Zara leisurely walked on the street, feeling somewhat dispirited as her thoughts drifted to the concert.
The cold winds touched her cheeks, giving her mild shivers and she pulled her jacket tighter around her to keep her warm.
Once she reached the destination, she took off her white beanie and entered the restaurant, and heaved a sigh as the warm air conditioning inside helped her to breathe in relief.
“Zara!”
Zara who is busy keeping her hands warm, turned to the source of the sound and widened her eyes in surprise and the next second a reverberating squeal left her mouth.
The one who called her is none other than Seth, Selina’s best friend.
Before she came here, Seth and Selina lived together in the house she is currently sharing with Selina.
They both worked in this restaurant as part timers but after graduation, they got jobs in the same company in their respective fields and after a year, Seth moved to another city for work purpose.
Though she only met him in person for a short period of time before he moved out, they became very close and even face timed with each other once in a week.
Seth is kind and genuine person she’s ever met and he helped her a lot while she’s troubled with assignments during her early college days.
He used to visit them once in couple of months and they would go out for movies, amusement parks and had loads of fun but for the past six months he’s been so busy with his work that he barely had time to call them, let alone pay a visit.
Seeing him here shocked her but she’s happy to meet him after so long.
She really missed him.
“What are you doing here Seth?” she asked, overwhelmed by his presence.
“I thought to surprise you tomorrow but you got me.”
Seth rubbed her hair, his touch resembled a fatherly touch and pinched her nose lovingly.
“That’s great but what are you doing here?”
She asked him with a suspicious frown as she saw him dressed as a waiter.
Why did he wear workers clothes while he got a well paid job?
Don’t tell her he quit his job and resumed his work in this damn restaurant?
Seth can imagine her ridiculous scenarios she’s cooking in her mind from the way she’s staring at him and chuckled taking the beanie from her hands and put it back on her.
She looked so adorable with the knitted beanie on her, especially the fur ball on top of her head added more cuteness to her appearance.
“I am back Zara.
I got a job here and am moving to your next door this weekend.”
“What???
Really!!”
Zara dropped her jaw in shock and surprise as she stared at Seth with her sparkling wide eyes.
Seth is going to live as their neighbour.
What a great news?
“Wait! Did Selina knew about your arrival? Why didn’t she tell me?”
Her lips formed a cute pout as she complained to him.
Now she understood why Selina insisted on sending her out in this cold weather to this restaurant to buy her dinner.
Seth laughed at her scrunched face and scratched her nose with so much adoration.
“Relax! She didn’t know about it either. I just arrived this morning and wanted to come here. I missed this place though. It held so many memories and I couldn’t help but offer to work here for a night.”
He explained to which she nodded as an understanding but then again squealed, holding his hand across the counter and jumped in the air like a kid got her candy.
“I am so happy that you’re back Seth. I took a day off tomorrow. Why don’t you come to our place? Maybe I can cook something for you.”
She spoke excitedly and looked at him with her puppy dog eyes, afraid that he would reject her request.
Seth chuckled at her cuteness and nodded in defeat.
How can he say no to her when she’s looking at him with those beautiful sparkling eyes?
“That’s cool Zara. Now, order please ma’am.”
He asked in his professional tone which made Zara arch her brow in surprise.
Wow!
He knew how to jump into his duty in the blink of an eye.
Giving him a sweet smile, she ordered the dishes Selina wanted and waited near the counter as Seth went to pack her food.
As the time passed, she placed her slender hands on the counter and leaned her petite body forward with a soft sigh and hummed to a song as her eyes wandered around the restaurant.
It’s past midnight but still there are people who are willing to have dinner so late.
What a world she is living in?
She tapped her fingers on the marble and casually swept her eyes through the place once more and caught sight of a person who is sitting in a corner with his head low.
He looked familiar even with a mask and hoodie.
Who is he?
She thought and observed him for few seconds.
When the clear image of him printed at the back of her mind, she gasped covering her mouth with her hands.
I..It’s him.
Her dream man.
S..Sebastian Wild.
