV:
Nadia was smiling innocently at the picture with flushed cheeks as I stared at her with amusement so I had to step in and annoy her while I still could; therefore, I jumped on the comfy sofa reaching her instantly and as I thought, she was catching her breathe especially when I pressed my lips on her cheeks then walked away.
Even after moving away, she didn't follow me or yell at me like she always did so I took my way back to the apartment and glanced at her to find her still standing there, frozen and flustered, mumbling some irrelevant words so I snapped her out of her gaze, which only made her yell then run after me.
"You're dead" She smirked at me when the lift's doors were closed.
"Really?" I fixed my leather jacket tilting my head to the side "Are you considering killing me an option my wife?"
"Well my husband" She moved with her high heeled boots towards me until she was an inch away and whispered in my ear "Maybe and no one will ever know or find out"
After speaking with one of the huskiest voices I had ever heard in my life, she exited the lifts, walking confidently as if she owned the world, she jumped in the cab immediately as I was still staring at her leaving. It took me few seconds before I could walk out facing Collen who was brightly beaming at me.
I muttered "Good morning" before I hopped in my sports car, heading to college, feeling a bit strange, a feeling which gave me shivers all over my body, which made my inner voice grumble at me with disgust "Shill out, you're still Zack"
The entire road was pretty boring due to the dreadful traffic line; I reached college after almost forty minutes, I parked my car in the parking lot before heading to my class.
I had always thought that having most of my classes with Nadia was such a bad idea, but in that moment, I felt like it was one of the most casual things in the world; I reached the auditorium directly, meeting the chocolate brown eyes which beamed at me early in the morning, before being trapped in a hug and hit by thick cologne.
"Where were you, I was looking for you from yesterday?" Jasmine wrapped her arms around my neck as I was still staring at Nadia who noticed that I was uncomfortable in the situation but she looked pretty dangerous as she clenched her teeth at me.
"I was kind of busy" I pushed Jasmine away "And why were you looking for me exactly?"
"I missed you, it looks like you disappeared in the latest couple of months" She flickered her wavy blonde hair to the side, showing off the skin of her shoulders "We were together then, I don't know what happened" She stated.
"Well, I had better things to do" I felt my blood rush through my head at the sight of Nadia hugging a guy "And since when we were together? I have never said such thing"
"Wow, what happened to us hanging out and having fun?" Her face was pale as she was protesting.
"Yeah but it meant nothing to me"
"But I thought..." She mumbled as if the cat ate her tongue"You fooled me; I thought you wanted to be with me" She yelled at me.
"Excuse me?" I shrugged my shoulders "That idea didn't even cross my mind, have I ever held your hand? Have I ever said that I wanted you? I didn't so stop your drama"
"You're stupid and you'll see"
What the hell was wrong me? Even though I hated being around Jasmine and knew that she wanted something more than friendship that I offered, I didn't want to hurt her feelings but I had no idea what happened that day because I suddenly felt rage take control of my entire system.
How could that guy hug Nadia like that? And why was she so happy to see him? She kept grinning like a fool until she saw our teacher approach the auditorium; she hugged him one more time and pecked his cheek one then headed to sit.
I had no idea what had gotten to me but I desperately wanted to know who that guy was. I was curious and I wanted answers sooner or later. However, under what title was I going to ask Nadia? I wasn't her real husband nor I was her friend.
As I entered the auditorium, I fought the urge to sit with her to know who that guy was before I would explode. Nevertheless, I sat casually two seats behind her while she was talking to some group of people and I didn't want to bother them therefore, I grabbed my phone and sent her a message.
"Care to explain? My wife?" I hesitated before sending the message.
"What do you mean?" I saw her staring at the phone for a while before answering me.
"You looked so cozy with that guy. you like him?" I replied, instantly, not even sure why I wanted to know so badly.
"I should say the same thing about you and Jasmine" I saw her rubbing her neck when I received her reply.
"Jealous?"
"Well, are you?" I read her text for about three times before I decided to answer "What do you think?"
