Mikaal

27: Mikaal

Dalia pressed her lips together to keep from laughing out loud at the recollection of the expression on Mikaal's face at the conclusion of their hiking adventure. As she sat on the wooden chair and waited for Simon at San Churro Chocolateria, although a week had passed, the memory of Mikaal carrying her and what had eventuated was still vivid in her mind.

"You can put me down now if it's too hard," she had told him after noticing his strides had become smaller and his breathing had become more laboured. "I'm sure I've gained a couple of kilos after that big lunch."

But oh no, he had to play the macho act.

"I'm fine," he had said in a gruff tone, but as they approached another incline in the route that had deceivingly looked flat from a distance, she could hear him wheezing, struggling to catch his breath - reluctantly, he had placed her back down on her own two feet.

Not being able to resist, she had said, "Muscles not as big as you thought?"

Mikaal's face had been priceless - she kicked herself now for not having whipped out her iPhone to capture his expression - Mr Tease with no retort!

Even when she had tried to soften the blow to his ego by saying, "I'm just playing. Honestly, I can't thank you enough for everything." Still, he had mumbled something inaudible under his breath, his expression wounded.

Mikaal had still offered to drive her home, but the rest he had given her ankle had meant her left foot was not completely disabled, so Dalia had insisted she would be fine. She did slightly regret that decision later each time she pressed her foot on the clutch of her manual car - the jabs of pain persisting - but she had troubled them both enough. In fact, Mikaal had been resolute about following her home just in case - she didn't have the heart to ask any more of him.

Dalia had driven home ever so slowly - a great contrast to her habit of slamming down the pedal while jerking the gear stick from first, second, through to fourth with swiftness to propel her baby forward in that initial acceleration up to the speed limit. But she drove like a grandma that afternoon - Simon would have been proud.

"Hey, hope you haven't been waiting too long. My bus was delayed," Simon said apologetically, interrupting Dalia's thoughts as he pulled out the deep-brown chair in front of the square wooden table she had saved for them. It was around lunch time, so it hadn't been difficult to find them a seat - the dessert themed cafe was usually much more packed in the evenings.

"Nah, it gave me time to decide what to get," Dalia said. "Tell me what you want," she added, an idea forming in her head as the words left her mouth. "It's my treat this time."

"No, no. I wanted to treat you today."

"But you paid last time," Dalia said, keeping her tone casual.

She was testing him. Up until now, he still hadn't been direct about whether or not he liked her 'more than a friend'. It occurred to her that maybe it was a 'shy guy' thing - and yet, he wasn't exactly a shy guy. He wasn't the quiet type - he was usually very friendly and jovial to both new and old acquaintances. But she supposed he could be shy when it came to showing his interest in a girl?

She had hoped that if she spent more time with him, it would give him more chances to say something - they'd seen the movie together; they'd had that picnic in the park...

"Okay," Simon finally said in response, pulling out and perusing the menu.

Dalia internally grumbled, the situation beginning to irritate her. Why couldn't he be more upfront like Mikaal? And yet, could it all just be in her head? Or rather, could it all have been in Meagan's head, who she should now blame for making her start to look too much into things?