4.

“Let’s go, Belle. It’s your birthday, we will party just you and I.” Zen pulls on my hand, not letting me mop the floor. “Zen, please you know your mom won’t like it. She will probably take her anger out on me somehow later on. So, please I don’t want to.” I pull my hand away from his hold and start mopping the floor again. “Fine.” He doesn’t say anything else and walks straight back to his bedroom.

I watch him disappear in his room, I know he’s hurt but I just don’t want to give his mom any change to get all riled up. Since the last incident, I stay cautious and do as much as I’m told. When Zen found out what had happened, both of them got into a big fight. He threatened her that he will leave the house if she keeps on treating me like this. And in return, his mom created a scene implementing that she will kill herself if he leaves. I know all she wants is for me to stay away from him. And I think that’s what I should do. I’m just a maid; I know why she wants me away from him. No mother would want a maid to be associated with their son.

The thoughts of being away from him and not be his friend anymore bring tears to my eyes. “I can’t be away from you.” I drop the mop and walk to his room and get in without knocking. “Hey, I’m sorry for not wanting to go. Let’s go. Let’s go and party.” I stare at him. He looks up at me from his phone. “Why are you letting mom come in between us? Why does she matter? I want you to be with me the way you were. Why are you trying to change what’s in between us?” He looks pissed. “I’m sorry. Zen, you and I... I’m poor I’m no match for you.” My tears keep falling nonstop, as I stare at the floor not being able to look at him anymore. “What the hell are you talking about? Have I ever treated you differently? Why are you suddenly saying all this stuff?” He walks to me and takes both my hands in his and gives them a light squeeze.

“I’m sorry.” I keep staring at the floor until he grips my chin lightly and makes me look up at him. “It’s your birthday and I hate seeing you cry like this. Just go get ready, so that I can take you out and make you have some fun.” He wipes my tears away with his thumbs. “Won’t Alisha mind?” I look away while chewing on my bottom lip. “Why would she mind?” He knits his eyebrows, questioning me. “Are you two... I mean you two are like...” I get flabbergasted, not knowing how to ask him the obvious. “No, we are not. I would tell you if I was dating someone.” He chuckles walking towards his closet.

I stare at his back, as a stupid smile creeps up to my lips. “Go get ready Belle, we will party tonight.” He looks behind at me, before walking into the bathroom. I walk to my room and take out a mid-length red dress; this was last year's birthday gift by Zen. Now, that I think all my ‘expensive’ dresses are gifted by him. I lay out the dress on the bed and walk in the bathroom to take a shower.

“Isabelle you ready?” He knocks on the door. “Yeah, just a minute,” I say while putting my heels on, sitting on the bed. He walks in and stops by the door and stares at me with parted lips. A chuckle comes out of my mouth seeing him. “What is it? Close your mouth or else a bug will fly right into it.” I stand up and walk up to him. “Belle, you look so beautiful.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Thank you Zen, you do too.” I smile as he takes my hand in his, and heads out of the door towards the main entrance.

The club is hot with sweaty bodies all grinding on each other. The atmosphere is hot and hazy; the bar is filled with people. Zen keeps walking past the crowd and takes me into a booth. It has leather couches and it is dimly lit than the other parts of the club. We both sit down and within a second a waiter comes up to us. “Hello, sir what would you like to have? The usual?” He asks giving us a polite smile. “Yeah sure, and bring a martini for her.” He looks at me for reassurance and I just nod. It’s best to leave alcohol choices up to him, because I barely have any idea about them.

After uncountable drinks, we both head to the dance floor and just start to let lose ourselves. We stare at each other and move with the rhythm. “I feel so light and happy Zen, thanks for bringing me here.” I put my arms around him and move in tune with him. “Don’t thank me, Belle.” He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer to him, making our body stick to each other.

Suddenly, I’m really aware of how close we are to each other. My breathing starts to get faster, seeing him lean his face closer to mine. I lean in and make our lips touch, a rush of electricity courses through my body. He waits no more and leans in completely and kisses me hard. I bury my fingers in his dark locks and give them a light tug while kissing him back. Our lips match together like two pieces of a puzzle. He kisses me hungrily, digging his fingers onto the flesh of my waist. The kiss starts to heat up when I feel him bite my lower lip and suck on it. I moan in his mouth feeling weak in my knees. He swiftly slips his tongue in my mouth and starts playing with my tongue slowly massaging it. I feel out of breath so I pull away from the kiss and look at him breathing heavily.

"I need you, now." He says before he attacks my neck hungrily and starts sucking on it.