Of course she felt him familiar because she can’t mistake his hoodie as a duplicate.
The sleeves have his mother’s embroidery on it.
She is one hundred percent sure that it’s authentic.
Many people tried to imitate his mother’s masterpiece but there is no way they can make the patterns as perfect as his mother.
If she’s wrong about her prediction then the man standing beside the hoodie man can’t be forged.
He is Lucien.
Sebastian’s personal manager and the realization stunned her and she felt her breath hitch in her throat.
D..Did she really see her idol?
Sebastian Wild is here.
He’s just few steps away from her.
Oh my god!!!!
She clasped her hands together as a prayer gesture and thanked the fairies who fulfilled her wish of seeing him for real.
She can’t believe her eyes and blinked them multiple times and even rubbed her eyes hard to have a clear view of the man and he’s still here, sitting in a corner like a beautiful sculpture.
She felt butterflies in her belly and took few deep breaths to control her excitement.
Good heavens!!
Is it really true?
Did she really see him?
She felt short of breath and pinched herself to make sure that she isn’t dreaming.
“Ouch”
The pain is real.
This is not a dream.
God!!!
H..he is here.
He is really here.
She blinked the tears which pooled in her eyes unbeknownst to her and looked at Sebastian with a wide grin but seeing his hunched back, her smile dropped instantly and she furrowed her brows in worry.
Why does he look sad?
She felt a pang in her chest seeing him like that.
It’s as if her heart is being squeezed by something that made her feel suffocated.
The excitement she felt moments ago was gone just as it arrived and she grew worrisome witnessing his lonely self.
No!
The Sebastian she knew would never sit with a dull face.
He smiles brightly like the morning sunshine and it always gave her the feeling of freshly squeezed warm honey.
And now seeing him here, like he’s carrying the whole weight of the world on his shoulders, her heart broke into million pieces.
She didn’t know whether her hunch is true or not but she’s sure that he’s not well at this moment.
It’s not the real him.
She didn’t like this version of him.
She should do something to ease his burden.
To be honest, his matters shouldn’t concern Zara but she took it as her responsibility to cater to him.
She didn’t know what possessed her at that moment but her mind kept chanting only one thing and that is to help Sebastian.
She’s not sure that it’s really him who is sitting there but she followed her hunch and made her way towards him slowly, pretending to ignore her surroundings as she scrolled through her phone and sat behind him nervously.
Her heartbeat increased with each step she took towards him but she tried her best to hide her anxiousness.
As soon as she reached the table, her legs gave out and she collapsed on the chair with a soft thud.
Oh god!
He’s really here.
Her Bash.
He’s sitting right behind her, so close to her.
God must’ve shown mercy on her and sent him to her as she missed his concert.
She didn’t know how to thank the fairies for giving her this golden opportunity.
She gulped nervously and fiddled with her phone, confused about how to start a conversation with him.
Should she greet him?
No!
She is afraid that his bodyguards will take him away if she made a move.
What should she do then?
How can she talk to him?
Surely he will respond to her if she took the initiative because he never ignores his fans and she is just not any idle fan but his devotee.
She tapped her foot on the floor and fidgeted with her fingers, thinking about how to start the conversation.
Feeling tensed, she buried her shivering hands into her jacket pockets and touched something inside and an idea popped in her head.
Eureka!
She immediately took out the post it notes that’s been in her pockets somehow.
She must’ve carried them to her college and forgot to take them out.
She didn’t expect that they would get handy now.
She ran to one of the waiters and burrowed a pen from him before returning to her seat and wrote…..
‘In a bad mood Bash?’
She also drew a sad emoji at the end and folded it neatly before inserting it in the tiny space between the wall and the partition.
After that she tapped the partition with her knuckle, hoping he would notice her.
In just few seconds she heard the tapping sound which is similar to the one she made and turned towards the wall and there is the note she just put and the position has changed.
Wait a minute!
Did he get her signal?
Did he read the contents in the note?
With tiny hope in her heart, she took the note and opened it to see ‘Yes’ neatly written under her question.
What the…..?