"To be jealous you have to care first, and I know that you don't care about me" Her words made me wonder if she had right since all I know is that I enjoyed or shall I say loveed to tease her every time I found an opportunity but did i care about her?
"Touche, but how do you tell if you care about someone?" I didn't know why I seriously wanted to know her answer but I did.
"I just feel like it" It took her two seconds to answer.
"And I feel like I want to repeat what I did in the wedding"
"Stop messing and focus"
"But hey you didn't answer my question?!"
"Did you?"
"I asked first"
"Get over yourself"
"Okay but don't think a lot about me, babe"
"You wish, honey"
I put my phone in my pocket after receiving her last text since I didn't want to miss what the teacher was saying. An hour later, I noticed the same guy of earlier approach Nadia putting his arm around her shoulder and whisper something in her ear which made her chuckle then burst out laughing.
I would be lying if I say that I didn't consider kicking that guy's a** as an option because as the day flew boringly, they were together all the time from lunch to several classes even when at 3 pm when we had no classes left, they left together to the parking lot.
'she was obviously going to show him our apartment' I wondered to myself when I saw her hop in his car and they drove off.
'Was I stalking them?' I mumbled to myself when I took my seat in the car; I drove quicker than I should have as my car roared in the driveway which made me reach the house before them but I guess that they were straight behind me because as soon I jumped out of the car, I glanced his car park beside the building.
He went out of the car first, running to the passenger's side, he opened the door and held his hand out for her which she took it gladly, redness creeping on her cheeks just like when I kissed her. She watched him drive away smiling to herself like she was telling some kind of joke to her inner self.
'Who was he? And why was I so interested?' I snapped at myself before walking to the building.
Nadia's POV:
That day started uncomfortably with Zack but it was great because I met Adam after more than a month and I spent the whole day with him: however, my mind was spinning around as Zack's questions of earlier kept prompting in my mind.
Why was Zack so annoyed? He kept asking about who Adam was but I didn't tell him because he had no right to ask, we were only pretending to love each other so we could drop the veil when we were alone! But even if we were faking, it didn't stop me from feeling upset myself when I saw Jasmine wrapped around him.
I saw Zack's car parked in the parking lot when I walked to the glass door. Collen opened it for me with a huge grin on his face; he pressed the button of the lifts bowing like a gentleman when they were open! I walked in after muttering "Thanks have a good night"
I dialed the code of the door and entered immediately; my eyes analyzed the apartment and Zack was out of sight so I went directly to my room and changed my clothes to a gray shirt and black shorts which were in my suitcase that I found beside my bed. It was pretty clear that Mrs. Collins sent my clothes.
My stomach was grumbling and making weird sounds because I was hungry so I left my room behind and headed to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and found that there were some chicken slices inside and I immediately thought of chicken lasagna with special sauce.
It was an easy recipe but yet so delicious; first of all, I put mushed tomato with a little bit of oil, herbs and special spices in the pan. Secondly, I cut the chicken to thin slices and placed them in a big bowl to add the salt and spices then fried them in four table spoons of oil. Thirdly, I prepared the cheese sauce which was yummy with the Parmesan and white cheese. Finally, I put everything in the oven's cooking tin and placed it in the oven, that I pre-heated before I started cooking.
I grabbed my phone, looked for crazy songs on YouTube and placed my headphones on. The music was loud but yet amusing, I was listening to the version of 1984 of "Footloose" as I started placing dishes on the table hesitating if I should have sat a table for two or just for me.
Dancing, I placed a dish and an empty glass on the table along with orange juice. I turned on my tip toes following the music's beat, holding another dish and cup for Zack. Speaking of Zack, as soon as I turned my head, he was standing there, half naked and without even realizing I lost hold of what I was holding.
When did he come back?!
"Shit" I looked at the pieces of broken glass which were on the floor. Soon after, I reached for an empty bag and started collecting the pieces with my hands.
"For god's sake Nadia, there's something called glove" He walked toward me with his bare feet.
"And there're somethings called damn shoes or socks for a reason" I yelled at him, which made him turn around and reach for his slippers.
