"Thank you auntie"Jaden smiled as Zhara placed two plates of curry goat in front of him and Zayvier.
"Thanks"Zay replied analysing his plate whilst his mum walked away. The pair both came after training and were waiting for Soraya to get back from her Netball match."Continue" He said once he deemed his food ok to eat.
"Umm I don't know, the date was that good that when it got to the time I wasn't thinking about sex, I just wanted to talk more." Jaden shrugged honestly.
"So what your saying is you like her"Zay said looking up from his plate.
"Never said all that and just because I wasn't thinking about it doesn't mean I didn't do it"he smirked."and what hurts even more is that it was good, I can honestly say she's made first place" He sighed.
"Better than what's that girls name...umm Angolan Imani?" Zay questioned scrunching his brows.
"Ten times better" he said putting his fork down.
"Hmm"Zayvier paused."No one has been better than Angolan Imani"
"Well that's what I thought until Aza"he widened his eyes." I need to cut that shit off quickly" Jay sighed.
"Why though? You like talking to her, the sex is the best you've ever had so what more do you actually want?" He replied. Zayvier knew the answer but he also knew why Jaden got around as much as he did but he didn't want his best friend to miss out on something good because of someone else's bad decisions.
"Nahh you know that's not for me"Jaden said brushing him off.
"Jay be real bro, you and I know Aza's a good person, so why you letting what she did"he said referring to Jaden's mum."mess up something that's going good. We ain't sixteen no more, eventually your gonna have to stop dogging these girls"Zayvier lectured brutally.
"So what you think now because your in a relationship you know everything?"jaden frowned."it wasn't that long ago that I was tryna convince you to get with Temi so relax"he scoffed.
"You know that's not what I'm on but you do know I want the best for you because your my brother, but that entails me stopping you from making mistakes and I personally feel cutting off Aza without trying my would be a mistake, the same way it would've been a mistake for me to cut off Temi" he said seriously."I understand you scared but you don't know till you try init"he shrugged.
"I ain't scared of shit bruv" jaden said angrily."I just know what I want and I know it's not to be tied down to no girl"
"We both know that's a lie Jay, what you mean to say is that you don't want to be tied down to no girl that will potentially leave you"he says honestly."just because your mum messed up it doesn't mean every girl will. Your a good person outside of your whorish ways and Aza obviously sees that so why ruin that without giving her a chance to prove you wrong and even if she does that her loss you got lots of good people in your circle who ain't left so what's another?" Zay knew Jaden hated talking about his mum but in Zay's opinion those were demons he needed to fight, he couldn't keep ignoring it and then let it factor all his decisions.
"It's easier said than done, if my own mother left me, the same woman who birthed me why wouldn't a girl I barely know. She don't owe me nothing"he said solemnly.
"That's more reason for her to stay, she gets the chance to get to know you, your mum didn't know who you were when she left, that didn't have nothing to do with you, that was her own issue, that's not on you" Zay emphasised, not getting where Jaden was coming from.
"Yout not getting it, it's not about why she left it's simply the fact she left, she ain't love her own son enough to stay, I've never seen that woman a day in my life since she left, it's hard not to think there was something wrong with me for her to want to leave and never come back"Jaden shouted shocking Zayvier.
"There's nothing wrong with you, people leave but people also stay, even though it wasn't my dads choice to leave, for a long while I resented him for leaving but I eventually realised i can't live my life letting the past affect my future, he's not here now, I still love and miss him and that's never gonna changed but I am here, your here, my families here Temi's here" he emphasised." And without you lot telling me the hard truth she probably wouldn't be, I know it's not the same but you know Zenia messed me up for a long while, I didn't think I was worth it, but even before temi came around I just had to look at those around me to realise I have people who love me everywhere despite it, because if not she wouldn't be here." Allowing Jaden to take in his words."I'm not saying you have to pursue Aza or anyone for that matter but this whoring and touring isn't going to fill that hole Jay, lust and love don't equate"he shrugged poking at the last piece of meat on his plate.
"That could've easily backfired"Jaden laughed."You were this close, I was about to box you in your jaw but your right I need to grow up, and realign my priorities because it may be fun now but in a few year when you have kids, I don't think I want to be the rich uncle who brings a new girl to every family function"he joked.
"You and I both know I'm not having kids" Zay scoffed, tapping the table as he always did.
"You think Temi's gonna let that run? Have you met her family bruv"Jaden laughed at Zayvier's ridiculousness.