He really read her message and even replied to her.
She can’t believe her eyes.
Even his handwriting looked so handsome just like him.
She wiped the sweat formed on her forehead because of the tension and closed her eyes to hold back her excitement.
God!
please help her to sit still.
The man who she can only see on the television screen is now here, sitting behind her and is even conversing with her.
If she couldn’t control her urge to scream, she would die of exhilaration.
Sebastian never in his dreams thought that someone would recognize him even when he’s fully disguised as a commoner and what surprised him the most is that certain someone even found out that he is in a bad mood.
He didn’t know how to feel about the person who caught him by surprise?
The girl who is sitting behind him is the same girl who disturbed his peace a while ago.
If he has any doubt of suspicion on her of stalking him is gone by now because she just arrived and couldn’t know about his conversation with Mr. Gibbs.
Her way of communication amazed him because no one has ever treated him the way she did.
If there is someone else in her place, they would’ve caused a commotion by now by demanding photographs with him but she respected his privacy and approached him in a most delicate way.
He wants to know what she would do if he encouraged her game, so he took the pen from Lucien who is curiously observing his actions and wrote ‘Yes’ before inserting the note back into the partition space and imitated her actions of tapping.
He then turned around and bent to his side a little to look over his shoulder and saw the girl.
He drew his eyebrows together in amusement when she closed her eyes, mumbling something and held the note he just sent back in her hands like it’s a precious thing.
He found her silly actions cute and gave out a muted chuckle.
Her presence and actions took away his mind from Mr. Gibbs punishment and he patiently waited for her next move.
Zara eyed his bodyguards cautiously before pretending to take notes from the paragraph she is reading on her phone but he very well knew what she’s doing, she’s sending him another message.
‘Let’s get out from here.’
Sebastian widened his eyes and masked his amusement with a cough.
Is she for real?
He covered his smile that spread on his lips with his hand and closed his eyes.
There is a strange feeling arousing in his heart the more he looked at her words.
Did she mean escape?
Is she even capable of taking him out with six bodyguards surrounding him?
Her courageous words peaked his interest so he replied again ‘Yes’.
Zara clapped her hands in excitement when she saw his note but soon looked into her phone, pretending to take notes.
Lucien who is observing their exchanges, arched his eyebrow when he saw her message.
He quickly gave a once over at the silly girl, doubting her abilities.
Did she look at herself in the mirror once?
How can a small girl like her give such bold statements but his curiosity increased and wants to know to what extents she would go to take Sebastian away under the surveillance of handful of guards.
Zara didn’t think twice about the consequences and quickly acted on her escape plan.
She sent multiple texts from her phone in just few seconds and started executing her perfect plan before informing the man behind her.
‘Go to the restroom.’
Sebastian really admired her overconfidence but still obeyed her and stood up to follow her instructions.
He laughed at himself for taking part in her stupid games but he wouldn’t loss anything even if she failed.
With that thought he headed towards the restroom.
Seeing him move, his bodyguards wasted no time and stood up as well.
“Stay here. I am going to the restroom.”
He stopped his bodyguards, afraid that they would scare the little girl away.
He knew he’s being an idiot to trust her but he also wants to end whatever game she started.
He’s just curious.
“We will follow you Sir.” said one of the bodyguards taking no for an answer.
Their insistence annoyed Sebastian and he barked at them angrily ignoring the other customers.
“I said I will go alone.”
Zara sat there quietly, mesmerized by his voice and felt her throat dry.
It’s really him.
She’s sure now.
Who in the world can possess such sexy voice than her Bash?
And then she realised one more important thing and her heart fluttered with anticipation.
Oh my god!
She’s going to see him close after taking him out.
She might even get the opportunity to talk to him if possible.
Can she still breathe after being that close to him?
“Sorry Sir. We can’t allow that.”
The guards remained stubborn which made Sebastian frustrated.
He took a deep breath, controlling his anger and smiled, not wanting to alert them.
“Fine!! Any two can come along with Lucien.” with that he walked towards the restroom, his steps hurried and calculated.