Outloved

13.

Mister Irfan's acting took me by surprise when he entered the basement to find his family and me standing in a small room around a small glass table with a birthday cake and decorating surrounding us. I saw him laugh full heartedly when Abeer yelled happy birthday to him and went to hug him as he was more excited for his uncle's birthday than anyone else. I felt happy that his family considered me close enough to invite me to his birthday. I almost felt like their own family member, as if they were becoming a part of my life, more like a second home that I never imagined I would ever get.

'Should we go upstairs?' Farah looked around as all of us were sitting on the floor talking, and Mister Irfan was quiet as always but wasn't on his phone or seemed uninterested. Instead, he was present; he was listening and getting involved in a general discussion that was going on in the small room. I often caught him gazing in my direction when I talked with Ruby Aunty or someone else, but whenever I looked at him, he looked away. This silence between us was dangerous because even though we were not talking to each other directly, it always felt like we were still communicating with one another somehow.

'It's getting late; I should go' I checked my phone, and it almost ten past nine. I got up to leave when Mister Irfan raised from the floor, too, making me look at him.

'Stay with us today' Abeer asked me to stay.

'No, I have to leave Abeer...I have some work to complete,' I told him.

'You can go tomorrow, come on, stay here tonight. It'll be fun' Farah sided with Abeer as I stood awkwardly, trying to think what I should do.

'I don't have my clothes, and I need to get started on the presentation for work too, I don't think...' I tried to explain it to them.

'Let's go and get your stuff then,' Mister Irfan said once in for all, and we all stared at him.

'What?' He gazed around to see what was so strange about his earlier statement.

'Yes, we can do that...you can go with Irfan and bring all your stuff here' Farah appeared pleased with her brother's quick fix.

'It's not necessary; it'll be too much work for him to drive me home and bringing me back here' I excused.

'If it were going to be too much work for me, I wouldn't have suggested it...let's go and get your things' He held Abeer's hand and walked up the stairs leaving me with no choice but to follow him.

'You got everything' Abeer followed me around the house as Mister Irfan stood by my apartment door waiting.

'Yes...almost' I grabbed my laptop and charger, my pajama set, and other toiletries items. I put everything in a large tote bag and walked towards Mister Irfan so we can leave.

'No suitcase?' He raised his eyebrow, speaking in a sarcastic tone with a straight face.

'You don't have any patience Mister Irfan' I rolled my eyes at him as I locked the door before all of us went out.

'You have some serious opinions of me,' I heard him say from behind when he approached the car and unlocked the door for me. I remained quiet and got inside the car.

'So...are you going to tell me?' He asked me when Abeer got busy with playing games on the phone.

'What?' I turned to look at him.

'Do I offend you?' He passed a quick glance in my direction before turning his focus back on the road.

'No, you just have a bad habit of thinking you're always right, and others' opinions don't matter,' I commented. He was the one who was asking me what I thought of him, so I told him.