Till Forever Falls Apart

17). Zane

ZANE

There are days in my life where I wish, I was a normal guy, living a normal fucking life, where I didn't had to worry about these fucking paparazzi's following me.

And today…is such a day.

Everything was going absolutely perfect. I took Anika to her very first date, as she's never been on one; to the most perfect location, because she loves watching stars; with such a romantic setting, thanks to John. We spent hours talking about each other's hobbies, families, friends and you know other stuff which we probably should've known about each other considering the fact that we've been talking since a month.

As I said, everything was going absolutely perfect but the universe just couldn't let it happen. So, for the climax, they sent these fucking Paps.

I'm not worried about myself, all I care about is Anika, my firefly. They can do and say anything about me, I don't give a damn. But if they find out about her, they'll somehow find out every-damn-thing about her. And only God knows, how the fuck they are gonna twist that information to make money. Especially now that I know, she wants to open her own dance academy. They don't care about ruining anyone's life and career. All they care about is money.

And I can't let this happen to my girl.

I don't know why the hell I assumed that they stopped following me. They somehow found out about me being here with some girl. Someone must have tipped them off.

I told John to distract them from the main doors. Since, the glasses of my car are fully opaque and nothing can be seen through at all, so right now they all are assuming that I'm already in the car with him.

Meanwhile me and Ika are going through the back doors just like we came.

I gave the helmet to Ika and said, "Here, quickly wear this."

She took the helmet from me and quickly wore it. But as I was wearing my helmet, two guys with their cameras started to run towards us.

Before I could think what was happening, Anika took the keys from my hand, sat on the front seat and said, "Chalo jaldi. Sit behind me."

Although I don't know the meaning of those two hindi words, I can definitely say, she's telling me to hurry up and sit behind her. So, that's what I did.

And…we took off. Leaving behind those fucking vultures hungry.

After five minutes of riding in silence, with a lot of adrenaline rushing through my veins, I started laughing.
I shouted over the sound of the bike and air to Ika, "Oh god! That was amazing, baby. The best way to say 'fuck you' to those Paps, without actually having to say it."

She laughed and said, "I agree with you. But I am also kind of thankful to them right now."

At that, I frowned and asked her,

"Thankful? For what?"

She opened her visor with one hand and I noticed in the rearview mirror that her cheeks were really pink.

"Well… One is because of them I'm riding a bike after so long and second…"

"Yeah?"

"Because...well...Um...you are sitting behind me, holding me so tightly that you are practically hugging me from behind."

It was when she pointed it out that I noticed that it was true. I was holding her waist tightly and we were molded together.

I asked her, "Is this making you uncomfortable?"

"No, not at all. I kind of like the warmth of your body."

She said shyly while also keeping her eyes straight on the road.

"Good."

And for the rest of the way to her apartment we didn't say anything else. But it was not needed. We had that comfortable silence between us.

After half an hour, we reached her building. She turned off the bike and we got off.

I took off my helmet and was about to say something but stopped when I saw her taking her helmet off. She raked her hand through her hair.

All the while I was just staring at her like a teenager boy with his first crush.

She noticed me staring at her and arched a brow at me. I shook my head and said, "You are something else Miss Verma. You are not just beautiful but simply amazing. You know most of the girls don't even know the basics about a motorbike and yet you handled it with such grace. What more secrets do you have?"

"Careful Mr. Sterling, not every one of my secret is pretty. I have my flaws too. Don't think that I'm perfect because I'm not. Not at all." She said with a serious yet vulnerable face.

Me, of all people, knows exactly that every shiny thing is not gold. Her words should make me feel worried, scared that her secrets might ruin everything in my life. But for some reason, I can't even fathom the thought of her hurting or even hiding something sinister.

I took a step towards her, cupped her face in my hands and said, "I know pretty well that every secret is not beautiful. It can be ugly as fuck too. I am the last person who will ever judge you for what you did in the past because trust me, I am not not proud of my past too. We can't change what we did in the past but we can control our future. So, I think that's what we should focus on. Right?"

She looked at me with disbelief.

"You don't even know what I did or what I'm still doing, yet you are still saying these things to me?"

I smiled and asked her, "Yes... Like I said, I know exactly what circumstances and people around you can make you do."

"Zane, thank you for today. Thank you so much. It was perfect and beyond my imagination."

Her sudden change of topic made me understand that she's not ready to talk about it freely right now. Just like I'm not. But I'm sure that we both will be able to rely upon each other more in the future so much so to reveal our secrets.

But for now, I went along with her.
"You have nothing to thank me for, baby. I'm glad you loved it. And I'm sorry for the pap's ruckus."

"You have nothing to worry about. It was not your fault. As I said earlier, it only made things work in my favour."
She said.

At this we both laughed. I hate that I have to leave. I could spend my whole lifetime with her here. But I have an early shoot tomorrow.

"I should go now." I said in a low voice.

She smiled softly and nodded.

I turned towards my bike but suddenly soft hand caught my wrist. I turned and suddenly she was in my arms.

Anika was hugging me. I hugged her back and after what felt like an eternity, but not really more than five minutes, we broke apart. I hesitated but then kissed her forehead. I kept my lips there for far longer than needed.

After breaking apart, I wore my helmet and said, "Go inside, Ika. I won't be able to go without knowing you are safe and sound at your home. I'll come soon to see you again."

She smiled, said goodbye and went inside.

After knowing she's safe inside her home, I took off towards my house.