"You destroyed me in devastatingly beautiful ways that when you left, I turned the pain you inflicted on me to words.
They admire my ruin and call them poetry, but to me, it's nothing but insanity."
🔹🔸🔹
When I woke up in the morning, I read the message from Jasmine. She wanted to meet me to say something about Sophia. I got ready and decided to leave without having breakfast. The cold morning air hit my face as I breathed in the air, when I left the building. London is quite good but I miss those days and nights of Bradford where life used to be carefree and jolly.
Turning on the ignition, I drove to Jasmine's apartment. She lives with one of her friend. It's strange how we all know everything about each other, where one lives, what the other does, but when we meet, we do nothing but argue. In these past two years, I have only met them five times. They do call me, ask me to join them, but I keep my distance. Meeting them, hanging out with them, reminds me of good old days. The days, I wasted hating on her and then she always loved me. The days when we were the best fighting couple and loved to hate each other, but our love was a spark.
Reaching at her place, I knocked at the door. A girl with blonde hairs, opened the door. "Hi. Is Jasmine home?" I asked formally. "Yes, she is. Who are you? Her boyfriend?" She asked.
"No. She is a friend. Please call her." I replied. I never made any other girlfriend. No one could ever beat Sophia. She was my one and only love. The girl nodded and walked in to call Jasmine. I stood there waiting for her. After five minutes, Jasmine came out of a room and walked to me.
"Hey Zayn. Good morning." She wished. I smiled. "You wanted to talk?" I asked. She nodded. "Wait, lemme grab my phone and money and let's go somewhere out." She said. I nodded and she walked back in the room. Within a second, she came back with her keys and phone and whatnot, then we left the place.
"You should have entered the house." She said as we stepped in the car. "I was fine out." I replied and started driving.
I drove to the nearest coffee shop and we took a seat once we entered, the place is not crowdy. We ordered our drinks first.
"What is it about?" I asked. Jasmine's looks have changed. She gained height and she looks like a pretty lady now. The girly version of her had disappeared, but I suppose she's the same bubbly girl from the past.
"What if I say that Sophia is alive?" She asked, raising her brow at me. My heart started beating fast. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"Zayn, I asked my friend, Danielle, who booked the tickets and she said, she booked those tickets for Emily, who has an other name and that is Stacy. As she described the person, I felt like she was describing Sophia. And as soon as I asked her about Sophia, her expressions changed to shock. I guess she knows about Sophia and is her friend."
Emily or Stacy. Whatever the name it is, I just want my Marie back.
"Will this girl help us?" I asked, happiness pouring inside me. "I don't know. She said, this girl, Emily doesn't like to meet other people." She replied.
"But we can try." She said again. I nodded and dialling the girl's number, she called her in this cafe. The girl said, she will be here in ten. If Emily is Stacy and Stacy is Sophia, then my love is alive. She played her game of torturing me. She had the right though, I was always a bad person to her, lied to her, broke her heart. But she has to know that I never lost hope in her in these two years and I want her back.
The girl came and greeted Jasmine with a hug. "Danielle meet Zayn and Zayn, this is Danielle." She introduced us. The girl gave me a smile but her smile faded soon.
"What is he doing here?" She asked, her tone changing to angry. "Do you know him?" Jasmine asked. "Yes, I mean no." She paused. She had a worried look. "Um, I saw his pictures in newspaper. Aren't you the Artist, Zayn Malik?" She asked. I nodded.
"Or did you see him or heard about him from Emily?" Jasmine asks eyeing her. "Or I must add Sophia or Stacy."
The girl kept quite. She knows something. "Damn it, Danielle, fucking answer to what I ask."
"No. Emily is not Sophia. I don't know who you're talking about. But my friend is a completely different girl. This is Emily." She showed us a picture of a girl who looked nothing like Sophia. My boat sank.
"Your Sophia must be somewhere else. Maybe dead or maybe in some other country."
"She is not dead. How dare you say that?" I snapped at the blondie. "Zayn, let her go." Jasmine stopped me before I could yell anymore at the girl. The girl left giving me a glare.
