Make it a false alarm
1507 Words
She dug her fingers into her damp flesh.
Shivering while denying herself a slip of moan, she tried to regulate her breath.
Sweat beaded on her forehead and dripped down her neck.
“Madam, can you tell us why you kept repeating this gesture caught by the CCTV earlier at the shopping mall”
The footage caught her making the universal help sign sandwiched between two men.
The officer across the table sigh, arching a brow at her, his brown orbs persuading her to say something.
“You can repeat what you told us earlier.” He nudged.
“Officer, I am sorry for the confusion my wife here has caused.” Zayn spoke, piercing the loud silence.
Rosa shrieked at him, calling her “my wife,” and the grip she had on her laps tightened.
“He is not my husband,” she defensively whispered audibly with a tear dropping from one of her eyes.
“Oh darling, what are you saying?”
The officer stared at the couple as the landline rang. For some reason his face turned pale as he listened to the other voice on the call.
“Dr. Zayn, can you perhaps identify the men Mrs. Rosa was with when she raised the alarm?” he asked, easing his collar and awkwardly clearing his throat.
Dressed in a blue suit, Zayn combed through his blonde hair, piercing the officer with his intimidating blue eyes.
“Yes. They are my men. You see, this is the statement you should write down: “False alarm” as a heading.”
“My wife here and I were supposed to go on our honeymoon today. Unfortunately, an important appointment came up.” He narrated,
“As you can see, she is visibly upset even when I compensated for her disappointment with a shopping spree.”
“She just wants my attention. I am sorry, baby, I am here now,” Zayn concluded, holding the back of Rosa's palm to his mouth before kissing it gently.
“Well, it's sorted now then.” The officer rubbed the back of his head nervously.
“Sorted? ...” Rosa inquired as she watched the officer grip a file on the table and walk away.
All the emotions she was bottling in escaped, and she began to cry.
“Hushh, it's okay, pumpkin; I am here now.” Zayn consoled her and pulled her into a hug.
“You're so dead, just so you know.” He whispered before kissing the top of her curly red hair.
They completed some formalities and left the police department hand in hand.
“Now you have the press to deal with.” Zara broke the news at the packing space.
Rosa's breath hitched in her throat as a tablet was presented in front of them with the headline,
“Astonishing childhood actress, Rosa Langford, seen with handsome billionaire tycoon.”
Zayn clenched his fist.
“You had only one job to do: take them to where Zeros is!” He pulled Rosa by her hair and slammed it with a controlled pressure on top of the SUV next to them.
“I am sorry...” She cried, regretting her decision to sign for help with her hands at the supermarket.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” A voice cut short Rosa's tremor as Zayn was about to bump her head against the smooth black surface again.
“Amira…” he muttered, and Rosa felt his nerves relax as he said her name.
“Who is she?” The lady who was in white suit asked with a pout, and she hugged Zayn, who still had a fist full of red hair.
“Just one of James' girls who got in trouble. He is out of town.”
“And you had to come here yourself?” She quizzed innocently.
“Zara, can you please leave with her right now?” Zayn pushed Rosa towards his sister.
“What is going on, Zayn? I thought James was gay?” Amira asked.
Amidst awkward silence, she closed the space within them speaking feathery but harshly beneath his ear,
“I didn't know you still talked to her.” referring to Zara who drove away with Rosa.
“Let’s leave here so we can talk, okay?” Zayn managed to persuade Amira, and she willingly followed his step.
**********
“What did you tell Amira?”
“About Rosa?” He asked as he browsed through some files on the table in his home library.
“That she was your girlfriend and you called me to replace you.” Zayn answered, looking at his best friend, who was searching his shelf on serendipity.
“You're terrible at lying, you think she'd believe that?”
“If I know where Zeror is, I can get rid of her soon. Amira wouldn't have to see her again.”
“ZAYN GUERRERO STERLING’S” A loud voice echoed from outside the room.
“She has definitely seen the gossips, I told you, you are more famous than you think!” James exclaimed, excitedly.
“However, she's going to shove a shovel down your ass.” He whispered, laughing dramatically.
“ZAYN GUERRERO STERLINGS, COME OUT HERE, RIGHT NOW!”
“Mum,” Zayn quickly sprang up, closing all his files, he jolted out while James followed in his pink suit and red heels with a wide grin.
“What are all these on the internet?” She questioned throwing her bag on a grey sofa close by as Zayn appeared.
“Don't tell me this is who you're married to! Someone with a demoted social class, no career, comes from a broken family, and most importantly, is ‘a Sterling family enemy’?”
“Do you know how many slurs I have received from my friends, oh Zayn!”
“Can you calm down for a moment, Mum?” Zara interrupted the crash-out in black sports bra and boxers.
“Oh my goodness, what is she doing here?“
“Oh, I actually live here.” Zara spoke, and this made her mother's eyes widen.
“We never parted. We lost Zeror, and you left the house for us and Dad,”Zara added.
“Your dad made a decision.”
“A decision to not move on from the loss of Zeror.”
“It’s over ten years now; Zeror is dead! I will not stay in the same house with a madman!”
“We never found Zeror’s grave, Mum…” Zayn chirped in.
“Get ready to introduce your wife officially to our business partners and my friend tomorrow night. I don't like the gossips.”
"f*****g ingrates,” She muttered harshly underneath her breath as she stomped out angrily.
“Mrs. Sterling, you forgot this…” Zara ran after her with the bag she left behind mockingly.
“Did she just let us know that she is throwing a party for Rosa Langford?”
“What do I tell the holts?” Zayn walked over to pour himself some wine to suppress his emotions.
“You can talk to Amira, she will sort her parents out.” James advised.
“It wasn't a staged marriage, that certificate was real.”
“What? What are you trying to say?” James asked, puzzled.
“You didn't even have to involve yourself in the plan in the first place, my men had everything in place just like they had her brother and father!” Zara lashed out angrily.
The friends hadn't noticed that she was back.
“And what did your men get from both? Yes, I remember, you sent the old man into a coma—that's what your men did!” Zayn retaliated in the same tone.
“You didn't have to marry the girl, Zayn. Do you love her?” James asked, trying to understand the situation.
“How would we have proved to the authorities that she was my wife today when she almost blew the cover?”
“The police didn't let you and your men go because of your stupid certificate. I played god in the background!” Zara confessed.
“If you had left it to me, the girl would be confined and tortured. She gives us what we want, and we get rid of her.” She continued her debate.
“She wouldn't have had any chance to run, play stupid games, or appear at the f*****g police station.”
“And if I have to remind you, you're Zayn Sterling. You don't need approval from the system; it can bend to your will.” James added.
“You wouldn't have had the opportunity to confine that cunt to your room either. Your new exclusive slut.” Zayn muttered after gulping down his glass.
A loud slap met his face as he ended his line.
“You will never in your life speak about Lila in such a manner, ZAYN GUERRERO STERLINGS!!”
- Writer
