Another World

Walking home from work with little Annie tagging alongside me made my day happier. Even if favoritism is forbidden I couldn't help but have a spot for Annie in my heart.

I've gotten closer to her mother, Abbey, as well. Abbey, in her mid twenties, had a busy job which made her unable to pick her daughter up. Her husband, James, also had his hands tied. I offered to pick her up and take her to my flat until Abbey got out of work which usually lasted for a couple of hours.

Annie was a very smart four year old and once she got used to you, there was no way to stop her from talking.

"Look Valarie! I jumped over that big puddle!" Annie beamed.

"I know I saw! And you jumped so high!" She smiled with satisfaction and ran over to my front door.

"Where's Kate? Is she home?"

"She should be coming soon. What do you want to do today, love?" I asked as I unlocked the door and entered inside, following my usual routine of tossing my keys and coat, taking off my shoes and making a cup of coffee.

She saw what I was doing and took off her little pink shoes also. "I wanna play Wii."

I returned from the kitchen with a mug in hand and began to set up the console. Kate judged me for bringing the Wii to London but found herself playing Just Dance every chance she got. That was the most popular game played in this flat. I handed Annie a Wii remote and sat down on the couch as she stood up to "stretch".

I heard the door open and close which made Annie alert. She gasped and whispered "Kate" in a playful tone as she hid under the dinner table. I laughed, taking a sip of my sweet coffee. I froze when I didn't see Kate.

But of course, Jason.

"Annie, go to my room." I ordered without keeping my eyes off of him. She ignored me and ran to hide behind my legs, peeking just a bit.

He scoffed as he looked at Annie. "Did you end up pregnant with that dickwad?" There was a hint of seriousness in his question.

I reached behind me to put a reassuring hand on Annie. "Can you not talk like that in front of her?"

He shook his head as if to remove something. "I'm sorry, look, I've been trying to talk to you for a while now. I told you I wasn't going to leave London until you came back to me."

"But that's not going to happen."

"Now just because you gave it up to the next dick you saw just to get over me and to shove it in my face doesn't mean it's over between us."

I folded my arms across my chest and gave Jason a cold glare. I wasn't planning on arguing with him, I was done. "I think it does."

He took a deep breath and continued in a lighter voice. "You know you still love me, I can see it in your eyes. We were each other's firsts for god sakes, how can you just let that go because of some guy?"

"It's not because of some guy-"

"Oh I'm sorry, you're right! It's Zayn from One Direction!" He took a step forward which set off every alarm in my head. "The one with the shit load of money! I know your game, Valarie."

"No, you don't," I quietly told Annie to go play in my room for a little while, this time she obliged. "It's not because of Zayn. You're not who you used to be, Jason. You used to be loving and sweet, but now every day feels like this ticking clock. I don't know if I'm going to get sweet Jason or aggressive Jason. I moved here to get a fresh start and you're just dragging me behind." I wiped a tear with my thumb before it fell and exposed my vulnerability.

"So...you're willing to throw away everything we have?" There was complete sorrow in his voice. As if a child was just told their pet had passed away.

My heart was breaking. I couldn't help it. We were together since the beginning of high school, we've been through so much and it was hard to let go but I knew I had to. "What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you not to give up on us, baby. You're mine and no one else's!"

I felt my body begin to quiver all over. It wasn't from fear or anger, but from holding back all of the tears that threatened to spill. "I don't belong to anyone but myself. I'm sorry, it's over."

"You know what? Fuck you!" He pointed an accusing finger at my face. "You lying, cheating, gold digging slut! Don't come crying to me when you find out your precious celebrity boyfriend is fucking someone behind your fucking back!"

Take a deep breath, don't slap the shit out of him. Be strong...

I walked over to the front door and opened it. "Bye, Jason." I closed my eyes, praying that he wouldn't object or resist.

I heard footsteps getting closer to me. I felt a large presence and a whisper in my ear, "You're gonna regret it." Followed by exiting footsteps. I didn't know I held my breath until the pain in my lungs struck me.

Slowly closing the door, I leaned against it and let everything that occurred between Jason and I sink in. Did I really want to do this? Completely remove him from my life? And what did he mean when he said that I'm going to regret it? I hadn't noticed I moved away from the door and sat on the couch, sobbing.

With my hands covering my face, I heard the pitter patter of Annie's footsteps. Before I looked at her I let my overwhelming emotions subside. "Are you okay, Annie?"

She nodded and gave me a loving hug. I looked down at her with a smile. "You still want to play Wii?"

She jumped up with excitement. "Yes!"

"Okay, I'll be right back. Count to ten!" I headed over to the bathroom to wash my face and fully gather my thoughts. Should I call Zayn? I heard the door open and I zipped to Annie, afraid it was Jason returning.

I held my chest with anxiety. "Oh my god, I thought you were someone else."

"Did I give you a fright?" His quiff bouncing as he started to chuckle.

I laughed it off and leaned on a nearby wall for support.

The little girl in the pink dress standing next to me caught his attention. He bent down to her level and gave her a small wave. To be honest I was surprised he could even move with those tight looking skinny jeans he wore. "Hi Annie, love! Remember me?"

