Chapter 5 : Disturbed or not

Val is trying her best to sleep but it's far away from her. She really didn't want to think about what happened in today with Jack but whenever she closes her eyes to sleep, she can feel his breath on her cheeks.

After tossing and turning on the bed for an hour, trying to sleep, She sat up on the bed. By checking the time, she realised it's already eleven. She decided to call her dad, thinking at least talking to him will divert her mind. "Hey honeybee!! Are you okay?" asked Ian a little worried, after picking up the call. She would usually call them at night before going to bed but today they already talked earlier and she seemed fine. Now, getting a call from her honeybee again made him nervous.

"I am fine dad." answered Val, walking towards the balcony, attached to the bedroom.

"If you are you then wouldn’t have called me again honeybee. Tell me what happened." asked Ian as he sensed something is bothering his daughter that's the reason for her to call him again at late night.

"Trust me dad everything is fine. I just missed you and couldn’t sleep that’s all." said Val playing with her painted nails. She loves to paint her nails and spends some time to take care of them at least once a week.

"I missed you too honeybee. Just have a good sleep and everything will be alright in the morning." said Ian to cheer his daughter. He knows something happened but didn’t ask her as not to force her. He will wait for her honeybee to tell him by herself when she felt like it.

"Thanks dad good night. Love you."

"I love you too honeybee. Take care." With that Ian hung up the phone.

“Just sleep Val. Forget about what happened. He didn't mean it he thought you are his friend and it's just an accidental hug.” Val said to herself and with that in mind went under the covers.

In the middle of the night Jack woke up feeling restless because he was haunted by her beautiful eyes. He tried to sleep but no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't. So, he went to the balcony to get some fresh air and realised it’s half past twelve, after checking the phone. He called his mother thinking that she must be having dinner with his father because this place is four hours earlier than theirs.

"Hey darling, how are you?" said his mother, Leela as soon as the call connected while his father, Kevin paid attention to their conversation. They missed their son so much. Due to busy schedule Jack couldn’t talk to them daily and only calls them once a week.

"I am fine mom. How are you and dad?" asked Jack, enjoying the silence of night.

"We are good son. How is the shoot and I think it's midnight over there then why are you not sleeping? Is everything alright darling?" asked Leela with concern looking at her husband who is serving her the food.

"All good mom just feeling disturbed." said Jack resting his hands on the railings. The cool breeze is so pleasant, calming his racing thoughts.

"What happened darling? Is there anything I can do to ease your mood?" asked Leela softly not to scare her husband with her anxiousness but Kevin understood that something is wrong with his son. He decided to wait till the phone call ends to know the complete situation.

"Mom can I ever find a girl who can love me like you love dad? " Asked Jack looking up at the night sky.

"I don't know what happened, for you to talk like this but trust me darling you will definitely find someone who will love you with everything she has." said Leela holding her husband's hand.

"I love you mom and thanks for everything."

"We love you too son and we are proud of you. Just know that you deserve the best."

"Thanks again mom. Tell dad I love him too. Good night. I’ll call you later."

Jack stood there for some time after hanging up the call before going to bed.

From that day everything seemed normal for Val but for Jack it's different though he didn't show it on his face. She acted like nothing happened. Jack did the same as he didn't want to spoil their shoot.

Jack started observing Val's every move without noticed by others. She didn't like to have physical contact with others except a handshake. She neither shares her things nor use others and she always thrive for perfection in anything she does.

She don’t like materialistic things and don’t want to spend much money on them as she didn't buy anything when almost everybody did some shopping during the tour and also rejected the accessories offered by ABC luxury brand. She is very simple and pure without any makeup. Her skin is fair with perfect curves. She is exquisite with thin waist and soft bottom like a model. Jack even observed this.

He just sighed, shaking his head "You are behaving like a pervert" mumbled Jack to himself before walking towards the caravan where his bandmates are currently resting.

‘You are indeed a pervert Jack; you are always thinking about her.’ his mind replied mockingly.

"SHUT UP" yelled Jack suddenly, pulling his hair.

"What?" asked Zach, walking towards him. The boys stopped talking and stared at Jack confusingly.

"Nothing guys. Sorry you all carryon." said Jack and collapsed on the couch. They took rest for some time before resuming their shoot.

