Chapter 76
Mia's POV
After showering and eating the dinner I ordered from room service, I decided it was time to go to bed. Tomorrow was the big day where I would do nothing but 'have to sit there and look pretty.'
As I turned off the television, I headed towards the bedroom and my eyes glided over to the suitcase that stood out in the corner.
My things were still locked in there.
Zayn's stuff too.
Except the ring. Since I was afraid it would get lost again, I put it in the zipper compartment of my purse.
Would it be wrong of me to wear Zayn's shirt tonight? Would that be hypocritical of me?
Maybe.
I left the clothes that Winnie got me in their bags, not wanting to look through them yet. I was sure she bought me a nice, silk dress to wear to sleep but I wasn't the least tempted to wear it. Getting new clothes was exciting but for some reason, I wasn't that elated about it today.
Before I could open the suitcase, there was a knock from the direction of the living room.
I took that as a sign not to give in to my urge, lifting myself up from the ground and making my way over to the front door.
"I'm --"
"Hey!" The dark haired man excitedly interrupted me as I swung the door open.
"Hey, Joey. Umm. Did you need something?"
That creepy slash sweet smile of his still hasn't faltered.
"Yeah, on behalf of all of us here, we wanted to say that we're really glad you're taking the time getting to know us, the workers, before you take over. It means a lot to us."
"Of course, it was my pleasure," I told him before he handed me a small envelope.
"It's just a card..from all of us here," he shyly explained.
"Aww, you guys didn't have to," I observed the beige envelope curiously.
"Yeah, it's not much but we hope it makes you smile," he said before bowing down to me. "Please take good care of us."
"Thank you so much, Joey," I grabbed his shoulders, giving him a sign that bowing was not necessary. "This is really really sweet."
"Well, good luck tomorrow. We'll be cheering for you!" He pumped his fists mid air and I laughed. "Have a good night, Miss Mia."
"Good night."
As I watched him leave, something warm grew in my chest. Not just my chest - my face, my hands, my stomach, my entire body. The feeling one gets when one did a selfless good.
This wasn't punishment. My father had an agenda - a good one this time. It served a purpose - to build a relationship, a good reputation. To learn about the people who will soon work for me.
No. They didn't work for me.
I worked for them. I worked for Joey, for Grams. All the people here. And the many others who worked in our chain across the globe.
That was a lot of responsibility to take. To make sure their way of living remained stable - that was a lot of pressure to think about. But knowing that my work would give these people an income, a friendly and safe environment, it was worth the responsibility.
Something stopped me from the opposite side of the door while I was in the process of closing it. I reopened it to see what I hit -- or who I hit.
Someone's arm was up against it, his face glaring at me with those dark caramel eyes of his. The way he looked unsettled me - there were circles under his eyes, his hair was messily shagged, and he grew out a small beard that hugged his jawline.
Two seconds hadn't even passed yet and I was already being sucked back into the hole that was Zayn. My insides grew uneasy at the mere sight of him, my breath stopped, my train of thought completely elapsed. Everything that I had tried so hard to suppress for the past week resurfaced within moments.
But two questions that seemed to be a reoccurring theme came up.
What was he doing here and how did he find me?
"Can I come in?" His deep voice sent shivers down my spine.
"Umm..what are you doing here?" I diverted his question. "You shouldn't be here and how did you even find me?" He always found his way to me in previous experiences. Probably due to my father who told him that I was in the countryside but this time, I wasn't so sure.
My father would not tell him I was here, would he?
"You know I have my ways."
"Okay. Then please find your way out," I sighed in annoyance.
"Not until I find out what happened between us."
"You don't know?" I countered, crossing my arms. "You really have no idea."
"No, I don't. You dumped me, by calling my mother to tell me. That is one of the lowest things anyone could ever do."
"So you do know what happened...Now you can leave."
"No, I won't. Not until we talk," he took a step forward. "Don't you think I deserve a better explanation?"
I couldn't stop the bitter scoff that escaped my mouth and his eyes changed from pitiful to confused.
"Why don't you start first?" I challenged him.
"Okay," he knew exactly what I meant. "Let me in and I'll tell you everything from the first moment we met til right now."
His offer was tempting and regretfully, my curiosity won the best of me. Before I could refuse, my hand opened the door wider so that he could enter.
And right now, I was mentally thanking Joey for interrupting me. If he hadn't, I would be wearing Zayn's shirt and that was the last thing Zayn needed to see me in - his shirt.
