Comment as you read ☺️. Also, if you see any mistakes/ typos, point them out.
Salma's P.O.V.
"Will you please tell me what happened?" Zayn repeated.
Salma did not give Zayn any sort of an indication that she heard him this time or the last thirty seven times he'd asked before. She refused to talk to him. He was so rude to her the other day, threatened and intimidated her just a few hours ago, and now he was suddenly very concerned about her? Salma didn't think so. Whatever he was trying to prove with all his antics, was something Salma was too exhausted to work out.
Sighing heavily at her absolute silence, Zayn sank into one of the chairs.
"I'd forgotten how impossible you were," he grumbled.
Salma rolled her eyes. She just wanted her family to hurry and pick her up. She did not know how long Zayn would be able to take her silence before he would either snap or storm out. It was hard to decide if his presence comforted or annoyed her more. Salma did not want to be left alone after what happened, but at the same time, Zayn was the last person she wanted to accompany her.
"Here, Bee. It'll help --"
Something warm touched her wrist. Salma jerked away abruptly, glaring at him. To her surprise, Zayn was seated at the adjacent end of the table, his hands safely away from her wrist. Salma followed his gaze to the table. A cup of hot chocolate was lying next to wrist. Salma's eyes snapped back at Zayn.
"It'll help you feel better," he finished.
Salma had no idea how Zayn had managed to smuggle hot chocolate into the library, but she found herself not caring enough to ask. The sweet smell of chocolate wafted towards her. It did nothing to calm her down and neither was she tempted to take a sip. Instead, she felt frustrated. It took a lot of self restraint to not slap the hot liquid away.
She placed her head back on her clasped hands, completely ignoring the cup or the boy who brought it in. Zayn cursed under breath. Salma snorted mentally. Did he really expect her to accept the drink after everything he's been doing? What did he take her for?
"So you won't talk?" he said in an impatient tone.
You finally got the message, nustcase! Just stop bothering me, Salma mocked him in her head.
The chair scraped as Zayn leaned in.
"Bee, I'm not known for quitting easily. You'll have to talk to me," he warned her quietly.
Salma could tell he was much closer than earlier. Her chest tightened uncomfortably. He was not giving up.
"I'm willing to try more ways than one until you either explode, or talk to shut me up," Zayn said. "You want to hear what I have in mind before I try it on you?"
Her ears perked like a dog's. For once Salma actually heard what he said. She swallowed nervously. Something about Zayn's tone made her feel uneasy. He was not harsh or threatening but it made her skin crawl nonetheless. She could tell he was getting impatient.
"I'd take that as a yes," Zayn continued when Salma stayed quiet. "I used to hug her till she would talk to me, my grandma. Always worked on her. Without fail."
Salma felt her heart stab when he mentioned his deceased grandma, however, she reminded herself to not forget what he said the other day. He could not just humiliate her one day, threaten her the next and then sit with her a few hours later and expect her to be dandy about it. Salma could not even comprehend how he added it all up in his head.
"I'm sure you don't want me trying that on you, so tell me what happened before I actually go for it," Zayn finished, a certain sternness to his tone.
Salma felt a cold shiver run down her spine, urging her to put as much distance between her and Zayn as possible, however, she clenched her teeth harder and worked against that invisible force. She refused to give him the satisfaction that she had heard any of what he said. It was not hard. All she had to do was replay the two words he said to her the other day, over and over and over again in her head, to help her stand her grounds.
Zayn pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated.
"I get it, alright," he said, his frustration evident. "You're mad at me, but you don't get to do this! You don't get to act like you've not been deliberately provoking me. I am equally mad at you, if not more!"
Then what are you doing here? Salma countered in her head, Pick your butt up and leave.
"Bee! I'm serious --"
Salma jerked and pulled away when she felt him grab her hand. Perhaps, she had calculated wrong. Perhaps he was not bluffing when he said he was willing to use more ways than one. Anger surged through her at his audacity. She almost snapped at him. Almost.
One glare at his angry face and Salma knew the best response was silence. Absolute, cold silence that was riling him up better than any words ever can, or ever will.
Salma caught a mop of brown hair in the space between two book shelves. She bit back a gasp realizing it was William hurrying towards the reception. Not wasting an instant, Salma grabbed her stuff and shot up from her seat.
Her head exploded when Zayn mirrored her moves and stood in her way.
"I told you I'm not known for giving up." Zayn arched a brow.
Salma hands shook as mad fury overwhelmed her. She knew he was not joking this time. He was going to be a mule about it.