"Relax it's been like 2 months , I ain't told her and if she finds out I think she will be ok with the idea of not having kids"he laughed. Zayvier wouldn't admit it but his biggest insecurity was being autistic, it affected his day to day life and he didn't want anyone else to have to handle his own burden, he was good at masking it but it wasn't easy. He told Zenia after a year, at first she didn't believe him but then she realised he wasn't joking and for the year after that she treated him so different it was draining and when they ended and she threw it in his face it altered the way he viewed himself. Being neurodivergent and not looking "stereotypically" autistic was already hard enough but the fact that other people felt about him the way he felt about himself was disheartening.
"What Zenia said had nothing to do with you bro, it had to do with the fact she's a bitter bitch and I may not know Temi as well as you do but I know you like her and you barely like me so that must say something" he smirked."you need to get through your head she ain't Zenia the same way other girls ain't my mum. See we both got shit we gotta deal with "he expressed. Zayvier was greatful for Jay, they both had issues they needed to deal with but regardless they were brothers and they were going to help each other deal with them.
"I'm thinking of hiring more staff, we kept a few of the Christmas temps but we might need more, I didn't expect it to get this busy since we left" Temi expressed to David as she did the last few bits of admin in her office before locking up. It had been almost a month since the group got back from New York, meaning back to reality. After a month away from work Temi was excited to comeback to the store after it blowing up over night, it was already busy before but now she was dealing with double the customers, meaning she had to come in more alongside dealing with her own customers who she not only needed to style but source for, stressed was an understatement.
"That's a non negotiable Love, your footfall has doubled and you need to accommodate to that or you will lose them." Dee advised. Earlier today David came up to take Temi for lunch but when he realised what she had on her hands he stayed to help her.
"Alright. I'll send Taylor the email so we can start the recruitment process early enough to have more staff in by the middle of February and I'll do the budgets when I get home."she sighed typing up the email to send to the store manager.
"I'll lock up and turn the lights off you finish with the email and then we can go. Your done for the day" David said getting up from where he was sat snatching the keys of Temi's desk.
"Fine with me" she yawned adjusting her glasses on her face as she read through the first half of the email.
Temi was very much tired, these past few weeks she had been waking up at 5 to get into central London early so she could open the store then during lunch she would try pick up items for her client's only having time for a small snack. She would be the last to leave and lock up and by the time she got home she was to tired to make dinner so she would just eat what ever she had in her fridge which wasn't usually much and then she would stay up late on call to Zayvier and repeat she knew she needed to manage her time better but she hadn't had been able to plan out a better schedule.
"You done?" David asked popping his head around the for door.
"Yup"she sang pressing send then shutting down her computer. David grabbed Temi's bag and the two walked out engaging in light conversation whilst Temi locked the door it was still busy as it was only 7 but it was a unanimous decision to close the store early after the day the staff had. Temi and Dee were so caught up in the story David was telling her that Temi didn't even notice Zayvier waiting in the same spot he always stood on the few occasions he had come to pick up Temi.
"I'll be so real I didn't even see you bro. Stood on the corner looking like slenderman bruv"Dee laughed dapping Zayvier up before he had a chance to say hi to Temi.
"You didn't tell me you were coming to get me today, I thought you and Jay went back to Essex after training ." She perked up going on her tip toes to hug him.
"I did but I got home early and I wanted to see you" he said plainly, releasing him arms from around her waist and kissing her in the forehead.
"Yeah it's time for me to cut."David sighed" Get her home safe yeah and Tee I'll see you Wednesday love you"David said addressing the pair as he walked away from them making them laugh.
They filled each other in on their day as they walked pinky in pinky to Zayvier's car. The drive to Temi's wasn't to long considering the traffic, it consisted of Zayvier lecturing Temi about how she needs to drop some of her work load whilst Temi ensured she was ok.
Temi scrunched up her face in confusion seeing her mum's car parked in her driveway ext to her's, she moaned when she remembered they were coming today.
"Bad news for you"Temi said turning to Zayvier with pursed lips."That's my mums car,which means she here which also means there is a high likelihood that my dads also here meaning your going to have to meet my parents" she said awkwardly.
"Ok" Zay dragged out giving Temi a confused look.
"Your ok with that?" She asked even more confused, she knew Zayvier wasn't to good with new people and she didn't want him to feel like she ambushed him.
"Yeah why wouldn't I be? I've met them before"he shrugged.
"Hmm ok"Temi squinted at him trying to read his face but failed miserably due to his go to blank expression. She reach behind her seat to grab her work bag whilst Zayvier got out and opened her door, as soon as she got out the car and he took the bag off her.Temi's mum had unlocked her front door.