"Couldn't you handle the view?" He smirked at me when he was beside me on the floor.
"Just shut up" I hit his arm.
"See you couldn't even fight the urge to touch" He chuckled at me "You will end up in deep shit over me"
"Is it so?" I glared at him.
"You won't even have the chance to walk away and move on" He whispered in my ear "Your feet will betray you"
"You know what?" I smiled devilishly "I can always escape, and I guess that you are the one who'll be drooling over me"
"Really?"
"And I'll start moving from now on" I stated half whispering as I blew a breath on his face.
I stood up immediately totally forgetting about the glass on the floor, I suddenly felt a pain pierce through both of my feet to my upper leg, I stumbled back but thank god, I could catch my balance by putting my hand on the table.
"Why weren't you wearing your slippers?" Zack yelled at me as his hand reached for my foot that I obviously pulled back "Can you stay still for a second?"
He lifted my foot and placed it on his lap and started to take the pieces of glass out, which hurt me a lot but I was trying my best to keep my composure and hide the pain I was feeling by tugging on the end of my shirt tightly.
"We need to see a doctor!" He suddenly stood up and offered me his hand.
"No need to, I can just..." I argued but all he did was lifting me and taking me to the door, he pushed the vase aside and put me on the side table "Are you listening to me?"
"No" He retorted right away.
"Okay but can you at least turn off the oven and please put some shirt on" I heaved a sigh.
"I am quite distracting you, ha" He giggled then did what I said.
He came back wearing white shorts with a blue V neck shirt. He looked extremely attractive without even trying especially with his messy hair that he obviously ran his hand through several time frustratingly until it became like that.
However, before we could leave, he brought a long white skirt with him as I kept staring at him, skeptically until he reached me. He stood in front of me and gestured at the piece of clothes in his hand "Wear this" He
"Hein?" I raised my eyebrows at him.
"You're not wearing shorts out" He retorted.
"Excuse me?" I felt my blood boils in my veins.
"It's not appropriate" He rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.
"Uh, I get it!" I muttered under my breath.
"What?"
"Nothing, just help me" I pointed at her skirt.
I put my legs inside the skirt and tried to lift it up but I couldn't since I was already sitting in the table and I couldn't stand on my feet to do it; as if Zack heard my thoughts, he sent his arms around my waist and lifted me a little bit so I could fix the skirt.
Without hesitation, he lifted me off the table, bridal style, which means that my head was laying in the crock of his neck and my hands were wrapped around it as his cologne filled my nostrils, messing with my nerves and sending an entire zoo playing in my stomach.
In the lifts, things were awkward since all I did was staring at my lap while he just lifted me like I had a fly's weight. I was starting to feel uncomfortable about the situation since we were so close that my heart was beating rapidly and I kept catching my breathe, and when I decided to break silence, the lifts' door opened and Collin faced me with a worried expression.
"Mrs. Collins, are you okay?"
"It's Nadia and yes I am fine" I smiled at him.
"Uh but your feet are bleeding" He gestured at the ground but Zack didn't even give me time to look at it as he walked us out, put me in the car's seat and then climbed in.
The hospital wasn't far but due to the traffic line, we didn't even move as we just stayed in the same place for about twenty minutes. An uncomfortable silence filled the car and it bothered me a lot so I had to break silence "So? I didn't hear you when you entered the house"
"I didn't want to disturb you" He answered sharply.
"Disturb me?" I questioned him, surprisingly.
"You were with..." He started talking but then let out a sigh and added "Never mind"
I knew that he was talking about Adam but since he didn't push things any further, I just stayed silent and looked out of the window until we reached the hospital. He parked the car, jumped out of it and strode to my side while I opened to the car's door after unfastening my seat belt. I was going to step out when I heard Zack yelling at me.
"Couldn't you wait for two seconds?" He snapped at me, angrily.
