Hello my dear readers,

First of all, my sincere apologies for the months-long wait. I am very sorry for that. 

I had a really hard time penning this first part down since I already had a picture of the middle and end part in mind, but no introduction part. 

Anyhow, I would like to say that I am still not 100% happy with what I wrote her, I might need to expand later.

But for now, I hope you will enjoy the first part of this rather ordinary, or not so ordinary story of Adiza. 

Thank you so so much for all the love and comments for the plot description. It was surely NOT the lack of response from you guys that kept me from writing!

Song: "Youth" by Shawn Mendes ft. Khalid. 

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"Hi", she said nervously biting the thread of her hoodie while she was walking back and forth in her living room. "Hi?", she heard his voice which sounded quite sleepy. 'Shit, did I just wake him up?', she thought, feeling guilty while checking the clock. No, it wasn't that early, but it was a Sunday morning and it was his off day as well.

"Sorry, did I wake you up? I am so sorry, I will call you later", she started to apologize and was about to cut the call as she heard him chuckle.

"Adi, stop it, shoot, what's up?", sounding a lot more awake now. "Uhm, I have a request, and wanted to ask you if we could meet for lunch?", she asked fast since she knew that when she would think about it for another second more, she'd back off.

She had been thinking about this for too long and she needed to get this over with. What more than a no can she get? She was sick of overthinking every single thing in her life. This was something she wanted to get done before jumping into another project. It was solely for herself and she was sure it will be beneficial in general.

There was a shuffling sound indicating her that he probably sat up. The longer the silence remained, the more nervous she became. She was about to say something when the silence almost got unbearable. "Where do you want to go for lunch?", he asked then as if he didn't just wait for what seemed like 5 minutes to answer. She now got the feeling that he was doing this on purpose.

"Uhm, same place as usual?", she tried to reply as unaffected as possible. "Okay, see you there around 12:30?", he asked and yawned. Feeling guilty, she was about to say sorry again, but he cut her off. "Don't even try to apologize! If it makes you feel better, you can pay for the food this time", he said, and the amusement clear in his voice.

"Okay", she agreed sheepishly and reserved herself from apologizing. "See you soon", he said and hung up the phone. As soon as she heard the line cut, she felt relieved... but only for a short period of time. Then as soon as the relief of finally making the first step vanished, the next hurdle came to her mind. Now she needed to face him and have the guts to ask him to help her. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Somehow, she managed to get her determination back, and so, she immersed herself in some house chores till it was time to go out.

At the food place:

"Hii", he said smiling wide, giving her a side hug before taking a seat opposite to her. She as well, smiled back. They ordered the usual and started eating in comfortable silence. Only when they were about to finish, he cleared his throat, trying to start a conversation. "So, what is it that you want to ask me?", he asked as casual as possible, incredibly curious about what she might have in mind. Now that she was forced to get on with it, she took a deep breath and collected her thoughts.

"Mh.. so, actually, you know that I cannot swim, right?", she started, at first avoiding meeting his eyes, and just looking at the food in front of her. "Yeah", she heard him say, which indicated that he was not going to make fun of her. Yes, she still had this fear, even though he had proven many times already that he's not someone who does that in general.

"I would like to learn it... and I thought that maybe you could - only if you want to, of course - teach me?", she asked slowly, trying to be as clear as possible, and this time, she managed to look at him.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't shocked. And that's why the first question that left his mouth was: "why me?".

And she was prepared for it. She knew it was out of the blue of her to ask him this. And also kind of odd in the sense that she felt like they are not just ordinary friends. She knew that he considers her as a friend and co-worker, but she also knew that they are actually not that close for her to ask him this. But she had a valid reason.

"Because I trust you", she simply said smiling faintly. "And besides that, I know that you will be able to bring my ambition back whenever I lose it."

And that was the truth. It was like this, and she believes that it will always be like this. It didn't matter how close they were. She knew that he lights up something within her that makes her want to prove him wrong, prove to him that she can do or be better or at least try harder.

Moreover, she knew that by her admitting this, she also slightly manipulated him into thinking of the whole possible scenario as a challenge he can't leave unaccepted.

He remembered how she had clung onto him whenever they had to shoot in the water. And that he was able to calm her down whenever he felt like she was getting anxious. So, he realised that she must have thought about this for quite a long time. Nevertheless, he was still surprised.

"So, will you help me?", she asked, looking at him expectantly. 

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What do you guys think? Will he help her? Or will he back out? 

Let me know what your thoughts are, I am eagerly waiting :)!

See you soon!

Shameless self-promotion: 

Finished work on Avneil:

Tease - Avneil Drabble

Remember? - Avneil Drabble

No Interruption - Avneil Oneshot

Ordinary - Avneil Two-Shot (18+)

Pleasure - Avneil RS (18+)

Enchantment - Avneil RS 

Finished work on Adiza:

Sweet Like Chocolate - Adiza Oneshot

TBC - sequel to 'Sweet Like Chocolate' - Adiza Oneshot

Taste - Adiza Drabble

How long - Adiza Two-Shot

Night Changes - Adiza FF ;)

On-going work on Avneil:

Bound Together - Avneil FF (18+)