"Your father, the first time I met him was about a week before I met you," he wasted no time once I sat on the couch before him. "What he wanted to do, I did not want to be any part of it but it would have been pretty hard since you were my wedding planner. You were only supposed to plan the wedding - that was going to be the end of it. His goal was to keep you in business. But then when I kissed you, it changed everything - his plans, my feelings. That kiss was never supposed to happen."
"Then why did it happen?"
"We've been over this, Mia," he sounded frustrated.
"So what. Was it because you wanted to get back at my father? Did you think he would stop bothering your life after that?"
"No!" he shouted, his hands running through his shaggy hair. "I'm not smart enough to think about that. You know exactly why I kissed you."
"Because it was in the right moment, right?" That was just an excuse.
"Look, let's not get caught up in the details. I kissed you because I fucking felt like it, okay? Moving on."
Now he was really agitated with me.
"After you left my place, after I begged you to stay, I cut all ties with your dad. I didn't want anything to do with him. And for the record, I still think your father needs professional help."
I chuckled in my head. That was something we both agreed on.
"When I met you in L.A., I knew something was suspicious. It was like your father was fighting with fate again. Only I didn't know for sure until you left Chicago. He met with me and explained who Lindsay was, the real reason why Mark hired you. If I had known Mark was corrupted with money, I would have fired him on the spot."
"So when I talked about my dad, this whole time, you knew who he was...you knew who I was. You knew everything yet you kept it from me?"
"Yes, I knew about it. Everything," he clarified. "I wanted to tell you but I was afraid you were going to run away. Just like now."
This was the conversation I was dying to have with him - to clear things up, to hear his side of the story but why wasn't I satisfied. There was something still up in the air and I couldn't figure it.
"If you any more concerns, please ask, because I'm done with all the secrecy. I don't want anymore secrets between us," he sternly spoke.
I tried to find something for him to talk about but I couldn't. I wanted to say something to stall time. So that he would stay longer, but I knew I shouldn't. I knew better than to keep him here with me. If he stayed one minute longer, what was to come would be unprecedented.
"Not at the moment..." I muttered. "So.. you can leave." I get up to walk him out the door but his voice stopped me.
"Not quite yet. You still haven't told me why you broke up with me. You haven't been answering my calls and I know for a fact that you listened to the message I made you."
"How can you be so sure?" He was always too confident. About everything.
"I just mentioned it now and if you didn't know, you would've asked me what message I was talking about. So it's obvious you know what I'm referring to."
Zayn really confused me sometimes. He could be clueless one minute and smart the next.
"You're right," I answered, looking at dead in the eye. "I did listen to the message. Whatever you said in there, it doesn't change the fact that I can't forgive you."
"Why did you meet with my mother?" He questioned, moving into a different topic.
"What are you talking about? I did not meet your mother, I called her," I lied but somehow his eyes saw right through me.
"Really. Then can you explain to me why your umbrella was in my car."
"What umbrella?"
Oh crap. A good deed gets me into this.
"Don't play dumb with me, Mia. Who else would have flying pigs on their umbrella other than you. You were wearing pajamas with them that night in Chicago when I came into your hotel room. It's like one of your .. things."
One of my .. things? What the hell did he mean by that? I wasn't going to argue over it though. It was a pointless matter right now.
"Tell me the truth," he demanded. "Why did you meet her?"
"Okay," I placed my hands flat on my lap. "I did meet with your mum. I told her I couldn't see your face after what you did to me. After you kissed another woman, after I learned that you were a part of this plot my scheming father concocted, I never wanted to see you again."
"But I told you, I didn't want any part in it."
"Regardless. You still did it. You knew everything and you didn't even bother to tell me. What? Was it because you pitied me - some poor spoiled rich girl who suffered from depression?"
"I did not know about that."
"Right. Let me guess. Did my father tell you to tell me that a doctor told you my condition?"
"No, I'm telling you the truth. Your father didn't disclose any information about your health."
"Yeah, well, I don't believe you."
To be honest with myself, I did believe him. I really wanted to believe that he heard it from that doctor - anyone other than my dad.
"I understand that. I don't know how else to explain it. Mia..." My name falling upon his lips was still one of the most exquisite sounds. His eyes analyzed mine, roaming slowly around every inch of me. "These past few days have been ..hard. Really hard. I thought about you everyday - wondering if you listened to my message, if you were safe, what you were doing. When my mother confessed to me that she met with you and she told me you wanted to break up, I was .. Crushed. I yelled at mum and I felt horrible about it because the Zayn that I used to be would never have done something like that. But I'm no longer that Zayn. I've changed. And like you said, it's not for the better."
