Mikaal

4: Mikaal

It was Monday, normally a dreaded day following the weekend, but Dalia had adopted a habit a year or so ago that made Mondays a day she looked forward to. She had Simon to 'thank' for the idea. It was a vice really, but she didn't care. It was her guilty pleasure, a piece of heaven to anyone who dared try it.

Every Monday since about mid last year, Dalia would habitually go to Reid Cafe, a small cafeteria situated on the ground floor of Reid Library, that was four storeys high. She would order a latte with her Student Guild discount, then she would seek a table in a quiet spot before reaching into her bag to take out a packet of Tim Tams. Even though it was her ritual every Monday, she still felt like a child getting up to mischief and couldn't help glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to her before she proceeded to do what was known as the 'Tim Tam Slam'. It involved biting off each end of the chocolate coated biscuit that was rectangular in shape, made up of two thin biscuit pieces that sandwiched a creamy chocolate centre. By eating just the ends, it enabled you to use the Tim Tam like a straw for a complimentary beverage of your choice.

Holding the Tim Tam carefully with one hand, Dalia dipped one end of it in her coffee then sipped the drink through it from the other end. Within seconds, the heat of the coffee turned the Tim Tam into liquid chocolate that she then 'slammed' into her mouth; she tried to lessen the mess it created on her fingers.

"Mmmm," she said to herself, closing her eyes, savouring the passionate dance of flavours that filled her mouth, sweet, melted chocolate mixed with the rich taste of coffee beans. She could feel the desire for another growing, the addiction taking hold of her as she snuck a second, a third piece, dunking, sipping and devouring each before licking her fingers.

As she sat basking in the after-effects on that quiet Monday morning, she reminisced the time Simon had introduced her to the 'Tim Tam Slam'. It was a number of months after Blake had ended things with her, a welcome distraction to help her cope with facing another uni week of possibly bumping into him, staring after him as he pretended he handed noticed her. And yet, looking back, could she really say that he had 'ended things with her' when what had really happened was, he had become 'the disappearing man', ceasing contact with her abruptly without any explanation. Even now, two years later since having first met him, the pain was raw, the scars still deep from his perplexing silence. It was hard to let go when it felt like 'unfinished business'. If it wasn't for Simon, helping her through that emotionally confusing period, being her fellow 'chocolate junkie', she couldn't imagine how she would have gotten through the year.

Remembering she only had an hour or so of study time before one of her lectures was due to start, Dalia's eyes left its trance-like state and refocused on her surroundings. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of Mikaal looking at her from a couple of tables in front, a smile on his face. Dalia frowned, deciding she was over men and their mysterious—malicious—silences and pretended she didn't notice him. She glanced behind him at the patch of lawn on which ducks waddled to and from the narrow, man-made pond that acted as a barrier between the cafe and the inviting green grass with its backdrop of trees.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed his figure rising from his seat. 'Good, he's going,' she thought to herself, silently pleased, but to her disappointment, his body instead weaved its way between the tables that separated them, moving decisive steps towards her.

"Hey Dalia," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

She didn't have a choice but to meet his gaze with her guarded eyes. He took it as an invitation to sit down, pulling out a seat opposite her.

He didn't beat around the bush this time. "I guess you want to know how I know you?"

'Well, this is feeling like déjà vu,' she thought, remembering her dream on Friday. Nonetheless, she wasn't about to hold her breath, so she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "It doesn't really bother me either way," she said, upon which she could have sworn sorrow flickered on his face.

"I deserve that," he said with a wry smile.

Her hard expression softened at this admission. There was a shift in her mood, now more open to hearing what he had to say.

His shoulders relaxed as if he had noticed her change in demeanour, then he began, "It was towards the beginning of last year, a few weeks into uni. You and Simon were coming out of maths and I was, uh, trying to catch Simon to borrow his notes from the lecture..." Mikaal smiled sheepishly. "I'm not a morning person, so I've probably missed quite a lot of those 8 am starts." His eyes looked through her that moment as if reminiscing the scene of their meeting in his head. "It was quite a mad rush of people, probably dashing to their next class, but I still remember noticing you the second after my eyes found Simon." Strangely, a pained memory flashed through his eyes, but he blinked it away and returned his gaze to Dalia's face. He focussed his attention on her as if trying to read her expression. "We only exchanged brief hellos." He paused. "And that's it," he said with a shrug. His eyes looked imploring with feigned innocence. "Are you satisfied now?"

Dalia reflected on what he had said. She couldn't recall this meeting, but then if there were that many people as he said, and if their meeting had been a brief one, she supposed it made sense that it might've slipped her mind. Remembering things at the best of times was already a challenge for her, especially this past year that would be her last in her science degree, let alone remembering a passing hello from over a year ago. But his voice... He had a smooth, deep voice that dripped with charm and confidence—a voice that was hard to forget, so maybe it was just that. Not to mention the fact that she had always considered herself an 'audio' person, very attune to the intricacies of sounds, the kind of person who could answer the phone and immediately know who was on the other end of the line from just their 'hello'.

"I guess..." she finally spoke. But then she remembered the way Simon had reacted to the mention of his name, which still didn't make sense.

"Dalia, does it matter anyway how we met? If anything, I should be offended that you don't remember me," he said, shaking his head at her in mock disappointment. "But then, I suppose your face is more unforgettable compared to mine." His mouth curled into a teasing smile as his eyes playfully scanned her facial features.

"Haha, yeah right," Dalia said, not about to be fooled by his charm.

Mikaal broke into a boyish grin. "Finally, the Dalia I knew was in there somewhere!" he said.

Dalia laughed, although internally, for the briefest second, the oddness of his familiarity with her character nagged at her, but the feeling immediately passed.

As she looked across at him, it occurred to her for the first time that the confusion over how he knew her had made her momentarily blind to just how gorgeous he actually was. He had a tall, athletic frame and handsome, defined features. But it was his crystal clear green eyes and charming smile that were most striking among his assets. She expected to feel self-conscious around such an attractive guy like she had with Blake, who often left her tongue-tied, but curiously, she felt normal and quite comfortable in his presence.

"So Dalia, maybe we can do this another—" Mikaal stopped mid-sentence, his eyes distracted by something behind her.

Dalia instinctively turned around and to her surprise, found Simon throwing Mikaal a look she couldn't read. "Uh, we'll continue this conversation another time," Mikaal said and stood up to go.

"Hey Dalia, Mikaal..." Simon was at their table now and threw Mikaal a questioning look.

"Hey, I was just leaving, so I'll leave you guys to chat." He turned to Dalia. "I'll see you around," he said before hurrying away, leaving Dalia to look after him, the puzzle in her mind beginning to resurface.

---

Hey everyone

This is a longer segment compared to my previous posts, but I felt I owed you a little more after torturing with questions the first number of weeks. This is one of my favourite scenes - maybe because Dalia's chocolate addiction is inspired by me! 

Just in case you're curious and haven't previously heard of it before, the video in the title shows you how to do the 'Tim Tam Slam'. I'd love to know if you've tried it before!

I hope you continue to love my story as much as I am loving writing it, and don't forget to follow me, add my book to your reading list and vote for this part with a star ⭐️!

-Noelle