Betrayal

Chapter 9

Zain's POV

It had been a week since the chat with Valerie and things were not getting any easier for Zain. He wanted to give himself time away from her hoping that it was just a fling and that it will go away. Taking in extra work making sure that he got in super early and left super late. Avoiding Valerie and Yolanda's apartment even when Rayan invited him for dinner. The truth was he had never met a woman that had the type of pull Valerie had on him. He was used to getting attention from women and having them demand his attention, he ignored any that wanted him to work for it and that is what he thought would work when it came to Valerie only to end up making things worse. He kept on wanting to go to the cafeteria and pretend that he wanted to talk to Claire but he hated the attention he got from the cooks, especially women. He had to convince himself extra hard not to storm out of the office.

It was in the middle of a busy day when his old army buddy called him, he was in town and wanted to catch up. It was a long time since he heard from any of them which was normal considering what they used to do. Top secret missions did not leave room for socialising unless it was with the unit member. "Hank, It's been a minute", he said with a smile reminiscing on the fun they used to have. "Whatever man, I will be in town in an hour, do you still drink beer or are you way up there to sit with the rest of us?", His friend said with sarcasm making him laugh. "You wish. Meet me at Joe's at six will ya?", he replied and hang up. Joe was an agent undercover and his bar was considered the most packed in town making his job easier because every famous person passing by wanted to go hang out there, sometimes for drinks, food and even casual meetings. He knew everything that happened in town and also happened to be part of what was once called their dream team.

Finally, Zain got the distraction he needed, he decided to leave early so that he could get enough time to change. Hank would have given him hell if he went with a suit. By the time he got to the bar it was seven, he found Hank sitting in the darkest corner as he usually did with a beer in one hand and a blonde in the other. He was never the one to commit to one woman and so was Zain. "Somethings never change", he said driving Hank's attention away from the woman's boobs. He smirked pushing the woman to the side to stand. They did a bro hug and both sat. "Get him a beer same as mine and your friend", Hank said with a wink but Zain stopped her before she could get far. "Just a beer please", he instructed and the woman left. He turned to see his friend looking at him with confusion. Hank knew him so there had to be someone. "Stop, nothing is wrong with me and there is no one, am just not in the mood", he said before Hank could make any comment earning a laugh. "Now am sure there is a woman involved, who is she?", Hank asked making Zain release a breath. It was clear that he could still read him like an open book and he knew this because the feeling was mutual. Together they were able to face anything and even their boss knew that and always placed them on the same mission. "Fine. She is Landa's roommate", "What do you mean roommate, Yolanda finally got someone who can tolerate her big mouth?", "You mean beside Rayan?", Zain's comment made them both laugh. It was undisputed that Yolanda was just a force never to be reckoned with and Hank had to learn it the hard way when he mistakenly grabbed her ass thinking she was one of the bartenders only to find out she was Rayan's girlfriend and Zain's old friend. "Seriously man, what's with this woman? please don't tell me she is one of those who expect a cat-and-mouse game from you", Hank said knowingly. "No man. She's different, I think she has been through a lot so she is a bit scared you know? I just... I don't know where to start so I have been avoiding her", Zain replied. "Here you go handsome, you sure you don't want company?", the blonde that was with Hank earlier said while placing the beer on the table and positioning herself on Hank's thigh. "Yeah, am good", he replied opening the bottle and drinking half of it making Hank look at him with amusement. "Can you give us some privacy baby girl?", Hank asked the woman kissing her neck and making her giggle. She stood up and walked away making sure to walk seductively enough to make Hank adjust himself.

"Why would you avoid her? I mean come on", Hank complained. "I have never had to do this kind of thing before", he said running his fingers through his hair. Hank was as lost as his friend. He was used to choosing who to sleep with not chasing a woman or falling in love. That was one thing that he sucked at. "Man I guess we have to call in the big guns huh?", Hank suggested. "No, not yet. I want to try and do this on my own", "You sure?", "Yeah man, am sure", "She must really be something for you to be this cracked up", "Shut up man", he said smiling. "So how are things?", "Tough man, Leading is not as easy as the General made it look. I find myself babysitting most of the time but I convince myself that doing one good thing at a time will make it better", "And that is all that matters man", Zain encouraged his friend with a toast. "Which hole did you two come out of?", Joe said joining their table and ordering more drinks and they were officially goners. They talked about the military days laughing at all the pranks they used to do to their General. Making Zain finally feel connected to the world, it had been a while since he was able to sit down with people who understood what he went through and the things they had to do in the military.