Pelican » Zarry ✅

🕵 T e n

"Never mind her. She'll be fine. She's always taken on the role of my mother, especially after my mother died. So naturally she worries and wonders a lot."

"And you know that for sure?"

"Absolutely."

He seemed skeptical but didn't see a point in questioning him at a time like this. "If you say so."

"And unfortunately I am no where near finished being a liar. So for now, I'm going to finish eating breakfast with my children and think about what I've already done."

Amos folded his arms and followed him. "Me too."

* * *

Around two oclock, Harry's doorbell rang. Since Marie wasn't there, he told Amos to keep the kids with him and not let them make a sound while he answered his own door. It was no surprise that Niall and Patricia were standing there.

They came and stood inside the foyer without even asking. Niall sat Patricia's suitcase and carry on bag down on the ground.

"Hey, Harry. I don't intend to be rude in your own home. But I tried calling my son about three times this morning and got no answer. It keeps going straight to voicemail."

Niall looked visibly frustrated. "Me too. Oh and by the way, he never called me back yesterday either."

He scrambled for an explanation. "Oh, yeah. That's because I forgot to tell him when I got back home. I'm sorry. I should've remembered."

Niall folded his arms. "He didn't see my missed calls or my text messages though?"

Shit... Got him there.

"No. He didn't. You know what? He actually dropped his phone in the lake so..."

"Oh no." Patricia said.

"You didn't tell me this over the phone when I talked to you yesterday." Niall commented.

"Well it was raining and I was in traffic. I had forgotten he'd done it myself."

"So where is he, then? I can talk to him myself in person since I'm here."

"Not right now, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Because he's not here. Zayn left out a while ago."

Harry could see Niall slowly growing more irritated. "I thought he was too busy to go out. Wasn't that the reason he couldn't come to the airport?" He said politely because Patricia was still there and he didn't want to fully accuse his best friend and her son of something in front of her.

"This is work related. So trust me. He isn't having fun right now. But for now, why don't we worry about Ms. Malik, here. Get her someplace comfortable."

But Niall was still upset. It wasn't even his mother. His mother was already at his house unpacking and waiting on him to return. But he was unexplainably offended by Zayn's neglectful behavior. This wasn't like him at all.

"You know what? Whatever. Tell him he knows better than this. My phone is on whenever he decides to call."

He walked away from Harry's door and out to his car. Harry sighed. How did compulsive liars do it and not feel an ounce of guilt? It was so hard.

"Ms. Patricia, how are you?"

"I'm fine now that I know why Zayn wasn't answering his phone."

"Oh. Yes. Sometimes things happen like that."

"So I noticed there was a car outside when we drove up. You have visitors today?"

"Not in so many words. That's the baby sitter's car."

"Oh. I thought you had a nanny."

"She doesn't work on weekends. That's usually Zayn and my time to spend with the kids. But you know how this week is. Busy, busy, busy. So I called upon the services of a baby sitter."

"Ah, I see. So the kids are here then? Good."

She started to walk but he stepped in front of her. "They're not here. It's just me."

"Then where are they?"

"With Zayn."

"While he works?"

"Sure. It isn't an official work day, so it's okay with me."

She frowned. "So why is the baby sitter's car here then?"

"Uh... the babysitter went with him."

She chuckled. "Why do they need a baby sitter if they're with Zayn?"

"So they can be watched whenever Zayn gets too busy."

She stood there looking at him with slight confusion. That didn't make all that much sense to her but she guessed if it made sense to them then there was no need to question it.

"Well, I guess I'll rest until they get back, then."

"Absolutely. But I thought you should know that Zayn and I had different plans."

"Different plans?"

"Yes. For you. Every time you've come to visit you've had to spend time with the kids and with us. Plus Marie was always popping in and asking you if you needed anything. It's sometimes hard to get privacy in this house when you're so used to not having so many people around."

"Yes. But I don't mind."

"Well... we still think you'll like this. Because we thought that it would be nice to give you the penthouse to yourself this stay."

She gasped excitedly. "Really?"

"Yes."

"The entire penthouse?"

"Yes. And you can do whatever you feel pleases you there just as you do here. You're welcome to any food items you see and I'll show you the guest bedroom to stay in and that will be that."

"Sounds fun."

"It does?"

"Yes."

"Well, let's go then. This way to the garage. Since you have your suitcase and bags, we'll take the SUV there."

"Okay."

"To make sure she didn't wander through the house, he helped her out to the garage and into the car first. Then he came back inside the house to get his keys. Before he left, he checked on Amos and the kids.

He used his finger to call Amos to him.

"Are they gone?" He asked in a low tone so Charlie and Nema couldn't hear.

"Niall is. But Zayn's mother is in the car. She thinks Zayn is out with the children and a babysitter right now."

"Oh."

"But I'm going to drive her to the penthouse and she'll stay there."

"What about Zayn?"

"What about him?"

"She's here to see her son, isn't she? She's going to know something is up if Zayn never shows."

"Then let's keep working to find him so that never happens. I'll be back in a couple hours."

Amos watched him leave, then put his hand on his forehead as he looked at Harry's children. He didn't like being apart of lying to Harry's family as much as Harry didn't like lying to them. Hopefully Monday would be the end of it all.