Strings and Schemes

Chapter 2

Zayn stares at me knowingly, as if there's more to the story than I've divulged. I redirect my focus to Louis, who sits back down next to Zayn, as Zayn leans down ever so slightly, to fix his shoe, and on his way up, grazes my ankle staring deep into my soul the whole time. I feel a million nerves set ablaze as he doesn't shy away from me, but instead invites my soul to play with his.

Louis breaks up whatever eye-fucking is happening at the table, and says, "alright alright, you two! Lets do some shots"

We take our shots of vodka on ice and all cough as if we had tasted poison. Which it basically was.

Louis gives Zayn a look that says more than words could, as if silently confirming something between them.

Zayn opens his mouth to start again, "So, what's your dynamic? You and Louis?"

I gasp ever so slightly. What does he mean? Did Louis tell him something?

"You both seem like the closest of friends," Zayn continues earnestly, "but Louis doesn't always keep secrets so well, and I knew who you were before we met, because he likes to tell us all about his experiences, usually including you..."

I practically choke on my mostly finished cider. How did this fall in my lap? Oh right, it didn't fall in my lap, it was LOUIS who perfectly planted and performed this whole night to introduce me to his rockstar friend Zayn who also has to keep a low profile, probably won't ask too many questions, and implicate him and me both in his scheme of having more sex.

I laugh, though it comes out a bit too high-pitched. I can't believe Louis pulled this off without telling me—at Harry's bar of all places. Where even is Harry? I glance around quickly to see wherever he has wandered off to. But he's nowhere to be seen, likely he'd made a quick exit upstairs to his apartment. I look down at my phone to see a text from him saying, "if you need an escape, just come upstairs and spend the night here. No obligations, just saving from Louis' wild plan he didn't tell you about xx"

Well, that does it. Everyone knew except for me.

I laugh, I'm curious why he's so curious. I feel the nerves tightening in my lower stomach, and I find myself besotted with this stranger who is asking all the right questions and has all the right lines.

"So, what do you think?" Louis asks, looking directly at me. I furrow my brows, what does he mean what do I think? Is there something to think? I thought I was going out for a wild night out with Louis, ending with potentially some sort of something between the two of us, as he owed me for the last time when I couldn't orgasm cause the alcohol was flowing too freely.

I stammer over my words. Stop trying to speak, and then open my mouth again. Zayn clearly impressed with his capacity to render me speechless.

"What?" I fumble, finally.

Zayn cuts Louis off, "what he means is, are you interested in a little menage-a-trois with us both tonight?"

"I hope you're not feeling blindsided," he says earnestly, as we dance a polite distance apart at the ministry of sound. "If you want to just ditch the whole idea, or ditch the both of us, or just me, or just him, it will be entirely okay and I won't bother you again unless you want me to bother you, and god do I really hope you'll let me bother you."

Was he always this close? His forehead is basically resting on mine. I swallow and my mouth feels as dry as it should for someone who smoked an entire joint to herself earlier this evening, and take a sip of cognac to get a moments peace from his invasion of space, mind, intimacy.

"You seem like you do this all the time," I say over the music, in response.

He shakes his head. Of course he does, he has a list of nobodies. "No, I really don't. I've been trying to live my life more for myself these days, and struggling a bit. That's why I play poker with the guys at the Raven's den every week. All I did for the longest time was write album, tour, write album, tour, and I swear it almost killed me. Killed what made me love doing it all in the first place, made me regret ever doing music and it made me finally just upend my whole life and give it up, until it was on my own terms. So, this is just one part of living life on my own terms."