Chapter 61: "Date Accepted"

It's a double update. Make sure you read the previous chapter first.

Show me what you think and post your reactions as you read!

First draft: October 8, 2021

"If you touch me –"

"I'm not! I'm not! I'm just doing this!" He stuck his arm out again, making her jump back. "And if you hit it, that's on you!"

"Then move out of my way!" Salma snarled.

Jason stretched his arm in front of her again. Salma hissed in anger.

"There's a way behind you too! Go that way!"

"Jason – no, no don't touch me!" Salma stepped back as Jason pushed his palms in her direction with a devilish grin.

"I'm not!" he repeated. "Your majesty, I know the Queen's protocol –"

"I'm not a queen!" Salma snapped. "Move!"

"Come on, man, you're messing it all up!" Jason dropped his arms and whined.

He spread his arms the moment Salma tried to push past him.

"It was a bad idea!" Salma argued, stepping back once again.

"It's a great idea! You're overthinking it!"

"He's gonna be mad—"

"He'd gonna love it, trust me!"

Salma managed to duck underneath his out-stretched arm. She jeered at him.

"You --! Oh no!" she squeaked. With a yelp she jumped back, bumped into Jason and then pushed past him, hitting his ribs in the process.

"Ow! OW, SALLY!" Jason cried in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Salma whispered, dragging him by the sleeve to move behind the truck.

"What happened?" Jason asked, massaging his painful ribs. His eyes were watering. "You really got a mean hit there!"

"I'm sorry, I panicked!" Salma replied, feeling bad.

"Panicked over what --? Ah!" Jason smiled as he peeked around the truck. "Will it violate the friendly working relations protocol if I say I know what panicked you?"

Salma scowled at him.

"You've gotto stop ridiculing me for that!" she replied, not pleased.

"I'm kidding." Jason chuckled. "So, what now? Zayn's already by his car? Look, just trust me on this one and let it play out."

"It's just wrong!" Salma said, watching Zayn from her hiding spot. "Maybe I should just go and explain."

Salma had barely stepped around the truck when a forceful tug on her bag yanked her back.

"Hey!" she protested, slapping the air behind her blindly.

Jason let go and folded his arms at her, undeterred.

"You see that? That's Special Agent Alexandera Wickfield of FBI talking to him," Jason pointed out. "You want to admit to a car breaking in front of her? Are you nuts? She'd arrest you within seconds!"

"No, she won't." Salma returned with an eye-roll but she stayed put. Jason had a point. Although Alex would not arrest her with Zayn around, there was a chance such criminal activity would put her on the agent's shady-list. "What should I do?"

"Wait." Jason shrugged.

Salma looked at him flatly but he was already busy with his phone and full-on ignoring her.

Phone?

"Aha!" Salma snapped her fingers.

"What?" Jason asked, not looking away from his screen.

"Nothing," Salma whispered, as she typed a quick text and sent it. "I mean why are you even in here?"

"I want to see Zalma play out."

Salma let out an annoyed sigh.

He was turning into a major jerk!

***

"Just move out of the way, you pest!" Salma whisper- yelled.

On purpose or not, Jason had blocked her as she tried to make a run for it. They did that move left, move right, move left again in perfect synchrony.

"I'm not even –"

Salma shove past him, breaking into a run, except it was not good enough. Or quick enough. Or subtle enough.

"We going somewhere?!"

The question froze the muscles in her legs, bringing her to a sudden halted. Salma closed her eyes in embarrassment and made a crying face. Why did Zayn have to see her spying on him when he was collecting the parcel?

Salma turned around at a snail's pace. Zayn was watching her with his eyebrows raised. He started walking towards her.

Was he wearing the – Oh God, he was wearing the shirt she'd bought him!

Salma tried not to ask the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She kept her eyes trained on the perfectly straight nose and plastered a huge smile on her face.

"Hi Zayn!" Salma greeted with much innocence and enthusiasm – both fake. "Assalam o alaikom."

"Wa'Alaikom Assalam. In a rush?" Zayn jerked his head behind her. He did not seem pleased – not one bit.

Salma's heart sank.

"Yeah, no, I was just . . ."

"Running away from a crime scene?" Zayn provided.

Salma gulped.

Crap, he didn't sound happy about it. Darn you, Jason! Salma glanced to where the pestering junior has been standing. Wait – Jason? Jase? Where the hell did you –?

"Not thinking of cooking up a lie, are you?" Zayn asked, cocking a brow. "Firstly you're bad at it and secondly, I got the evidence, right here?"

Traitor! She screamed at Jason in her head.

Zayn waved something in her face. Salma blinked, trying to focus on said evidence of her criminal activity.

Oh hell no!

The card and the parcel.

