The Grim Reaper
To him, the climate wasn't very appealing, it wasn't cool as he expected but he loved the city and its culture. The history and the development from the ashes impressed him. He jogged around the park and enjoyed the view as he exercised. It was the fifth lap and he was sweating like a pig. And regretted wearing layers of clothes. After calling off the engagement, he decided on taking a few time off from work and flying abroad to relax and change the mood. He has been concentrating more on the bodybuilding and diet for no pretty much good reasons to keep himself busy. For the past three rounds, he has been noticing this girl standing on the edge of the rocky end silently. It made him think she was about to commit some mistake as he watched her every time he passed. But he stopped jogging this time walked towards her slowly.
Her curls flying in the hair, a slim body and sleek legs were visible in the dim lights clearly through her clothes. She looked like a very healthy and a neat person from the way she has dressed as he watched her from behind. Her skin fit dark colored jeans and the satin white blouse and cut shoes with pointed heels. 'Really dangerous to stand on the edge with such a shoe on the feet,' he thought.
He stood behind her, and asked slowly "Are you planning on jumping in?" but that became a very grave mistake. She got shocked and scared hearing a stranger behind her. In the attempt of turning to face him, she stepped aside and slipped her legs, falling deep into the waters. Before he could hold onto her hand, she fell on her back and he missed her. He saw her face. The fear in the teary eyes. The slim face yet with a little chubby cheek, her dusky skin, flawless. 'She was crying' he understood. 'What was she thinking, clearly it didn't look like she was going to jump at all from the look in her face,' he spoke to himself inside his head. He took off his jacket, hoodies, and his shoes. With his shirt and tracksuit on he jumped straight into the water following her. He swam and pulled her up holding around her waist strongly and rose up to the surface of the water both breathing heavily as they got up. She rubbed her face and held tight on his arms.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked. "Can you breathe? Can you see me? Do you feel dizzy or anything?" he sounded too concerned. And she nodded to his questions. "Oh thank god," he gasped. "I am so sorry I really didn't mean to scare you," he apologized for startling her.
"I am fine," she answered after a few seconds as they stayed in the water looking at each other. 'Why does this person has a British accent?' She thought and didn't let go of him at all, scared, she was hydrophobic. She hates getting into the water and now she fell into it, and it has triggered her fear. He felt her shivering. "Help me, am hydrophobic," she managed to tell him. He understood and instantly began to swim towards the rocks. He lifted her and helped her climb and she laid down there unable to move. He knelt down as water dripped from their bodies.
"Are you okay? Should I call for help?" he began to get up. But soon she stopped, took his hands and sat up. She cried.
"No don't call anyone. Am ok." Destiny assured him.
"Okay," he said not sure what to do and hugged her. He tried to console a stranger. And she cried a lot, her face buried in his chest for a long time. 'She must have had a hard day' he thought as he patted her shoulders. Suddenly she pulled back, coming back to her senses. He then smiled and took his jacket to put it over her shoulders. And he helped her stand up.
"Can you walk?" he asked her. She nodded. She was uncomfortable with the wet clothes. They walked slowly back to the park and he bought her a cup of hot chocolate from one of the stalls.
"Warm up," he said. it was the first time she saw his face clearly and her heart skipped a beat. They sat there sipping on their drinks.
"Thanks," she paused expecting him to say his name.
"Lay, its Lay" he said his name.
"Thank you so much Mr. Lay, and am sorry too I was not thinking properly and being careless," she said embarrassed.
"Hey, that's fine. Even I shouldn't have scared the hell outta you. You were right?"
"Yes, well yeah, I," she said smiling and looking away sipping on her hot chocolate.
"What's your name?" he asked when she had no plans of telling him.
"Destiny."
"Cool. I haven't heard that before,"
"Me either," and they laughed. He knew she was feeling so uncomfortable with the wet clothes.
"If you can walk a bit more we will make it to the souq nearby and you will be able to change into comfy clothes." He offered his idea. And she got up. Willing to carry on his idea, since she really wanted to change this revealing dress situation.