"Hi mummy"Temi smiled running up to her mum to give her a hug.
"Hello love"Lola said giving her a kiss on the cheek, looking over her shoulder at Zayvier's tall figure watching their reunion.
"Oh err yous have met before but Mum this is my boyfriend Zayvier and Zayvi this is my mum" Temi Stepped back awkwardly cringing at the introduction.
"Nice to see you again Zayvier" Lola smirked as she observed his body language.
"Likewise"Zayvier gave her a purses lip smile.
Temi grabbed his finger and let her mum go ahead as they went inside."Relax"she said turning over her shoulder sensing his discomfort receiving a short nod from him.
Temi ran into the kitchen, jumping on her dad's back as he stood by the stove leaning on the island talking to Lola and Neveah who was sat on one of the bar stools.
"Hello padre"she smiled jumping of his back.
"Hola hija"he turned around bending down to giver her a hug."What's good Zay?" Dami reached his arm out to spud Zayvier. Most people were suprised when they met Temi's parents. They were very chill, when Temi told people she was Nigerian they expected her to have these strict African parents but her parents were second generation despite Dami living in Nigerian from the ages of 3 to 9 he pretty much raised here.
"I'm good, you?" Zayvier asked walking behind Temi to address her dad.
"I'm great" Dami smiled looking Down at Temi giving her that look.
"Alright I'm gonna go get changed, whilst you lot get reacquainted. I'll be down inna sec"she smiled placing a reassuring hand on Zayvier's chest. She quickly shot her parents a look to say go easy on him, even though they were chill that didn't mean she knew her parents wouldn't try grill him. She gave Zayvier one last look telling him to be good before she grabbed Neveah pulling her up the stairs.
"Why didn't you remind me?"she sassed once they were in her room.
"When do I ever tell you when they come, how was supposed to know Zay picked you up? "Veah sassed back laying down on Temi's bed.
"Your obviously not that good of a best friend if you can't read my mind but ok"Temi shrugged sarcastically as she slid into her trackie.
"Shut up let's go"she said chucking Temi her satin melt sand so she could wrap her lace.
"Thanks babe "she said running down the stairs as she dragged Veah along.
"Nahh you did her dirty"Dami laughed as he dished up everyone's food.
"That was quick. Zay was just telling us about how you became his girlfriend"lola laughed as Zayvier helped her set the table.
"All right now it ain't that funny"Temi smirked as she picked up the plates Dami had dished.
"I can just imagine the look on your face when he said say swear."Dami laughed again taking the rest of the plates.
They all sat at the table eating their Carbonara as Zayvier and Temi both took turns in explaining what happened over those few weeks.
"It was ok in the end when he came to see me I was like thank god this man isn't as slow as I thought" Temi shrugged as she poked at her pasta.
The rest of the dinner they engaged in light convocation, well Temi, her parents and Neveah did Zayvier barely spoke for the rest of the evening Temi asked a few times if he was good but he just kept saying the same thing but she didn't want to pester him. Eventually her parents left and it was just them they sat on the couch watching one of their programmes after Neveah left to go see Azriel but Temi couldn't focus one bit, Zayvier's whole body language was off he had barely spoke to her, to be honestly she felt like he wasn't there.
"Zayvier,can you tell me what's wrong?"she expressed turning off the Tv."I'm sorry if you feel like I ambushed you, I honestly forgot they were here"
"You said you didn't know so why you apologising"he said blankly.
"So what is it? Communicate."she said starting to get frustrated.
"Earlier you said I was slow, ain't shit about me slow Temi. No one understands how much that shit fucking annoys me bro"Zayvier shouted getting up and packing up his stuff.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you" she said sincerely, she had never seen Zayvier swear this much let alone at all unless he was joking so to hear him like this she must have pushed a button.
"Nahh it's good"he lied walking towards the door as Temi trailed behind her truly confused.
"Zayvier you know I didn't mean to offend, you don't need to leave"she lightly grabbed his arm. Temi couldn't understand why he switched so quickly, she genuinely thought he'd take it as a joke as he always did when they called each other names.
"I don't know shit"he said shrugging off her touch and leaving out her front door.
Temi didn't know what to do, she knew it would be best if she let him cool down so she just stood there dumbfounded as he reversed out of her driveway, she couldn't help but cry, she felt bad for what she said but at the same time she didn't understand why he took such offence to a harmless joke.
Zayvier declined Temi's call that popped up on the screen of his car for the second time today. It had been almost a week since he stormed out of her house, he still sent his good morning and night messages but as far as them communicating that was it.
