Our "Little" Secret >>Ziam Ageplay<<

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Why did you attack him, Zayn?"

Letting out a sigh, he focused on the cigarette between his lips, taking an extra-long drag and blowing it out to the side. The wind caught it at just the right angle to prevent it from blowing back at any of them, and smirking a little to himself, he did it again just to watch the smoke billow away into nothing. The three managers sitting across from him were impatiently waiting for an answer, and if he didn't say anything in the next minute or so, one of them was bound to start asking even more questions. He finally glanced up toward them, shrugging with one shoulder. "I didn't attack him."

The oldest out of the group, a blonde woman who he couldn't remember the name of no matter how hard he tried, scoffed at him and shoved papers at his face. Upon further inspection, they revealed the full story that had been released earlier that day. "Explain this."

Zayn tutted, nevertheless staring down and reading over the words. Surprisingly, there was nothing untrue about any of it. The man had admitted to hiding in their hotel room to get pictures, though the information on how damn annoying it was to always watch your back was left out. Typical. He finished with a roll of his eyes and shoved them back across the table, feeling disgusted and annoyed by the whole thing. "I didn't touch him."

"You grabbed his camera, didn't you?"

"Yes," Zayn growled, teeth gritted and jaw tight with every word he spoke. "He shouldn't have been in there in the first place, so I threw his camera and it broke. I didn't even touch him, so calling that an attack is pointless. I had the chance to hit him and I didn't."

Everyone seemed exasperated with him. Even Liam, who was the first to see the story even before Zayn had woke up, had been on edge about it. When they had gotten a call from Management saying that Zayn needed to come to a meeting alone, they knew that there was going to be trouble. What kind was still to be determined, but he wasn't going to get out of this with a simple warning. He was purposefully attempting to stay quiet for his own sake, knowing if he opened his mouth he may say something he didn't mean. Did he want to physically attack the pap? He wouldn't lie about the want being there, but he had resisted it. Liam had had to help him, but it was better than being arrested for assault. The camera, however, wasn't nearly as lucky as the man himself had been. Zayn doubted it was ever going to be repaired.

One of the men - Zayn was pretty sure his name was Jared or something like that - leaned against the table and gave him a look that was nothing less than sympathetic. "We know you aren't fully at fault here. That doesn't mean you can break expensive objects whenever you get pissed off."

Finally. Someone was at least trying to understand what they were going through. "I know."

Jared or Jacob or whatever his name happened to be leaned back against his chair. "He's asking for money for a new camera instead of going to some court and working it out there. We figured you wouldn't have a problem with that."

Zayn shook his head. Let this all be done with. The faster it was, the faster he could go back to the hotel and get ready for that night's show. "I'll have it by tomorrow. Anything else?"

They shook their heads, and as quickly as humanly possible, Zayn got to his feet and took the very last drag of his cigarette, knowing Liam would kill him if he brought it into the hotel, allowed or not. The table's eyes were on him despite how normal he was trying to be, and he forced out a chuckle that really sounded like he was losing his voice. There were meant to be words that followed, but nothing came out. After making sure the fag was completely put out, he tossed it in the ash tray off to the side and turned his back, starting to walk toward the hotel again. It was a few blocks away from the little café the four of them had met at, giving him the perfect chance to take some deep breaths and enjoy the nice weather.