chapter 11

Chapter 11MishalMichelle? Who on earth was she now? Why did he call me by that name? Also, I wasn’t surprised at how quick he was at changing the instant messaging platform. He didn’t take a minute to switch from Instagram to WhatsApp. Mishal: Michelle? Who’s she?Daniel: Your name reminds me of Michelle, Mishal. She was one of my class fellows in school. I had a huge crush on her. Mishal: Was she your girlfriend?Daniel: Lol. Nope, I wasn’t that lucky. She was just a crush.Mishal: I see… Hmm…Daniel: What are you thinkin’ about? Mishal: Nothing much. Daniel: Nothing? Or much? ;) Mishal: Hahaha. You are so clever! Daniel: You’ve said that twice now ☹Mishal: Really? I didn’t know you were keeping a count on how many times I said what I said. Daniel: I wish you’d rather notice how ardently I listened to whatever you said ;)Mishal: Lol Daniel: Chicken Parmigiana was really amazin’ btw. You’re an ace cook.  Mishal: You have already praised me enough, Daniel.Daniel: I can’t help it. I’m sorry ☺Mishal: I can sense there’s something else behind this flattery. Daniel: Yep, of course, there is. Mishal: What?Daniel: I’m givin’ away flattering comments because I want you to make something else for me. Mishal: What for?Daniel: Just like that? Mishal: Lol, I’m not going to make anything for free now. If you really liked the taste of my food, then you should officially order it from my home-based food business page. Support small businesses ☺Daniel: Sure, I’d love to. Where do I order food from your online restaurant? Mishal: Do you have the Foodpanda app on your phone? Daniel: Nope, should I download it?Mishal: Yes. Once you download the app, you can look for my home-based restaurant on it. The name is Mishi’s Kitchen. Daniel: Sounds cute. Mishi’s Kitchen. Is Mishi your nickname?Mishal: Yes, but you cannot get to call me by that name.Daniel: Why? Mishal: Because only my family members and friends can call me by that name.Daniel: Aren’t we friends?Mishal: No way. We’re not. Daniel: But aren’t we neighbors? Mishal: Neighbours are not an exception, I’m sorry :PDaniel: That’s disappointing.Mishal: You have so many other names to call me. Mate, neighbor, and Mitchelle. Remember? So you better choose one of them.Daniel: Nah, I’m gonna call you by all the names I like for you ;)Mishal: Lol. Whatever. I’m gonna sleep now. Talk to you later. Daniel: Goodnight, Mishhhhh….elle ☺Mishal: :DDaniel: Cheers ☺***The following day, I went into the kitchen to prepare the orders I’d received from customers. Meanwhile, I received a call from Sana, and she told me she was coming over. Because I wanted to spend time with her as much as possible, I decided to wrap up my work sooner. While I was preparing the meals, someone rang the doorbell. I called out to Amma to answer the door. I heard her footsteps as she walked down the hallway and answered the door. A few seconds passed, and I heard Amma conversing with someone in an inaudible voice. Becoming slightly concerned, I went out to check on her. To my surprise, I found Amma having a little chit-chat with Daniel at the front door. What was he doing here? As soon as his eyes met with mine, he stopped talking midway and grew silent. In the next instant, a mischievous smile crossed his face. Amma turned around to look at me standing behind her. ‘Mishi, look who’s here.’ Amma gestured for me to join her. I did as she said. ‘Hey, mate.’ He gave me a long look with a huge grin on his face. ‘Hi,’ I said with a small wave, shifting my gaze between Amma and him. ‘What’s up?’‘Daniyal came here to return our crockery.’ Amma looked at the plates in her hands.‘Oh, right,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you invite him into the house, Mishi?’ Amma asked, walking away into the lounge and leaving us at the front door. ‘Umm…’ He cut me before I could say anything. ‘It’s okay. I can visit sometime later.’‘Sure,’ I said abruptly. ‘Come and have lunch with us.’ Amma called out from the kitchen as she put the plates on the countertop. Daniel stared at me as if he was waiting for my approval on that. ‘Amma, he’s busy. He has to run some errands. He says he will join us later,’ I quickly added, making up some story on his behalf so he could leave as soon as possible. ‘What?’ He whispered in surprise. ‘I’m not busy!’‘Yes, you are. Why don’t you just leave right now?’ I scowled at him. His face softened. ‘Do you really want me to leave?’‘Yes. We can chat later. Now go.’ I was about to close the door on his face, but he held the door, preventing me from closing it. ‘First, you need to promise something?’ ‘What?’‘Promise me we’re gonna chat later in the evening, at the terrace.’‘What? No?’ I turned around to check on Amma, but she was nowhere in sight, and then I looked back at him. ‘I can’t.’‘Then I think I need to accept your Mum’s lunch offer.’ He attempted to get through the door, but I stood in the way.‘Daniel, no, you can’t.’‘Of course, I can.’ He grinned. ‘I’m her best friend’s son. I can come here whenever I want.’‘Nobody invited you.’‘She did.’‘But I didn’t. So leave.’ I tried to shove the door, but his grip was stronger than I’d imagined. Did he really find this situation amusing? ‘Do you promise or not?’ he insisted again. ‘Daniel, I’m busy in the evening. My friend’s coming over. I can’t promise anything.’‘How about late at night then?’ he suggested. ‘Tch. Okay, fine. I’ll come.’‘Deal?’‘Yes, deal. Now go, please!’ I pleaded to him by folding my hands. He smirked. ‘Cheers.’ I set the door free the second he left and sighed with relief. What made him so much interested in me, after all? Why was he after me and not Anna?DanielIt was impossible to stay locked in my room all day, so I had no option but to go downstairs and roam around the house to keep myself distracted. After getting vaccinated, Mum did not experience any side effects, which was a good sign. However, Khalid’s condition worsened after getting the shot. Apparently, he had a high fever and body ache post getting the vaccination. The doctor had advised him to take bed rest for two days. I couldn’t care less for him, but I did for Mum. She seemed pretty worried for him. When I found her sitting all by herself in the lounge, in what seemed like an emotional state, I went to sit down next to her. ‘Hey, Mum.’ I held her hand. ‘He’s gonna be fine.’She put her free hand on top of mine and looked at me. ‘I hope so.’I allowed her to rest her head on my shoulders, and she leaned on to me slowly. ‘That’s the reason I’m highly against getting the Covid shot. It doesn’t come with any guarantee. Who knows if you’re gonna see the next sunrise?’ She chuckled at my thoughts. ‘Where did you learn to talk like that? How have you become so philosophical?’‘Life, Mum.’ I told her. ‘Life has taught me so much.’She firmly held my hand in hers. ‘What has life taught you?’I thought hard before answering that question. ‘I learned that sometimes things don’t always turn out the way we planned or the way we think they should. Some things go wrong, and they can’t be fixed or go back to where they were before no matter what we do. It is better to accept what it is and move on. Some broken things stay broken, and I have learned that you cannot do anything to fix them.’Mum lifted her head off my shoulder to look at me. I added, looking back into her eyes. ‘And, I have learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for good ones, as long as you have people around who love you.’ ‘I love you, and you will always have my back no matter how good or bad times are. I hope you know that?’ she said, tears forming in her eyes. ‘I love you too, Mum. And I hope you know that.’She smiled through her tears and went back to resting her head on my shoulder. ***After having a rather emotional discussion with Mum about life, I headed back to my room. Though she insisted I have dinner with my step-siblings instead of taking it to my room, I made an excuse by telling her I had to finish meeting the deadlines for a project. I was hungry, but I did not want to sit and eat with the rest of the family. I’d rather eat later when they dispersed into their rooms. Their presence annoyed me. I was sure they felt the same about me. So I tried my best to maintain distance from them as much as possible. I fixed my hair as I stood before the dresser and texted Mishal to check on her. Are ya free? When I did not receive a reply from her in the next five minutes or so, I decided to step out onto the terrace and look for her at her side of the terrace. She wasn’t there, much to my dismay. I fished the phone out of my pocket and sent her another text. I’m on the terrace. Waitin’ for ya. I walked back and forth on the terrace, hoping for her to appear at any minute now. A few more minutes passed, but there were no signs of her. Was she okay? I became concerned because I knew she wouldn’t ignore me for any reason. I did not give her any reason for doing that. Then I thought, what if she lied to me when I persuaded her to meet me at the terrace? What if she said to get rid of me? I ran my fingers through my hair in desperation, not knowing what to think. Perhaps I was thinking too much. She could not ditch the plan unless she was busy somewhere or simply could not make it for some other reason. She could be still spending time with her friend. Whatever her reason was for not turning up, I wanted to know that. I was tempted to give her a phone call, but I stopped myself from doing that. Perhaps she wouldn’t like it if I tried to invade her privacy. I did not ask for her number to annoy the hell out of her. I did not want to break her trust. With a heavy heart, I decided not to bother her again and headed back to my room. Once I came back in, I received a WhatsApp message from her. The rate of my heartbeat increased tenfold as I opened her message. Mishal: I’m sorry, Daniel ☹After reading her message, I was forced to shut my eyes out of fear. Why was she apologizing to me? Was she going to ask me to delete her number and never contact her again? I didn’t want that to happen. Not so fast. We’d just started talking. Or maybe, I was hyper-reacting. Because then, I found her typing another message. Mishal: I couldn’t come to the terrace tonight, as I had promised. My friend is staying over tonight. I heaved a sigh of relief after reading her second message. Daniel: I hope everything is okay at your end that your friend is stayin’ over? Mishal: Yes, yes. Everything’s fine. I asked her to stay over so she could help me prepare tomorrow’s orders. I often her ask to do that when my workload increases :DDaniel: That’s bad, mate. You could have called me for help. Mishal: Really? You? How would you help me?Daniel: I could help you prepare your food. Mishal: Are you good at cooking?Daniel: I’m no expert, to be honest, but I can cook. Try me sometime. Mishal: Will keep that in mind.Daniel: Btw, I hope you realize that you’ve breached our deal and disappointed me by not coming to the terrace tonight. Mishal: I’m aware of that, Daniel. Daniel: So how do you expect to make it up to me?Mishal: Do I have to? :PDaniel: You don’t want to?Mishal: Lol. We will see about that later. Daniel: Fine. Goodnight, mate. Have fun with your friend. Mishal: Aww, are you annoyed?Daniel: Why do you care?Mishal: I don’t. :PDaniel: Great!Mishal: Hahaha. I was only kidding. Daniel: Cheers! I closed the app and tossed my phone on the bed, reeling from the disappointment I had just faced. Did she really not give a fuck about me, or did she pretend to be that way? I couldn’t figure out what were her true feelings towards me. Maybe I was going too far with her. I shouldn’t do that, or I may end up feeling disappointed and heartbroken. I should slow down and see how things unfold between us.Â