Zayn
It seemed never-ending, the tour started tomorrow in town, but the prep had been going on forever that it seemed as though tomorrow would never come. At the same time, it seemed like it was speeding toward us like a freight train. I contemplated begging Joelle to come along, but in the end I knew it would only make her uncomfortable. An environment where the majority of people were screaming teenage girls wasn't something I could see her getting excited for. She was also so against the public knowing of our relationship and I knew that rumors would fly immediately if a girl was spotted where the friends and family usually watched from. Especially if she traveled with us, eventually someone would pick up on it.
I kept my eyes down as I walked through the halls of the Syco building, since I had been called in last minute to discuss some kind of tour thing. I honestly don't even know why I had to go in, but they had insisted. It had only lasted a few moments, and no one even acknowledged my existence for half of it. Sometimes I wondered why we had to attend things like that, when they were either telling us what to do or to talk about us like we weren't even there.
"Have a good night, Zayn." Quickly glancing up, I was surprised to see the blonde there. Capris smiled at me as she slung her bag over her shoulder and swung her car keys around her fingers.
"What were you doing here?" I asked, not even thinking about the way I said it. It came out a bit rude, I guess.
"Wow," she bit her lip as she struggled to conceal a laugh. "I got called by your management. I'm sorry?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to say it like that. You're just one of the last people I would expect to be here this late at night." I fell into step with her. As we reached the doors, I held it open for her. She nodded her thanks.
"It is pretty late, I wasn't expecting to be there that long. I thought it was going to be a ten minute meeting, and it ended up being over an hour. Is that what it's always like?" She seemed a lot more peppy than when we had all gone bowling. There were two reasons that could be: her meeting had gone extremely well or she had been a bit nervous when out with us. Both seemed equally plausible.
We reached the parking lot and she was about to head into the dark depths, and I stopped her. "Let me walk you to your car. You never know who's going to be out here this late."
"I don't mind, I'm quite an independent girl. Did you drive?"
"Don't have a license, but my driver's not here yet anyway. I'll walk you, I'd feel more comfortable if you didn't walk alone." I said in a tone that said no arguing, and she shrugged her shoulders. "So what'd you go in for?"
"Oh, I see. You're not worried about my wellbeing, you were just being a curious person." Capris nodded as if she just cracked a large case. She didn't even give me time to protest, she turned her head to smile at me before going back to looking ahead. "They want the songs to be written and finished in the next few months. Puts a bit of pressure on all of us, so they basically gave me a take all or leave all."
"Explain?" I asked since we were still walking toward her car. She had parked quite far away, from the looks of it. It was strange for me, I wasn't used to having to walk much to a car since my driver usually met me at the front of wherever I was. He doubled as my bodyguard, so he never left me alone for too long unless it was somewhere like Syco where he knew I would be fine. It'd been a while since I had done something as normal as walk around a parking garage, and to be honest, it was kind of something I missed. Not the musky smell or the fear creeping into you at every turn, but being normal enough to park in a place where there were no special signs for you.
"Do you know Jerrick?" She paused until she saw my nod. "He can't travel along since his sister is getting married in two weeks and he has another album he's working on. He can't pack up and leave. Mark, whom I'm assuming you know as well, is going along as a something or other…"
"That's basically his job. He does something or other." I interjected with a laugh.
"I'm starting to learn that. Well, your management told me that they want this album done as soon as possible. Long story short, I'm going along for parts of your tour." She said it a way that seemed like it was no big deal, but the smile on her face was so obvious that I knew it was something that was totally fine with her. "Getting out of here is well looked forward too. And this is me."
We had stopped at a rundown looking vehicle that seemed be on its last leg (or wheel, if you'd rather). She flushed a bit when she saw that I was looking at it. I only smiled at her. "Great, I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"I'm not going along for all of it, I'll only be apart of it when you're in the UK. They'll only need me for a few days every few weeks, just to get the initial writing done. Before you guys even start recording. And during the times that I'm there, I'll probably be by myself in the corner with my notebook and my guitar." Capris noted.
"You're always welcome to sit with me or any of the guys, we don't bite too badly." I offered. Before she had a chance to reply, my phone started going off in my pocket. It lit up the dark area, and I saw Joelle written across the caller i.d. "I gotta take this, drive safe, yeah?"
"Yeah. Goodnight Zayn, and thank you." She seemed truly thankful, though I wasn't quite sure for what. All I did was walk her to her car. I nodded one last time before heading back out of the parking garage.
"Hello?" I answered the phone.
"Hey," her voice was so much softer and higher pitched than in person. Her calling was a rare thing, usually everything we did was discussed over text. For her, the less talking the better. "What are you doing?"
"Just got out of a meeting, are you okay?" I worried. I couldn't help it, the only reason I could think of her calling me was if something was wrong.
"Yeah. Just thought maybe we could meet at that park? You know the one with the lights and everything? I just got off work and wanted to see you before you leave tomorrow…" Her voice was so meek that it was difficult to hear. My phone was pressed so tightly to my face that I felt like I would have an imprint on it when I hung up.
"I can be there in ten minutes. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I just need to see you."
That was the last thing I thought I would hear her say - ever. There was a smile etched onto my face and I wasn't sure I would ever be able to wipe it off. "Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can. Want me to grab coffee or anything on the way?"
"I just ate, I'm okay. See you soon."
My pace picked up as I reached the concrete pillars that signaled the end of the parking lot. A black suburban was parked in the roundabout that was for dropping/picking people up in the front of the building. It was a really fancy building, one that was used for well known businesses. Floor to ceiling glass walls, a revolving door, a twenty-four hour doorman, and a Starbucks directly to the left of walking through the doors.
"Zayn," Sean McConnor, a big guy who could easily take on an entire football team, yelled to catch my attention. Sean had been my bodyguard/driver for the past year, which made it really easy to converse with him. There were so many people in my life now that I would never have talked to had I not been in this situation. When would a scrawny kid like myself ever need to talk to a guy that body pressed three times my weight?
"Hey man, sorry. Clydes park, the one on seventh. Quick, please." I hopped into the passenger side without another word.
"What's the hurry?" Sean quirked an eyebrow, turning to me for only a second before his eyes were on the road.
"My girl wants to see me."
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It's starting to look like Zayn is falling. OH SNAP CRACKLE POP. What do you guys think? Yes/no?
CAPRIS IS THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MY NEW STORY LIGHTNING! She will also be quite important in this story… So keep an eye on her ;) She'll be very fun to read about.
There is nothing better than listening to Midnight Memories while writing this story, drinking tea and throwing jellybeans at my sister. Favorite songs on Midnight Memories? Share!
Dedication to the most detailed comment ;)
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