Took Me By Surprise [Zayn Malik] ✓

Chapter 26: Change My Mind

A/N: as requested, an extra Jerry-moment here! :D Tell me what you think

*Jenan*

   It was out. I didn't imagine that eleven words could take me back home.. but for now, I was still sitting in Simon Cowell's office.

   "You want to leave?" he asked and placed his intertwined fingers infront of him.

   I nodded. "I just feel that I can't stay anymore."

   He looked at me closely, as if he wanted to try to read my mind. I moved uncomfortablly on my chair until he finally said: "Is it possible that you might be running away from something?"

   I gasped. "Oh, why does everyone think I'm running away from something?!" I exclaimed. "It's just that I.. I.." I trailed off and then continued in a low voice: "I don't know what to think or feel or do.." my voice faded away again and staring at the crinkles in my clothes, I waited. I don't know what exactly I was waiting for; a reply? Help? And advice? I just waited.

   "Listen, Miss Tareq." He began.

   "Jenan." I corrected him as I didn't really like it when somebody called me Miss Tareq. It was weird.

   "Jenan." he repeated. "Do you even know why you are here? In London?"

   His question surprised me and I looked up at him. "Umm, yes." I replied unsteadily. "My mother didn't allow me to stay at home in Egypt in that dangerous times so she sent me here."

   "That's only half of the truth."

   "What?" I asked in confusion. I couldn't think about any other reason why I should be here.

   "See," he started explaining and I straightened my back, curious to know what he was going to tell me. "The boys were in a bad state, a crisis we could say. They spent their nights partying and clubbing. They wasted money and broke a lot of girls' hearts. They were not themselves anymore, they lost connection to reality and just took a bath in fame. It was awful for me to see them like this and talking about it to them was useless. They didn't even give in to threats." Mr. Cowell paused and my heart was beating faster than normal. "I sent them to their families, gave them days off and preached. But it only went well for a short time. I spent day and night thinking about a solution for their problem and one day I realised that if a person intended to help them, he would fail. But, I thought, what if someone came without any intentions to change the boys?" I started to get to know about the point of this conversation. And it worried me even more.

   "For a while," he continued. "I hold onto that idea but I faced difficulties. That person I needed for my mission had to be special. He had to have a good heart and faith. He had to be far away from that stuff I wanted to beware the boys from. And the last thing I realised was that he had to be a girl."

   "And guess what?" he added. "A few weeks later a friend of mine told me about that woman with her daughter who needed an alternative than her own flat in Egypt. That girl was young, a Muslim and –according to her mother— didn't know anything about One Direction. She was simply perfect for my mission and I wanted her here."

    I didn't know how I felt. But mainly I was confused.

   I thought he had finished but then he said: "It was more difficult than I thought. The mother of that girl refused to send her daughter to live in England with the lads of One Direction so I had to fly to Egypt myself and meet her." At this point, my jaw dropped. What?! My mother met Simon Cowell??"It took me a lot to persuade your mother, Jenan."