Mikaal

6: Mikaal

"Red is definitely your colour," he said with an appreciative look. "It brings out your skin tone."

Dalia felt heat spreading up her neck onto her cheeks. She averted her eyes from his loving gaze.

"Are you enjoying your meal?"

Still trying to regain her senses after his compliment, she managed a nod, before smiling warmly at him.

Suddenly the song 'Riptide' by Vance Joy blared through his phone speakers. She wouldn't normally recognise a surfy song, but she didn't have a choice when it was his ringtone. 'Bleh, surf songs,' she thought to herself, her face contorted. Amidst his many favourable traits, there was his flaw.

Dalia watched his features crease after looking at the name of the caller before ignoring the call by swiping on his phone screen.

NA NA NA NA NA NAA NAA!!

Dalia woke up with a jolt to the sound of her iPhone alarm, at least a pleasant sound, set to a catchy instrumental. Nonetheless, she moaned, burying her face further into her pillow. "Why that dream again?" she said with a frown. She couldn't recall exactly when she had started having this recurring dream of her having dinner with Blake, but it was the last thing she needed when she was trying to put him completely behind her. It must have been because she had read her diary entry last night about when she had started liking him—she wouldn't make that mistake again.

Why was it that she couldn't get over him in spite of a year having already passed? Perhaps it was because he was her first real 'love'. Or perhaps it was because of how things had ended, so abruptly, without explanation. The number of times she had been burdened by a million questions—why did he stop liking her? Did he even really like her to begin with? Did she do something to upset him or put him off her? Did something happen to him that created this change in him? Did he stop finding her attractive and wanted to spare her feelings? Did he still like her but a circumstance was keeping him from her? Did he meet someone else?

Around and around like a merry-go-round, the questions would orbit her mind. The hardest and most painful part was that they were questions she probably would never find answers to.

Dalia attempted to get up, aware that she was treading on dangerous ground to be entertaining any kind of thoughts on Blake, but her soft, pillow-top mattress and down quilt appeared to enjoy making it an impossible task, mocking her with their heavenly warmth against the crisp, autumn air.

"Hey Siri, what time is it?" she asked aloud, too lazy to even click the button on her phone to check the time.

"The time is 6:30 am. Good morning Dalia."

So she still had a couple of hours before her first class began. It was an important one though, the lecturer promising to give some exam tips, not to mention the fact that it wasn't her best subject—chemistry. Even so, she had time to check for any 'important' emails, that naturally lead to tapping on the neighbouring apps, Facebook and Instagram...

As she tapped away at the hearts in the corner of the photos that intrigued her or were simply pretty, a promotional picture advertising the launch of a new dessert at San Churro popped up on her newsfeed. Initially, she felt a buzz of excitement at the thought of visiting her little piece of heaven on earth soon to try out their new offering, before she found herself groaning once more. "No, not you too!" she said, tossing her phone aside, pulling her covers up higher to shut out the unwelcome thought of Mikaal and her last conversation with Simon about him.

"Simon," Dalia had said with determination after he had appeared to scare off Mikaal on Monday, "I'm only going to ask you once; what was that about just now?"

"Err..." Discomfort had washed over Simon's face, but she supposed he could clearly see her resolve to get answers this time. "Let's just say, Mikaal and I had a bit of a falling out."

Dalia had just stared at him and sighed. Things had always been so good between them. She hated that things had become like that, so she had decided to just let it go. It wasn't her business anyway, whatever was going on between them, nor what may have happened in the past. What mattered was her relationship with Simon in the present.

Dalia curled into a ball and sighed into her pillow as she recalled her first meeting with Mikaal, as well as her last. Although he had the kind of character she wasn't sure she should fully trust, there was just something about him... She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly, but she felt drawn to him. She couldn't help wondering when she might bump into him again.

Beep Beep. Still sluggish from last night's unsettling dinner and from these unbidden thoughts of troublesome men, Dalia twisted around again, wondering who would be texting her at this early hour. A minute or so later, her phone beeped again, reminding her that she hadn't read the text.

"Hey Siri, read my new messages." Dalia loved her trusty voice assistant, built into her iPhone, especially in moments like these.

"Sure, I'll be happy to do that. You'll need to unlock your iPhone first."

Dalia rummaged through her quilt covers in search of her phone again, placing her thumb on the circle button that had been set up to recognise her fingerprint.

"You have a message from Simon. It says, 'Hey Dalia, are you coming to maths today? Heard he's going through past exam papers.' Would you like to reply?"

'Speak of the devil...' Dalia thought. "Yes."

"What would you like to say to Simon?"

"Hey yes heading to uni soon."

"Ready to send it?"

"Yes."

As her phone made its usual sound when a text was successfully cast off, she thought she should check the time again—discovering somehow, an hour had passed, leaving her only thirty minutes to get ready and leave the house!

She threw off her covers, quickly ran into the shower, then pulled on the first pair of clean clothes she could find, before grabbing a tub of yoghurt in the fridge to have on the run.

---

Hey guys

Phew, this scene was a tough one to get out! I'm exhausted, I gotta be honest, from a long day, but as promised, (just in the nick of time - my time at least), there it was, for your reading pleasure.

Thanks so much for you input, votes, feedback - keep them coming! They mean a lot and they help new readers find me.

-Noelle

P.S. Are you also a Siri fan? What crazy things have you used Siri for?