a/n:- i just want to thank you for choosing to read Terminal Four, and I'd also like to say that this is the first fanfiction I've ever written. Hope you guys stick with me here even if you get bored in the beginning, because I'd love it if you stay for a couple of chapters before judging this story :3
the story plot basically takes place in an alternative universe (well, what does au stand for?) and zayn's still twenty. his character in this book is a little bit different from the usual fanfics you'll find on wattpad. it is a little cliche, and predictable, but i promise it won't be like every other zayn fanfic out there.
so yeah! first chapters are always very pressurizing. i hope you guys like this story <3
love,
harshita.
~x~
Z A Y N J A W A A D M A L I K
His bright brown eyes flickered to the right.
The clicks of the computer keys, the whirring of the coffee machine, the rings of the cellphones, and the buzz of the people speaking exasperatedly into them were all sounds he was tired of.
He loosened the tie that was bound around his neck, biting his lip wearily as he did. Was all of this what he really wanted? Did he really want all of this money, this job, this company? What did he even want?
Zayn let out a sigh, his hands falling to his lap restlessly. The laptop that sat in front of him was already on the sleep-mode, due to the inactivity. The blank notepads, the untouched pens all stared at him from their position on his table. The little clock that he used as a paper-weight ticked back and forth, reminding him that he didn't have much time.
For a twenty year old, Zayn was doing the completely wrong thing. He should be out there, having the time of his life with his friends and family- not working a high-paying job from eight to five, six days a week, all alone in New York City. Graduating high school at the age of fifteen had been a plus point, but he regretted it now. If only he hadn't been so smart. Oh well.
"Malik," a female voice spoke from beside him, snapping Zayn out of his thoughts. He glanced to his left to see his favorite colleague (a twenty nine year old with cropped dark-brown hair and a smile that could light up the entire city) who was currently leaning over in her chair, holding out a Starbucks container. "Stopped for coffee this morning, and I decided to pick this up for you," she winked, as she pushed the pumpkin spice latte into his hand. "Happy Halloween."
Zayn smiled, with an eye roll as he took the container from her hand. "It's the fourteenth of November, Kris."
"Eh, whatever," Kris grinned, twirling a pen through her fingers. "Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. All of them are pretty much the same because I'm too lazy to decorate my place with stupid decorations. You should see my younger sister; she literally buys out all of Target to decorate her goddamn room."
Zayn just sipped his latte, grinning at Kris and her usual morning chatter. Kris looked at Zayn suddenly, her eyes flashing with interest at something she had just remembered.
"By the way, Zayn, Marcy told me that Tyler told her that you're already done with those manuscripts Keller gave you yesterday. Is it true?"
"Yep," Zayn responded, setting his drink onto the table, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I had time last night, so I decided to finish those up."
"Damn," Kris shook her head at him. "You are one pretty crazy twenty year old. Won't be surprised if Keller came over with a promotion anytime soon. I mean, not only about the fact that you're a great worker, but even a blind person could see how much of a crush that lady has on you."
Zayn grimaced at Kris' words, a frown emitting his features. "I really don't think so, Kris."
"Oh, come on," Kris said, swinging her legs onto her table, leaning back onto her chair. "You're young and dynamic, and a very successful dude. Ariana Keller's also young and dynamic, and she's pretty much the head of her father's company. Plus, she's really not that much older than you, she's only twenty four. Think about it. She's hot."
Zayn rolled his eyes at her. "Please don't. You know I'm not interested in her like that."
"Mr. Malik," the intercom on his desk buzzed suddenly, the distorted voice of the receptionist interrupting them. "Ms. Keller is waiting for you in her room on the twelfth floor. Please do go there immediately."
"Alright," Zayn mumbled, clicking the intercom, before getting to his feet. He ignored the smirk on Kris' face as he picked up the stack of completed manuscripts off his desk. "If you walk out there with a promotion, then I need two parties," Kris called out to him. "One for the promotion, and one for predicting it!"
Zayn walked towards the elevators, waiting for them to open, before stepping inside. As the elevator doors shut him close inside the box, his heart beat faster than usual. Not because of his usual claustrophobia (yes, he was very claustrophobic), but because of the fact that he... he didn't really want the promotion.
God, he didn't want this freaking job.
He ran his hand through his hair, accidentally ruining his quiff and then grimacing at his reflection. He quickly formed the quiff again, concentrating on the mirrors on the elevator walls. What if he quit?
