Another World

I did a good job calming Kate's nerves this morning while mine were shot. When I walked into the classroom that I was assigned to assist, I was greeted by a smiling older woman in her early forties.

"You must be Valarie, nice to meet you!" 

I held my arm out to shake her hand when she swatted it and brought me in for a hug.

"Uh- Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Richards."

"Oh, please call me Karen," She said with a smile after she broke free from our hug. "So the kids will be coming soon, we'll have to pick them up in the front of the building. But for now we can just sit here and talk, get to know each other a bit. You start."

We took a seat and I told her about me and why I moved to London, she then began to talk about herself. She was a forty-two year old married woman with two daughters and a black Labrador named Spot. She was very kind and reminded me of my own mother which made me feel so comfortable talking to her.

She put her hands together and stared at me. "I can't believe how much you remind me of my eldest daughter, Hannah. She's eighteen as well and you two are just alike."

"Oh really? That's nice." I said as I fixed the skirt of my dress.

"Knock, knock." Someone said while they knocked on the door.

I turned and saw a man in uniform holding a bouquet of roses and a little teddy bear.

"Good morning Stan!" Karen greeted as she got up and hugged him. She was definitely a hugger.

"And who's lovely roses are these for?"

"For a Valarie Daniel." Stan said reading the card he was holding.

I blinked in surprise and raised my hand. "Um, that's me."

"Hello Ms. Daniel, nice to meet you. My name is Stan."

"Hello Stan." He shook my hand and handed me the roses. 

I couldn't help but smile. Someone gave me roses, but who? I looked inside of the wrapper to find some sort of card.

"So who is it from? If you don't mind me asking." Karen asked after Stan left.

"It's from..." I trailed off as I found and read the card.

Hey babe, good luck on your first day of work.
Hope to see you soon.
- Zayn

"Zayn?"

"Oh, you have a boyfriend?"

"No. Er-yes, but not Zayn." I couldn't remove my eyes from the card.

"Oh it's time to pick up the chickens!" She exclaimed, hurrying to her desk to grab her keys.

That definitely broke my gaze from the card. I put down the flowers and teddy bear on my desk and followed Karen out.

* * *

It was time to leave and I was already in love with all of the kids. Most of them were as young as two years old and there was one little girl named Annie that grew on me. Karen and I waited for the kids' parents at the front of the building.

"Do you mind waiting with Annie? I have to pick up my daughter from school."

"I don't mind at all!" I watched as Karen jogged to her car and Annie reached for my hand with a big smile on her face.

"Awww," I couldn't help but say as I held her hand. "Honey your shoes are untied, hold on."

As I kneeled to help Annie with her shoelaces, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders that weren't the size of a child's. I gasped and swung my arm, striking the stranger.

"Ow!"

I turned and saw Zayn covering the right side of his face, his face twisted in pain.

"Oh my god, Zayn! I'm so sorry!" All of the anger I had was instantly replaced with guilt.

He moaned in response, pointing at the watch that was on my wrist.

"Are you okay?" I rested my hand on his back as he recovered.

He stood up straight and clear his throat. "So did you get my flowers?"

I burst out laughing. Annie grabbed on to my leg and I looked down at her.

"And who's this little beauty?" Zayn asked as he knelt down to Annie's level.

She shyly hid behind my leg. "This is Annie, isn't she adorable?"

"She is," He smiled that breath taking tongue smile at her. "Hi Annie." He said with the cutest baby voice.

"Annie, say hi to Zayn, sweetie."

She smiled and gave him a small wave.

"I wanted to take you home, if that's okay." He told me when he stood up.

"Uh," How will Jason feel about this? "When Annie's parents pick her up, we can go."

"I'll wait with you, then."

As we waited, we talked about how our day was, as we played with Annie. Eventually her parents came.

We walked to my flat and stood in front of the steps.

I fixed my dress and met his golden gaze. "Again, I'm so sorry about before. The thing is, in New York, if a stranger touches you, the first thing that would be done is to defend yourself."

He chuckled. "It's fine, babe. I would've done the same thing."

"Really?"

"No." He smirked at me and leaned in. I was slowly processing it all and then I gasped.

"I have a boyfriend!" I blurted into his lips.

He stopped short. "You have a what?"

"I have a boyfriend." I said quietly this time.

"Oh." He retracted, rubbing the back of his neck and stared at the bush that definitely needed to be trimmed soon.

I looked at him as he avoided my eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't..."

"That's fine. Have a good day, Val." He said as he forced a smile and walked away.