1485 words
zayn stood on the side walk, singing his heart out, earning at least $4 an hour. people stood around him as he sang, cheering him on and smiling at him. and at the end of the day, he would take all the money he had earned for the day, go to the supermarket and buy groceries for him and his mum. but tonight was different.
"excuse me?" a man asked, he wore a black suit, with batman cufflinks. "your voice is quite lovely."
"oh thank you." zayn smiled, and blushed.
"may i ask your name?" the stranger asked.
"zayn." zayn answered as he counted the coins and dollars he had. "20.34"
"can we take a walk, zayn?" the man asked and zayn nodded.
"i've come to watch you for a few weeks now, zayn. and your voice is nothing i've ever heard before. i'm liam, from payne producing. my father told me to go find new talent. and i think it's you." liam smiled at zayn and zayn looked up at him.
"me? oh i'm nothing special." zayn said and liam shook his head.
"you're special. you've got the voice, you definitely got the beauty." liam smiled again and zayn blushed.
"you're just saying that." zayn tried to hide his smile.
"no. really. i wanna make you the next best thing. have my card. think about it and call me when you've made your decision, okay?" liam handed zayn his business card, smiling and walked to the black car parked by a meter. zayn looked down at the card, put it in his pocket, and walked to the grocery store.
_
"mum! i'm home!" zayn called out. the small apartment was dark and quiet. "mum?"
"in here!" she called out from their bedroom.
"i bought groceries." zayn showed his mum the bags.
"such a good boy." trisha stood up and hugged her son.
"and today, a producer came watch me, and he gave me his card." zayn pulled the card out of his pocket. "can i, mum?"
"i always knew you had a talent zayn. do what ever you need to do. i believe in you darling." trisha kissed zayn's forehead.
"thanks mum."
"i love you sweetheart."
"i love you too."
_
"payne producing this is liam."
"i'll do it." zayn said, playing with the wire of the payphone.
"zayn?" liam asked and zayn bit his lip.
"yes." zayn smiled and he heard liam chuckle on the other line.
"i'll meet you where you usually sing?" liam asked.
_
"do you really think you have a shot in the music industry?" mr. payne, liam's dad asked.
"yes, sir." zayn said and bit the inside of his cheek.
"let me see what you've got." mr. payne said and zayn looked all around the room, seeing a piano.
"may i?" he asked, gesturing to the piano. mr. payne nodded.
he walked over to the piano, sat on the bench and started playing.
"i cried enough tears to see my own reflection in them. and then it was clear i can't deny, i really miss him. to think that i was wrong.
i guess you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. pain is just a consequence of love. i'm sayin' sorry for the sake of us. he wasn't my everything 'til we were nothing. and it's taking me a lot to say. but now that he's gone, my heart is missing something. so it's time i push my pride away. cause you are. you are. you are my everything. you are. you are. you are my everything." zayn sang and stopped to look at mr. payne, who had tears in his eyes.
"did you write that yourself?" mr. payne asked, wiping his eyes.
"about my dad." zayn said, looking down at his hands.
"zayn, is it?" mr. payne stood up, walking over to zayn.
"yes, sir?" zayn asked as mr. payne approached him.
"you've definitely got it. come with me, won't you?" mr. payne asked. zayn stood up and closed the piano before walking with mr. payne.
_
"so we'll start next week, here's a cellphone with mine and my dad's number in it. call if you need anything. and i mean absolutely anything." liam handed zayn the phone. zayn looked at. an iphone 6.
"i can't take this." zayn said but liam shook his head.
"mr. payne's orders." liam said, pushing the phone back toward zayn.
"thank you, liam." zayn smiled, standing on his toes to kiss liam's cheek. zayn put the phone in his pocket, making his way back to his apartment.
_
"zayn?" liam answered the phone tiredly.
"s-something's wrong." zayn was crying, trying to collect himself.
"what? what's going on?" liam sat up, trying to find the knob to turn on the light.
"s-sh-she's not bre-breathing." zayn said. "please mum not you too. please."
"zayn what's your address." liam asked.
"curtis apartments on 23rd street apartment number 3." zayn said as calmly as he could.
"i'm sending an ambulance right now, don't move."
_
zayn and liam sat in the waiting room, waiting and waiting for what seemed like hours.
"mr. malik?" a man called out. zayn shot up, almost running to the man.
"is she okay?" zayn asked with bloodshot eyes.
"we tried everything. i'm sorry." the doctor said, tears gathering in zayn's eyes again.
"you didn't try hard enough!" zayn shouted, hitting the doctors chest.
"zayn!" liam pried zayn off the doctor.
"no! stop! mum!" zayn cried out as liam held him.
"sh." liam held zayn ask he cried, harder and harder.
_
the drive was quiet.
"you can stay at mine if you'd like." liam broke the silence.
"may i?" zayn asked and liam nodded. the pulled into liam's home, more like mansion.
"wow." zayn said, staring at the grand house.
"come along." liam got out of the car, locking it as soon as zayn closed the door.
they stepped into the house, liam leading zayn to the guest bedroom.
"there's pajamas in the drawers and a bathroom connected to the room. my room is just down the hall, just come by if you need anything." liam explained as he opened the bedroom door. a king sized bed with a nice, warm, fluffy blanket.
"thank you." zayn said and liam nodded at him closing the door. the room was dimly lit, so zayn found another light to turn on and looked in the drawers. he pulled out some sweatpants, shedding his shirt and put the sweatpants on. he stood in front of the mirror, looking at his stomach. his ribs visible. he ran his fingers along the creases and sighed. he found a sweatshirt and put that on. he opened the bedroom door quietly and made his way down to the kitchen. he quietly opened the pantry, taking out the bread and peanut butter. the went into the fridge, got out the jelly, setting it on the counter, but accidentally knocked over a glass that came smashing down on the tile.
"shit." slipped out of zayn's mouth as liam came down with a bat and flashlight.
"who's there?" liam asked, and zayn sighed.
"it's me." zayn squeaked as liam turned on the light.
"oh, zayn you scared the shit out of me." liam held his chest. "excuse my language."
"i didn't want to bother you." zayn said and liam walked over to him.
"it would have been no big deal." liam said and zayn blushed.
"sorry about your glass." zayn said and liam looked down.
"don't worry, i was meaning to throw it out anyway. an ex gave it to me. i clean it up." liam turned to get a dust pan and broom.
"you're not like any famous person i know about." zayn washed his hands and started preparing his sandwich.
"how so?" liam asked, getting every last shard of glass.
"you do thing by yourself and get them done. everyone else has things done for them." zayn said, putting the ingredients away and taking a bit of his sandwich.
"well, you're not like anyone i know. you're beautiful, with an amazing voice and your so generous and kind. the list could go on forever." liam said, making zayn blush.
"you're just saying that." zayn said, finishing his sandwich and cleaning his mess.
"no really." liam threw away the glass and stood by zayn. "your body just screams beautiful."
zayn looked away from liam, smiling and liam brought his chin back up.
"i've always thought you were beautiful, from the first day i saw you on that corner." liam said, zayn brought his face closer.
"your sweet, liam." zayn said, closing his eyes. liam softly pressed his lips on zayn's only staying there for a second or two.
"goodnight, zayn." liam stepped away from zayn, smiling and walking back up stairs.
zayn touched his lip, smiling, and followed liam's actions. to the bedroom where he slept peacefully in years.