Just By Being You || z.m.

The new coworker

Seeing Zayn in class made the thoughts in my head swirl like a tornado of confusion. His exterior was mysterious and gorgeous but the person on the inside was rude and defensive. It amazed me that someone so beautiful on the outside could be so ugly deep down. I scoffed at the memory of him calling me half pint. I was only 5’ tall and Zayn was at least 6’ or taller but I don’t think that was reason enough for him to call me half pint. Where did that name come from? What was he five years old? I laughed quietly at myself for thinking Zayn was immature. Rae nudged me when she noticed my amusement. I just gave her a wink and turned my attention back to taking notes. That only lasted about five minutes before I noticed Zayn. He was wearing a tight navy shirt that clung tightly to the defined muscles of his back and his short black hair was in a ruffled mess as usual. I wanted to run my fingers through his raven hair and kiss his chiseled jawline but for now that would just have to remain a fantasy. Class ended and Rae anxiously pulled me out of the classroom by my wrist.

“Oh my gosh I just heard the biggest frat house on campus is having a party tomorrow! We have to go A!” she rambled as we walked along the path to the parking lot.

“I don’t know Rae I'm not big into drunken parties.” I sighed.

“But Ava we both know you like to dance.” She replied.

“Fine I’ll go.” I said rolling my eyes in defeat.

Rae screamed and wrapped my in a hug filled with at least a million thank yous. We parted ways and I retreated to my car so I could make my way to work. I work at a local veterinarian office that is a good five minutes from campus, ten minutes with bad traffic. Today was one of those ten minute traffic days. I had the radio turned up loud in hopes of making things move along faster but to no avail. Just as I was merging lanes in order to make my intended turn, a guy on a motorcycle sped in front of me, cutting me off.

“You asshole, now I'm going to be late for work!” I shouted at the erratic driver.

After taking an alternate route to get to work, I arrived 5 minutes late.

“Hey boss I'm sorry I'm late some jerk on a motorcycle cut me off and I…” I started but was cut off by the image in front of me.

My boss was walking alongside a young man dressed in familiar red and black leather. Is facial features were unmistakable and his raven hair was even more tousled from wearing his helmet. It was Zayn. I felt my heart drop to my stomach as I realized he was the guy who cut me off on my way to work. What was he doing here? I tried to pull myself together and remain calm as my boss began to explain the current situation.

“Ava this is Zayn, he is a new intern that will be working here with us and you are in charge of his training.” My boss explained as Zayn and I were forced to shake hands.

The handshake lasted longer than I would have desired but Zayn noticed it was making me uncomfortable. As I tried to pull my hand away he held on tighter and smirked as my cheeks began to flush from embarrassment.

“Nice to meet you Ava.” Zayn said in a gruff British accent that I had failed to notice before.

He was enjoying watching me squirm as he continued to be extra friendly. I wondered to myself how I hadn’t noticed his accent, maybe because I had only heard him speak once before. I snapped myself back to reality and remembered how rude and childish Zayn could be.

“Well shall we get started for the day?” I asked Zayn with a smirk.

“Let me know if you two need help with anything.” My boss said before leaving us alone.

“Follow me; the break room is back here. You can leave your stuff in one of the lockers.” I gestured to the large metal boxes along the wall before walking over to my personal locker.

I shrugged off my jacket and placed it in my locker along with my bag and shut the container. I turned to face Zayn who was ready and waiting on me. I let my eyes trail from his face to his tight fitting shirt and this didn’t go unnoticed. Zayn smirked back at me and gave me a wink causing me to just roll my eyes.

“Come on let’s get started, we have cages to clean.” I said walking passed him.