In the Interlude

Chapter 33 - The Elephant in the Room

A piercing loud sound startled Aïcha. It took her a moment or two to realise it was the intercom. She wasn't used yet to the noise it made. There was only one person she was expecting. Sofia.

"Who is it?" Aïcha asked anyway, one was never too careful.

"Santa Claus!"

Aïcha chuckled as she buzzed her friend in and waited for her at the door. Sofia, a petite brunette, was a force of nature. Never shying away from speaking her mind and ruffling anyone's feathers if needed. She came in and handed Aïcha a paper bag full of viennoiseries from the bakery.

"Thank you so much for this," she said opening the bag and taking in the fresh smell of the bakery goodies. It revived her appetite and spirit.

"I didn't know what you would fancy this morning, so I brought a little bit of everything."

"You're the best."

"I know."

They hugged each other tightly. Aïcha was already feeling better.

As they sat on the balcony with their croissants, pains au chocolat and pains au raisin sipping on their tea, Sofia asked her friend, eyeing her cautiously. She had sensed something, Aïcha could tell. "So how are you?"

"Better now. I slept for twelve hours straight. I, umm, -"

Silently, Sofia put down her cup of tea and waited for Aïcha to find her words.

"I had some kind of a meltdown yesterday. A fat, loud, ugly one. I was overwhelmed, exhausted." She covered her face with her hands, rubbing her temples in small circles to relieve a pressure she started to feel. "The reparations, the move, being here after all these years. And then it was just doom and gloom." Aïcha sighed loudly as she turned to gaze into the living room. "The memory of Idriss just hit me hard. It has been more than three years, but sometimes, it feels like it all happened three weeks ago."

Aïcha rested her eyes in the palm of her hands. She wiped the silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "But I feel better now. I really do." She smiled tentatively at her friend. "Even if I don't seem like it to you. I guess I just needed to get all of this out of my system."

Sofia, her eyes full of sympathy, took her friend's hands in hers. "I know sweetheart. James and I, we miss him too. You know that you can count on us, right? You should've called yesterday or spent the night at our place, the girls asked after you."

"I promise, once Mia is here, we will come and spend so much time together, you would wish I was still living on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea."

They both laughed as they cleared the table and started tackling the Himalaya of boxes taking all the space in Aïcha's living room.

* * * * *

Not for the first time, Tom wondered what Aïcha was doing. Worried, he had called twice more since he called her yesterday, and her phone was still off. 

And then it hit him.

He realised he had no other way of contacting her. He didn't have her home address, her landline telephone number, didn't know any of her friends. It was like their romance existed in a parallel realm of their own. One that came to life only when they were together. Otherwise, they were truly on two different planets.

Why didn't she call back? Why didn't she send a text? Is she okay? Are we okay? Does she care about me? About us?

The question piled in his head. It wasn't like him to be like this. He hated when women acted this way, asking to be called and texted when the subtext was clearly something else - that they needed more attention, more passion, more presence. They needed more of him. Things he had not been ready to give to anyone in the past.