Song of the Firebird

Forty Eight

A visibly troubled Kiara was deciding whether to push past the glass doors of Lizzie's, as soon as the café had clocked its opening hour. Last night when she, Danny and Jay returned to the café after a short stop by Natasha's, Danny urged her to leave for her place before his hours-long conversation with Jay. In the middle of the night, Kiara was sure that she felt his presence behind her, whilst the following morning, she woke up alone in a crumbled but empty bed.

The dread sucked the life out of her face.

Taking deep breaths, she looked around for any sign of him that assured his presence. Upon scanning, she found a checked blue tie, wrapped securely in the corner of her wooden bed frame. Sighing in relief, she began to ponder the reason for his absence, which had brought her to the current scenario—the kidnapping of her friends, Natasha and Ivy. Swearing at every object that hit her line of vision, she dragged herself up and decided to hunt for her lover.

Not knowing about Danny's whereabouts and absolutely not in the mood for any kind of breakfast, she walked absently toward Lizzie's. Kiara fidgeted to place her fingers on Lizzie's door. When she raised them in doubt, in the middle of contemplating, Iqbal inwardly pulled the door to his side with a sad smile.

'Welcome to Lizzie's. Why don't you join the others for some breakfast? You do look like you kind of need one.'

Kiara sighed, 'Thanks Iqbal. Right now, I have no appetite.' After a pause, she continued, 'What do you mean "the others"?'

'Jay and Danny. They have the spare key that Drew gave them and were here for a while.'

'Thanks Iqbal. I better have a talk with them before taking a bite', she huffed.

Iqbal made way for her, as she picked up her tracks to the men inside. As he turned to close the door, after flipping the open sign to a closed one, he spotted Zoya, trying to cross the road amidst the bustling cars. Tilting his head, he studied her as she bobbed her head underneath the noise cancelling headphones. Her strands of brown-and-magenta escaped the black beanie and fell on her pashmina shawl, fastened around her neck. Her milky, pale face was taking every cautious turn, looking at both the sides of the busy road while crossing.

Iqbal let out a silent but hearty chuckle when she circled around her spot, doing a small victory tap on the ground. Hands on her hips, she beamed at the sky. On dipping down, Zoya looked at a grinning Iqbal from the corner of her eyes and blushed a deep red. Shaking her head, both in fury and embarrassment, she walked to the café. Iqbal held out the door for her and smirked. He told her, 'Anything for my dear Princess Jasmine.'

Zoya winked at him. She, then fake– tossed her hair and cleared her throat, 'That's so sweet of you, Aladdin.' She tapped his cheeks and quirked her eyebrows. 'Why do we have to arrive early today for opening late? Has the boss gone nuts? I bet we could pick up good sales on this day of the week.'

'We might have a situation. I will let you know in a while.' He assured her, 'Can I get you something to eat?'

Zoya swatted her palms, 'I am good.' She peeped into the seating area and said, 'And why are people inside? I thought you said there would be no customers until then.'

'It's only the boss' friends.'

Zoya turned to his side. His grave tone hit her and the look on his face sold him out of his melancholy. She grabbed his wrist and ushered him to a private corner to study the scene before them. Jay was busy listening to Drew, as the latter filled in the details from Ryder to Kirk. There were momentous swearing and hushed yelling, from both the parties.

After a deep conversation with Jay last night, Drew felt like there were a lot of things common between Jay and him, especially the rough part. Listening to Jay's stories, a small part of Drew began to pin hopes from engaging further in his mistakes from the past. It's time, he thought, that he would gradually free himself from the anger and the guilt that tagged along his side, after he shot an innocent man almost to death while shoplifting with his fellow buddies.