Chapter 17
Zack's POV:
I knew that I had no right to ask Nadia to dump her friends but a part of me hoped I could because the idea of her with Col all day and that something bad was going to happen between them, kept prompting on my mind like a stupid reminder. However, I kept those thoughts for myself when I sent her off in the parking lot.
I went to my grandparents' house after saying goodbye to Nadia, I had some stuff to take like my books and camera, because I wanted to surprise Nadia and it was the only idea I had in mind and I was sure she would like, at least i hoped she would.
After picking everything I needed, I left the house right away since neither grandpa nor grandma was there, and I couldn't wait for them. Therefore, I took my way out of there and headed to the apartment where I was going to make some changes and add my personal touch in it, since as much as I loved grandma, her girly touch was killing me.
When I reached the apartment's building, Collen greeted me like always with a smile and he helped me in holding the boxes I brought but I didn't want to disturb him a lot so I asked him to only put them in the lifts. He was a nice guy so I didn't want to take advantage of him.
As I was checking the camera after packing my books, I remembered that I had to buy some groceries since the housekeeper didn't show up for more than two days. Thus why, I hid the camera in my closet, then took my car keys and went out of the apartment to one of the supermarkets we had few blocs away.
The assistants in the supermarket were really helpful because if they didn't help me, I would've ended up buying junk food and some ready made Pizza, which Nadia would probably kick me out of house because of them. When I was picking up stuff, I couldn't but notice women's stares toward me, and I imagined what Nadia would do if she was there. She would glare at them and scare them until they divert their attention to something else.
By time I left the supermarket, it was already getting dark so I wondered if Nadia came back home or not. I had great plans in mind because when I said that I was willing to start a new chapter with her, I opened a new door in my heart and I wanted to discover new feelings that I have never felt.
Without even realizing what had gotten to me, I was becoming a lovesick fool, a fool to the point that my lips split into a genuine smile as soon as I saw Nadia standing beside a car in the parking lot.
I stepped out of the car in no time to go to her but as I took my first steps, I realized that her face wasn't showing good signs. "Was she crying?" I questioned myself as I moved closer. However, I couldn't reach her since as soon as I was two cars away, I noticed Col as well.
I had an awkward feeling in my chest when I saw Col that close to Nadia in front of the apartment's building, all I wanted to do was push him away because I couldn't stand nobody being that close to her; they were saying things I couldn't hear but from the look on Nadia's face, I could tell that she was annoyed and uncomfortable.
"Stop saying that!" She shouted at him angrily after she pushed him away as her eyes were full of tears "Look, I can't tell what my feelings are and if I still like you or not, but what I know is that I will stay with Zack even if my heart beats for you"
As soon as she said those words, she walked away without turning back while Col was grumbling behind her, obviously taken by what she said. He hit his car's wheel several times before climbing in and heading away.
What she said meant that even if she still loved him, she would pretend that she was happy with me. But if she did so, how could I tell that she moved on? How would I live with the doubt that she still loved him? Did I really have the right to confront her to get answers to my questions?
I sighed annoyingly as I had no mood to face her in that moment since I was sure that I wouldn't get the answers I wanted for my questions; I just wanted to stay alone, to think about what I was going to do. Therefore, I just walked away with no direction in mind, I just marched with no purpose.
But what was I waiting for? She apparently had feelings for Col and she was only pretending with me, but for what? Why didn't she keep pretending like we planned to do in the beginning? Why did I even drag myself to such a position?
Anyway, after what looked like two hours or so, I came back to a dark apartment, the lights were off as there was no sound so I went directly to my room, where I found a sticky note on the door from Nadia "I slept early, goodnight, sweet dreams xoxo"
"Sweet dreams? What a crap?" I stared at the note for few seconds before cutting it and throwing it in the air.
I tried my best to sleep but I couldn't, it was as if I had insomnia, my eyelids betrayed me cause they couldn't shut down and they were heavy;Â all I kept thinking about was Nadia's face when she was uttering those words to Col, and it was making me angrier.
I ended up by getting a headache and tiredness because I didn't sleep even for a second. So instead of exhausting myself more, I got changed to my gym outfit and picked up a spare of clothes then went out directly, leaving the apartment behind.
Whenever I got mad, running was my cure, it was just something my mother suggested I do when I was stressed out in exam's period and I took it as a habit. But I'm not talking about typical running, I loved exhausting myself, pushing myself to the limits, until I can't breathe and I'm about to pass out.
And that was exactly what I did in that morning, I just ran, loud music in my ears and fresh cold air hitting my face vaguely but that didn't stop me since it was the only way to forget reality for a while. However, it didn't help much because the first thing which prompted on my mind when I reached my limit was my annoying wife.
I had no mood to see her early in the morning so I went to one of my grandpa's hotels, took a shower, got changed then went to college where I finally came face to face with Nadia in the parking lot as soon as I parked my car.