Neither am I! She countered him in her head.
In one swift move, Salma sat on the small table, and slid across it to the other side. Not turning back to see what Zayn was doing, she hurried to the front of the library.
"Will!" Salma called her cousin the moment she caught sight of him.
"Sally! Thank God!" he exclaimed, sounding massively relieved. "What happened to you?!"
William quickly closed the distance between them. The poor guy looked horribly shaken. Salma did not know what Alex had told them but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was borderline panicking.
"I . . ." Salma bit her lip.
"Come on, let's go!" He brought an arm around her but was mindful not to touch. "Someone called me earlier. They said you'd collapsed in the middle of the mall. You weren't picking up your phone. It really scared the living daylights out of me!"
Salma frowned as she walked out of the library. She realized Alex has left it on her to share the information with her family. She deemed it fit to hold her tongue on the matter.
"What happened? You didn't mention getting any dizzy spells." Will frowned at her, concerned. "And why was your phone switched off?"
"I'm fine," Salma replied. "My phone ran out of battery."
Will held the door open and that's when it hit her. She was counting on Asim or her father to come and pick her up, not Will. Salma suddenly felt her back burn under a fiery stare.
"Is something wrong?"
Suppressing the urge to turn around, she looked up into Will's questioning face.
"Where's Asim?" she asked, for the lack of a better way of letting him know she was not comfortable driving with him alone.
"He's not here," Will replied matter-of-factly. Salma was weighing her options when she noticed him trying to suppress a smile.
"Come on." He jerked his head towards his car." I dragged Unc with me. Don't worry."
Salma followed an amused looking Will across the street. He unlocked the car. Salma's heart dropped to her stomach when she saw it empty.
"Where's Uncle Dawood?"
"In the library," William replied, busy with his phone. "He left to check the upper storey. I'm calling him right now."
With that Will pressed the phone to his ear. Salma frowned and gazed back at the library. She had not noticed it was a two floor building earlier. Will's dad came out of the building a minute later. Relieved, Salma opened the car and dived into the back seat.
Niall's P.O.V.
Niall was sprawled on the couch, reading a book on his phone. Claire was pacing around the room, waiting for Zayn to show up. She was really mad at him for dumping Lena halfway down their outing together.
Niall was not surprised. Although Claire and Lena had convinced themselves Zayn was a taking her out on a date, Zayn had made it clear it was not. He did not waste any opportunity to remind those two and everyone else that their time spent together was not a date. Niall found it funny, but dare not laugh at his face. He knew Zayn was only complying to Claire's request that he spend some time with Lena.
"You never know. You may find that you actually like her," she had argued. "You can't just reject her without even giving it a try."
What Niall could not understand, though, was the way Zayn and Salma were behaving around one another after Lena was brought into the picture. Salma first asked to talk to him, but then a day later, she gave Lena third degree burns and acted like she could not give a damn about her or Zayn.
Zayn, on the other hand, seemed to have blown his only chance of reconciliation between the two. It made no sense to Niall why Zayn rudely rejected her request to talk, when he was dragging Lena along specifically to draw a reaction out of Salma.
The door burst open while Niall was still busy trying to figure out those two very impossible people.
"Brownie!" Zayn called in a rushed tone the moment he stepped inside. "How long have you been in the house?"
"An hour, I think. Why?" Niall replied, watching Zayn off kick his shoes.
"I think Alex --"
"We came here straight after you dumped Lena!" Claire snapped, walking towards him. "How long ago do you think it was?"
Zayn's eyes snapped towards her. He swallowed, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"I don't know," he told her before turning back to Niall. "Anyways, let's go, Browni --"
"You don't know? Zayn how can you be so --"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Zayn hastily apologized, giving Claire a quick sideways hug. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"
Niall eyebrows shot to the heavens. Was he on drugs?
"Brownie! Upstairs, now!" Zayn ordered as he let Claire go and ran upstairs.
"Zayn --" Claire called after him, frustrated.
Baffled by his strange behavior, Niall followed him upstairs. He was suddenly pulled to one side before he could enter Zayn's room.
"Zayn, what the hell?" Niall yelped, alarmed.
"Are you in contact with Snob?" Zayn asked, looking desperate.
"What?"
"Snob, the Snob, mate! Bee's friend?" he explained impatiently.
Niall frowned. Snob? Bee's friend?
His eyes widened with realization when it dawned on him that Zayn was taking about Salma's friend, Sarah.
"No, what made you think that?" Niall asked, incredulous.
