Chapter 18

I wasn't surprised to see a new person on the couch downstairs but he was surprised to see me.

"Wow... Hello there.~" The man greeted me, he was smiling, then Zai greeted him with a right hook and held him up by his collar. I yelped.

"Watch yourself," Zai warned. And the stranger began apologizing over and over until Zai tossed him back onto the couch and grabbed my wrist, leading me over to the kitchen. He sat down and I started pulling out ingredients for breakfast, starting with blueberries. But out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the pouting man in the living room who was stroking his jaw to soothe it, I noticed lightning shoot into his hand and he winced... That must not have been a normal punch.

"Who is that?" I whispered to Zai,

"Valin." He answered curtly, "We're going out for dinner tonight... so you should get dressed by 5." He added nonchalantly. I squealed and bounced up and down.

"Yay, I can't wait!" Zai smiled softly, whilst pouring a mug of coffee. I focused on cooking, but once the muffins were in the oven, I looked at Zai and caught him glaring daggers at Valin. RJ wasn't exaggerating about them not getting along. Valin pretended not to notice and kept his eyes on the TV but he was clearly uncomfortable. I was in Zai's lap eating a muffin while he read comics from his phone when RJ walked through the door with someone else, by default I guess it was Cera. Maybe I'm blinded by love or some crap but their looks were underwhelming in comparison to Zai. Cera's hair was teal with matching eyes, he was dressed Semi-formal in a blue sports jacket White T-shirt, and light blue jeans, and his skin was lighter than Zai's. Valin's hair was rusty red, cut into a buzz cut, his eyes were Highlighter-Yellow, and he had a coco-brown complexion.

"So this is the chick you moved into our guest room," Cera noted,

"She had nowhere else to go," RJ explained and then Valin chimed in saying,

"So she's a bum. How is that our problem?"

"Do you want me to hit you again?" Zai asked, joining the conversation in his usually cheery voice, That's when Valin bit his lip and humbled down. "If you have an issue, please tell me now." Zai offered. Cera scoffed "Don't forget, I know how to make you feel pain, Cera." Cera shut his mouth tight then Zai tapped Valin's shoulder and said, "I need you to repair the backyard."

"What the heck happened to it?" Valin asked in a grumpy voice, before walking outside. And that was it, the conversation ended there. The others went their separate ways and Zai cuddled me close on the couch until it was time to remind me to get dressed. My nerves were high but Zai went out of his way to make sure I stayed calm, I feel silly for being nervous now. Well until I saw Cera waiting in my room, he shushed me before I could scream then ran to shut the door.

"I just want to talk," He pleaded. I took a deep breath to scream regardless then he put his hands to my mouth and said "Listen... I know what you are, and we can agree that you really shouldn't be here," I bit his hand and screamed,

"Don't touch me!" Lightning shot out from my body and entered Cera, his eyes turned white and he began convulsing and foaming from the mouth on the floor... Did I do that? Everyone else in the house then came to my room and Zai opened the door. They were staring silently at Cera on the floor when Zai laughed and pointed at his body saying,

"That's Hilarious." Valin soon joined in with the laughter. Cera's body was dragged out of my room, by RJ, the only one not cackling, and Valin.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked, once Zai and I were alone.

"Don't know... have you chosen what you'll be wearing tonight?"

"Aren't you worried about the wrong thing?!" I stated in shock. Zai then said,

"I'm not the one focused on the wrong thing... get dressed." He left my room. Maybe I should have asked, why his lightning was shooting out of my body instead of if he cared about his brother's health. I'll ask after dinner.

I decided to wear a Black silk evening gown that Zai purchased for me, with the diamond necklace and earrings that he also gave me as a gift on our honeymoon. I hadn't worn heels in a while so I'm glad Zai let me rest before going out tonight. He was waiting by the door, with his hair brushed back, only a pair of studded earrings in his ears, all other piercings were removed, and he was wearing a Black suit that must have been tailored especially for him. "We match!" Zai shouted when he saw me, I knew he was going to wear Black, but I had no idea he was going to dress up so much. I'm starting to get more anxious. Zai drove the same Black car as before. The restaurant was an hour away, and I was glad I dressed up because everyone entering the building looked so formal. We entered and approached the front desk,

"Do you have a reservation?" The woman at the counter asked. She was clearly older than us, at least 40 but she got awestruck when she looked at Zai, as if she met a celebrity. Like at the hotel, Zai merely gave his name then we were promptly escorted to a back room with a private table. I've seen enough Earth movies to know this is not normal... and the menu doesn't have any prices listed. How am I going to order anything in good conscience?! A minute later a man, possibly in his late 20s, and a woman came and sat at our table,

"Zaikel, it's been a while... Is this the woman you mentioned?" Who are these people? Zai held my hand from under the table,

"That's right..." The man looked at me and then said,

"Could you sing something right now?" ... sing? I looked at Zai and then softly sang the same love song I demonstrated at the hotel. "That'll do." I stopped singing and looked down, "She seems a little timid but... her voice is as good as you described."

"Of course it is," Zai replied smugly. The Man laughed and reached over the table to shake my hand,

"I'm Mark Adams, nice to meet you" I shook his hand then he reached into his coat pocket pulled out a business card, and passed it over to me. He's a music producer?! "I don't usually do this but, I'm making an exception for my friend, when can you come to the studio?" I looked at Zai who was staring down at the menu then I looked back at Mark and said,

"As soon as possible!" He laughed,

"My team has to hear you first and if everyone agrees, we'll write up a recording contract. That's my personal number, text me your details and I'll be in touch." ... Who the hell am I married to?!

"I'll do it now!" I stated, unable to hide my enthusiasm. I picked up my phone and sent my name, birthday, and anything else he might need.

"She doesn't seem timid at all now," Mark noted, The woman with him then reached over and handed me a card as well,

"I'm Liz, I'm Mark's partner, If you can't reach him feel free to contact me." I nodded and added her number to my contacts as well. A server came over and took our orders, then he poured us all a glass of wine. Zai and Mark chatted about the past casually while our food was being prepared, I felt a bit out of place, but mostly happy. The food that was placed in front of me was so beautiful and refined, that I tried not to think of the cost while I was eating, and the flavors were so great that I was in ecstasy. As we split up, I thanked Mark for the opportunity but he reassured me that it was no problem. In the car, I finally spoke up and said,

"Why didn't you warn me?!"

"I wanted to surprise you," Zai argued,

"Like you surprised me with marriage?" He snorted and said,

"No, it's not my fault you were unaware of such an old Afarion tradition... Plus you married me willingly, I gave you many chances to back out but you kept yelling, Zai don't stop." I blushed as he mocked me,

"I... had no idea... And I didn't say it like that!" I stated defensively,

"Oh...so if I told you... Would you have turned me down?" I looked down at my feet and whispered,

"Well... no."

"Glad you enjoyed the surprise," Zai remarked happily. My temperature is through the roof, this man drives me crazy.

"Thank you... for setting that up." I mumbled out finally. That was all I wanted to say from the start but I ended up going off on a tangent,

"Nothing has started yet, I told you, Snowe, I will help you." There were so many questions I wanted to ask but instead of going into that rabbit hole I said,

"I love you, Zai." He hit the brakes and all the cars behind us honked and swerved so as to not hit us. "What's going on?"

"Say it again." Zai requested while gripping the steering wheel.

"What?" He then turned to me and smiled joyfully, ignoring the chaos he caused outside

"Tell me that you love me!"