She was wearing skinny blue jeans, a white T-shirt with black heels as her beige coat rested comfortably in her arm. 'She still couldn't wear heels, so why was she wearing them, they could injure her legs more'. Her face looked pale as she had black holes under her eyes. She looked like she had a restless night just like me.
My heart softened at the sight of her in that state because even when she was crying in the hospital, she didn't look so miserable. However, I couldn't leave my feelings control me, I had to keep my composure and act like everything was fine until I got an idea to solve the problem I put myself into and answers to my questions.
I couldn't take my eyes off her even though I was still hurt, she was deliciously tempting, especially with the way she was staring back at me. I wanted to talk to her, ask her to give me answers to my questions and most importantly, blame her for being cold with Col since nobody deserves a rejection like that, and blame her that she even thought of fooling me.
I wanted to do a lot of things but my feet betrayed me, they just froze and I couldn't even move as she stalked toward me with her baby steps, her face facing the round, her hands squeezing the corners of her jacket, the confident girl was nowhere to be found and the girl I couldn't recognize replaced her.
As soon as she reached me, her eyes met mine as we just looked at each other, no actual words were spoken except our eyes'. It was as if time stopped and we were the only people in the world. Her eyes held disapproval along with something else, something that I couldn't define...
"I was worried, where have you been?" She spoke calmly, her eyes never leaving mine "I know you saw my note, why didn't you leave one at least?"
"Why would I?" I answered her coldly.
"I was worried about you" Her hands reached my upper arm and caressed it gently "Especially when I woke up this morning and I didn't find you in your room"
"There's something useful called phone now days" I stepped back which made her hand fall to her side "We can stop pretending now"
"What are you talking about?" She retorted right away, her face void of emotions.
I stared at her blankly for a whole minute, thinking what my next move would be but I got nothing, I was confused and couldn't come up with something useful. Meanwhile, Nadia just stood in front of me without saying a word.
I thought of an entire scenario in my mind of what would happen if I pushed her away and told her that I was only pretending in the last few days but I pushed that idea aside because I would lose her for good and I would end up more hurt. Therefore, I just smirked at her like usual and held her hand again.
"I was just kidding" I grinned at her widely.
"Hey, my heart almost stopped" She poked my chest and raised her eyebrows at me "You suck"
"I know, now come here" I opened my arms for her, and she accepted them immediately by stepping closer and hugging me.
"Where were you?" She mumbled in my chest.
"I went to run then I was near our hotel so I stayed there" I spoke quietly playing with the loosened strays of her hair "How was your dinner?"
"It was awful, I actually fought with Col when he drove me back last night" She took a deep breathe then continued talking "But everything will be fine again"
I liked her honesty, she didn't try to hide the fact she had a big argument with Col nor did she lie on me. She just spoke everything even though she hid the fact that she mentioned me in their fight but I wasn't waiting for her to tell me.
"We should practice about what we would say in the Gala" She stepped back, brushing her hair off her forehead.
"I know"
"But we have to pull it off" She had a determined look on her face.
"I wish we refused hosting it, I hate those parties" I nudged my nose, uncomfortably.
"Tell me about it" She grumbled adorably "They're full of pretending and hypocrisy"
We started talking about our embarrassing moments in those parties and how we could handle our grandparent's friends who were material and selfish as they only cared about our money; I learnt that she was obliged to major in Business and Management in order to take over her grandpa's companies beside her mother's fortune while Adam decided to climb all the way up by his own, but of course his part of the inheritance was safe and sound.
While we left the parking lot, heading to the cafeteria, I decided what I was going to do: I decided to take her out in a date in order to show her who I really was, and after it, I would confront her with everything. I would ask her about what really happened, and ask her to go back to where we started if she really had feelings for Col.
'I'd give her a sneak peak of my past' I started thinking of ideas to make the date unforgettable.
Nadia's POV:
When I woke up that morning after only two hours of sleep, the first thing that I thought of doing was checking up on Zack; therefore before even washing my face, I strode to his room, where I saw pieces of my notes on the ground. Panicked, I burst the door open to look for him but he wasn't there, and his bed was untouched.
"Where can he be?" I thought to myself as I headed out and faced the spot where pieces of my note rested.
I bent down and gathered the pieces off the ground, feeling slightly stressed out with a bit of rage in my system since he didn't even leave me a note, but then again I remembered that I also didn't call him so I just dropped the subject and went to prepare myself for college.
Shaking my head, I brought myself back to reality where Zack and I sat on a bench beside our classrooms; we just sat there talking about random stuff without paying time attention especially that it was one of those days that studying was the last thing to think about.
I was actually starting to get used to my conversations with Zack since they were like the link between his heart and mine, we could talk about anything without feeling that time was actually running away, and I kind of like that, especially when I just teased him about the days we used to hate each other, which would leave us hysterically laughing for minutes.
"But hey don't say that you haven't thought of me before you sleep" I lifted my head just a bit to face his grinning one.
