Chapter 5
Nadia's POV:
I was still on Zack's shoulder when he stepped inside the apartment; it was dark and I couldn't see a thing until he turned on the lights; a wooden table was placed on my right with a huge vase full of roses rested on top of it. the apartment featured a modern silhouette characterized by classic hardwood floors and punctuated with the huge glass window, which was the first thing I noticed as soon as he put me down.
I opened my mouth in amazement since the inside of apartment was beautiful and screamed 'Luxury'; white low lying sofas crafted out of fine leather sat proudly along with a black color laying low coffee table. Nested black bookshelves situated on the left wall beside the huge TV screen, it held so many collections of books, which looked tempting and ready to be read, creating an incredible and relaxing lounging room.
I couldn't wait to check the kitchen because it was my favorite part of the house after my room of course. I started walking slowly towards it, fighting with the wedding dress since it was so long that it almost made me trip several times. However, before doing anything, I took off my heels since they were killing me.
"There are four bedrooms; you can pick the room you want I don't mind" Zack took of his tie bow as he threw himself on the sofa, interrupting my thoughts.
"Okay, what about my clothes?" I asked him since his grandma took care of my suitcases.
"They're in the master bedroom, I'll go get them" He rushed to one of the rooms as if he was hiding something.
As soon as Zack left, I took my time in admiring the kitchen. A raised sink, a closet with door recessed panel, dark wood closet doors, a granite worktop, a household stainless steel, a brown wooden floor and no small island, they all made the kitchen look modern and so cozy.
'I like it more than the seating area' I gasped at the beauty in front of me.
Zack took more than five minutes in the bedroom which only made me walk towards him, wondering why it took him so long. However, as soon as I stepped in, I opened my mouth in gawk; the bed was full of red roses as candles were lightened everywhere! The entire room was based of black and white which looked extremely beautiful with the candles lights and the flowers.
He didn't notice that I was standing by the doorframe watching him; he was staring at the wardrobe as if he was solving a math equation which made me curious about what was so odd in the closet that he was gazing at. Soon enough, I made my presence clear.
"What took you so long?" I moved towards him.
"Well, you can come and see" He ran his hand through his hair frustratingly.
As soon as my eyes landed on the wardrobe, I couldn't help but burst out laughing because all we had in it were matching PJs and clothes with several colors, from pink, green to yellow. Mrs. Collins really thought that we were deeply in love.
'I would never think of wearing matching clothes with Zack' I chuckled to myself.
"What's so funny?" He stared at me with a confused gaze which made the situation funnier.
"You should probably advise your grandma to stop watching Korean movies" I answered him trying to contain my laughter but I sucked terribly.
"Yeah, does she think that we will go to college wearing identical clothes?" He chuckled holding two identical outfits in his hands.
Both of the outfits consisted of black jeans, a white T-Shirt along with a leather jacket and a blue scarf for Zack and a green one for me. I imagined going to college wearing those clothes and everyone's reactions at the sight of us, and it surely made me laugh hysterically.
"What the hell!" I giggled still staring the clothes "She thinks that we're lovebirds"
"Yeah, I already know that! I think we're good actors though" He stated, taking off his suit jacket and reaching for two identical PJs.
"Why for?"
"Considering everything she has done today, I can sense that she'll be around tomorrow morning" He gave me the PJ and I took it gladly, almost desperate to rip the dress off me.
I took the pajama and after take few glances at the bedroom, I left and closed the door behind me. The apartment was huge, then when I took a better look at the seating area, I noticed that a huge espresso dining table with a set of eight black chairs, was placed between the master bedroom and the couches, as a chandelier hanged from the roof, making it look so cozy.
'I like it'
Without sparing a second to think about my room, I picked the room which was in front of Zack's randomly. I opened the door carefully and turned the lights on. The room wasn't a big as Zack's but it had same furniture but in beige and watery blue. The walls were painted with watery blue lined with a beige linen headboard on queen sized bed, which was dressed in beige quilt and gray and blue pillows, with two simple side tables with unique style lamps in each side of the bed.
I dropped the pajama on the white bedding and headed to check the bathroom. I was faced by a contemporary bathroom with a white doors cupboard, a white bathtub, a gray floor tiles, white walls, an open shower and white sinks in the middle of Limestone counters.
'It's pleasant to the eyes'
Zack's POV:
Ever since dad ran away with his "Girlfriend", grandma had put every ounce of strength she had to make me happy and tried her best along with grandpa to make me live as normal as ever; but with time, she couldn't handle me being alone without "Someone" by my side. In the beginning, it was as casual as having the long speeches she loved to throw at me but then I ended up marrying Nadia.
And my marriage didn't even prevent her from worrying because I knew that everything she had done that day in the wedding was for my best in her point of view therefore I couldn't be mad at her, not after everything she had sacrificed for me.