"I'm sorry. I again let you down." She apologized. "No, it's fine. We all want her back and I know you're doing this to help me. But maybe she is right, Sophia must have left the country."
"We will find her, Zayn. Don't lose hope." She grabbed my hand. I nodded. We both left the place after paying for the drinks and I dropped her back home. I had to complete my painting today as it was to be placed for an exhibition tomorrow. The painting is special to me.
So I drove back home and started finishing the painting. This is a work of art, I got inspiration from her. I would never have sold it but this is for a good cause and she loved doing charities.
----
My day was tiring. Work in office for continuous ten hours is hectic. But thank god, the work is over now and I can go home. Most of other people already left and I exited the building too. I see Harry here sometimes and then he does walk to me and we talk, but the chats are never like those old days.
I decided to walk to the office this morning and so now I don't have any transport facility. Walking is good for health though. So I started walking towards the road I came from.
Evening time is the best. People head back to home to their loved ones. The sun sets in it's beautiful orange-ish color The birds too, fly back to their nest. The blossoming flowers fade but their smell is always fresh.
As I walked, I saw Micah Newman. The Myke, Sophia's best friend. She showed me his pictures many times. I do remember his face and trust me, he's not changed at all, just gained some weight. But what is he doing here? Is he still studying or working? London was his home.
I decided to follow him and try to talk. I want to know if he ever got the news about Sophia. He never contacted Liam.
As I followed him, I saw him entering into a restaurant, so I walked in too. The place is filled with people. London is a busy place.
Then he walked to a table and a girl stood up. I couldn't see her face as I was facing her back. They both hugged each other. She must be his girlfriend. So I waited for them to finish their talks and soon after ten minutes the girl stood up. I was seated on the very next seat.
"It is up to me whether to go back or not." The girl snapped at him. This voice, it was similar to that of Sophia.
And as she turned, I froze, I was shocked. What the fuck! She didn't see me, as I was in the corner of the seat. She angrily stormed out of the place. It took me a second to realize what just happened but then immediately, I stood up and leaving the place too, I followed her. She was walking towards the opposite direction that I had to go home for, but I kept following her. We don't want to lose her this time.
What do I say to Zayn? Was the first question. She is alive. Jasmine wasn't lying.
"Hey, excuse me." I called out. But she must have not heard me. So I started running fast after her.
"SOPHIA." I shouted. The girl stopped, so I stood at the place too. "Sophia, is that you?" I asked again. The girl didn't move at all.
"Show me your face." I ordered, but she didn't. So I walked closer to her. "I know it's you, Sophia Marie Payne." And that's when she turned.
Fuck.
She is alive. Her eyes went wide. She was shocked, just like me. I couldn't really believe my eyes. It felt like a dream, she's standing right in front of me, the girl who was supposedly dead from two years.
"Sophia. You're alive." I was astonished, confused. She ignored an eye contact. "I'm not Sophia." Then she spoke in her deep voice that once used to be a daily melody for all of us.
"Fuck it, Emily." I hissed. "Sophia, my god, where have you been." I walked to her and embraced her in a hug. She was taken aback. She didn't hug me back though.
"Leave me, Lily." She snapped. So she does know me. "I'm not Sophia. I don't know who you're talking about." She argued. "Yeah, and so you know my name." I crossed my arms against my chest. "Enough of your games. What have we done to suffer this? Why did you fake your own death?" I asked, I was angry, she shouldn't have done that.
"What have you done to suffer that?" She walked closer to me. "Ask your god damn boyfriend, if he still is, Mr. Tomlinson, what he did. He could have told me the truth. He called himself my friend. But hid my worst nightmare from me." Tears fell down her eyes. There was no one else in this alley, only us.
"You know why he did that. You very well know why the boys kept that secret from you." I answered. She can't blame the boys. Yeah, I know what they did was wrong, but we have suffered a lot now. We want her back. "Please come back." I was about to cry.