"I don't want to..." I started talking but he interrupted me immediately, saying "Just shut up"
His eyes darkened as he lifted me like earlier and took me inside the hospital. As soon as one of the nurses saw me, she strode to us quickly with a wheel chair and took me the checking room where a doctor looked at me then at my bleeding feet.
"May I know how you injured your feet?" He smiled at me before placing my foot on his lap and caressing the side of my foot.
"I stepped on pieces of glass" I answered him immediately.
"Oh I see" He looked at me before putting my foot off his lap and standing up "Let me put you on the checking bed" He was about to lift me up when Zack stepped in.
"I can help you doctor, no need to bother yourself" Zack obviously simpered at him before holding me in his arms and putting me where the doctor gestured at him.
The doctor started taking off remaining pieces of glass as I whimpered out of pain, squeezing the fabric of my skirt. I laid my head back with my eyes closed, trying my best to restrain the sharp pain but it was already tugging on my nerves.
Nevertheless, I suddenly felt someone rubbing my back up and down. I opened my eyes and saw that Zack was sitting beside me. He moved even closer and put my head on his shoulder while my left hand rested on his big left one, while his right one kept soothing me.
Every time I felt pain, I squeezed Zack's hand in order to avert my attention to anything but my pain. Anyway, he didn't seem to mind since he just kept smiling down at me genuinely as his thumb stroked my skin tenderly, making me shiver due to his single simple touch.
Thirty minutes later, I passed the X-ray tests to see if the pieces of glass reached any nerves, and thankfully the injuries weren't deep and no nerves were damaged. Later on, they took me to the checking room again and the doctor of earlier finished stitching my wounds with special needle and thread to sew the skin together.
When the doctor made sure that everything was fine and I could leave, he gave me a prescription of few tablets in case my feel hurt me because although the injuries weren't deep, there were a lot. He also insisted that I wouldn't walk a lot and avoid wearing heels for a while until the wounds recover completely.
"You can leave now, but you have to be careful next time" The doctor smiled at me.
"Yeah, I will be" I replied politely.
"Aren't there anything we can put on the wound to remove the scar after the recovery?" Zack asked him, running his hand through his hair.
"Well, I'll set you up in anther appointment after ten days, and we'll see what we can do then" He stamped the prescription and handed it to Zack.
"Thanks" I thanked him again since he was extremely nice with me.
"I was just doing my job" He offered me his hand to shake and just when I was about to offer him mine it, Zack took it.
"I'll bring my wife next time, thanks again" Zack shook his hand.
Without thinking twice, he lifted me again after the weird moment with the doctor, and walked outside the hospital to a bench which was under a beautiful tree. The lights added a special affect to the place, making it more comfortable and relaxing.
Zack put me on the bench then sat beside me without even speaking. I just kept looking at the dark blue sky and the shinning stars, admiring their beauty while Zack kept gazing at the ground, playing with his fingers. We stayed like that for few minutes in a comfortable silence until Zack decided to speak.
"How are we going to handle a whole year?" He mumbled but I could hear him loud and clear "I don't know but I'm starting to dislike our hate"
"What do you mean?" I asked him since he was confusing me.
"You said this morning that you have to care about someone to be jealous" He turned his head and stared deeply in my eyes "How do you tell if you care?"
"I just feel..." I started talking but he cut me off immediately.
"I know you just feel like" He said, never breaking our eye contact "You know that I couldn't handle seeing you in pain like that"
"What are you saying?" I questioned but deep down, I felt flattered of what he said.
"I'm saying that I care about you and I don't think I hate you anymore" His hand reached mine and stroked my skin, gently "We should at least be friends"
"Okay maybe it's a good idea" I told him, sincerely because as much as I disliked to admit to myself, I didn't hate him like I used to.
Even though I agreed to his idea, my thoughts were messed up in my head and all I wanted to do was just lay in my comfy bed and stare at the ceiling to think about it because obviously a lot of things were changing and my feelings were one of them.
/*Confused*/
"New beginning?" He offered me his hand.
"New beginning" I took his hand gladly as sparkles rushed through my system as soon as I touched him.
/*Please, don't forget to vote, thank you*/