Mikaal

11: Mikaal

In spite of winter having just arrived, the sun shone brightly outside as Dalia drove into uni that morning, as if rebelling against the season. It was a perfect metaphor for how she felt inside, having accomplished a lot the previous day. Studying different subjects with a partner turned out to be more productive than she had expected. Perhaps it was because she didn't have a reason to interrupt Mikaal when he wasn't studying the same subject, yet his studious presence, hunched over his books, were a motivation to keep ploughing through her own work.

She remembered her first skewed impression of his study 'type' in the lecture theatre the other day, when he didn't seem to bother taking notes, yet she concluded that her assumption of him as one who didn't need to study to do well, was wrong after all. He did appear quite intent about learning the subject, at least in his focus, reading and perusing the scientific text and diagrams in his book, although he did still lack the reams of hand-written notes she had.

Dalia glanced at her Apple Watch, its black display surrounded by a gun-metal grey aluminium bezel, lighting up as she raised her wrist. Her animated Minnie Mouse watch face told her it was almost 12 o'clock, Minnie's yellow, high heeled foot tapping away with each second, while her pretty, red, spotted dress, whose colour Dalia had especially chosen to match the fire-engine red, fluoroelastomer, sports band, swished from side to side in rhythm with Minnie's foot.

Mikaal had some morning commitments but would be joining her soon, first for lunch before they continued their studies into the afternoon. She had decided to get to the library early regardless, so she could wrap up her study of Chemistry and move on to another subject. She'd sent Mikaal a Facebook message when she'd found a spot to settle with her study materials, letting him know where to find her.

"Hey," a male voice said in a hush from behind her, as if on cue, "ready for lunch?"

Dalia turned to meet Mikaal's warm, playful eyes and nodded, then once again, he instinctively began helping her pack her things. As he was about to pick up the potential murder weapon he had previously alluded to - the chemistry textbook that was the weight of bricks - she stopped him, saying, "I'll just bring my iPad. No one would steal that." He waited as she neatened the pile of notes she had just been reading, but when she started to put the stack under her arm with intent to glance over them during lunch, he gestured for her to stop this time.

"If you give your mind a break, it'll be more fresh when we get back."

She contemplated his argument for a brief moment before feeling convinced he was right, so she left the notes in a tidy bundle before following him out of the library.

Although Reid Cafe was the logical place to have lunch, located within the library itself on the ground floor, Mikaal suggested a change of scene, leading her across James Oval to one of the eateries in the Student Guild. She welcomed the change, having always enjoyed injections of variety in her life, too often finding herself getting bored over routine activities. Ironically, they ended up sitting in the same cafe she had dreamt about when she had fallen asleep in the library, which now buzzed with conversation, busy over the lunch hour.

"Hope you like sushi," he said, placing two transparent, rectangular containers in front of them on the round table, each holding eight, neatly cut pieces displaying an array of textures and colours - different shades of green from lettuce and cucumber, orange from thinly cut carrot strips and smoked salmon, and varying tan hues from other types of protein.

Dalia peered closer and noticed the printed logo and business name that read 'Zushi Bento', which indicated to her that what he had brought was not from any of the uni cafes.

"I wasn't sure which of them you'd like, so I got a mix. We can trade for our favourites."

"I love sushi! Especially from Zushi Bento. Yum, thanks heaps."