"I'm dead to you all. Accept it." She snapped. "It's been two years, no one was ever ready to accept that you died. We all knew you were alive. Please don't hide anymore. We all miss you." I cried. Tears fell down my eyes.
"No one misses me. I'm no more for this world. I left Bradford, I left you guys, now please, let me survive." She begged.
"Survive? No one misses you?" I asked angrily. "Talk about your brother, who till date blames himself for losing you. He left his parents because he blamed them. Talk about your friends, they cry every day to have you back." I spoke.
She stood there listening. "And talk about the person who loved you the most. Your fake death destroyed him emotionally. He is no more the old happy Zayn we knew. He is just a walking sad mannequin living in the hope for you to return."
"He can die then." In her cold tone, she stated. This boiled up my anger. So I slapped her. Yes. She deserves it right now. No matter if I just found that that she is alive and that i'm happy, she cannot say that.
"You have changed. You turned into a bitch." I snapped. She let out a laugh.
"I'm not coming back. Go and tell them all, but I don't fucking care. This is my life. I'm Emily Foster. Sophia Payne died that night." She shouted. I rolled my eyes. I cannot believe what she has turned into. "I can't let you people ruin me again, I've got to take care of myself."
I stood there not speaking anything. We stood there for five minutes. Then, she gave in. She started crying and walking to me, she embraced me in a tight hug.
"I've missed you Lily." She sobbed. A smile formed on my lips. She missed me. She misses them all. "Forgive me." I patted her back. I let her cry. Maybe she has been holding the tears for so long that they just found their escape from her eyes.
"Please come back, Sophia." I begged her. "I can't." She spoke pulling back from the hug. "But why?" I asked.
"My life is not that simple now. I'm not a good person." She stated. What does she mean? "Sophia.."
She interrupted me. "No,Lily. Please don't force me. Don't ask me to come back. I won't be able to do that."
"But why. We all are waiting for you." I cried. "Please do me a favor." She took my hand in hers. I nodded, I would do whatever she asks for, in order to have her back in our lives. "Don't let anyone about me. Please. Don't tell them that you saw me and that I'm alive."
"Sophia, they have to know it." I Spoke, pulling my hand back from hers. "No, please no. I don't want them to know. Let them digest in the truth that I died."
"But you're alive." I cried.
Why is she doing this? "Please, Lily. This is all I'm asking for." She begged. "I promise I will come back. They will know it soon that I'm alive."
"Then why not now?" I asked. "This is not the time." She spoke. This reminded me of the time when Liam used I say this to Sophia and always hid the truth from her.
"Please." She begged. "Fine." I gave in. I don't know why I agreed, but the fact that she is alive and she remembers us, made me agree to her.
"Thank you." She again hugged me. I smiled. "This is my number, call me whenever you want someone to talk to." I handed her a note with my number. "I'll call you tomorrow." She said. I nodded. Then waving a bye, she vanished in the dark alley.
I stood there dumb folded. What just happened, we have been searching for her from last two years and now that she is alive, I cannot say this to the others. I promised her, she put her trust in me. I cannot break it, she's lost trust from people and though she asked me to keep her secret. If for helping one lost friend of mine, I have to hurt the others, I'll do it, because in the end, they'll all be happy. We'll have a Happy ending and then things will be all right.
Smiling, I left the place and started walking towards my house. Louis must be waiting. How will I be able to keep this a secret from him? I share every little details about my life with him. He knows everything and to keep this hidden from him will be hard for me. He will come to know that i'm hiding something.
Everyone will come to know about Sophia. Liam will be happy, he'll do anything to have her back, he'll gain her apology. The boys and the girls will be on seventh cloud. But all of the above, Zayn will be the most happiest person, he will start living again.
With I could tell you, Zayn, that your love is alive and you don't have to cry anymore in the memory of her. You'll have her in your arms and your love will be eternal again.
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Woah, drama drama drama. Lily knows that Sophia is alive. What will happen now? Will the others know the truth too?
#pray !
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