Chapter 18: Chapter 18

After an hour long lecture on how to keep the date a secret and not to utter a single word even if she is under gunpoint, and to add on an offer of pizza, Zada bid bye to Emma and walked out of the hostel as she received a message from Liam.

'Waiting outside. It's time sweetheart' —- L

'Don't wait near the hostel main gate. Go near the small gate in the backside of the old hostel building' —- Z

She was excited and nervous at the same time.

As she walked out of the small rusted gate she saw him leaning against his bike.

The upper half of his body turned sideways as he looked into the rearview mirror and ran his fingers through his hair.

He was wearing a black ripped jeans, a white t-shirt and black leather jacket.

Damn!! He looks hot!

"Heyy," she said as she neared him and her voice came out husky.

"Hey there sweet-” he trailed off and his eyes widened as he took in her appearance.

"Holy- " he trailed off again.

Then he cleared his throat and looked away for a moment.

He looked at her again.

"You look gorgeous," he said and heat crept up her cheeks.

"Thank you. You look good yourself," Zada said and that evergreen smirk was back on his face.

"I always do sweetheart," he said.

Whatever momentary lack of speech that had caught him was passed.

He is back to his normal flirty self.

He got onto his motorcycle and wore a helmet and handed her one for her to wear.

She wore and for a moment felt uncomfortable.

This is the first time she is getting on a motorcycle with someone other than her brothers.

And what if someone sees her??

What if her brothers sees her?

Not that she is scared of her brothers. She has every right to live her life as she wishes.

But there is no doubt her brothers would flip the lid if they got to know that she is going on a date. That too with the university's top most player.

Liam misunderstood her hesitancy for fear.

"You will be safe with me, Mirrie," he said looking straight into her eyes.

Her heart fluttered as she looked into his eyes and realised he meant every word.

She smiled at him and swiftly got onto his bike.

Liam was momentarily blinded by that smile.

Damn!! She has dimples.

Why hadn't he ever seen that before??

Because she had never smiled at him like that before.

And then she got onto his bike swiftly without his help.

"Woah. I thought I would have to help you to get on,"

"Not my first time on a bike Fredric,." she said airily.

"Yeah. But sports bikes are different from normal bikes. Especially when the back seat is really high."

"I have been on sports bikes before, Liam. Multiple times," she said and he could see her rolling her eyes through the rearview mirror.

"With who??" He asked with a frown.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him through the mirror.

"My brothers,"

Liam grinned at her.

"How many brothers do you have??" He asked, kick starting the bike.

"Three,"

"Woah. Do I need bodyguards? Will they come after me if they know I took their sister out on a date." Liam asked playfully.

"They definitely will, if they find out. Let's hope that they don't get to know." Zada said as an image of Zahir and Zian punching the life out of Liam came into her vision.

She shook her head to dispel those images.

Well, Liam Fredrick is no weakling. He will hold his court if something like that happens.

"Okay sweetheart. Hold on tight .We are off," with that he sped off and Zada instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist.

Her heart soared in tandem with the motorcycle as it sped down the city.

She felt like she was racing on moonbeams on wings made of air as the world whizzed past her.

As they passed the city and entered the city outskirts the traffic lessened.

There were so many banners and flyers on the street about some carnival going on in the nearby village.

After a long ride of more than forty five minutes Liam stopped in front of a small cottage style house.

"Where's this place??" She asked.

"This is our lake house. Come I will show you around," he took her hands in his and led her inside.

Her legs were still wobbly after the ride and she silently followed him.

Instead of going into the house, he walked around the house and took her to the backyard.

Her eyes widened as she saw the set up.

A picnic rug was spread a few feet away from the lake.

Multiple candles were lit and there was a picnic basket on the rug.

"You did it??" Zada asked in wonder.

"How is it??" He asked expectantly and she had this uncontrollable urge to pull his cheeks.

He looked damn adorable with that nervous expectant look.

"It's beautiful. I can't believe you had such a creative head Fredrick," she said and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh.. Google might have helped a bit," he said.

"Ah. Your best friend," she said chuckling.

"Come. Let's sit."

Once they sat down he took out a bottle from the basket and poured a wine coloured liquid into the glass.

"Wine?? I don't drink alcohol, Liam." Zada said softly and he grinned at her.

"I guessed. This is not wine. It's grape juice. It was mom's idea. Not wine, but still gives the sophisticated look of a wine," he said, handing over the glass to her.

"Your mom knows??" She asked in surprise.

"Well, she caught me googling for date ideas."

Then there was a short silence as they both sipped their drink.

"So??" They both asked together.

"You ask," Liam said.

"No. You go first," Zada said.

"Uh.. You never told me your name," he said and Zada choked on her drink.

"You don't know my name??"

"You never said. And Mirrie kind of stuck."

"Zada," she said softly.

"Zada," he repeated as if trying her name.

"What does it mean??"

"It's an Arabic word. It means fortune, a gift." Zada said.

"It's a beautiful name."

As he leaned over to take out the food from the basket, the bottle of juice tipped over and spilled the entire content on the rug.

"Damn!!" He cursed as they both stood up from the rug.

"It's okay, Liam. We will sit somewhere over there," she pointed over near the lake where a short beam was placed which was wrapped in a white satin cloth and a lit candle placed over it.

Liam took a sandwich and handed it over to her and took one for himself.

"So?? Who all knows about this date??" He asked.

"Emma and momma."

"You told your momma??" He asked.

"I tell her everything," she said.

"Cool. You know what your best friend calls me??" He asked, chuckling.

"You talk to her?? She never said" Zada said.

"I met her twice at the cafe. Once watching the IPL and once she was trying to escape from one of her seniors," he said and explained what she really did to Alex.

"She is crazy, I tell you." Zada chuckled.

"She calls me Freddy bro."

"What??"

"In the whole college, she is the only girl who calls me bro. And I kind of like it."

"Everyone likes Emma. It's impossible to not like her. She will just barge into your life and make a special space for herself without any effort."

"Don't you want to dip your feet in the lake??" He asked standing up and extending his hands for her to take.

And while standing up his legs hit the short beam and the candle tipped catching fire on the satin.

"Damn it! Damn it," he cursed, trying to take off the satin on a reflex.

Zada pulled him back.

"Don't touch it, Liam. You will get burned," she yelled at him.

They both soon took water from the lake and extinguished the fire.

Liam groaned in frustration.

Their first date had turned into a huge flop.

"Liam... "

"I wanted it to be perfect. I am sorry, Mirrie. I ruined everything." Liam said.

"Liam. It's okay."

"No it's not okay. It was our first date and I wanted it to be memorable."

"It sure is memorable, Liam" Zada said teasingly.

"I meant in a good way."

"We can still make it memorable," she said.

"How??"

"Take me to the carnival. It's somewhere near right?? It's been so long since I went to one."

Liam smiled at her.

"Let's go," he said and pulled her along with him.