Val always felt like someone is watching her for the past few days but couldn’t point out exactly who it is. One day she saw Jack staring at her, but he quickly averted his eyes when she caught him. A thought that it is Jack who is observing her every move, crossed her mind but quickly brushed it away thinking that it’s impossible for him to set his eyes on her.

There were times when they both interacted while Val adjusting his costume. A three-piece suit wore by Jack needs to be fixed accordingly, as the suit is designed by Val she does that work for Jack and at other times unintentionally staff or Phoebe would tell her to help with Jack's costume as they are busy with other members.

Val would always do her work professionally so she won’t look into Jack's eyes while adjusting his costume but Jack always tries his best to make her look into his eyes but every time his efforts are in vain.

Sometimes he would intentionally ask her to fix his collar or necktie, but she does that without raising her head even though it's very difficult to do as she is just five feet whereas Jack is five feet 11 inches. So, every time she does her best to arrange his collar without looking up.

"Penny for your thoughts." said Zach standing beside Val who is looking at sky for the past few minutes.

"Hey!! are you done with the shoot?" asked Val, turning to look at Zach. She really felt good talking to him. For the past ten days they are interacting with each other whenever possible. He is her new friend now. After that incident with Jack, Zach apologized her on behalf of Jack. From then on, they started talking with each other.

“Nope! Director is making some modification regarding the set.” Said Zach looking at Val.

"Thank you, Ms. Norris, for hiring the bodyguards, now we can freely talk with all the staff and crew without worrying about paparazzi." said Nathan standing beside Zach.

"I heard from your president that you are being in scandals a lot recently and I can understand how horrible you must have felt every time it occurs so I thought maybe you need some freedom from paparazzi to complete the shoot peacefully though I also had my reasons to do this. I don't want any troubles in this project" said Val half-jokingly

Zach and Nathan both laughed out loud. "Anyways you really helped us Ms. Norris.” said Nathan before walking away and Val just smiled as her reply. Soon they both followed him as Phoebe called Val for her assistance and Zach needs to resume the shoot.

After shooting for an hour, they all returned to the hotel and packed their stuff to start the journey for their last destination.

They still had five more days to complete the project. Max and David planned to complete the shoot a day earlier and celebrate on the fifth day for successfully completing the shoot. Everyone discussed and agreed for the celebration.

At last, they chose beach as location spot to shoot for seashell accessories.

"You seem close to Ms. Norris" asked Jack, looking at Zach who is resting on his bed. They completed their first day shoot in the beach.

"You think so." replied Zach with a bit of excitement.

"Maybe" shrugged Jack, sulking.

"She feels good to talk." said Zach thinking about his earlier interaction with Val.

"Really?" asked Jack raising his eyebrow.

"Yes." with that Zach covered himself with duvet ready to sleep.

Jack went to balcony to calm himself. He tried his best to get attention from Val, but she didn't even spare him a glance but with Zach she is happily talking and laughing like they are friends for ages not only with him, but she seems close to everyone except him.

He has only five more days to be with her. Sadly, he never had a chance to interact with her before. This shouldn’t be like this anymore. He will find some time to talk to her tomorrow, with that in mind he went back to his bed to sleep.

Phoebe came to Val's room to have a talk with her regarding the tomorrow’s schedule. "I really wish to extend this project for some more days. Sadly, this can never happen." sighed Phoebe sadly.

"Why do you want to prolong this project Phoebe?" asked Val checking the schedule on her MacBook.

"I really liked to work with WESFA. They are so polite and easy to talk with. I feel sad to part with them in four days." whined Phoebe, faking her tears.

"Come on Phoebe they are our clients so, we shouldn't be that close to them." said Val patting Phoebe's shoulder, advising her like a teacher whereas phoebe is her student.

"I know but I can't help it. Don't you feel sad? I can see you have good relationship with WESFA.”

"Yes, but What can we do about that? We still must end this project and return to our company and life goes on Phoebe." said Val, patting on Phoebe’s shoulder.

"You are right. I really admire you Valerie you know how to be professional." said Phoebe with admiration.

"Enough with the flattery now go to your room and get some sleep." said Val and closed her MacBook.

After sending Phoebe away, Val lost in her thoughts. She also felt sad because she really liked their harmony but as she said what can she do other than saying goodbye moving on.

She tried her best to control her mind from other distractions. She just had to endure for four more days then she can return to her routine life with that in mind she closed her eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.