Adventures in Cat-Napping

Chapter 16

By the time Ali had emerged from the shower and scrubbed his body until his skin had turned raw, Nora had already packed and encouraged Billy to return to his carrier cage. It was a task he had always struggled with, even when the cat was in the best of moods, and yet Billy only meowed when he picked up the cage, following the redhead towards the reception.

"Did you want some breakfast?" Claire, the hotelier, asked as he pressed his debit card against the card machine. They should have checked out twenty minutes ago, but Ali did not doubt that the couple had seen his wobble from the reception desk. In fact, it was likely most of the guests had seen him, but it was Nora's quick response that prevented his thoughts from catalysing another sheen of sweat against his skin.

"Yes, please!" She grinned, throwing her rucksack onto the floor, with little consideration to the belongings she held inside. "Any chance you have some hot chocolate?" Claire nodded with a smile and opened the counter so that they could follow her through to the dining area.

Thankfully, it was quiet, and Ali chose a table closest to the window that gained him a view of the large room. Round tables were peppered across the floor, and for the most part, it was clean. He wasn't sure what to expect for breakfast, but after three days of just eating vegetarian dishes or eggs, he wouldn't have minded some chicken. Still, the menu held no label to indicate that the menu was halal, and as much as his stomach slumped in disappointment, he requested the 'English Breakfast', minus the bacon and sausages.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Nora stated, lowering the hot chocolate that Claire had brought to her after claiming their orders- Ali had asked for a glass of orange juice, but he could see the pulp swirling at the top. He wasn't drinking that! "Why do Muslims only eat halal meat? I know what it means, but...are you never tempted?"

He could see the sparkle of intrigue in her eyes, mixed with a sense of mischief that though once invigorated fear, all Ali felt was humour. She had raised a decent question after all, and to his surprise, he found himself revealing the truth.

"Halal meat just means that the meat was prepared in accordance to our beliefs and rituals, kind of how Jews only eat kosher," He explained, receiving a firm nod in return. Naturally, that would have been knowledge Nora would have known since she was a chef...and frequented the halal takeaway, probably more than he or any of his friends had, their entire lives. "But to answer your real question...no,"

Once more, those brown eyes flared to life, and he chuckled, shaking in disbelief at the crime he had committed back when he was in primary school. "I should say that once I truly understood 'halal', I've never looked at meat the same way," He confessed, "but back in year three, when my entire class were eating the Haribo's, Arabella Thompson had bought in to celebrate her eighth birthday...I guess I chose not to acknowledge we're not supposed to eat gelatine and ate the packet before I returned home,"

"Aren't you a rebel!" Nora jeered as his shoulders shook in amusement, "Who would have known! Ali the Saint, only Saint no more when it comes to Haribo's."

"Ali the saint?" He questioned, his brows raised as she chuckled.

"It's just the way you can be," she revealed as he shook his head in disbelief. Ali knew he was no saint, and when he saw Nora stuff her mouth with a forkful of pancake, evidently avoiding his gaze, he realised that she hadn't used the adjective to be kind. "You can come across as righteous at times-"

She explained further as he nodded, not sensing any malice which affirmed that Nora had no ill intent. So instead, Ali sipped from his water and forced himself to eat the bread that was toasted just less than what he would determine perfect. Properly toasted bread shouldn't taste sweet unless, of course, it has been chewed more than enough, which caused the disaccharides to become the polysaccharide maltose, and that was bad for his teeth.