Mikaal

14: Mikaal

It was Friday, the last day of Study Week - the last study date with Mikaal...

Dalia had almost sent Mikaal a message to cancel both their Thursday and Friday meet-ups after her chat with Meagan, but she hated breaking promises. If she made a commitment to do something, or to meet someone somewhere, it was very rare that she would cancel on them unless an extremely dire circumstance came up. Even if she wasn't feeling one hundred percent, she would still show up. The number of times she had believed a catch-up was happening and would rock up, only to learn the other party had assumed nothing was confirmed because they had only had one conversation about it, were too many to count.

In light of these values, Dalia had instead decided she would complete her 'commitment' of the remaining two study dates, but would make excuses about being busy exam week and thereafter should Mikaal suggest they meet again - she hated the thought of lying, but technically, she was going to be 'busy' having dinner with Simon in the exam period...

She felt nervous nonetheless about it, as if afraid her tongue may betray her in the moment, when facing his playful green eyes, when needing to battle against his confident, smooth voice... So she had rehearsed what she would say, writing down some key points she would bring up to turn down any further advances in their relationship.

Was it crazy to go to all this effort over an event that may not even happen? 'Better safe than sorry,' her head rather concurred. It may almost seem like an oxymoron, but while she loved surprises and change, at the same time, she liked to be prepared for all possibilities.

It was around noon that Dalia had gotten on the train into the city. Mikaal had suggested another change of scene, studying at the State Library following lunch. The library was located in the heart of Perth City, where parking was an absolute nightmare. Trying to find parking in the city was one of Dalia's pet hates - just the mere thought of driving in often caused her to feel anxious, so she had decided to brave the public transport system and catch the train in. Some of the train lines in Perth were known to attract 'suspect' characters - reports of brawls and disturbances at night often in the evening news - and although Dalia's parents lived in a fairly peaceful suburb, the nearest station unfortunately was part of the line that was known to be among the 'worst'. Nonetheless, during the day, it was fairly safe - Perth as a whole was a very small, quiet, and laid back city.

Dalia stepped off the platform onto the escalator that lead her up to the exits out of Perth City Train Station. On her way out, she tapped her SmartRider - a white, credit-card sized piece of plastic that could be topped-up with cash for 'tagging' on and off busses and trains, with the added bonus of being heavily discounted for students. The grey, metal gates blocked by a green barrier thereafter allowed her to pass. She was feeling more confident about what she may need to say to Mikaal after her internal pep talk during the 15 minute train ride.

But then she saw him, his handsomeness like a slap in the face. His tall frame stood in a casual way in front of the small bakery that greeted her, and he wore a brown, ribbed, long sleeved top with three buttons at the collar, one button left undone - the colour set off his green eyes, which now danced in amusement.

'Oh God, please no,' she thought, concerned his amusement resulted from being able to read her gapping expression, as she fought the feeling of strong attraction at the sight of him. With a deep intake of breath, she approached him, while she reminded herself of Meagan's words, warning her that she didn't know him enough to really trust him.

"Hey there," Mikaal had said through flashing white teeth, the words easily rolling off his tongue.

"Hey," she had replied, so full of eloquence that day.

"Hungry?"

She nodded, before she followed him to a kebab joint for a quick - albeit incredibly messy - bite to eat before they took the leisurely walk to the five storey, greyish-beige building where they would be studying the rest of the day.