"Zay you can't keep ignoring her it's not fair" Zhara said from the back seat, earlier on in the week Zayvier had explained why he wasn't currently on speaking terms with Temi and to his dismay they were all on her side.
"Life's not fair"he shrugged.
"So how long do you plan to keep this up because if she's coming over soon I don't want to have to deal with all this awkwardness"Zhara complained only receiving another shrug."You can't expect the girl to read your mind Zay, she made a mistake, I know for a fact you've said worse"she said raising her eyebrows at her son.
"Nahh it was too funny, when we were in New york , this wasn't the first time he made her cry, Zay called her a big headed block built bitch" Jaden reminisced from the passenger seat receiving daggers from both Zhara and Zayvier.
" Watch your mouth"Zhara squinted at Jaden."Zayvier you know better than to speak to a woman like that"she said flicking him in the neck.
"Ow"he frowned."it was only a joke thats just how we talk to each other, she's just sensitive"he said rubbing his neck.
"Now do you see how her calling you slow would be the same thing"Jaden added.
"Don't say anything just think about it for a second, put yourself in her shoes, I may not know her but from how much Ray raves and the way you did, I can tell she's a nice girl."she said calmly.
Zayvier felt like no one was understanding where he was coming from but after what his mum said he started to come around, he knew he wasn't being fair nor nice to Temi which she always was to him, she never gave him a reason to think he was purposely making fun of him to hurt his feelings and this was no different but his thoughts were getting the best of him, after his talk with Jaden when Temi said it, it took him back to a bad place but he had to realise that's the past and Temi's his future.
"She is a nice girl"he said after some seconds"far nicer than me and it wasn't fair of me to block her out after I always at tell her to communicate I was being a hypocrite" Zayvier said as they stopped at a crossing.
"Acting like we ain't literally say this all week but ok, maybe you are slow"Jaden pursed his lips sarcastically making Zayvier break hardly so he flew forward in his seat."This nigga is sick" he whispered.
"You know what, my bad but I'm taking you lot back home I've gotta go see my girl before she gets sick of me and breaks up with me" Zayvier said jokingly but was one hundred percent serious as he did a u turn in the middle of the road. He sped back down the road he just came from, he knew Temi would finish work in 3 hours that would give him time to drive back to London pick up some flowers and make it in to central on time.
"You better fix it yeah"Jaden said punching Zayvier in the shoulder before he got out the car.
"Bye love you"he said to his mum ignoring Jaden.
"Love you to Love, but Zay consider telling her, I can see how happy she makes you on your face and if you plan on this being long term you can't keep her in the dark forever" She expressed giving him a knowing look. Zay nodded taking in what she said, as much as he wanted to tell Temi it was easier said than done.
It took him a lot less than expected to get to London, he made it to FIEND the same time Aza left, she spotted him in his usual spot typing on his phone.
"You better be here to fix whatever it is you did, she's been locked in her office stressing all week Zay"Aza said as she walked up to him.
"Hello to you to"he smirked."but yeah I know I messed up and she ain't deserve it so" he said flashing her the big bouquet of flowers.
"You know she thinks highly of you Zay, try live up to her expectations she at least deserves that"she lectured.
"Your right"he said plainly, not liking how she was in his business but she was only being a good friend and not to mention she was right.
"It's only a few others in there but she's still in her office"she said walking back towards the shop stopping when she noticed he wasn't following."Come on, I'll open the door for you"she smiled lightly signaling for him to follow. She swiped her ID to let him in and Zayvier made sure to say thank you before he made his way to Temi's office.
"Come in"he heard her voice call from behind the door putting a smile on his face. He opened the door to see her with her back to him sat on her desk cross legged like she usually did, reading documents off her iPad with her glasses sat in the bridge of her nose and her hair tied into a messy pony tail.
"Hi" she said putting her iPad down as she bit the inside of her cheek."nice to see your alive"she spoke sarcastically as she jumped off the desk walking to stand in fort of where he was stood in the door way.
"I'm sorry"he said handing her the large bouquet from behind his back.
"Hmm" she hummed looking at the flowers she took out of his hand before she put them on her desk."Sit"she signalled to the chair in front of her desk."Thanks for the flowers"she said giving him a fake smile. Zayvier couldn't help but laugh at her attempt to ice him out, it's not that it wasn't working it was just how different it was from how she normally was around him, this was how she was with strangers and acquaintances and Zayvier always laughed when she addressed others outside her friends and her family because it was completely different from how she acted with them but now he was on the receiving end he could see why a lot of people called her rude.
