Beyond Desire

24-Lily

Tessie had had enough of my sulking. According to her, I had started to resemble a tragic widow from one of those Hausa telenovelas she loved watching.

"She lost her husband and her appetite," she mimicked dramatically, tossing a pillow at me two days ago.

"You, Jalilah, need air. Preferably the kind that comes with fluorescent lights and the smell of overpriced coffee."

And that's how I ended up being dragged to a supermarket on a dull Thursday afternoon.

I had told her about Khalid. Well, the edited version. She knew about the trip, about how he had gone quiet afterward, but when she had hinted that maybe, just maybe, I had feelings for him, I had laughed. Denied it with all the false confidence of someone who definitely did.

Now, as I pushed the trolley, I could hear her humming beside me, glancing at me every few seconds like I might collapse between the cereal aisle and the cleaning supplies.

"You're doing that thing again," she said suddenly.

"What thing?"

"The tragic staring thing. The one that screams I miss him but I'll die before I admit it."

I rolled my eyes. "You're delusional."

"Am I?" she said, raising a brow.

I was just about to throw a pack of biscuits into the trolley after reading through the label when a familiar voice- low, calm and unmistakable cut through the air behind me.

"Hi."

Just that. One word.
But it froze every nerve in my body.

My hand stilled mid-air. For a second, I thought I had imagined it.
Then I turned. Slowly, like I already knew what I had see and there he was.

Khalid.

Casual white shirt, sleeves rolled up, watch glinting faintly under the supermarket light. He stood there, like nothing in the world had happened. Like he hadn't ignored me for a week and left me replaying every conversation we'd ever had in my head.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe. My lips parted before sound even came out. "Hi," I said, quiet, breathless.

His gaze swept over me briefly and unreadable. "You look well." Just like his mother had said.

Something in me clenched. That tone, calm, detached, as though the silence of the past week had been nothing.
My thoughts spiraled before I could stop them. He's not a child. He knows exactly what he's doing. Ignoring me and acting like we are cool all of a sudden.

I swallowed, forcing my pulse to settle. "Unlike you," I said finally, voice tighter than I wanted, "I don't ghost people for sport."

The faintest flicker crossed his expression but it was gone as quickly as it came. "Is that what you think I was doing?"

I didn't answer. I Couldn't. My chest felt too full of everything I had wanted to say and everything I shouldn't.

Tessie, bless her timing, looked between us, utterly confused. "Um... should I go get the milk or are we—?"

"We're done," I muttered, grabbing the trolley and moving. "We're leaving."

"Lily...."

I didn't wait. I turned, but before I could take a full step, his hand caught mine. Not hard, not possessive just firm enough to stop me.

For a heartbeat, the world stilled. The warmth of his touch seared through my skin, the silence between us stretching dangerously thin.

Then I pulled back. "Don't," I whispered.