Nadia headed out of the room after taking her PJ, I could tell that she hated being in that gown since she kept fighting with the lace, she was surprisingly funny. However, as soon as she left, I locked the door to change my clothes since I didn't want to have any awkward moments with Nadia.
As soon as I was done, I removed all sort of petals lying on the quilt and placed the candles on the floor and threw my body on the comfortable king sized bed, thinking of how I was going to handle an entire year with Nadia.
Then I remembered what happened in the wedding, Nadia knew everybody including grandpa's friends and Sarah, who I eventually discovered that she was Cecilia's friend as well, and that mom and Cecilia were best friends before. However, I had lots of unanswered questions 'If they were so close then why I had never met Nadia before the incident of Laura? Did Nadia knew my mother? How hadn't I never seen Nadia with Maria and Sam?'
Overthinking had always made me frustrated so I shrugged the ideas out of my mind and took my way to the kitchen to drink some green tea because it would make me relax and fall in deep sleep which was everything I wanted in that moment.
I put some water in the microwave and settled the timer for a minute and reached for the tea bags; waiting for my water to boil, I grabbed my phone and checked my Facebook account hoping to find something interesting; I sighed in frustration by the enormous number of friendships' requests I got especially from girls so without hesitation, I cast it back on the kitchen table.
"What's so frustrating?" I heard a mumble from behind.
"Facebook" I turned my head to face Nadia, standing there looking extremely adorable but instead of staring at her like usual, I shrugged off and gestured at the chair beside me which she took it gladly.
How was it even possible to find a girl cute with no makeup, no fantasy dresses nor well-fixed hair? Well, Nadia was since as soon as she sat beside me, my eyes shifted to her messy ponytail that I fought the urge to run my hand through it, her green shorts and their fitted T-shirt, her flawless skin and lastly her beautiful chocolate brown eyes.
"You want some?" I pointed at the tea bags.
"Yeah, thanks" She nodded placing her hand on the table "So...?" She trailed off.
"So what?" I took my cup out of the microwave and placed hers.
"How are we going to college tomorrow?" She questioned.
"As far as I know, grandma didn't like the idea of us going in the first place but after a hard time of convincing her, she agreed" I placed a tea bag in my cup, with Caramel and Lemon flavor "Your grandpa will send your car early in the morning"
"I hope so because I can't live without my baby girl" She mumbled but I could hear her though.
"Baby girl?" I chuckled at her.
"Yeah I love my car" She grinned widely.
Awkward silence
I placed her teacup in front of her two minutes later, and then we sat there as an annoying silence lived awkwardly between us until I gulped the left contain of my cup, I excused myself and headed to my room, threw my body on the comfy bed and lost myself in an enjoyable sleep.
****
I blinked several as I heard noise outside my room but I was disinterested of what was happening since it was obviously Nadia, I closed my eyes again hoping to regain my sleep but Nadia's voice pulled me out of my heaven "Hey, your grandma is here" She whispered as it took me almost a minute to process what she said.
"What?" I opened my eyes, only to face Nadia laying on the bed beside me "What are you doing here?"
"When Collen called and told that she was going up, I hurried over here" She explained still lowering her voice.
"Oh! So I say, let's act like we're still sleeping" I muttered the only thing I cared about in that moment "Or maybe actually sleep and when she sees us like this, she might just leave"
"You think?" For the very first time she didn't retort right away or snap at me, she just pushed me aside and made herself more comfortable beside me under the silky sheets.
She struggled to find a position since every time she turned, she ended up by somehow hitting me so I threw my hand around her and pulled her to me, and strangled her in my grip. In the beginning, she stiffened a little bit but when she saw that I didn't actually care, she gave in and softened.
The urge of sleeping was way stronger than paying attention to grandma or the fact that Nadia was inches away. However, I glanced at her to find her already asleep so I welcomed the tiredness that took control of my body, totally forgetting that we had college to attend to.
My head was spinning when I blinked again, I tried to move but I felt something beside me and when I opened my eyes, I took a glimpse of the sleeping beauty laying two inches away and by time I realized that it was Nadia, I froze there admiring her.
"What are you doing?" She snapped at me and I realized that she was already wide awake.
We were in such an awkward position but none of us had really made a move except for blinking our eyes; my arm was wrapped around her waist while the other one was behind her back which left her face inches away from my chest, as if I wasn't willing to let her go.
"Hey, it surprises me that your grandma didn't break the door" She whispered hiding a profound smile which told me that 'she liked the situation' as my subconscious screamed at me, making me stare again "What are you doing?" She spoke again.
"Admiring you!" I smirked at her, a small gesture which she reacted to immediately by punching me on the chest "I guess, she left..."
"I hear footsteps" She pressed her index finger on my lips to prevent me from speaking while all I did was staring deeply in her eyes and enjoying her beauty while I had the chance.
