Chapter 53

Zai insisted on talking in the bedroom where he began changing clothes immediately. I stared at the floor to keep my head clear, while he sat down on the bed beside me, topless and sockless with black sweatpants. Then he pulled up my video on his tablet.

"Are you ready?" He whispered. I shook my head,

"No! I'm so nervous!" I replied, and then he kissed my forehead to soothe me. Thankfully the video came out spectacularly and my voice sounded so clear I could hardly believe it was me. I could tell Richard really pulled together the best bits of my recordings for this final version. But as the video closed out there was a blurred recording of me and Zai kissing up against the car. Were the cameras still rolling?! Our heads were cropped out but the way his hands were roaming my body and us grinding against each other was shown in full view. Some of the comments read

"Wow this video is spicy"

"Micheal didn't hold back in this! And this artist's voice is phenomenal." That wasn't even Micheal! It was Zai... But all scenes before then were of me alone or with Micheal so I see why they'd think that. He even had a short insert in my song, so they could add Feat. Micheal into the title and generate views. Most of the comments were positive and in a few days, the full album will be available for download.

"Did you give them permission to use that clip of us?" I asked. I know my face is completely red right now, I had no idea how passionate we were being in public. 

"I said I didn't care, just don't show my face." He answered. So they did ask him. I rubbed my cheeks vigorously to clear my mind. "Does that bother you?" He asked and leaned in close to me, but it's still hard to look at him when he's half-naked so I avoided his eyes.

"I just wish you gave me some warning! And I was so caught up in the moment! I can't believe we did that with all those people watching!" Zai started laughing and pecked my cheek saying,

"So... how was the movie?" I began telling him the basics of the plot, keeping out key information to avoid spoilers. He watched my lips as I spoke and nodded a few times. Once I finished he said,

"Yeah, I'd like to watch that with you." His voice had a slight growl behind it which sent my heart aflutter but, I closed my legs and eyes tightly so that I could say,

"I smelled blood on you... did you kill someone?" There was silence,

"How... do you know what that smells like?" He's getting off subject but I decided to answer him anyway,

"Growing up, I smelled it all the time... and even more recently after your fight with Smoke." I then peeked out at him and he was staring at the wall, his smile was nowhere to be found.

"I didn't need to kill anyone... so no. I was hired to do a job. They just wanted me to scare their competition a little. Nothing too crazy, I promise." 

"So... you hurt someone for money?" I clarified,

"Not just one person, but yeah. Mercenary was the first job that I was able to take when we arrived here. I was still accepting high-paying offers but, if you don't like it. I'll stop." I sniffled and he hugged me hurriedly,

"You can't just pull out of something like that!" I yelled. Zai's life reminds me too much of the movie I just saw... the difficulties of that life are still fresh in my mind.

"I can... it's not like they know anything about me, they think I'm part of a big organization. They have no idea it's just me." Our earlier conversations were so light-hearted, and we were headed in a similar direction, that we usually do... but Zai has scars that he doesn't want to talk about, and things he still feels like he needs to hide from me.

"That's why you didn't want me to know where your money came from..." I commented,

"... Starting a business costs money, we're the same age but. It felt like I was the big brother, watching out for Rai, and keeping us together. I had to make sure we'd be okay." I could feel the honesty in his voice and sadness overcame me, so I held his hand.

"I understand... I would prefer you did stop... but pull out quietly. I don't want it to backfire on you." He stroked my hand with his thumb and stared at the wall.

"Fine... I'll do that." There were a few minutes of silence before he said,

"Did you have fun with Rai?" It feels so weird... I don't know how to answer him.

"Yeah, it was nice, but I was thinking of you the whole time... and honestly he said something weird before we split up."

"Hmmm... I'll ask him about it later." Then he looked at me, freezing me in place as soon as our eyes made contact.

"Y-you... should hang out with him more... he misses you." I managed to mutter out before our lips touched,

"... I'll do that later too..." He whispered while helping me to undress.

"I'm not over our convo yet!" I squealed, covering my chest with my arms. 

"Oh... should I slow down?" He asks that as if stopping is not an option!

"... Don't put your life at risk," I commanded, he put his hand under my chin and his thumb against my bottom lip.

"Let's... go to that pastry shop I promised to take you to, tomorrow." His offer made me happy but I glared at him so he'd stop changing the subject, then I pouted which prompted him to kiss me and say, "I promise... to be more careful from now on. Since I have someone worrying about me."

"... Okay I'll accept that... but I want to know about all the shady business eventually. I don't want to be caught off guard if I run into things later." He hummed to himself and looked at the wall for a second.

"Fine... as long as you aren't hiding anything from me." I nodded. "Then... I'll open up to you, bit by bit." Then he continued his advances now that I stopped resisting. 

After I woke up the next day, Zai reminded me of our date plans so I got dressed. I wanted to be semi-casual so I wore a long-sleeved, light-pink A-Line dress and low heels. I feel like it's important to be cute when I'm out with Zai, even though he'll smile and tell me I'm beautiful regardless. As soon as he saw me he said "You're so lovely, it's hard to believe you're real." meeting my expectations with the compliment, but making me blush regardless. Zai wore a black ballcap with red lettering and a loose Black button-up shirt with a red T-shirt underneath. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, so his tattoos were visible for once. He also had grey jeans and black shoes with red and hot pink lightning designs on them, as well as Red to hot pink gradient shoe strings. And he had on the earrings I gave him, while I wore the necklace he gave me.

The Pastry Shop was called Hungry Kittens., and it specialized in making cute kitty-themed desserts. There were even paw prints on the floor leading to each table. It was spacious and the tables were far enough apart that all guests could get a sense of privacy. When I sat down a waitress wearing a frilly paw-printed apron approached the table. She had her pad ready and looked a bit nervous. Seemed like most of the staff were women but I spotted 3 male workers, all good-looking, but of course nothing when compared to my husband, Zai.

"Oh wow, it's you again! Welcome back," The waitress greeted Zai, and I got tense in my seat but when she turned to me and smiled some of the initial possessiveness wore off, "Is this the girl you made the special order for?" If I wasn't she'd have just ruined our date by dry snitching!

"Yeah... she loved it so I wanted to eat in the shop together, today. Instead of getting it to go" Zai answered,

"Hello, my name is Carol and I'll be your Meow-tress today." She said, turning to me again. I tried not to laugh,

"Hey, thank you," I replied, keeping my head down so she wouldn't notice my amusement. She placed Menus in front of us and said,

"I can get your drinks while you decide on a dessert, our Kitty-Nilla Latte is really popular right now, we also have alcoholic drinks that go well with some desserts." I skimmed the menu and said,

"I want the Espresso Mewoca Milkshake."

"Me too," Zai answered, still eyeing the options.

"I can get you an extra-large with our couple straws, they form a heart shape when in a glass together, and you get 1 free refill with this option." Is it that obvious that we're a couple? I am happy but... am I supposed to drink something like that in public?!

"Yeah let's do that," Zai stated with a grin. Does nothing phase him?! She walked away and as soon as we were alone he quietly said, "It's so hard being so far away from you..." Then he extended his hand across the table, so I would hold it. We're only a few feet apart... but I also have the urge to be cuddled up to him, especially now that we're touching. "The pudding from last time is a special item so it's not on the menu,"

"Oh, that's okay! I am interested in the Hot Fudge Purrfect Cake." It was a warm cake, covered in hot fudge with pudding to the side with a cute marshmallow kitten napping on top. It was around $25 but that's a lot less crazy than the item he got me last time.

"Alright, I'll order something different so you can try some of mine." He replied while holding my hand and gently interlacing our fingers over and over.