She was losing all her marbles, real fast. Caught red handed. She had no clue how to handle the situation. She could not remember the last time she had been in a sticky spot like this.

"I also got a text from someone registered as 'My Bee' – funny that!" Zayn laughed dryly, showing her his phone.

Salma's eyes snapped to him. Her stomach tied into a painful knot and cheeks flushed pink.

"It reads . . . My Bee: If you find something in your car, don't panic. . ?" He read the text, raising that damn incredulous brow again. That arch line of hair shooting upwards was intimidating when she the one at fault.

Salma gulped, again, but her mouth was drier than the deserts on Jupiter. The walls of her throat just stuck to each other, making her gag.

"I . . ." Salma tried, rather croaked like a frog. She cleared her throat. "I'm so sorry! I really didn't agree on that. I know it was a bad call! I'm sorry!"

"Agree on what?" Zayn asked, narrowing his eyes.

Salma's heart sank

"On breaking into your car," Salma replied quietly. "I should have stuck it on the window like you did."

"Shouldn't you?"

"I'm sorry."

"Who taught you how to hack past a locking mechanism like that?"

"I didn't! It was – um, I got . . . someone else did it," Salma ended up saying. "They thought it was a good idea."

"Who's they?"

"Um, I can't really say?"

"Can't say or won't say?"

Salma pressed her lips together. She should definitely out that curly-haired chicken after he had marooned her like that. That featherless, little piece of rat-dropping!

"I'm sorry," Salma mumbled again, focusing on his shoes. They actually matched the off-white cotton shirt he was wearing. Had she not been in a certain situation here, she would have told him the overall outfit matched beautifully and looked very good on him. But . . .

"Who's idea was this?"

Salma looked up, saw the card and snapped her eyes back to where they were earlier.

Something occurred to her and the knot in her stomach tightened? Was the card even from him?!

Oh no!

Her heart sank right on top of her painful stomach sack. What if someone had played a prank on her? She would die of embarrassment. That would make her look desperate, like she was telling him to take her out on a date!

Swallow me up, Salma told the ground. Right about now!

"Bee?"

"Yeah?!" Salma startled. "Um, that was – that was your idea!"

Zayn's eyebrows shot to the heavens at her accusing tone.

"It was my idea?"

"Yes." Salma stood her ground and forced herself to meet his gaze. "You stuck it on the window of my car – with flowers!"

"I did that."

Salma did not know if it was an admission or a question of him doing that. She decided to go with the former.

"Yes, you did."

"Right?" Zayn nodded, turning the card around.

Did she see his lips twitch?

"And who marked the answer?" he asked.

Salma's eyes turned back to the card. To the very sure and firm tick-mark on the box captioned, 'I'd be sweet as honey, so yes!', turned beetroot and looked away.

"It was . . ." she searched her mind. She saw Zayn lowering his head to make her meet his gaze in her periphery. She glanced a suppressed smile.

Was he doing it on purpose? Salma thought, annoyed. Wasn't he mad about someone breaking into that damn car of his?

"Someone," she finished, feeling her heart shift gears and bounce up instead of down. Only it was just as uncomfortable. The fluttery feeling was not exactly making it easy for her to stay composed and collected. In fact, she was about to make a bigger fool out of herself, she was quite sure of that.

"Someone?" Zayn asked.

Yep! He was definitely suppressing a smile, dang it!

Her heart was beating at a mad pace. How did that stupid thing suddenly come to so much life?

"Uh huh," Salma responded, looking around. A truck to her left, someone's jeep to her right. Was there a car parked behind her when she tried to make a run for it earlier? She could not remember. Or should she attempt an escape right past Zayn?

Where on this goddamn parking lot was Jason again? God, just let me get my hands on that pest one more time –

"I wonder if that someone --"

"Whoa!" Salma cried, backtracking quickly when Zayn stepped towards her.

"Did something happen?" Zayn asked, mocking much innocence.

"Um . . ." Salma pressed her lips together, unsure of what to do. Should she ask him to stop? He was not exactly being dominating or bossing her around. That damn smile, he was no longer trying so hard to hide, was the proof that he was messing with her. And she was not really scared, but she was flustered. She was terribly flustered and it was making her brains go haywire.

"Right," he continued, "before I was interrupted, I was going to ask –"

"Nice shirt!" Salma pointed at the shirt.

It was only when Zayn glanced at his shirt did Salma's heart attempt a jump right out of her chest, out of shame. Her brain suffered a freeze.

Nice shirt? SHIRT? You couldn't have said shoes?! Her subconscious facepalmed.

"Yeah, someone gifted it to me," Zayn said fondly, patting the bee silhouette printed just where his left breast pocket should be. Salma's cheeks heated up. "It's really heartwarming that someone can be so attentive to what I love."

Salma died a little out of embarrassment.