I kept quiet. Although what he said wasn't true, he was still the same Zayn, I didn't want to go back on my own words.
"What is the real reason why you are here?" I asked him again.
"I told you -- because "
"Because what? You're blaming me for changing you into this awful human being?"
"What?! No!" He jumped from his seat and so did I.
"Then what? You think showing up here, in person, will make me forgive you. Whatever romantic gesture you have planned will bring us back together?"
"No! I just thought maybe --"
"You thought that coming here will lessen your guilt?"
"Mia. Stop. You're doing that again," he warned me but I ignored him.
"Doing what?" I laughed, knowing how crazy I must look right now. "You think you know me so well when actually you don't. You think I'm just some easy girl you can run back to every time something goes wrong with your love life. Well, I'm not that girl. I will never be that girl."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"You think I don't know?" I snapped, my voice almost shaking.
"Know what?"
"What you've been doing these past few days?! You've been locked in your room, making phone calls to Perrie, probably planning a time to get together. Your mother says you never come out of the room, you never speak of me. You're probably dying of guilt with wanting Perrie back and that's why you're here to explain everything to me so that you'll feel like a better person."
There was nothing but staring as our breathing was the only audible sound in the room. I could feel myself tearing up as the bottom of my vision began to blur.
"Go on," he quietly commanded, keeping a calm composure.
"You're still doing the whole plan right? This is all still a part of the deal with my father. He's the one who wanted to 'break my heart' as a test, not Perrie. If you're here to finish what you started, congratulations. Because my heart has been broken .. About three times now. If you're here to make me a stronger person, I wouldn't know what to tell you," I advanced towards him, my eyes never breaking contact. "Should I thank you?"
"You always assumed the worst, Mia," he spoke, looking down at me. "That's one thing that I would never want to change about you. Why do you do that? To make yourself feel better .. because deep inside, you're wishing it was something good. You're assuming the worst because you know that whatever happens, it can never be that bad as you think. You're doing this to push me away. I would know, I've done that before. You want to know what I've been doing in the past seventeen days? I stayed home, locked in my room, writing songs. Some of them may be related to you. I even drove to your house in the middle of the night, parked outside, looking at your bedroom window. I don't know why you think I still want Perrie when the girl I want is standing right in front of me. I don't know why you think I still want to break your heart when I never wanted to be a part of this in the first place. I knew it was a mistake from the start but it wasn't a mistake to kiss you ... You were one of the best mistakes ever made in my life."
"Your sweet talking isn't changing my mind," I shook my head, looking towards the floor, trying to push back how much I wanted to throw my arms over him.
"You think I know everything but I don't. I didn't know that your father was the one who told Perrie to ask me to break your heart. I didn't know about your condition until the doctor told me. I didn't know that. I also didn't know that I would fall for you, Mia. You of all people should know that. I didn't plan for any of this to happen..."
"Yeah, well neither did I," I sighed. "I don't know what to believe anymore.."
"Believe in what your heart is telling you."
My heart .. is biased since it only called out for him. Out of all the men in the world, my heart only wanted him.
He reached for me but I backed away in fear, afraid his touch would make my legs weak.
"Can you please..just get out. I don't have time for this .."
"Mia, don't push me away.." I could practically feel the rising tension in the air as his eyes searched mine.
"Please .. Just let me go."
At this, I didn't dare look for Zayn's reaction. Being with him then being without him. I was done playing this back and forth.
He shook his head, keeping his lips in a thin line. As I walked away, distancing myself from him, I felt a gentle tug on my knit cardigan.
I turned around thinking it was him, but it wasn't. It was just one of sharp corners of a dresser.
Zayn slowly made his way over, seeing how much I was struggling with untying myself.
"Here, I'll get it," he wrapped his hands around mine, barely touching it before I pulled away. Despite all the time that had passed since the last time I saw him, he still made every cell in my body ache for him. How could he do that.
"I promised you I would never leave you," he reminded me as he walked to open the door. "And I intend to keep it."
What was that supposed to mean?
Obviously he meant he would never leave me but the way he said it was so spiteful, it's as if he had something planned.
Maybe it was just me. Me and my ways of always overthinking everything.
I'm so sorry I haven't been updating. It's just these past few days have been pretty busy. But I'll try and do a double update later today. (:
Love you all and hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it was just them talking (:
But Mia is so frustrating isn't she?! Or do you think she's right for pushing him away?
Ugh...lol
Emma <333