Scrabble » Zarry ✔

🔍THREE🔎

It was day four of Zayn's cruise vacation and he found himself just standing at the mirror of the bathroom and looking at his reflection. Ten years ago when he and Louis tied the knot, the last thing he expected was to be here with this distressed look on his face over losing him. He couldn't lie. His mind had been so crowded with these thoughts of being alone that he hadn't been able to fully enjoy his vacation. Aside from having a seat in one of the restaurants and having himself a nice juicy steak and a glass of wine on his birthday, he hadn't left the room much. He spent most of his time lying in bed and watching TV because it was all he felt like doing.

However tonight, it occurred to him that the only thing he was really doing was robbing himself of a good time. And sure this trip was meant to be for two but he wasn't even having enough fun for one.

And that was because he was ashamed, really. He was ashamed that for the past few days of this trip, he had been wearing his wedding ring because he was scared to let anybody talk to him in any way that wasn't friendly. He was ashamed that even after claiming for seven months that he was letting go, that he hadn't yet let go. He was being such a wimp about everything. Such a sap and that attitude was sucking the fun out of the vacation completely. So of course he was ashamed.

He faced the mirror and leaned forward with both hands on the sink. His reflection was of a man with a pitiful frown and he did desire to wipe that frown off of his face completely. He desired to do it in a hurry. Because if he couldn't do it now while in such a relaxed environment, how would he ever have time to try to consider letting go when he got back to work?

He looked down at his fingers and the more he saw the shiny gold ring, the more irritated he was becoming. He snatched the ring off of his finger and slammed it down on the counter. He didn't want to feel sorry for himself right now. It was time to forget about what he was going through and get out there and have some fun. With the divorce imminent, he was just as good as single. Maybe he could get himself involved in an activity that would change his mood. He knew a place that could do just that.

It wasn't long before he decided to change into a decent pair of clothes, grab his room key and leave. When he reached the bar, he casually walked over to the end where he spotted the bartender and ordered a regular beer. Maybe getting drunk would help him forget things but getting drunk was something he never did. Louis used to joke that he was surprised he didn't drink more with the job that he had. But Zayn saw all the TV shows that stereotyped detectives who had seen so much and turned into drunkards whenever they were off the clock. Those kinds of things ended up ruining their marriages and he didn't want to be that stereotype. But his precautions didn't matter because he became the detective with a failed marriage in a different way.

As he drank his beer, he stared mindlessly at the wall of empty liquor bottles on display behind the bar. This was much more classier than the bars at home with rowdy music blaring from the speakers and sports on the TVs that made the customer stick around for hours on end. Here it was much quieter and the only music on in the bar was soft jazz. Even if the atmosphere wasn't exactly one that would be capable of getting him hyped for anything, he was still enjoying himself. And enjoying himself was much better than feeling sorry for himself.

"Um... Zayn?"

When he heard his name, he didn't believe it was his name because he wasn't expecting anyone on this cruise ship to know him. Therefore he ignored it and assumed that whoever was speaking must've just said something that sounded a lot like his name. But then he heard it again and this time it was much clearer and could not be mistaken for anything else.

"Zayn Malik. Is that you?"

Now he faced the voice. And he was going to answer the source of it but he was stunned by who he saw. "Um."