She shook her head but sneaked a little wave in return, relaxing her grip from my thigh. He removed his leather jacket, revealing a black silk V-neck. I almost drooled, oh my god. His smile faded when he saw my red eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Zayn." My voice sounded weak, revealing my lie.

He took a step closer to me. I almost forgot that I didn't have to be guarded with him. There was no need to tighten up with every move he made. No ticking clock with Zayn.

His eyebrows furrowed as concern shown in his face. "What happened?"

I moaned while heading over to sit on the couch, Zayn and Annie joining me soon after. He'll keep on pestering me if I don't tell him. I inhaled and closed my eyes as I exhaled. "Jason came over."

"What?!" He sat up and looked around as if Jason would pop up somewhere in the living room, letting his Pakistani accent slip, "Why didn't you call me?!" He groaned with anger, but the frustration didn't feel like it was towards me.

"I didn't want you to get in a dangerous situation because of me...again."

Wow I feel super guilty...

"Did he..." Swallowing hard, he hesitated, "Hit you?"

"No."

"Good. It would've been my job to kick some," He looked behind me at Annie and got closer to me to whisper, "major arse!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "How is it your job?"

He gestured to himself and I. "We're kind of....something, aren't we?"

I giggled. "Yeah, but I don't want you to fight my battles for me."

He rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. Annie complained, asking if we could play "the dancing game".

"Annie, I'm too tired for that right now, sorry."

She pouted and Zayn sat up, holding out his hand. "Let's play, yeah?"

Her excitement resurrected as she accepted his offer.

I looked at him with my mouth slightly open. "You know how to play?"

"How difficult could it possibly be, babe?"

At first Zayn was like an awkward dancing penguin. I had to record a couple of videos -- unfortunately my obnoxious laugh can be heard in them -- and eventually, he got the hang of it after a handful of songs.

Annie was the cutest, making up her dances whenever it got too intense for her. "I'm winning, right, Valarie?" Annie asked without removing her gaze from the T.V.

"You definitely are, Anne!"

"I'm beating you, Zayn!"

"Oh no! You're so good at playing, I can't win!"

The song ended and Annie faced me. "You play now!"

Zayn turned and gave me an encouraging smile. "Come on and dance with me! Or you think I might beat ya?"

I let out a laugh. "Yeah right! It's on."

Let me just say that if it wasn't for Zayn and his multiple sabotages I would've won! I groaned as he laughed in triumph. "Do over!"

He put his remote down on the table that supported the T.V. "Can I ask you something before we play?"

I nervously switched my stare from the T.V. to Zayn.

"Would it be too soon for me to ask you to be my girlfriend?"

My jaw fell, a grin beginning to tug at the corners of my mouth. I was speechless. This crappy day turned out to be amazing, all because of Zayn. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed my body against him, inhaling his scent of Gucci cologne and cigarettes.

He looked down at me. "Is that a yes?"

"That's a hell ye-" He interrupted my response with his lips smacking mine. I felt Annie's arms wrap around our legs, she didn't fully know what was going on but she cheered anyway. Zayn looked at her and waved his fist, "Yay!"

"I wanna play now!" Annie announced as she jumped up and down.

I handed her my remote. "Okay, go beat Zayn."

He chuckled and grabbed his controller. "Are you ready, Anne?"

In between their dance session, Zayn would jog towards me and sneak kisses. He called and told the boys that he felt under the weather in order to spend the rest of the day with me.

That was until the door burst open and Kate's voice was heard along with a deep slow voice. I wonder who that could be?

"Well, well, well, so this is you feeling under the weather, mate?" Harry's eyebrow raised when he saw Zayn standing in front of the T.V.

"I just wanted some more time with my girlfriend."

Kate's jaw immediately dropped to the floor when he finished that sentence. "Took you long enough!" She called out, giving Zayn a high-five.

Harry took Kate's coat and hung it up with his. He turned around to face us but something caught his eye. "Erm...who's that little girl in the corner?" His curls dangling to the side as he craned his neck.

"That's Annie, Valarie watches her sometimes after school. Hi Anne!" Annie ran over to Kate and gave her a big hug.

"Hi Anne, you know my mummy's name is Anne. We have something in common!" Harry stated in a cute high pitched voice.

The doorbell rang, causing Annie to gasp and run around to find a good hiding spot. She knew it was her mother and loved hiding from her.

"Oh, Anne, I wonder who that could be!" I yelled as I walked over and opened the door.

Abbey smiled opening her arms for a hug. "How was my puppet? Did she behave well?"

"Like an angel, and she had a lot of company as you can see." I gestured at everyone in the living room.

She stopped mid-wave to stare at Harry and Zayn. "Is that- Are you two the lads from that boyband? Oh, my seventeen year old niece is in love with you, Harry!"

"Well that's unfortunate for her." I heard Kate mumble followed by Harry's low chuckle.

"I'm right here mummy!" Annie sprang out.

Abbey stayed for a bit to chat and left when her husband called her. We said our goodbyes as she walked out the door with Annie by her side.

"I do not appreciate her niece." Kate said, half joking.

I rolled my eyes at her. "I think we all knew that."