"Should've printed a football then," Salma mumbled, looking anywhere but at Zayn.

"Yeah, people who don't know me would. This someone is special," he almost whispered. "They know my love for a Bee."

Salma's heart suffered a seizure of feels.

"That's not what's happening here, alright," she blabbered without thinking. "I just wanted to customized it a tad and make it look personal . . ."

The way Zayn bit into his lower lip to suppress his smile made her go, Uh oh!

"Thank you for revealing the mysterious someone," he said.

Salma let out an embarrassed laugh. She really kept talking herself into a corner where he liked her, didn't she? The whole conversation was an embarrassing mess for her, to begin with.

"I'm glad you like it," Salma mumbled, going quite red in the face.

"Like it? I LOVE it!" Zayn exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement. "This is what crossed my mind when I first saw it –"

Salma gasped when her feet left the ground without a warning. Her arms tightened around his neck on impulse as her body spun. It took her brain a little while to realize she was squealing out like an excited mouse while Zayn spun her around, laughing.

The heck you making that sound for, Salma!

By the time Salma managed to stop squealing, Zayn had put her down already. Salma felt light-headed and unsteady on her feet. She saw Zayn's bright grin through the spinning world. She let out a breath. Zayn chuckled, grabbing her a little securely when she took an unbalanced step.

"Thank you, Bee!" he whispered next to her ear.

Oh right. He was squeezing her into another hug. Salma rested her cheek against his shoulder, smiling as he started rocking them again.

"You're welcome," Salma replied.

"Am I happy to hear that?" he grinned, tightening his arms around her body and closing his eyes. Just memorizing this feeling of this warmth and bliss. He felt her laugh vibrate against him. His whole body erupted in fireworks.

"That is not what I meant!" she replied.

"There's no shame in welcoming your man into your arms," Zayn joked.

"I now understand Louisa's dilemma. You are very annoying," Salma said, pulling away. Another teasing joke from him and she was scared her whole being would explode with tingles.

Zayn reluctantly let her move away. He knew the joke would only run so far.

"You have no business learning from a monkey," he replied with a mock frown, as his hands rested just above her elbows and stays there, unwilling to let go.

"She won't teach me your secret ways, don't worry," Salma returned.

Zayn laughed. The smile still played on his lips but his eyes got more serious. Salma felt her stomach do a somersault.

"Can I hear you say it?" he asked softly.

Salma felt her breathing getting heavier.

"Hear what?"

"The answer you gave me on that card?" he asked.

Salma let out a sigh of relief. He had her scared there for a second.

"Of course, you can hear me say that!" Salma rolled her eyes. "Zayn, I'd—"

He held up a hand to stop her.

"I want to see it," he said.

Salma blinked, confused. "Pardon?"

He took in a deep breath, then did a quick search around them.

"I want to see you say it," he replied, his eyes traveling to her niqab.

Salma heart stopped and her mouth became drier – if such a thing was possible. Swallowing, she took a look around to make sure they were alone before nodding slowly.

Salma's heart skipped a beat when Zayn himself reached for her niqab. He gingerly grabbed the fabric between his fingers, sending her pulse into an overdrive. Salma could hear the pounding in her chest as Zayn started to slowly pull her veil down. A light breeze blew against her bare face. Salma blushed a deep shade of pink.

"Wow," he whispered, making her blush again. "It's been a while since I'd seen a human tomato!"

What on earth?

"You're horrible!" Salma protested.

"Hey, it's my lovely tomato Bee, so." Zayn shrugged.

Stop!" Salma pressed her cold hands to her overheated cheeks. She did not even blush so much!

"Okay, okay, no more jokes. I was just missing your face." He took her hands in his and gazed at her seriously again. "Bee, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Salma did not realize she was squeezing his fingers in her tight grasp as she stared right back at him.

"Yes," she breathed a whisper.

Zayn's face split into the biggest grins. Salma pressed lips together and looked away shyly. Zayn quickly held onto her hands when he felt her pulling away but she managed to squeeze one of her hands free to cover her face again.

To her, this was embarrassing, to say the least.

"I can't wait to take you out," Zayn muttered.

Raising her hand to his lips, he kissed her knuckles. The soft, warm caress of his lips shot a stream of ticklish tingles up her arm and to her chest, spreading over her heart in waves. Salma resisted the urge to pull it away.

Zayn put her hand down, then let go. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking backwards. That goofy smile still stretched upon his lips.

"I'll see you around, Bee," he said before turning around and disappearing behind the truck.

Author's Note:

Look at you Losties with that big goofy smiles on your face X'D! Such a dreamy bunch ya'll are XD.

About my absence, I was dealing with quite a lot. Things appear to have settled for a while. I hope the updates can continue smoothly from this point on. Thank you for understanding.

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Lots of Love.

J.