Dirty Laundry

I had spent all morning talking over plans with Elle, and after quite a bit of deliberation, she and I agreed that my next best course of action would be to carelessly bump into Zayn again. It was an easy enough task, but since I had ran into him solo last time, Elle thought it would be best if I didn’t head to the club alone out of risk of looking like some sort of stalker.

Guys like Zayn were easy to believe girls were stalking them. It was an ego thing, I assumed.

Since Elle already had plans for the night, I only had one option: the beautiful Sloane. With that thought in mind, I walked into the office just as the two of them were getting ready to head home for the evening.

Liam looked at me with a smile as he folded up his briefcase. “You heading home?”

I shrugged my shoulders, my face naturally turning up to a smile as I walked closer to Sloane and Liam.

“Not exactly,” I said, hopping onto Liam’s desk when I reached it. He chuckled at that, pausing for a moment before he stacked up a few papers. I smiled in Sloane’s direction, “I’ve still got a bit of work to do.”

Sloane knew me just a little too well and she rolled her eyes at me while she threw her hands on her hips. “What do you need?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “Well, something, actually.”

Liam was the first to answer, looking at me with his genuine smile. “What is it?”

“I’ve got to ‘run into’ Zayn at the club again and I need someone to come with.” I looked at Sloane again, batting my eyelashes at her. “Will you please?”

“No way,” she said as she held her hands out in front of her. “Not after what happened last time.”

She was referring to the time she and I got locked in the bathroom of a dingy old bar for nearly four hours. It was nothing, really, and totally not my fault.

“I’m free tonight,” Liam said, looking up at me as he tucked his final paper into its proper place.
Liam was probably not what Elle had in mind when she said I needed to bring a friend. Scratch that, Liam was definitely not what Elle had in mind.

Honestly, at that point I might have just been better off going to the club alone, because a girl with a guy in tow was not the kind of baggage that guys like Zayn liked to deal with, but I could always pass Liam off as being gay or convince him to help me make Zayn jealous.

After only a short pause, I smiled at Liam. “Perfect. Pick me up at 10.”



It was 15 minutes before 10 o’clock when Liam knocked on my door, and luckily I had finished getting ready just a few minutes before. I answered the door with a smile on my face before latching onto his arm and hurrying him out of my apartment. To my knowledge, Liam had yet to go inside and see how secretly messy I kept my place and I wanted to keep it that way.

His car was much nicer on the inside than I had remembered it, but I hadn’t spent enough time in his leather seats to really become accustomed to them or their smell. We were just over halfway to the club when Liam turned down his radio just a bit, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look at me.

“Mia,” he said, drawing my attention. “Do you like your job?”

I let out a small breath, shrugging my shoulders. “I suppose so. It’s easy work.”

He chuckled. “Working is McDonald’s is easy, but I imagine nobody works there really likes it.”

I looked at him again, smirking a bit at his very valid point. “I guess I do, then.”

Liam’s eyes were back on the road, watching the busy NYC traffic in front of him, and he bit his lip. He looked quite a bit more… uneasy than before. “Well, that’s good then.”

I nodded before turning my attention to the license plate of the cab in front of us, and it seemed like we were at the club in just seconds after that. I realized then that I forgot to brief Liam on exactly what we were going to be doing, so a quick rundown would have to do.

“Okay,” I said, as Liam and I shut our car doors and began walking to the club. “All you have to do is chat me up until we get Zayn’s attention. As soon as he comes up, you’re free to do whatever you want or leave if you’d like. Elle will pay you for the whole night.”

“How will you get home then?” Liam asked before his mind answered the question for him. He paused for a second, his face getting more and more uncomfortable with every step we took. “And if he doesn’t ask you to go home with him, what will you do?”

I smiled at Liam’s innocence, because it was becoming increasingly apparent just how oblivious he was. I think that was my favorite thing about him. “He’s going to take me home, Li.”

He didn’t speak again until we got into the club where the music was so loud that I could barely hear him. He had to lean right up against my ear just so I could hear his voice.

“Would you like something to drink?”

I nodded my head, smiling up at him. “That would be great, Li. Thanks.”

He smiled back, knowing just what I wanted, and headed to the bar to grab a drink for both of us. As soon as he walked away, I began looking around the club for the entrance to the VIP section, hoping that this would be the club Zayn was at for the night. I didn’t want to have to drag Liam to another one if I was wrong.

After only a few seconds of searching, I felt a hand on my waist and turned around, immediately seeing Zayn. Just the person I was looking for.

“Mia,” he shouted, smiling at me. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Zayn,” I smiled back, picking up my voice to be heard over the music. “How have you been?”

Zayn leaned forward so his lips were just above my ear. “It’s impossible to hear in here. Would you like to go somewhere more quiet?”

I nodded my head gently, and just like that, Zayn had a hold of my hand and was pulling me towards the back of the club, to a spot I had never been. There was a large bouncer blocking a door, who stepped to the side the moment he saw Zayn.

I didn’t even think about telling Liam where I was headed until the door shut behind us, blocking out all the sound except the light music that was in the room. There were a few other people sitting on sofas and dancing together, but I could count them all on one hand.

Without drawing to much attention, I pulled my phone from the pocket of my shorts and sent Liam a quick text to let him know he was alright to leave. It turned out I didn’t really need him at all.

He texted back but I didn’t have a chance to check it before Zayn’s attention was back on me, guiding me towards one of the sofas. It reminded me so much of the night I had met him, and I wondered if he’d get another call from his girlfriend before I had a chance to seal the deal.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to call you,” Zayn said as he poured a glass of champagne for us both, passing me the first one. “My girlfriend and I got into a huge fight and now my phone’s pretty much on lockdown.”

Well, it was obvious that Zayn was taking the scenic route with this whole operation. He was going to play the girlfriend card and use it to try to get sympathy from me. Guys like him were all too easy to understand.

“It’s alright.” I smiled at him as I took a sip from my glass. “It’s just nice to see you again.”

Zayn smiled at that, taking a sip from his own drink as he scooted just a little bit closer to me. “So Mia, I could really use a distraction right now.” This was it. I could see my opening through the dark little tunnel that was my journey to getting in Zayn’s pants. “Tell me the funniest story you can imagine.”

I chuckled, my eyebrows furrowing at him as he downed the last bit of his drink.

“What’s that look for?” He asked as he set down his empty glass. “You weren’t expecting something else, were you?”

I let out a deep breath, smiling as I shook my head. “No, not at all.”