The Café (Ziam Short)

At 5:15pm on every day, Zayn comes into the café, sets down his things, takes a seat by the window, and buries his nose in his book, writing and doodling, right after he gets his order taken. He leaves at 6:00pm on the dot. It's Liam's favourite 45 minutes of the day, but he's sure it's just another hour wasted to Zayn.

Liam has done things to get Zayn's attention. He's drawn smiley faces , he's drawn stick figures, he's even written Zayn's name is a somewhat, creative font.. Zayn always mumbles a quiet 'thank you', but he doesn't really look at Liam, or take note of his efforts. It's not that Zayn doesn't care, he just doesn't notice. It's not his fault, Liam thinks. He just needs to try harder next time. 

The thing is, it frustrates Liam sometimes. Everyone knows who he is. He's Liam Payne, he's invited everywhere, to everything, parties just aren't complete without his presence, and he's a boxer, for crying out loud. Liam is not invisible, but Zayn just sees right past him and it's not fair, Liam really wants Zayn to see him.

Today, Liam had drawn a smiley face with a party hat on. He's not sure why, but he's running out of ideas, and this was the only thing he could think of. He's nervous, and a little frustrated, as he hands Zayn his drink just because he knows his actions will go unnoticed, again. Leaving Zayn at his spot by the window, Liam returns to the counter. He sits there and watches Zayn for the whole hour. Liam knows it's pathetic, but he really can't help himself. It's like he's in a low budget, indie love/romance movie, where the café worker is in love with a hopelessly unreachable boy. 

"You are embarrassing," Niall says, sitting down next to me. "You're really embarrassing."

Liam flicks him on the forehead in response, because he knows his friend is right. He continues to watch Zayn, who looks so beautiful with his furrowed eyebrows, and deeply emerged in whatever he's doing in that book, going back to his green every two minutes or so.

"You could talk to him, you know," Niall says with his strong irish accent. "It's not illegal."

Liam puts his head in his hands, "I did."

"Li, I'm not quite sure that 'Hello sir, can I take your order please?' is exactly classed as conversation. Transactions are not conversation, Liam."

Obviously, Niall is right, and Liam knows that. He's not an idiot. But he doesn't know how to start talking to Zayn. Zayn was intelligent, intimidating, quiet and oh, so beautiful. Liam is already invisible, so he might as well be mute too.

He remembers when Zayn transferred to their school, everyone had grown up with each other since nursery and sorted into their own cliques. Then there was Zayn, he moved here when he was 16. He was exotic and different, something for the girls to swoon over. Liam recalls the Art class he had with Zayn, he smiles to himself at the memory.

They were on the subject of Andy Warhol and his work that day, and they were discussing his piece on Marilyn Monroe. A girl said that Warhol was in love with Marilyn, that's why he did his piece on her so amazingly, and Zayn just couldn't keep his mouth shut about it.

"Andy Warhol was gay." He spoke.

The girl looked at him like he had just said Primark were having a closing down sale. "Um no, Andy Warhol painted it by hand and said that he decided to paint it by hand for her just because he was so in love with her. Anyway, it was the 1960s, no one was gay then." 

Liam remembered how Zayn's eyes looked. They were like the opening to the gates of hell, he was absolutely furious, "Andy Warhol was gay, just like DaVinci and Marcel DuChamp. His work was influenced by drag queens and cowboys, followed by all the rest of the gay clichés. But in the 1960s, it was overlooked; it wasn't noticed. Warhol was a controversial man with a bizarre personality. Warhol was a homsexual. He was obsessed by the ambition of getting rich and famous and knew exactly how he would reach it. He knew being gay would of given him more attention, but fortunately, it was who he was and he wasn't playing to the public. Andy Warhol was a gay man."