"Good evening, Father," Talik said, welcoming his dad back from work.
Therman nodded his acknowledgment as one of the workers rushed into the sitting room and collected the briefcase that Therman had been holding. He walked deeper into the sitting room, looked around his wife, and took a seat on the single sofa that was beside the three-seater that Lenecia and her desserts occupied.
Talik turned around, ignoring the questions that his mother had asked him. He knew that she was far from concerned and only wanted to frustrate his evening -- and Talik wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.
"I'm heading out, Father," he said as he walked away.
"This boy has grown to be disrespectful, Therman!" Lenecia yelled, her voice dripping with annoyance. "After all that we've-"
"Today was a stressful day, Lenecia," Therman said, loosening his tie a little. On a normal day, he'd have gone straight o his bedroom but he was particularly tired that day -- and the tiredness he felt was not only physical but mental as well as lots of things weighed heavily on his mind.
"I can't have you complaining in my ears right now..." Therman said.
"So my talking to you is tagged complaining now, right?"
"What does what you're doing sound like to you?" Therman asked with a frown evident on his face.
"I'm telling you that Talik disrespects me and-"
"Perhaps you're disturbing him so much...He's not a child anymore..." Therman stated. "Give him some breathing space."
"Breathing space to do what?" Lenecia asked with a sarcastic burst of laughter coming out of her mouth.
"If we didn't help him out of that orphanage all those years ago... will he be thinking of the luxury of having the so-called breathing space you're talking about?"
Therman glared at Lenecia and wondered how she could be senseless sometimes. There were times he thought about what she used to think -- either her brain or her asshole. He sighed and called the chef.
When the chef came into the sitting room and greeted the boss, Therman said; "Serve me my dinner in my room."
After that, he stood up and left her to binge on her sweets.
'That was the only thing she does anyway,' Therman thought as he ignored her ongoing ramblings which sounded muffled to him as he wasn't paying attention any longer.
* * *
So as Talik approached the place that was pinned on the map -- he was about two minutes away -- he dialed Hanita's number.
"I'm close to you, " Talik said.
"Oh... cool," came Hanita's response. "I'll be right down. Are you driving?"
"Yeah..."
"Okay...Just park your car in front of the gate then..."
Talik did as he was told. He turned off his engine and intertwined his fingers waiting for Hanita. Talik's gaze went out of the window and to the sky above. It had a warm orange glow to it and he knew that the sunset that would show in a few minutes would be a beautiful one. He looked at the house that was to his right and thought about how nice it looked. It didn't look so big and Talik wondered how many people lived in the house --how many siblings Hanita had and if her parents were still both alive. These were questions that he made a mental note to ask Hanita when they went out. He was elated about getting to know her more but at the same time, worried about what must have made her cry over the phone.
The sound of the gate opening brought Talik out of his daydreaming and he smiled upon seeing Hanita Hills. Talik stepped out of his car and walked toward her in long strides.
"Hmm..." Hanita said with a little smile of hers on her face. "You look so casual and cool, Talik..."
"Okay...a compliment coming from you means the world," he replied, blushing a little. "Thanks..." he said as he walked to the side of the car that she'd enter through and opened the door for her.
Just before Hanita got in, she looked towards her house and a sad expression crossed her face.
Talik's keen and observant gaze didn't miss that but he didn't say anything about it. He got into the car and started the engine.
"Where are we going?"
"Do you have anywhere in mind?" Talik asked. "Is there somewhere you wanna go?"
"Nope... Take me somewhere nice, "Hanita said.
Talik nodded. "I'm at your service, Hanita."
About twenty-five minutes later, they arrived at a place that looked like a park from the outside. It was already 8 pm and the lights of the place were all turned on, giving it a beautiful look. There were lights everywhere and the day being a Tuesday made the place peaceful as it wasn't crowded by people.
Hanita kept staring as Talik drove into the car park and got her door for her.
"Come on," he said in a gentle voice.
They walked side by side until they got to the gate of the place which had a door that was ticketed. The person manning the tickets greeted them pleasantly and told them the price for entering into the park.
"Do they have meals here?" Hanita sked. "I'm starving..."
"We have all that you might want to eat..." the park worker said. "A wide range of food."
Hanita nodded and Talik thanked the man after collecting his credit card and the tickets.
"What would you like to eat?" Talik asked.
However, Hanita saw an elaborate merry-go-round and she tried her best to contain her excitement. "Let's try that first! I'll eat later," she said with her eyes wide with excitement.
"Um..." Talik hummed. He seemed unsure about what Hanita had just said. "You'll have to..." he trailed off and remained silent.
"What?" Hanita asked as she peeled her eyes off the game and glared at Talik. She burst into a peal of laughter and threw her head backward.
"Don't tell me...Don't tell me that you're scared, Talik..."
The sound of Hanita's laughter was all that it took to make Talik's heart swell.