"Don't go back on your word gentleman,"
"I won't," he laughed and got up walking with her. "I am least enjoying the water scenario too."
They walked and walked and reached only the parking lot. Awkwardly they looked at each other smiling uneasily. "Maybe we should take the car?" he slowly suggested.
"Oh yes, please! My legs are hurting already," she said straight. 'Oh my god! What the heck am I doing getting in a car with a stranger who is awfully hot?!' she thought.
They got into the car and drove away to the nearby Souq Waqif. A market where everything is available that has a rich traditional restaurants of various nations set up. From pets to clothes to spices to food, everything they have it there. The large area of town set up preserving the heritage and culture of Qatar. He parked his car underground level 2 and they climbed upstairs. She pretended to be okay and took breaths trying to stop panting whenever he wasn't looking. 'God I should do something about my body and work out a bit. Can't even walk a bit' she muttered under her breath. 'How is he alright? Probably a gym guy for sure. I mean look at those muscles in those arms,' she thought observing him as if she isn't at all. 'Oh god Kim, you have influenced me a lot it looks like' she cursed.
"You know the way?" he asked her interrupting her thought.
"Yes," she said.
"Please lead the way then, I don't wish us both getting lost because of me," he said. She smiled and walked taking the right routes to the market. As they passed through each part of the market, he was surprised to see them all and admire them as they walked.
"The restaurants set up here looks so great," he told her.
"The food is great too, that Syrian restaurant up there with the balcony view is the top one here," she gave him a piece of new information. "Come this way," and they entered the wholesale cloth street in the Souq.
"So for how long have you been here?" he asked her.
"A year and a half," she replied
"Cool."
"What about you?" she asked him back.
"A week!"
"Tourist?"
"Not really," he said and stopped as they approached a shop that was better of the lot, which had readymade clothes for both men and women along with running materials. Most wear winter wears and that was not what they wanted in the summer.
"That's good, that one," he opinioned as she chose a t-shirt that had a Minnie mouse print on it. "It's the only simple looking one here."
"That's couple t-shirts ma'am, it has a male t-shirt too," the merchant said and showed the male's t-shirt that had Mickey print on. "Here, try it,"
"That's funny," Destiny laughed loud and stopped all of a sudden looking at his reaction. "Am sorry."
And he began laughing hard. "Well, how does it look?" he asked keeping it on him.
She laughed unable to stop looking at his reaction and said "We better change before we catch cold." and she purchased them and they walked over around searching for the restroom. Soon they both changed and carried their wet clothes along with them. Since it was his first time, she showed him around the whole place and took him to the pet market, where they spent some time with cats and parrots playing with them and holding them taking pictures. They had no idea about each yet had so much fun together laughing and looking around. She then led the way to the mini art gallery inside the souq, and he fell in love with the interior.
"This is so amazing," he told her. "I should have come early but yes then I wouldn't have met you and we wouldn't have had fun." And for that, she had no clue what to say back. She smiled 'he is good' and remained silent while he looked at her. He knew she was purposefully keeping quiet. 'Interesting and mysterious' he thought since she wasn't spilling or disclosing any of her personal mateer
She then took him to the perfume section. The air smelled the mixture of many scents they couldn't pick up which. They tried on a few decent ones and came across some really strong and bad ones too.
"We better leave or the olfactory nerves of ours are gonna be in trouble," she suggested and he listened to her. They exited that section came to the walkway. It was crowded though it was almost 11.
"Oh my god! Bumblebee is out!" she stopped all of a sudden, looking at posters of Nova Cinemas.
"You like these kinds of movies?" he asked her in surprise. Most women he knew usually never liked such kind.
"Are you kidding me, I love them. Basically, I watch everything except horror. I can't watch them without screaming or closing my eyes," she said as they began to walk towards the food street.
"Am hungry let's grab something to eat," he said very casually and walked towards a Turkish restaurant.
'Am I also gonna eat together with this guy.' She thought inside her head. It was too fast that she couldn't decide and decline.