"Yeah, I thought of ways to kill you" He smirked back at me, his hand drawing circles on my upper arm.
"I didn't think you hated me that much" I stood up and lifted my hair in a ponytail, since as soon as we sat he took off the bun and kept playing with it like usual
/*I felt like he liked my hair more than he liked me*/
"So did you" He retorted right away, the shadow of a smile apparent on his face.
"Who said I don't hate you now" I tried my best to hide my chuckle but I failed miserably since as soon as I said those words, he started laughing.
"I don't think so" He stood up, locking his eyes with mine.
To say that I wasn't affected by his looks, words and generally by him was a big lie because he was in fact a sweetheart and a boyfriend material, something I hadn't thought in million years that I would say about Zack. Especially when he just threw our past out of the window and acted like nothing actually happened, we just started a new page, where we wrote our story day by day.
And the moment when he stood up and looked down at me, his eyes never leaving mine, it wasn't any different because I literally didn't know what had gotten to me when he started approaching me as his hands cupped my bashful cheeks and caressed them tenderly.
"You don't enjoy kissing someone you hate" He said in almost a whisper.
In a fraction of a second, I gained my composure back and I realized what was going to happen next. Therefore, I took a step back because I was still confused about what happened with Col. Moreover, I wouldn't give him justice if I kissed him and pretended that everything is okay.
When I stepped back, his hands stood in the air and his face was full of confusion as his eyes told me that he felt that something was wrong but he didn't say anything about it, he forced a smile and ran his hand through his hair like he used to do when he was annoyed or nervous.
"What do you think about skipping college today?" I grinned at him widely as soon as I recovered from the embarrassing situation I created.
"Wait a minute" He crossed his arms to his chest.
"What?" I raised my eyebrows at him.
"But only if I decide where to go"
"Okay, sounds good to me" I replied at him as offered me his hand, which I took it hesitantly.
The way his thumb stroked my skin, how he looked at me, how his big hand fitted mine perfectly and how my heart itched by such a simple gesture, it all made me fall for him more since the basics of a relationship were the simple gestures which make the heart jump out of the window, not fantasy and matterial stuff.
Hand in hand, we walked to his car through students who eyed us like usual but since we got used to them, it became normal; however, the moment I saw Dillon and Col stepping out of their cars, I felt like I wanted to be burried under tones of dust in the ground since things were going to take a bad path, I felt it'
Dillon like usual, walked toward me with a huge smile covering his face and as soon as he reached, he gave me a side hug along with a kiss on the cheek, which made Zack smile at only, especially when he greeted me, saying "Hey my princess"
'Wasn't Zack supposed to push him away?' I thought to myself because Zack I knew, hated sharing what's his.
"Hey cutie" I smiled at him widely.
"Hey man, keep in mind that my eyes will always follow your shadow if you hurt her" Dillon glared at him then grinned like nothing happened.
"I will" He shook hands with him, and fortunately, Dillon didn't try to teach him the weird handshake.
Everything was just fine until Col stepped in, he stared weirdly at me with a smirk on his face, which made Zack tighten his hold me and pull me even closer to his chest, if it was even possible, he formed a terrifying look on his face, a look which could make anyone feel frightened and scared.
"Didn't you have a class today?" Dillon stated when silence took its place between us.
"Yeah but we're leaving, I don't have the mood to study" I answered him quickly.
"Wow, what a good influence he has on you" Col mumbled under his breath and it only made Zack clench his fist and grit his teeth.
"Well we better go" Zack inhaled deeply before putting his chin on top of my head and whiepering "I'll kick him if he looks one more time at you like that"
"Please don't" I lifted my head and pleaded him with my eyes.
"Didn't your mother teach you that it's impolite to whisper in someone's ear when you're surrounded with people?" Col simpered at us devilishly.
I could feel Zack's muscles clench as  his heartbeat was racing time; he hated when anybody mentioned his mother like that since talking about her was forbidden and always wrecked his nerves. However, he didn't yell at Col who kept glaring at us, he just took a deep breath for few seconds then answered him confidently.
"When I was young my mother told me to never look after the stars because they will never leave the moon" Zack smiled genuinely, as if he was living in a memory.
I felt like Col was going to burst in front of us and it hurt me to see him in that situation since he was still important in my life; however, he had to get over whatever he held for me, he had to move on and see his life because I couldn't just leave everything to be with him, it was impossible.
"But she defiantly told me to never pick people's trash" Col stated coldly.
As soon as he said those words, I felt like he stabbed me with a knife especially the way he said it: His face was void of emotions, his eyes mirrored pure rage and his hand gripped into the end of his shirt as if his life depended on his hold.
I was so numb for few second that I didn't feel that Zack let go of me. but when I realized that he did, it was too late since he was holding Col by his shirt as his face was full of rage and anger, and he was on the edge of exploding on Col's face.
/*I was in serious troubles*/
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