GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK, USA.
"Where the hell are you, Lise? I just checked in the hotel you told me but you are not here." Zayd asked, voice filled with uneasiness thinking about nothing but the worst because when it comes to Annalise, that's all he could do.
A small sob came from the other end before she whispered in a tiny voice that he had to restraint his senses to hear. "I-I'm coming back to the hotel now. Just stay at the lobby, I'm few seconds away."
"Lise, are you sure you are coming? Or should I come get you?" He pressed, pacing around while looking out at the glass walls viewing outside the hotel.
"I'm here actually." She gulped thickly, looking at him from outside the hotel walls then slowly pushed the door open after halting him from coming outside.
Zayd rushed to her in ground eating strides, seized her in his arms with hard rush of breath. Her shoulders wracked violently, her sobs becoming more and more audible so he languidly ambled them to the elevator asking for her floor. He doesn't know what is wrong but this is definitely remarkable to get Annalise crying like this. Granted, she's always been fragile and delicate but at the same time resilient and stalwart. He's never seen her cry or even close to tears, this is something she couldn't handle and he is there for her.
Forever and always.
Successfully getting her inside her room, he accompanied her to the bed and make her sit down then went to the mini Samsung refrigerator inside the small suite to get some water. He drove there straight from airport after many hours in the flight and didn't even get to rest. That wasn't how he envisioned his one week holiday before going back to the barracks to see who's got the title. He totally didn't plan coming to the States now till everything is settled but that one phone call from Annalise yesterday did him.
He was sitting down in the living room that's outside his parents main log cabin mansion with his friends when the call came from her. Albeit surprised to see her call since she is never one to call him, he always does that, he answered without wasting a second.
"Lise! What a surprise." He greeted, his smile broadening a bit as he toyed with a small piece of pancake he was eating.
There was no answer from the other end, he furrowed his brows listening to the quiet sobs coming from the phone then stood straighter, brows shooting upwards in worry and question. Why is she crying like that? She is even hiccuping and sniffing, the kind that will make your throat parched and nose red.
"What's up, Lise? Are you alright? What's wrong?" He threw the questions in fear that she is not alright because the mere thought of her in discomfort filled him with dread.
She shouldn't lack anything, she doesn't, he made sure of that so what the hell is wrong now? Had something happened again at her college? Or she's got fired again? But it doesn't make sense since those things never made her cry before, just a bit angry.
This is definitely something extremely gargantuan or malignant, he'd be damned if he doesn't find out what it is.
In a croaked voice filled with hefty amount of pain, she managed to whisper or is it a murmur? He is not sure but he heard her. "Can you come down here? I need you."
Zayd didn't waste any other minute thinking, he packed the little he'd need and booked flight to Greenwich Village after telling his mother who was more than a little reluctant to let him go. He understands that but when it comes to Annalise, almost everything doesn't make much sense. He is bewitched and he won't have it any other way. He wants to be enchanted by her all the damn time that it's frightening when he thinks about it. He cares for her more than he does himself, that is the most accurate thing he's ever admitted to.
Now staring at her from the couch as her figure continue to shake as she cries, his heartbeat quickened and his pulse waltzed to his throat. Seeing as she is not about to talk nor tell him what is going on, he stood up from the couch and went to her in gentle steps that won't startle her. The only sign that she's felt his presence was her breath catching for a brief second before the tears continue to rush down. It is a sight he's never seen, Annalise weak and in tears albeit delicate and fragile at the same time. Whatever this is, he won't like it at all too.
His muscles tensed at the thought. What is wrong?
He removed both her hands from her face, held her face firmly between his palms and force her to look right at him which she did with much reluctance. Her eyes are so red and puffy, long tresses messy around her face, probably begging to be washed and brushed. Her lips are pinker than their real color which states that she's been biting on them, her face blotched, pink in color. What a horrible sight compared to that delicate girl he's been dreaming about!
"Lise, what is wrong?" He emphasized, stressing each word while searching into her eyes for any clue what's happened to her.
After taking another forceful sob that looks difficult, she shivered and lowered her eyes whilst squeezing them shut. "My mom...she is dead, Dee."
Eyes wide, he let go of her face with a deep frown settling between his two brows. Everything had rushed to his head but her mother's death didn't, not even close because he knows how much she means to her. Annalise loved her mother like no other else even though the mother is way too gone in her love for alcohol and drugs. He's met the woman once when Annalise managed to sober her up with great difficulty and they exchanged hearty conversation while she keeps giving him this weird stare he didn't like.
Older women or not, he is not used to getting those stares of amazement from them which is why he avoids any form of interaction with women except his family and Annalise. He doesn't have any female friend, never wanted one. The complications he's had with females during his high school days are enough for him. He could only stand Annalise because of so many reasons he is not about to list out when he needs to console the broken woman in front of him. But how?
Gulping, he blinked through the haziness that just blurred his vision and held her in his arms, her head tucked right beneath his jaw. She kept crying for another hour straight, he could only whisper sweet nothings of everything is going to be alright when he isn't sure whether things are going to be fine or not. But what else could he say? He's never consoled anybody except his mother and that woman needs nothing but his strong arms around her to know he is there for her, it's enough then his little sister. He is breaking yet another record with Annalise, he smiled.
Zayd finally left the bed when she fell asleep. He ordered food from the hotel, prayed, ate and took a hot bath then went to the sofa at the other end of the bed. He lied his long figure on the mid-century sofa and stared at the white ceiling aloof. His thoughts started running wild but coming to one decision all the time. He tried some more, hoping to see another aperture apart from the ones waltzing in his head but same.