His eyes in the reflection widened as this thought struck him.
But what would he do, if he quit? He definitely wouldn't be getting ten thousand dollars per month, which was for sure. But then again... he would be free. He wouldn't have to force himself to get out of bed every morning to come here to work where he did the same old shit every single day. He wouldn't have to do any of that.
But what would he do?
The elevator binged as it reached the twelfth floor, taking an extra second for the elevator doors to open, before Zayn stepped out of it, his heart now beating faster. Quitting seemed like a pretty good idea. Oh god, what the heck was wrong with him?
He stopped in front of the big mahogany door, labelled ARIANA KELLER in gold, before knocking twice on it. Almost immediately, a soft female voice called back. "Come in!"
Zayn pushed the door open, and found his boss sitting on her chair, her cheeks tinted pink, as she hastily adjusted her hair. She got to her feet, smiling brightly at Zayn. He raised his eyebrows. "They said you called for me."
"I did," she said. "Take a seat, please."
Zayn uncomfortably sat in front of her desk, drumming his fingers against his knee. How was he going to say it? Hey, listen, I'm tired of working here at your father's shit company, so I'm gonna quit now, bye?
If it sounded that bad in his head, he couldn't even imagine what would happen if he actually said that.
"So," Ariana blushed, running her hands through her golden hair. "Let me just get to the point. Zayn, you're probably one of the youngest and best employees we've ever had at Park, and we think you deserve something better than whatever you're getting now."
Zayn inwardly rolled his eyes. Here comes the dreaded part...
"You've been promoted, Zayn," she beamed, her eyes shining as she looked at him. "Congratulations!"
"Ms. Keller"-
"Ariana," she interrupted him, twirling a lock of her hair through her fingers. "Call me Ariana."
"Um, okay," Zayn said, awkwardly. "Look, Ariana, I'm really touched by the fact that you guys want to promote me, but I'm actually... I'm actually looking for a resignation."
God, there, he said it. He actually said it. Yeah, he just screwed up.
Ariana's perfectly curled eyelashes blinked twice, her eyes widening in shock. "Resignation?"
"Yeah," Zayn bit his lip softly. "I really think I need a break. No offence, but I've been really unhappy here. And I know how unprofessional that sounds, but at the moment, all I can really say is that I don't think I deserve a promotion. I deserve happiness."
Ariana looked like she was on the verge of tears, her baby blue eyes flashing with hurt. "U-Unhappy?" she struggled to regain composure, looking away so he wouldn't see the amount of hurt his words had caused her. For some reason, this made Zayn feel extremely guilty. Shit, she wasn't supposed to cry.
Zayn awkwardly ran his hand through his hair, not realizing that he had messed up his quiff again.
"U-Um, okay," she fumbled, getting to her feet, still avoiding eye contact with him. "I guess you do deserve, um, happiness. Uh, um, I'll ask my father about you request for the resignation"-
Zayn's heart skipped a beat. If this matter went to Mr. Keller, he would never let Zayn go. He'd pressurize Zayn into staying, do whatever he could to make him not leave. So, even though he felt like a shit person for using Ariana like this, he found himself taking her hands in his, making her eyes widen in surprise.
"Hey," he spoke softly, looking right into her eyes. "Please. You don't understand. You have to let me go. I need you to help me, Ariana. Please."
Ariana stared back into Zayn's eyes with a love-struck expression, causing Zayn to realize how much she liked him. Wow.
"Okay," she whispered, squeezing his hands. "I'll do it for you. Even though, I-I'm really going to miss you, I think you do deserve the happiness."
There was second of intense silence, and Zayn knew he had to pull away from her before something worse happens. Ariana sighed at the loss of contact, before shaking her head and turning away. "Your resignation will be ready in a few minutes," she told him, her voice trembling slightly.
"Thank you," Zayn said, closing his eyes. "Just, thank you so much."
"Zayn?" she spoke up suddenly, forcing him to look up into her eyes again. "This is probably a bad time to tell you this, but I'm in love with you."
Oh, god. Now Zayn had no utter idea what to say. He awkwardly scratched his neck. Luckily, she continued rambling on.
"I'm going to find it really hard to get over you," she laughed sadly, as she started to fill up his resignation form. "You're pretty amazing, you know."
"Thank you," Zayn spoke almost cautiously. He still had no idea what to say.
But what he did know was that he was getting his resignation. He also knew that he had done something very stupid, something in the heat of the moment that he was going to regret doing, maybe later on in life. But not now. Right now, he knew that he had done the correct thing. He had shut one door, giving the opportunity for a few more to open.