"Nahh I'm actually sorry"he said containing his laughter look back up just to be met with a blank stare.
"What for?" She asked picking her iPad back up.
"Well umm firstly for how I reacted the other day" he said clearing his throat."It wasn't fair nor kind of me to shout at you or storm out like that and then ignore you especially when I left you in the dark".
"Yeah it wasn't fair Zayvier. Your a hypocrite. If I recall correctly your the one who said I can't read your mind so if somethings wrong you can't just ignore me or get angry and you did that exactly" she said furrowing her brows as she put her iPad back down.
"Your right, I'm not trying to make excuses but my articulations not the best so instead of saying how I feel I'll get angry, I didn't mean to lash out on you especially when it wasn't your fault."he said tapping his leg and the desk.
"You know I would never do or say anything to purposely make you upset Zayvier so what did I do to make you think that?" She asked.
"Nothing you didn't do anything Tee. You did nothing wrong, I know you meant to harm" he paused, looking at the confused look on her face." Err when I was like 4 I think, I was diagnosed with ASD it's-"
"I know what it is"she said softly cutting him off, Zayvier figured it was probably because of Lola. He then went in to explain to her how his ex used to call him names and treat him differently after he told her, he claimed it wasn't how Temi said it more so what she said that brought him to a dark place.
"I'm sorry Zay. I didn't know" she said solemnly.
"Don't apologise, we both know I've called you worse things"he smirked." But that's the whole point I guess. You weren't meant to know so I can't blame you, I'm very good at what I do"he shrugged leaving Temi with a perplexed look on her face.
"Can you explain it to me a little?"she said shyly, Zayvier found it sweet she was taking interest in his Autism, he knew she was very inquisitive but he didn't expect her to be about this.
"So I'm what you would call A high masking autistic person , which essentially means I'm real good at hiding it or covering it up, like you know how everyone says I'm blunt or rude, this is kinder version of me" he said doing air quotes."You already know I'm not to keen of physical touch, this is why"he shrugged. Temi nodded signalling for him to say more.
"Umm, I don't really hear tone of voice, like I don't understand sarcasm, I can't tell if your upset unless your like crying or something, for instance the say swear thing, that wasn't me taking the piss, I just generally didn't think you were being serious." He explained further slouching in his chair." You know how you will be talking to me and I tap and you will be like Zayvi are you even listening" he says mocking her voice making them both laugh." I am, the tapping is like my way of being present, if not like I'll space out and I won't hear anything . When I was little I used to do it a lot more like all the time and it used to drive everyone in my house insane so my mum and dad used to carry around tennis balls and leave them in every room for me to play with instead of the tapping obviously I don't do it as much now but they still carry them around from time to time, but yeah I'm sorry for lashing out, dealing with emotions ain't easy for me and that's not me asking you to just put up with my rubbish but me giving you a reason to understand my rubbish" he huffed.
"Thank you for telling me this, I know it must've been difficult for you but I don't want you to feel like you have to hide or change yourself around me, I want you to be comfortable around me Zayvi and most importantly honest or this won't work, I like you enough to put up with your rubbish just as long as your willing to put up with mine" she smiled sincerely.
"Of corse" he smiled back.
"Awww he smiles" Temi joked getting up from her chair." Now that your done ghosting me, gimme besos" she said sitting on the arm of his chair puckering her lips.
"Your such a child" he laughed grabbing his waist to pull her onto his lap so he could kiss her.
"I missed you"she smiled showing all 32 of her teeth as she pulled away in a daze.
"Nahh you missed that" he smirked, sliding his hands under her jumper so his hands were on her skin. Zayvier found it funny how he liked to be in Temi skin but if it were anyone else he would be repulsed, he liked being close to her whether it was linking pinkies or moments like this.
"Well of corse but most importantly I missed you" she said snuggling into the crook of his neck." You miss me cutie?" She said jokingly pecking the side of his jaw.
"Of corse I did princess"he smiled kissing her forehead, they sat like that for a while catching each other up on there time apart. Zayvier felt relieved after their talk he appreciated Temi for how comfortable she always made him even before she knew he just hoped it would continue.
.
-Hey y'all I'm back again, my updates will get faster I've just been real busy but how did we like it. They had their First "argument" and Zay finally told Tee which was real cute and I feel like Jay should start going therapy😐 but that's a whole different story other than that what did you think??? VOTE and COMMENT pls and thank you😘
PSA: Zayvier's character, is based of research I've found on ASD so if any of this is wrong feel free to correct me😃
-TKLUVWRITES🖤