I rubbed my hands together to reduce the numbness in my fingers before pushing the door to the café open. I wasn't surprised to see Natasha clearing up the counter. The place was mostly empty except for some guy who was hastily typing on his laptop.
I walked into the cafe and closed the door behind me. The warm atmosphere of the café felt even more welcoming. I made my way to the counter and snapped my fingers to get Natasha's attention.
She looked up at me and almost immediately, a small smile formed on her lips.
"I'm so happy you're here". She said as she dropped the napkin she was using to wipe the counter on the table, before walking towards me.
"How long has he been there?" I asked her quietly once she was next to me.
She sighed. "Even I don't remember. He just ordered a cappuccino and has been on his computer ever since".
"So are you on your break now or do you still have something to do?" I asked.
"No. The only thing I've been doing is wiping this countertop for the past like, 20 minutes. Do you need anything?" She asked as she glanced at the counter.
"No. I just wanted to talk to you", I said. My voice probably sounded a lot lower than I anticipated it to be, "can we like, sit down?"
"Oh sure, sit". She said as we both settled down at the nearest seat. I noticed her expression had softened a bit, maybe with a hint of worrying.
"What happened? Is everything okay?" She asked, a bit softly, so as not to grab the attention of the guy seated a few seats away from us.
"Even I don't know. The thing is, I'm just...tired". I said with a sigh.
"Tired of what?"
"Everything. The thing is, there's this guy, well, my coursemate. She's like my friend and we study together. She has an older brother and one day he's in town and comes to pick her up".
"Hmm".
"Mind you, I've never seen her brother, and when I do meet him, he looks oddly familiar ".
"Like?"
"Like the guy who helped me save Kareem".
"Oh, oh?"
"Exactly. But he's...weird".
"How so?" She asked, suddenly moving closer to the table, wanting to hear more of the story.
"He was always trying to start a conversation with even though I always made it clear that I wasn't interested", I said, lowering my voice as I also inched closer to Natasha. "But then one day, I angrily told him I was married and so, wasn't available for him, but then he said, ' what do you think? That I can't have what I even though you're married?', then he grabbed my wrist and told me he'd get revenge for my rejection, and then pushed me".
"Wait, are you okay?" She asked, still maintaining her quiet tone.
"Yeah, it's just that Kareem doesn't believe that I had no part in it. He thinks that I willingly talk to him. But at least he also doesn't trust him". I said as I placed my chin on my folded hands.
"What I think you should do is avoid him. Like, anytime he tries to come close to you, or make advances at you, just make a silly excuse to escape. Or, if he tries to do what he did before, call the attention of everyone around you". She said, leaning back on the chair a little.
"That's similar to what Kareem said", I said as I sat up straight. "I don't know why he just doesn't believe me when I say that I don't like him and don't like being around him. It's just so annoying. He makes it look like it's all my fault ". I said just as I looked up to see Natasha back at staring at me with a cheeky smile. "What?" I asked. I was sure it was something related to Kareem.
"No, it's nothing", she said as she glanced at the man on his laptop before returning her attention to me. "Well, about you and Kareem..."
"Ugh! I knew that's where you were headed". I said as Natasha signalled for me to lower my voice. I turned to look at the man seated not too far away from us and sure enough, he was still on his laptop.
"Of course it's where I'm headed. My best friend got married almost three months ago and I shouldn't get any updates on her married life?"
I rolled my eyes and sighed. I should have seen this coming. She always asks this ever time we meet up, but now, I feel like I have an answer, not just an excuse.
"But what if her married life isn't going as smoothly as she anticipated?" I said as I rested my chin in-between my palms.
"What do you mean?" She said as she rubbed her eyes for a second. She looked exhausted, almost worn out. Maybe quitting the job put a lot of stress on her.
"He doesn't believe me, and it's kind of-"
"You care about his opinion?" She asked , cutting me short as she rested her head on her right palm, tilting it sideways.
"Yeah, and ?"
"Why should you be caring about his opinion in a marriage were there's no love?"
"I don't know, because it matters to me?" I said and the more I thought about my reply, the more I felt like I was slowly getting to an answer I'd been trying to figure out for so long. Do I love him?
"And why does it matter to you?" She said as she stared back at me with a curved lip.
"Because... I don't know?" I said once I gave up trying to find and answer. It felt so hard yet so obvious.
"Because you love him, " she said as she moved closer to me. " How haven't you realized this yet?"
I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it back soon after. I didn't want to accept it, but I knew she was right. I did love Kareem. And accepting it made me feel a lot lighter.
"You see what I mean? You have feelings for him", Natasha said as her lips curved up into a slight smirk. "Oooh, I'm so excited! I can't wait for you to finally start telling me about your little love life". She squealed.
"Ahmm". I said as I gestured towards the guy seated not too far away from us. I watched as he closed his laptop before slipping it into his laptop bag.
"I guess I have to get going". She said as she got up from her seat. I watched as she closed the door behind the man.
"Guess I also have to get going". I said as I got up.
"You know you still have a lot to tell me right?" She said as she turned to face me.
"I know. Bye". I said as I made my way towards the door.
"Bye ". She said as she waved at me before opening the door for me to leave. I checked the time on my watch once I was outside, the cold rushing past me as she closed the door. ' It's pretty late. Kareem would probably be waiting for me, but what if he's upset that I took so long'. I thought to myself as I began making my way home. I wasn't too far away from the café when I felt someone's grap my arm and pull me into an alleyway . I tried wriggling through the person's grip, but when I turned to look, I realized who the person was...