It was 9 am and Zayn had already put in three hours of workout at the gym. He was getting ready to leave. As he guzzled down his lemon water , he felt someone hug him from behind.

"Hello Superman" oh hell no. Only one person calls him that. He carefully removed her arms from around himself and turned to face her. He sighed gratefully when his heart didn't thud in his chest like it always did when he saw her. She no longer had him.

"Bintu, hi. It's been a minute" the petite woman's face twisted in confusion.

"What the hell is that? I don't get a hug?" She asks confidently, so sure of herself.

Zayn smiled politely.
"You broke up with me bintu, so I'm afraid not" he says calmly.

"We didn't break up, we're on a break"

Zayn shook his head; no
"Your exact words were; I think we should end this, not lets take a break"

Bintu's smile faltered slightly. They had broken up four time and Zayn has taken her back five times. So she was taken aback by his polite coldness, the worst kind of coldness. the disrespectful kind. if he had shown anger she would know how to handle him. But the total lack of emotion meant one thing; he isnt her's anymore

"What is wrong with you Zee, why are you being a stranger?" She says, attempting to hug Zayn again. Zayn moved back, avoiding her arms completely. "What the hell is wrong with him?" She thought. Zayn had never been able to resist her. She was his nicotine, his heroin, his bumble Bee! and now he won't even hug her?

"I'm sorry B, I can't. I'm married"

The impact of his words shoved bintu back two paces. It was like he threw a bomb at her because her ears were ringing.

"What did you say?" She asks quietly, looking like he kicked her in the gut. Zayn honestly did not expect this reaction from her. She always treated him like a pest, like he was so beneath her. And being the love sick puppy that he was then, Zayn didn't notice, didnt care. He had drooled over her and followed her all around nigeria for 10 years. She was the first women to make him want to peel the skin of his back just to see her smile. She was his high school sweetheart, She was his first love.

"I am married. With a kid"
Bintu's heart twisted in her chest so much that it pushed and 'umph' out of her. Was he lying to get her to leave him alone? Is that it? That has to be it.

"Zee That's not possible" she whispered with a dry chuckle.

"And why is that?" Zayn asks

"Because you love me!"

"I did. so much, too much. Bee I was ready to give you my life but you didn't want me. You broke my heart and never thought twice about it"

"I did.. I do want you Zee ...I was just trying to discover myself at the time..."

Zayn scoffed at the bullshit reply. He also didnt know who he was or what he was doing at the time but the only thing he was sure of was he wanted 'B' in his life. He remembered how she left him standing in the middle of a hotel with balloons, flowers, cake, a live band and a truck load of birthday presents, waiting to surprise her. She had called at 1am after he'd left and gone home to break up with him. Zayn remembered how he begged and how bad it hurt. At the time he didn't think he was going to live much less love anyone again.

"No you don't B, you never loved me, heck you never even liked me. you just loved how i was at your beck and call, you were drunk off the power you had over me"

"How can you say that to me? You're my Superman" she says quietly, her voice cracking. Tears welling up in her eyes.
Zayn shook his head.

"Not anymore, I'm sorry" he gave her a curt nod before lifting his gym bag off the floor and leaving the gym.

***

Zayn turned on his left blinker instead of the right one and as expected the car behind his also indicated left. This was the third turn. They were definitely following him. His heart gave a frightened thud. He turned and enters the first gate he sees. A car stand. He parked and the black suv parked five cars down. He was supposed to be on his way home, which means they wanted to know where he lived. which means they wanted layla not him. Ahmad.

Against his better judgement, Zayn marched to the car, anger bubbling in his chest. He was going to murder Ahmad. As he got to the door it suddenly opened and before he could see who it was, excruciating pain shot through his body to his brain, shaking it like a peanut in a jar. Zayn tried with all his might to fight the darkness but it clouded his vision and he felt his body fall to the ground.

Layla was worried to her core. It has officially been 24 hours since she last saw her husband. He was officially a missing person. For what felt like the three thousandth time, She looked at the sticky note he had playfully placed on her forehead as she was sleeping before he left.
"Gone to the gym. have to keep up with your sexiness"
Tears collected in her eyes as she coudn't shake of the terrified chill that was racking up her nerves.

Layla had called Zayn's phone and gotten no answer until she was sure it had died. He was simply gone.
The policeman looked at her then spoke

"Madam, we will find your husband. Don't worry"

A few more minutes later and an inspector came into the room. He asked Layla a load of questions which she answered. From Zayn's skin complexion to the color of his car. By the time they were done, an hour had easily flown by. Layla thanked him and left, the inspector's promise ringing in her head. She sent a quiet prayer to God; 'please keep him safe ya Allah.'

Rya had asked for her dada so many times and each time it made a panic flare in her mother's heart. If anything were to happen to Zayn, she wouldn't be the only one with a broken heart. Layla shook her head as if to get rid of the terrifying thought.

It's had been two days before the inspector called.
"We found your husbands car"

***

zayn was about to loose his mind. He was tied to a bed like a psych patient and the room was pitch black. That is all he knew for sure. He'd not seen a single ray of sunshine since they took him. He had no idea if it was day or night or how many days he's been in captivity. Zayn was scared shitless. for his life but mostly for the life of his wife and daughter. who knows what they could be going though right now? If they had gotten to them. The thought of layla hurting brought bitter angry tears to his eyes. he was going to kill Ahmad.

Heavy footfalls came from the floor above him, meaning he was underground somewhere. He was startled into military-like alertness. They were coming. The footfalls sounded too heavy to be ahmad's seeing as even Zayn was bigger than ahmad. the footfalls belonged to someone almost if not three times bigger than zayn. the heavy metal door opened with a screech and light flooded the small room burning zayn's retina. he grunted.

''rise and shine princess'' he saw ahmad first. holding a torchlight that seems as bright as the sun. behind him was the man with the heavy footfalls. he was a giant, simple as that. he looked like he ate bullets for breakfast and washed it down with battery acid.

'what the fuck do you want from me!' Zayn yelled. he promised to stay calm but Ahmad was going to kill him, so he might as well fight like hell to the very end.

'i want what you stole from me! you bastard' what did you think was going to happen? id just watch you play house with the love of my life?-

'i know comprehension is a bit challenging for you so let me spell it out for you. layla-wants-nothing-to-do-with-your-unhinged-'

'crack'
pain shot through zayns face. his nose was broken and he could feel the blood flowing back, going to his lungs because of his position. he was going to choke on his own blood.

'sit him up. i dont want him to die just yet' ahmad said to the giant. the man loosened zayns restraints and sat him up, then tightened the restraints till the bit into Zayn's flesh. Zayn started to cough out the blood that had gotten to his lungs. zayn didnt realise how weak he was when he was tied up. he couldnt move his body.

'oh you better make sure you dont leave me alive, for your sake' zayn spat.

ahmad guffawed.

'you think youre in a position to be making threats?'

'its not a threat, its a guarantee' ahmad nodded menacingly.

'i guess we'll see about that then Mr Zayn'

zayn spat again, directly onto ahmads shoe which earned him a punch in the gut. he coughed up more blood. ahmad used zayn face to open his phone before he could recover from the punch.

'300 calls and messages from 'mrs z'. what do you say we send her a message back so she doesnt get worried?'

'what ever youre planning please dont, im begging you. you already have me-

'please gag him. im tired of the chitchat'

the giant man shoved a damp cloth into Zayn's mouth, efficiently cutting off his speech. they made sure to return him to his psych patient position before leaving him once again in pitch black darkness