Dadju - Reine

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Shawn's POV

Elizabeth and her best friend Zayneb are hugging each other, and hearing them laugh makes me happy. 

A week ago I asked Lucifer for Zayneb's number, because Beth mentioned that she hadn't seen her in years. So I wanted to plan a reunion but when I sent Zayneb a message, explaining I'm Beth's boyfriend and I wanted to surprise her, she reported and blocked me after she said:

"Beth doesn't have "boyfriends", so go pull a prank on someone else."

After that I had to text Lucifer again, which was so awkward, since I don't know him that well. But he took care of it and got Zayneb to call me that same evening. 

She was coming to France anyway for a business deal the same week as Beth and I were going to be in Paris.

'I've missed you so much!' Beth says when they climb off the couch.

They both are back on their feet now and Beth grabs Zayneb's hand, walking to me. 

When they both stand next to each other in front of me I stare at them.

The resemblance between these two women scares me a little bit. It's like Zayneb is the blonde version of Beth, god, this is freaky. 

Their cheekbones, the jawline, the eye shape, the mouth, the dimple, everything looks the same! I stare at Zayneb and my eyes scan over her body, not because I like her, but because she looks so much like Beth! 

They are like Day and Night. Beth is the Night and Zayneb the Day.

'Hey!' Beth snaps her fingers.

I look at Beth and a smile forms on my lips.

'Sorry. You look so much alike.' I tell them.

'Yeah, yeah, we know we could be twins.' Beth smiles at Zayneb.

'Damn.' I whisper.

Zayneb is just a couple of inches taller than Beth, she has blue eyes and blonde hair, but apart from that, they really look like twins.

'Well... Zayneb, this is my boyfriend Shawn.' Beth walks to me and entwines my fingers with hers as she holds my arm.

'Nice to meet you!' She walks to me and holds her hand out to me. 

'Honestly, I thought you were a dickhead pulling a prank on me when you texted that you were her boyfriend.' She smiles at me.

'Yeah, your text also said that.' I respond. 'Except for the dickhead part.'

Beth squeezes my hand and whispers: "Be nice" in an angry tone. 

Was I not being nice?

'Nice to meet you too.' I say with an awkward smile on my face as I shake her hand.

'It's too bad I already need to leave tomorrow.' Zayneb says with a sigh.

'Oh no! Why?' Beth sounds disappointed.

'I'm sorry Liz, I wish we could've spent more time together, but this morning I got a call that I have to be in Prague tomorrow morning, so I have to leave early.' She responds.

'Well... ok... at least we have tonight.' Beth smiles fakely.

'Such a shame.' I whisper.

It sounds sarcastic, and it is... a little.

Beth squeezes my hand.

'Mendes, I'm going to spend the rest of the night with Zayneb at the bar. I want to thank you for bringing her here. It means so much to me.' Beth says before pressing her lips against mine.

That kiss made everything right. I still need to come up with something I can do while these twins laugh at the bar together. 

At least I don't have to worry about Beth getting drunk or something.

'Alright, I'll see you later. Don't make it too late.' I tell her, when I let my hand slide down her back.

'Sure, dad.' She rolls her eyes at me and I pinch her ass quickly, making her yelp before she starts to laugh.

Zayneb tells Beth that she will be right back as she follows me to the elevator. While I'm waiting for the elevator she looks at me, studying my face.

'Hi?' I click on the elevator button again.

'I don't trust you.' She looks at me, her eyes narrowed.

'Why? I haven't done anything.' I smile. 

She somehow intimidates me, just like Beth did the first time I met her.

'I just want you to know that if you hurt Liz in any way, I will break every goddamn bone in that body of yours.' I stare at her, not knowing what to say. 

'And now smile so Liz doesn't know I just threatened you.' She wraps her arms around my shoulders, hugging me for one second.

'I hope I was clear.' She says before turning around, walking back to Beth.

Yup, clear as Day.

Elizabeth's POV

Zayneb walks back to me and I wonder what she said to Shawn, all the colour in his face just disappeared for a couple of seconds before he put on the fakest smile I have ever seen on his face.

'What did you say to him?' I ask when we walk to the bar of the hotel.

'Nothing, just that I will break his bones if he does anything to hurt you. I didn't know if Luci or Gerard did it already, so I decided I would do it.'

I start to laugh.

'Thank you Zayneb.' I smile at her. 

'Even though I would break every bone in his body myself.' She laughs, hugging me again before we take a seat on the stools at the bar.

'One coke, and one...' She looks at me. I say nothing, testing if she still remembers. 'And one Red Bull with a straw, no ice cubes.' She smiles.

