Once Upon a Time in London

Chapter 33

Zain winces as I press the ice pack to his jaw, I try not to show the guilt I feel on my face and instead try and concentrate on the angry red mark that graces his face.

He lifts his eyes to meet mine, "Well you've certainly become a good puncher, who knew you took up boxing?"

I grin, "I didn't, you just didn't do anything remarkable enough to get punched by me before." 

He laughs, "I thought someone broke into my penthouse."

I focus on the cold compressions, "I thought Pammi aunty told you that I'd moved in here for college."

"I suppose she didn't expect me to come straight here instead of home" he replies as he shifts in his seat slightly. I shift slightly to the right as well to continue pressing the compress to his jaw, the beginning of a bruise forming.

We stay like that for a bit, with him sitting still and me standing in front of him, trying to ease the swelling.

"Hey" he begins after a while, "I'm really hungry, is there anything to eat?" Zain looks up at me then.

I think and then shake my head, "I just got here a few hours before you, I was overseas."

"Overseas? I thought you were on a break from uni?" he asks, taking the compression out of my hand.

I pack away the bandages and ice packs, "Yeah, I was in India" and when he doesn't reply, I continue, "it was Tina's wedding."

"Tina got married?" Zain asks casually from somewhere behind me, I place the ice packs back in the freezer and turn to find him behind me, he passes me the ice pack I left him with.

"Yeah, Robbie and her are perfect together, they support each other, I couldn't imagine them not being together. I guess some people just know" I turn to him and smile.

He looks at me closely, as if reading me.

A sudden warmth creeps up my neck as a sense of self-consciousness washes over me.

He smiles and nods then, "And here I thought you'd get married before her."

"Why does everyone think that?" I laugh, and then give him a pointed look, "You were supposed to keep the ice pack on your jaw."

He presses it into my hand, "If I keep it on my jaw a moment longer, I won't even be able to feel it anymore."

"That's kind of the point" I eye him but still take the ice pack back, giving it a rinse before placing it back in the freezer.

"Anyway, go get ready, let's go out for dinner" Zain smiles.

My eyebrows knit together, "Are you sure I didn't hit you too hard?"

He looks at me confused.

"Have you seen how cold it is outside? You want to go out there with a swollen jaw?" I shake my head.

"I'll manage but my stomach won't if I don't get anything to eat soon" he leans back against the counter.

"I'm not allowing you to go outside in this condition" I reply, placing the medical box back inside the cabinet.

He tilts his head slightly, "And I need to listen to you because?"

"Because you are currently a guest at my place" I smile.

"I am a guest at my own penthouse?" a slow grin spreads over his face, his eyes twinkling.

"Pammi aunty gave me this penthouse to live in for uni, specifically telling me to feel at home and so I am" I give him a sly grin.

Zain raises his hands in defeat, I am slightly taken aback, not expecting him to comply so easily, "As you wish" he replies, "But if I die out of hunger, that would be a rather disappointing note for you as a host."

I roll my eyes, "All these years and you're as dramatic as ever" I smile.

"Guilty as charged" he grins.

"You won't die, I'll order takeout for us" I shake my head as a small smile spreads across my lips.

— — — — — — — —

"So how long are you going to stay back in London for?" I ask, biting into the cornetto cone Zain insisted I buy as a sign of a good host.

He stares at his own cone for a while before answering, "I'm not going back."

I sit straighter, "You're not?"

"I am done with my degree" he shrugs.

My mind reels as I try to think of when he started his degree, Zain was 2 years older than me and he had accepted an accelerated program but I hadn't expected him to complete his degree already, I still had a year left of mine.

"So you're staying in London then?" I ask, curious about his future plans.

"For now at least" he answers, he stares out the living room window, we dragged the bar stools closer to the living room balcony to make up for me not allowing him to go outside, "I'm not sure you know, about taking over dad's business. Ma really wants me to but I'm not sure if that's what I want for my future."

I nod, because somehow that feels like something I know, all my life I'd spent trying to do anything I could to make sure ma was proud of me, so she knew that she could count on me, anything to make sure I didn't remind her of my father. And although Zain and my troubles were far from each other's, this felt like something we could bond over. It was a strange kind of intimacy, to feel the same sadness as another.

"I understand" I reply, before kicking his shin, "now eat your ice cream before it melts."

He looks at me, a little surprised from the kick, "you really are very violent" but then grins, taking a bite out of his ice cream.

I smile back, I could stay like this forever, eating ice creams while we lazily talked about what the future held for us.