My mind was drifted away with thoughts that escorted my feelings; if I didn't hate her that much, I would have fallen for her so easily but the fact that I knew so many things that others didn't know about her was standing between my heart and my brain. Therefore, I intended to remind myself that what we had was temporary 'a year to be exact'.
"Close your eyes" I said as soon as I heard the door's knob "And come closer"
"Wha-What?" She protested but I didn't leave her any time to complain since I embraced her tighter and put my chin on her head.
'It definitely made her quiet' I smirked secretly.
Nadia's POV:
"Uh, how cute is that Oliver!" Mrs. Collins stated cheerfully but I didn't even think of lifting my head because if I did, I would have come face to face with Zack who was then hugging me tightly to his chest leaving me in the position of just catching my breathe and admiring his cologne.
"I guess we should leave mam" I heard a male's voice so I assumed it was Oliver "I don't want to invade their privacy any further"
"I presume you have right indeed" She answered him with an exaggerated sigh "I thought they'd be wide awake"
"Next time, we would consider calling them as an option instead of entering directly" Oliver stated "I'll leave a note"
"I hope they wake up before the food gets cold"
"Hope so" And with that, the door was closed again.
As soon as I heard their footsteps fade away, I jumped directly off bed making Zack look at me with a puzzled look; I went out of the room immediately without looking back, heading to the bathroom because I seriously needed a quick shower to process things.
'Ugh' I sighed at myself.
As cold water enfolded me, realization hit me; I was in the same bed with Zack who was hugging me as if he was my real husband! The same boy that I couldn't even bear standing beside him became my housemate and my husband. And the odd part is that I didn't hate being with him that morning that's why I jumped out of his bed.
So many thoughts took control of my mind but putting my head under water like usual, it made me feel better and it kind of helped me to solve problems by opening my eyes to the bigger picture, and in my case it was: Just acting like Zack didn't exist out of the house since time I spent with him home was enough.
The smell of fresh coffee hit me as soon as I left the bathroom therefore I quickly put on some clothes I found on my bed which Zack probably brought, then headed to the kitchen where a whole table sat there full of various food from mini pizzas, quiches to croissants; and it reminded me of how hungry I was.
"Wow, sounds delicious" I stated, approaching the table.
"Yeah, Oliver is a great cook" A shirtless Zack with messy hair was then facing me holding two cups of coffee "There's some hot water if you want to have tea"
"Coffee is fine" I mumbled astonished by his politeness "Is there any trick?"
"What do you mean?" He put a cup of 'Mrs.' in front of me while he placed a cup of 'Mr.' on his side of the table.
"Well, to start with, you're nice..." I answered him but his six pack abs were facing me making me distracted "And you better put on a shirt"
"Why? Am I distracting you?" He wore his famous smirk on, glancing at me "And to stop being nice, I'll stay like this, today and always until a year passes"
"Oh, that's Zack I know" I smiled at him, feeling pleased that the old Zack came back because the kind and sweet Zack was making me nervous and out of my league.
To my surprise, things actually went just fine without any fights, just casual arguments which mostly ended by me rolling my eyes at Zack's sneers. moreover, I got used to my debates with him because we had been fighting for more than five years and a half.
"Hey, what about my car?" I asked him when I was putting dishes in the sink.
"I asked Collen and he said that no one dropped car keys and that grandma didn't mention anything so I guess you'll be taking the cab" He was literally catching his smile from spreading across his face.
"What? What about I take yours and you take a cab?" I snapped at him.
"Well, sorry to disappoint" He held a dish and placed it slowly in the sink in front of me, blowing a breathe on my face when I was gawking at him "If you don't consider coming with me, I'm not that kind my dear"
"You're annoying" I yelled at him.
"As much as you are" He shouted back "Leave the dishes, the housekeeper will take care of them"
"I don't care, I'm cleaning anyway" I felt rage taking control of my body.
After cleaning the dishes, I went to Zack's room and took some clothes after making sure that Zack wouldn't wear the same thing... just in case; I dried my hair, applied some makeup and put my clothes on quickly then hurried to the door hoping to attend some classes.
On my way to the door, I glanced a picture from the wedding on the coffee table, it was when Zack kissed me and I smiled at him. They caught us at the right moment. And my face heated up by just remembering that moment.
"Cool moment ha?" Zack pulled me out of my gaze.
"You better stop, right there" I interrupted him right away since he was about to cross limits like usual.
"Hey, you forgot something though" He literally jumped on the sofa and soon enough he was right in front of me.
"What are you doing?"
"Stop asking me this question" He stood there staring at my eyes for a second then he kissed my cheek then left right away, leaving me standing there flustered.
"What the hell is happening to me?" I mumbled still staring at the picture.
"Hey, your cab is here" Zack looked at me amusingly "And if you keep staring at that picture, I might do the same thing so move"
"Zack Collins, how dare you" I ran after him, angry and annoyed of his actions.
'God help me'
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