"Come," he urged her.
'But he does have a taste, Turkish. One of my favorite cuisines. They took a table outside the restaurant for two and waited for a couple of minutes for the waitress to take the orders. She ordered a whole barbeque for both and homos.
"Homos is like a must here," she told him while he ordered for a large mixed grill.
"What about drinks sir, ma'am?" the pretty waitress asked with disappointment the moment she caught us both wearing a similar dress. Destiny wanted to laugh out loud but she controlled.
"Sprite," they both said together. And the waitress left.
"I never usually drink these carbonated drinks, but since it's a heavy meal anyway, so why not," he explained.
"I usually have them when I have these kinda foods of course. But only sprite. No coke no Pepsi no other colored drinks."
For a few minutes, they shared a comfortable silence looking at the place around them and different people passing by. Half looked like they were on a date while the other half was enjoying a good time with family and friends.
'Why is it so crowded?' she wondered. 'Oh god it's weekend did I even lose the track of days.' She was beginning to dread going back for work tomorrow.
"So do you like living here?" he asked.
"A lot. It's becoming my home. You? What about you? Just looking around the place?"
"No no. Well actually, my family and I, we live in London. My best friend and I went to college together in Cambridge, he is a native here, so I come here very often and spend time. I invested a few in his business here and also handling stuff back in the home. Dad's business, developing them further. I usually come here to relax," he gave her the whole information.
"Wow. That's great." She really was surprised to hear out everything.
"Yeah, that's me. Hey, I just wanted to tell you this. You speak pretty good English for an Indian, how is it so? You graduated from any other place?"
'Oh, so he understood that am an Indian' she thought and then told him, "Of course not. I'm from a really small town. Well more like a rural area. I graduated from there.
"Impressive, really!" he said. The food arrived and they didn't remember nor think of anything else digging into it.
"Really hungry aren't you?" she asked him.
"Yeah, I was literally starving but pretending I was cool,"
"You shouldn't have, I was starving myself. It's good we are eating," she told him while eating her fill.
"You look like you eat well,"
"I do, people mistake me often, but I can eat a lot," she laughed.
"I honestly don't see girls eating much at all,"
"You got to see one now,"
"Yeah, I will remember that," he laughed. They took around half an hour to complete everything on the table and sat tiredly as if they just completed a race.
"Regret?" he asked her he regretting himself to have eaten tons of calories together. His fitness for the past month has gone waste. And he chuckled at this very thought of it.
"A lot. But this is the usual one," she said eating her last piece of chicken and sipping on her drink. The crowd around the place were still the same. She went to the washroom inside the restaurant and he paid the bill on the meanwhile and waited for her. He took their carry bags and walked as she reached and caught up with him.
"You are cruel, you shouldn't have done that," she said
"What?" he was surprised not exactly getting what she was upset about.
"You didn't let me pay at least the half, I ate a lot man," and he laughed.
"Forget that, it's my treat for showing me around."
"HAHA," she fake laughed.
"Seriously you got us clothes, so consider this a payback, I don't wanna owe anyone," he said straight. She smiled and kept silent. They walked towards the parking lot. "Hey wait," he said. "Do you have anything to do tomorrow?"
She stood there wondering what he was talking about. "I will take that has nothing," he said and took her hands. She was shocked by his action. But he didn't notice them and ran. They ran towards the theatre. 'What?' she thought.
"I watch a movie every day when I come here, I like the atmosphere of the movie theatres here and I haven't watched Bumblebee that I have been meaning to watch and I don't wish to watch it alone again," he explained in a single breath so that she doesn't misunderstand.
"Relax," she told him looking him wondering whether she should go or not.
"I am not letting you go even if you say no, you know,"
"I know I owe you a dinner," she couldn't help laughing.
"Will that count in this?" he was trying to hide his smile, his hands correcting his hair, not meeting her eyes.
"What? Excuse me. Lay my knife loves hurting people if you want them," she told him sharp but confused. He was dumbfounded.