Medona

Chapter 8-At The Presentation

I traveled up my gaze in the direction of owner of the hand and found Gabriel holding another apple in the other hand.
I accepted the apple she was offering. And took out the knife from my bag and started cutting through the apple.
"Whattt!... since when you've started keeping knifes in your bag Tarika!?" Gabriel almost shouted.
"It's for safety" *which was true to be honest but the bad part was: I harshly misunderstood an innocent and wise woman*
"Wow! I can never understand you" Gabriel sat next to me and kept chopping the apple bit by bit.
I got embarrassed at myself for being too pessimistic and out of self ashame I asked, "is misunderstanding a bad thing Gabriel?"
Gabriel stared at me eyes wide open and lips parted for a while, probably couldn't register what the hell I was talking about and didn't know how to respond.
And then uttered, "no!.. I mean yes... sometimes it's... uh ... I don't know what you're talking about Tarika I am just here to inform you that we're having a meeting tomorrow" She got frustrated.
"Okay cool" I put a piece of apple in my mouth thinking why would I care.
She knew me very well so she absolutely cleared her objective, "AND your presence is mandatory!"
I stopped chewing and gave her as much bewildered look as I could and she started explaining nervously, "you are part of the community I was telling you the other day", Gabriel kept her gaze on her ankle which she was inverting and everting on the grass continuously and couldn't meet eyes with me.
*the other day? Means I was again blank minded. What the hell is wrong with me*
I got confused because I was already insecure "I am?" I interrogated.
Gabriel took a deep breath and said, "yes you are! I put your name on it. We needed volunteers and trust me it won't hurt you if you join this community. I mean it's productive. It's for welfare. It's healthy. And... and... please don't refuse to this Tarika" trying to convince me when I didn't even refused yet.
"Okay. Fine. Tell me my role at the meeting and a time schedule too."
"Yes!!",Gabriel hugged me enthusiastically and then exhaled deeply in reassurance.
"You know I've worked so hard on this project. It's about hermaphroditation therapy. Alot of people are rejecting the concept. Our community is going to convince them that it's completely moral. I have collected all the data I required for...." Gabriel kept talking but I couldn't focus on her words
*"this is Susan, my sister and this is Arthur and his wife Jessica"* Anthony's words were travelling in my mind.
I couldn't understand my situation properly as there was a queue of coincidences one after another.
I felt like Gabriel is mumbling something about *chief guest* as a background noise
"Tarika" Gabriel called out my name and I responded "yes" as a startle reflex.
"You're not listening to me. Are you okay?", Gabriel put her hand on my shoulder.
"I'm fine. Just tired. I need some rest. Will meet you tomorrow in the meeting. Okay" I stood up and Gabriel nodded.
I entered my apartment and when I looked at the knife in my hand I got so embarrassed that I thought I should kill my ownself with this.
But to be honest, it was a natural response anyone would show to a stranger, you don't even know name and showing you warmth without any apparent personal benefits.

The other day at the meeting, I was completely overwhelmed with a mixture of joy and excitement when I saw the chief guest that Gabriel was talking about, was no one else but
Dr. Sandra.
*yayy!!!*
Gabriel presented her project which was good enough to be true expressing the amout of efforts she had put in it.
"What about the males who are out of sexual desires. Don't they deserve kids too?", a male guest in the meeting asked expressing his insecurity 120 percent. "The world is continuously developing Mr.Stratford, we will surely find a solution to that eventually but it doesn't at all justify snatching such an opportunity from the females too." Dr.Sandra replied in place of Gabriel.
Everyone appreciated Gabriel for her work which was convincing enough to earn agreement signatures from all the members.
The meeting dismissed and everyone started to head back.
I suddenly got an urge to meet Dr.Sandra in personal.
I ran after her from the projector room to the hall and saw her talking on the phone, "yeah yeah I know... I'll be there in a moment. Stop aggravating", looked like she was receiving scold from the person on the other side of the line.
She hung up her phone and noticed me waiting for her call to end.
"Uhhh ... Dr.Tariiiikaa...???" She overloaded her nerves to find my name in a part of it.
I showed her the volunteer card I was wearing which had my name on it.
"Oh! Yes I was right. It's good to see you."
I was confused between *is she nice to just anyone without any reason* and *does she know me by any chance*.
"I saw you addressing in a seminar the other day", I told her how I knew her before this meeting, *it was typically a non Tarika behavior that I was cringing at already*
"Oh! Yeah ... um ... I hope you liked it. I am happy to see you in the best of your health. You were the one who touched the meteor right?!" She confirmed leaving me astonished *does everybody in the whole world knows that?*
"Yes..... I guess it was dangerous. Actually I wanted to ask you about the same topic.
I heard you are a PhD holder at historical sciences. I don't understand why there is nothing about such place in any history? How on earth we missed a place like this?" I kept cringing at myself along with the anxiety that was filled in me since the incident.
Dr.Sandra attentively listened to me and probably had noticed my anxiety too, "I am sorry dear but I am a bit busier. Can we talk on this in detail on..... uh coming Thursday?"
"Oh no it's okay... leave it", *finally the inner Tarika burst out who would never be a burden on someone*
Dr.Sandra smiled and put her hand on my shoulder saying, "give me your number, I'll let to you know about the time and place where we'll meet. Don't worry you're not at all a burden on me. I have questions for you too", she winked.
*yeah she did read my mind unbelievably*
I started to walk back to the projector room,
Again a wave of hallucination travel upon me, "Sanjid-e-Lordem! Sanjid-e-Lordem!!!", this time screaming in our new university, *probably it was in my head*.
I felt someone's breath near my ear whispering, "hey I heard you're single. Aren't you?"
Goose bumps covered my skin.