"Nothing. Are you two on talking terms?"
"Of course not! I don't know her." Niall stated the obvious. "Have you seen her, Zayn? She's scary!"
"Well, get over that fear of yours then," Zayn said, walking towards his room. "You're going to have to befriend her."
"What?!" Niall cried out, shocked.
"I need to talk to her, and she hates my guts."
"I wonder why?" Niall remarked sarcastically. Zayn opened his bedroom door. "Why do you need to talk to her, anyway?"
"I saw Sterling with Bee. I need to -- Darren!"
Niall rushed in after Zayn. His eyes popped out of their sockets at what he saw. Zayn's trusted driver, and part time spy was lying on the bed with his arms and legs tied and a gag covering his mouth. Sweat was dripping down the side of the poor bloke's face and his eyes seemed unfocused. For an instant, Niall was not sure what was more alarming, the fact that Darren was attacked and tied, or the fact the he was lying on Zayn's bed.
"ALEX!" Zayn suddenly thundered, startling Niall. "I knew you'd be showing your stupid face here the moment I got that call!"
Niall blinked at Zayn. Was he mad? Who was he talking to?
"Oh, so you know him?"
Niall almost fainted when he heard a cheerful voice reply. Calming his racing heart, he turned around to see Alexandera Wickfield, the FBI agent, calmly perched on one of the chairs behind him. From the pleasant look on her face, you would think she was enjoying a picnic at a nice sunny spot in a green meadow, and not creepily slipping into Zayn's room after knocking his driver out.
"What do you mean I know him! Of course I know him, he's been my driver since before your walnut sized brains reached its mature state!" Zayn fumed.
"I guess he wasn't lying, then." Alex jerked her head towards Darren. "He did mention something about being your driver."
"Alex, you --"
"I'm only doing my job." Alex shrugged. "He was stalking a young lady across the city. Her name is Salma Rahman. I believe, you've heard the name before -"
"You already knew he was my driver!" Zayn seethed.
While the two bickered, Niall relieved Mr. Darren of the ropes tying him down. The driver pushed himself off the bed and Niall helped him settle on a chair next to Alex.
"You really seem to care for your servants." She cocked her head in amusement. "I advise you to relieve him off of his stalking duties if you value his life."
Niall mouth hung open at Alex's clear threat. Was she saying she'd shoot him next time? Poor Darren paled realizing he seemed to have gotten away with his life.
"How dare you?!" Zayn charged towards her, but Niall held him back just in time, "Don't you dare touch any of my men! And Darren is family! If you lay a finger on him again --"
"Me? Of course I won't." Alex shrugged, unfazed by Zayn's anger. "The other party, however, might not be so merciful."
"What are you talking about?!" Zayn asked her savagely.
"Mr. Darren?" Alex turned to him, instead of replying to Zayn
"There were men following the young Miss, Master Harris," Darren croaked in a hoarse voice. "They seemed hostile. I saw them trying to corner her in the parking lot by the restaurant. The young Miss seemed terrified. I tried to protect her but it was three against one. I was soon taken out."
Cold shivers ran down Niall spine at this new and unexpected revelation. His gut clenched and coiled around itself with fear. Zayn seemed to have lost his ability to speak.
"Did - did they do this to you?" Niall waved his hand at the ropes.
"I thought so, sir, but . . ." He threw Alex a scared side glance.
The poor man was still pale and in shock.
"But he later found out it was us," Alex finished for him.
"You took him out?!" Niall asked, incredulous.
"If the criminals were to realize someone besides them were following Salma, they would have thought it was one of the FBI agents," Alex explained. "I cannot have them thinking the FBI are on their tail because of a stupid and rather irrelevant third party. Besides, do you even realize what would have become of Mr. Darren had my men not taken him out? Those criminals are known to have skinned people alive during their interrogations."
Niall's stomach churned. Darren looked like he was going to faint. Zayn was quiet the whole time. He was glaring at the floor. Niall thought he was feeling guilty for having placed Darren in such a dangerous position but when he finally looked up, Niall realized he was following a completely different train of thoughts.
"Who are those dogs?" Zayn growled the words, "And what do they want from Bee?"
***
After Alex completed her story, the two boys sat frozen in shock. They did not anticipate such a grim reason behind her showing up at Zayn's room. Terrified for Salma, Niall threw a side-glance at Zayn. For the first time in his life since they were attacked, Niall saw Zayn looking scared. He looked sick. Sitting at the edge of his bed, he put his head in his hands.
