Chains

Chapter 20

A joke. It didn't occur to me that Zayn's proposal of painting me nude was anything but a joke, a jest, a mere hoax to pick at my easily over-reactive nature. That was why agreeing to the whole situation was as easy as saying 'yes'. But Zayn Malik didn't do jokes. The paintings in his studio supported that. A whole section was dedicated to his works with females who were willing to bare it all in the name of art. I watched as Zayn gathered the material he needed for the painting, obviously unaware of my internal conflict. There was no way the old Louisa would pose nude for a guy she met a week ago and the new Louisa was having the same thoughts. 

"Well what are you waiting for?" he asked, taking a seat on his stool. There was no way I could stop the look of horror that made its way onto my face. He noticed my discomfort which made him crack a smile.

"No need to be nervous, its only me" he said,trying to comfort me But nothing he said could combat the anxiety dwelling within me.My unresponsiveness was more than enough to answer his statement. He calmly motioned me to come over to where he was,the smirk on his face growing with each step I took. Once I was close enough to him, he lightly held on the end of my blouse.

"All you have to do is unbutton these," he said,reaching for the buttons . One by one he pulled them loose. As he neared the end I quickly snapped out of the daze I was in and grabbed his hands to stop.

"I don't think you can handle all of this naked" I blurted out. At this moment I would've been absolutely fine with a simple blush. My body ,on the other hand, was more into a deep beetroot shade of red. It was as if all the blood within my body rushed to my cheeks, intensifying this embarrassing situation. I watched in horror as he raised his eyebrows. The sly smirk on his face morphed into a large smile as he eyed me up and down.

"You're right" he declared,his eyes making their way back to mine, "You're body is amazing,but I'll try to do my best".  With that said I immediately released his hands to cover my cheeks as they were heading into shades of red which were humanly impossible to achieve. I watched as his chest rose and fell as his melodious laughter filled the air.

"Aw ,you're the living tomato right now" he said as he placed his hands over mine,attempting to remove them from my cheeks. I fought a good battle but his strength eventually overpowered mine which left my beetroot cheeks exposed. I frowned as he cooed 'aw' a few more times, pinching my cheeks lightly in the process. The sounds of a snapshot brought my attention to the picture he just took of me. 

"Meme worthy" he stated, staring at the tomato faced Louisa in the photo. It was surreal how much ammo this guy had to blackmail me. Within only one week he was able to get the most unfortunate candid photos of me which he refused to delete.

I was about to respond when the familiar sound of my ringtone filled the air. I instinctively shoved my hand in my pocket to which was unusually empty.

"You forgot already" Zayn said,taking out the phone from his pocket. His eyes scanned the caller ID before handing it to me. Neymar. The urge to press cancel was undoubtedly strong , but those weren't the actions of someone who had forgiven him. 

"Hello" I said, faking every ounce of enthusiasm I had portrayed which was ,to be fair, not much.

"Lou! I've been looking for you everywhere"  I silently scoffed at his statement. "You're not at your store and Shakira said you aren't at home either" he continued. I was tempted to ask why he felt the need to check up on me but I successfully fought the urge.

"Yeah, I've been doing some errands"  I cringed as the words left my lips. Zayn looked at me knowingly as he crossed his arms.

"Oh. Well I hope you're  not too busy. I really need you to bake a cake for me,asap" 

The food lover within me agreed to his request.I took a mental note of general details he wanted the cake to have.

"Will do,Ney" I said, oblivious to the fact that I had called him by his nickname for the first time in 2 years.

"Ney? Haven't heard that in years,Lou" he said making me realize my error. 

"Doesn't everyone call you that?" I asked,trying to bring attention away from me.

"Everyone but you. Its refreshing to hear it from you" he said. I could almost see the smile growing on his face as he said that.

"Yeah well,whatever. Your cake will be ready for Saturday. Is there anything else?" I questioned out of politeness hoping that  the conversation would end promptly.

"No that's it.Thanks a lot , Lou. This means a lot to me" 

I ended the conversation with a short 'No problem' even though it was a task to be nice to him. My gaze fell on Zayn who was still looking at me with his arms crossed,bringing back memories of what I said earlier.

"Errands,huh?" he questioned,trying his best to keep a straight face. 

"It just slipped out,ok" I said as I pouted my lips. I asked for his forgiveness  but he shot down all my attempts.

"Well since I'm an errand,shouldn't you be doing me?"