What will Annalise do now that her mother is dead? She is the only person keeping Annalise's wild nature intact. What will she do now that her wings are unclipped? Will she decide to tour around the world like she's wished long ago or continue rescuing stray animals? She works at an animal rescue center, never wanted to pursue her dream because that would mean leaving her mother behind to work across the globe. What now?
He wants to make it beautiful between them. He wants to marry Annalise Greene if she is willing to take him as hers because he's been her's since the day they met several years ago. He was just a teenager that has bunch of friends whom he knew are with him for his family's wealth but went on holiday with his parents to Texas where he met Annalise. She was there on a school trip and they clashed near a forest, both of them lost.
The cute fifteen year old looks lost, her blue eyes wide at the sounds of his footsteps. When he neared her, he squinted his eyes at the small figure. Albeit her face looks like that of a fifteen year old girl, her body says another story with it's small bones and more thinner body. He frowned at her, looked around them for any sign of danger but found none so he looked down at her.
"Are you also lost?" He tilted his head, just sixteen years old but he felt much older because of the girl in front of him. She is so small and fragile, like she needs the whole protection the world is to offer.
Eyes filled with fright, she blinked at him before nodding then burst into full tears of brattiness. Zayd was shocked and clueless, didn't know what to do so he turned around and stalked out of the forest trying to find his way out but heard loud fast footsteps behind him that belongs to no one but the crying girl. He raised a brow at her, questioning why she is following him but she pouted and continued to look at him with her big blue eyes.
"You shouldn't follow me. I don't know where I'm going either so follow somewhere else and find your way out." He narrowed his eyes then continue to stalk out of the forest, dodging long branches of tree and barks.
She continued to follow him, he got tired of warning her and focused on getting the hell out of there before it turns dark. Luckily, they found a few hunters leaving the forest while excitedly talking about how their fishing went. When they got back on the right track and bid the fishers adieu or were they hunters? Their outfits were not that specific so he couldn't tell but Annalise clung to him like a chewing gum.
He got tired few minutes later because he can see the hotel his parents booked for them but he cannot leave the girl all alone. "Where are you going to?"
"To the Central Park. My classmates are there waiting for me." She answered, the first words she's decided to finally get out of her mouth.
Zayd narrowed his eyes then sighed, he was hungry. "Follow me."
Safely getting her to the Central Park where her friends were anxiously waiting for her, Zayd meandered around to leave when she followed him with her phone number and gave him. He was confused at first but she jumped and kissed his cheek then rushed back to her friends. Left galvanized, her friends giggling at his awestruck reaction, he didn't know what to do then so he hastily left the place while blushing. Since then, she's been stuck in his head but he called her only six months later and they hit it off.
Just that they never get to meet up the way they wanted to. None of them also ever talked about what their relationship is and how they want to make it work, they are just in love. He knows everything about her just like she does him, all with the help of phone. He gets to call her even while he was just a recruit in the barrack to make sure she is alright or just to get support. He was mentally unstable then. His mother wanted to yank him away from that force but he needed that change and instability. It was extremely difficult but he pulled it right off leaving them all proud.
Annalise was against it at first but slowly agreed when she realized that that was what he needed. He needed that more than anything at that time and she is glad he's pushed his way through. She hadn't seen him in two years now but there is no day that brush by without them communicating even if it is just pleasantries.
Late into the night, Annalise awoke with a loud yawn but quickly close her mouth with her right hand when her eyes landed on Zayd's large form sprawled uncomfortably on the sofa. Her eyes itched as a small smile graced her lips. She knew she could count on him any day and anytime. He left everything to come down here for her and this means so much to her that her heart aches. How much she's missed him. She almost thought he won't make it because he's told her about the position he is aiming for but he did.
Zayd was the companion Annalise had never dared to dream of, listening to her opinions with interest, debating the points on which they didn't agree, taking pride in her intelligence whereas most men would have been threatened by it. Annalise soon realized that she could turn to him with any problem, no matter how insignificant, and he would treat it seriously. When she needed comfort, she would crawl into his lap and rest her head on his shoulder until her troubles had assumed their proper perspective. Sometimes it almost frightened her to realize how quickly she had come to depend on him.
Whenever he is not there with her, all she wants to do is get to where he is. She's tried countless times to move back to Nigeria because of him but her mother there needed her, she couldn't go. Zayd is everything and more. They've never talked about how they are going to get their relationship to keep working but maybe now is the right time? Maybe everything will sort itself out now?
But there are a few things she wants to do now, fulfilling her mother's last wish and that is definitely going to take sometime. She is going to have to plan things out with Zayd after the whole funeral is over and the shock of the death has left her. There is no time to waste time. She is twenty six years old, she needs to get her life tight in a sheaf before it's too late.
She's got no one again here. She knew nothing about her mother's family and her father left her mother when she was just eight years old, it was heartbreaking watching her mother wallow in self pity. She hated the man with every breath and almost started despising men had it not being for Zayd. From his face, she knew that boy was way too different from her father, they could never be in the same world. His eyes were gentle, filled with warmth and love even though a little bit sad but that's alright, he's worked on that sadness.
Zayd Ahmad Hakim Al-Hafiz is the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. And there shouldn't be any bump on the road because his mother likes her too. They have no problem that they don't share the same religion and that is an immense relief. A whole burden lifted off her shoulders because she wouldn't have known what to do. All she knew was, she will definitely marry Zayd through thick or thin.