"How is that possible?" he cried. "Alex how can they trace her this far?"
"They aren't your common criminals, Zayn."
Niall looked away from his anguished face. Zayn seemed more troubled than he expected. Perhaps it was because Zayn knew how dangerous those men were.
None of them said anything for a while. Niall could hear Claire tending to Darren downstairs. Earlier, before Alex started explaining, Darren was sent to the kitchen with Claire. Niall feared the agent would dismiss him too, but much to his surprise, she let him stay.
"How did Bee get away?" Zayn asked.
"We helped her vanish from the scene till they dispersed."
"At the library?" Zayn raised a brow.
"Nope, the restrooms."
Niall frowned in confusion following the conversation closely. He did not understand how Zayn knew where she had taken refuge while she was in danger.
"The restroom?" Zayn asked, "but --"
"Half an hour before you saw her, they cornered her at the parking lot," Alex began to explain. "She managed to run away. We thought we wouldn't need to intervene but her phone seemed to have died. She was panicking, so I managed to scoop her off the scene for a few minutes. Once the criminals were mislead, I directed her --"
"Towards me," Zayn cut in.
Him? Niall looked between the two. Zayn met Salma?
"No, actually." Alex frowned. "You were just there. And quite honestly your presence almost killed her and wasted all my hard work."
"How?" Niall asked.
"I told her to go to the library," Alex explained. "Zayn happened to be standing at its entrance. My colleague tells me upon seeing him, she tried to hide away. In fact, at one point it seemed like she wanted to go back."
"Then why did you give me a call, asking me to take her to the library?" Zayn asked.
"I did that before I realized she was serious about avoiding you," Alex replied. "What have you done to her, Zayn?"
"Nothing," Zayn replied tersely, looking away.
"Nothing? She really seems to hate your guts to prefer facing the criminals over you?"
Niall noticed Zayn's expression getting more and more sour with every word Alex spoke. His eyes were hard and his jaw set. Judging from his tense posture and clenched fists, Niall could tell he was hurting. The agent, however, refused to shut her fat mouth up.
"She doesn't hate his guts," Niall interfered.
"You're one to talk, kid!" the agent taunted.
"Yes, I'm one to talk," Niall returned. "Salma told me so herself. If she was avoiding him, it's because Zayn has been a massive jerk to her recently."
Niall noticed Zayn's pained eyes snap in his direction. He was shocked but he was clearly starting to feel hopeful.
"That means she majorly dislikes him, then." Alex shrugged. Before Niall could snap at her again, she turned to Zayn. "Fix your relationships. You don't have to make everyone hate you."
"I saw Sterling," Zayn said suddenly, his tone hostile and accusing. "Of all the people, you called him to pick her up?!"
Niall was shocked. Salma's cousin was around?
"He was the closest in the area," Alex replied. "You saw how panicked she was. She needed rescuing immediately."
Zayn scoffed in reply.
"I was not looking to cause a confrontation between the two of you, Zayn. Stop being such a pain!"
Zayn looked like he wanted to argue. Attacking his hair, he turned away from her and started pacing the room.
"There is something else bothering you, isn't it?" Alex guessed.
"Is she safe?" Zayn blurted out, sounding desperate.
Alex looked at him, concerned.
"As safe as I can make her."
"What do they want from her?" Zayn repeated, aggravated he took a seat on the edge of the bed again.
"I am honestly not sure. My best bet is revenge," Alex replied simply. "You knocked one of them out, didn't you? He doesn't remember you. But his memory of her is quite fresh, so I am thinking they are out to get the person they think is the reason for their arrests. Other than that, someone could have hired them to take her out."
"Why? -- Who on earth would do that?!"
"Can't say." Alex shrugged. "I am only entertaining this idea because the X-RAW has only ever been so committed to a kill or kidnapping when they're hired to do it. Otherwise, they prefer to stay in the shadows."
Zayn rubbed his temples as if trying to figure something out.
"How did you find out they were onto her?" he asked.
"Quite frankly, we knew they would try to target her," Alex said. "So we kept an eye on her and the people around her."
"Then why didn't you just take them out the moment they showed up?" Zayn narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"They're useful," Alex replied simply. "We need them to lead us to head of the snake."
"Let me get this straight," Zayn forced the words through his teeth. "You're using her as a bait?!"
"Something like that, yeah." Alex shrugged.
Zayn jumped to his feet suddenly.
"To hell with you all!" he yelled.
Author's Note:
Zayn can stay calm for only so long 😅
Lots of Love
J.