-x-
C A D E N L A U R E N S M I T H
Her hands were trembling.
Twenty eight minutes. In twenty eight minutes, her entire life would be ruined.
God, she thought, staring at the gorgeous dress that was sprawled across her bed. The lace, the gorgeous embroidery, the beautiful net that draped down around the body of the dress... Pity that she was never going to get to wear it. Maybe someday, she'd be getting married to the boy of her dreams, standing in the church, wearing the very same dress.
But right now, she had worse things to worry about than the dumb dress.
She was actually going to do it.
She was going to show them that even though she was only almost eighteen, she still could fight. She was going to show them that they couldn't force her to do what they wanted her to do. She was going to show them.
A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts, setting her into an immediate panic. "Honey?" the voice of the reincarnation of Satan spoke from behind her bedroom door. "Are you okay, dear? Is the dress fitting fine?"
As much as Caden wanted to scream and yell profanities at this reincarnation of Satan, she maintained composure. She looked down at the faded Nirvana shirt, denim shorts and converse she had on. "The dress is fitting well, ma," she called back. "Give me a minute."
"Good girl," her mother responded, her voice laced with approval, and Caden rolled her eyes towards the door. When would they ever realize that she wasn't six anymore? She waited for the footsteps of her mother leaving, before letting out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in. Okay.
She took another breath in, before letting a shaky one out. In twenty eight minutes, her life would be ruined forever. Stupid business deal. Stupid parents. Stupid company. Stupid world. Stupid everything.
She was eighteen years old. Well, technically seventeen. Eighteen in four days, but do they care about that? Nah. Screw the government, they said. Screw legal laws. Let's get her married even though she's underage.
And how old did they say the guy was? Oh yeah. Twenty nine. Twenty freaking nine. Yeah, this had to be some kind of joke.
He was old and creepy, and Caden was about to marry him in twenty eight- wait, no, twenty seven minutes. Yeah, and you think your life sucks.
Caden sighed, getting to her feet, ignoring the fast beating of her heart. She looked around her bedroom, before picking up the black floral backpack that lay on her bed. She quickly rummaged through its contents.
Toothbrush? Check. Some spare clothes? Check. Laptop? Check. Laptop charger and phone charger? Check. Wads of five hundred dollar bills tucked in her wallet? Check. She couldn't take her credit card with her, it was too risky. Her parents could track her location due in utter hours.
She reached towards her desk where her phone was sitting, before cradling it in her hands. She hesitated. Was she really doing this?
It was now or never.
Alright, she was doing this.
She quickly texted Ashley about her plans, and switched her phone off before she could see her best friend's reply. She already knew that Ashley would try to stop her, and Caden really didn't have time for all of that.
She glanced at the clock. Nineteen more minutes before she had to be at the chapel. She better get going. She grabbed the backpack, swung it over her shoulder and turned to the window.
Cliché move, said her brain. Since when could you slide down pipelines, or jump two stories? You've been reading too many novels.
Caden opened the latch on the window, before sliding the window pane to the left. The cool, soft evening air seeped into her room, as she dropped her legs over the rim. Shit. Bad idea.
But it's the only idea you have, an annoying voice in her brain insisted.
She grasped the pipeline, and closed her eyes.
She couldn't do this. She couldn't slide down a freaking pipe and not die.
But if she didn't do this, then she would be stuck with a twenty nine year old guy that her parents were forcing her to marry because of a business deal.
Yeah, she'd definitely rather die.
She held onto it, before sliding off the window ledge.
Great, now she was dangling in mid air, her fingers already hurting from clutching onto the pipe too hard. She gently let herself down, her eyes shut. She bit her lip, to stop herself from crying out. Damn, this was way harder than they made it seem.
She slowly made it down the pipe, her hands edging lower and lower, the muscles in her arms going numb from the pain. She thought she was going to collapse before she would reach the bottom, but suddenly, her feet hit solid ground. Caden almost fell backwards in relief, but realized that she had no time for all that luxury.
She had to get out of there fast.
She clutched the straps of her backpack, running as fast as she could to the edge of the backyard, where it opened into the woods. Those woods lead onto the highway, and once she got there, she would be free.
She wondered how soon it would be until they realized that she was missing. But she still knew she didn't have much time.
But all she knew for now, was that she just ran away from home. And the only place she could even go, was the airport.
-x-