'You remembered!' I smile.

I have missed her so much! I don't know why it took Shawn for us to meet up again. I should have dragged her to the Netherlands. 

I don't have many friends now, I've been so focused on work that I didn't even have the time to make new friends. Plus, family was enough for me. Lucifer is basically my best friend, next to Zayneb of course.

'Of course I did!' She laughs. 'But tell me about Shawn... I thought you "didn't do" relationships.' She takes a sip of her coke.

'I didn't.' She looks at me like I'm lying. 

'You know I didn't!' I stare at her.

'Please don't tell me that crap that you saw him and just knew he was the one.' She waves with her hands, making the sentence even more dramatic.

'That was not it, no. But I did think he was fucking hot the first moment I met him.' I tell her honestly.

'Yeah, well, look at his gorgeous body!' She starts to laugh.

I laugh with her before telling her that Shawn was my client and that he got a trial because of murder. I tell her about Camila, Nial, the guy who died. 

The moment I finish my story I put my hand over my mouth.

'I am not allowed to tell you that!' I am ashamed of myself.

Shawn may not be my client anymore, but I still have attorney-client privilege, I shouldn't have told her all that without Shawn's approval.

'Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.' She says, and I believe her.

'I know. It's not that I don't trust you, but I shouldn't have told you that.' I say again.

'Okay let's change the subject.' She smiles at me. 

'Tell me about your first kiss.'

'It was in my lobby actually, with Sam watching us.' I start to laugh. 'It was really magical, but when I think back to it, it also was kind of awkward, I barely knew him. I had only known him for a week.'

'I have done more than kissing someone within an hour, so don't worry, a week is fine!'

Zayneb tells me about her work and a cute guy she has had her eyes on for three weeks, but he has a girlfriend so she can't do anything with him. 

Tomorrow she has an important business appointment in Prague.

'What job do you do again?' I ask her for the fifth time.

I feel like a bad friend. 

'I am The Cabinet Secretary for finance.' She says again, smiling at me.

'Damn! I can remember you writing your parents provisional tax assessments for fun. Honestly, I thought you had lost your mind.'

'Well...' She chuckles. 'Now you know it was all meant to be.'

'Did you have any boyfriends the last years?' I ask her.

'Nope, only one night stands.' She starts to laugh.

It's four in the morning when Zayneb and I decide to go to bed. 

We swore to each other to stay in contact and that she will visit me in a few months, when I'm home again.

I take the elevator up to our hotel room and walk through the hallways. 

There is this warm, weird feeling in my chest. I rub on my chest with my hand. The feeling in my chest scares me a little bit. I don't feel empty or depressed like I normally do. 

This feeling has been in my chest for a couple of days now and I didn't know what it meant. Now I remember feeling it back when I was still living in Scotland, when Zayneb and I still went to school together, when my mum was still alive.

When my mum was still alive...

Back when I was happy... I was happy. 

The words sink in.

I am happy. 

Woah... I've missed this feeling, being happy. 

Shawn... He's the reason why I'm happy again. He is the one that made me happy again.

I put the card into the door and push it open as soft as possible. I don't want to wake Shawn. 

When I walk into the room I see Shawn sitting - sleeping - against the headboard of the bed, still wearing his clothes. There is a book on his lap, still open. 

His lips are parted a little bit and I see his chest rising up and down slowly. He looks like a sleeping angel. I chuckle at the sight of him. He was probably waiting for me.

If I let him sleep like this he will get a horrible pain in his neck tomorrow. I decide to wake him up.

'Shawn...' I touch his arm. 'Babe... wake up.' I run my fingers through his hair and he opens his eyes slightly.

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me onto his lap, I am still touching his hair when he rests his head on my chest, closing his eyes again, falling asleep.

'I missed you.' He mumbles.

'I missed you too babe, but you need to change your clothes and lay down.' I tell him.

'Can you do it for me?' He asks with a raspy voice.

'I can, yes, but you still have to lay down by yourself. I can't do that for you.' I climb off the bed.

He moves his body down until his head finds the pillow. 

I start removing his belt and opening the button of his jeans, pulling them down his legs as gently as possible. I remove his socks and tell him to raise his arms so I can pull the hoodie over his head. 

When I succeed I pull the duvet over his body and kiss him on his lips softly.

I walk to the bathroom and change into my own sleepwear before laying down next to him. 

He pulls me to his chest and I lay down listening to his heartbeat. I wrap my arms around him and move my leg over his, falling asleep myself.

I really am happy...

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