Chapter 8 VIII

I arrive at the restaurant before anyone else. I am waiting for them at the front while waiting for a table. To my utmost surprise, Ismail walks in. 'I wonder why he is here. I hope he did not follow me. "Why are you here?" I ask. "I thought you said you are not talking to me." "Are you following me?" I say totally ignoring what he said. "Of course not, I am here to eat." "Oh, good for you," I say. He doesn t say anything but shakes his head. "Are you guys ready to take your seat? We have an empty table," the lady from the front desk says. "No, I am waiting for someone," we both reply. "Alright, no problem." A few minutes later Fatima and Udar walk in and they are talking but stop when they see Ismail and me waiting. Do they know each other? I can t remember ever telling Fatima about Udar, maybe she does. "What s going on? Did you guys come together?" Fatima asks while coming to stand beside me. "No, we just happened to be coming to the same restaurant at the same time," I say, putting emphasis on the word 'same. "Oh, that makes sense," Fatima says sitting down next to me in the waiting area. "Do you guys know each other?" I whisper to Fatima, referring to her and Udar. "Yes, we do," she whispers back. "How?" "I will tell you later." Emma arrives a few seconds later with Austin and they are arguing. Do they know each other? I wouldn t be surprised if they do because he is a playboy and Emma has a thing for blond men. "What is going on here?" we all say, looking confused. "Great, it seems everyone is here. I will take you to your table, please follow me," the lady says as she leads us to a table for six. Oh, she must think all six of us are together. "Could you get us a separate table for three, please?" I ask. "I m sorry ma am, this is the only table we have right now unless you want to wait again." "No, it's fine. We will share the table," Ismail says from behind me. We have been sitting down for the past two minutes, and there is this heavy tension in the air. I could understand if it were just Ismail and me, but I don t understand the hostility between the others. Maybe there is something going on between Fatima and Udar I don t know about. And maybe the same goes for Emma and Austin, I don t really know what to think. "Can someone explain to me what is going on between the two of you?" I ask, pointing to Fatima and Udar. "Oh, you don t know my love?" Ismail says smirking. "I am not your love, and what are you talking about?" I snap, wondering what I don t know about them. "Ismail!" Udar says, giving Ismail a stern look that says, 'shut up. "Ismail spill," I demand giving Ismail my full attention. "She was bound to find out anyway. So, my dear lovely lady, your best friend here and Udar almost got married." "You said what!?" I exclaim confused. "Yes, you heard me right. They would have been married, if not for Fatima calling off the wedding." "You almost got married and I didn t know?" I say feeling betrayed and hurt my best friend kept this from me. "I was going to tell you, but I did not know how to. I am sorry," she says sounding sad, while looking sincere. "You did not know how to? Fatima, you almost got married, and I am finding out about it now from someone else," I say feeling a bit angry but trying to understand what is going on. "It was a long time ago, and I did not know you then. But I am sorry I didn t tell you," Fatima replies. "It s fine since we were not friends back then, but we will talk about this later," I say understanding she doesn t want to talk about it in public. "Yes, we will," she says smiling. "I can t believe you brought it up," Udar says hitting Ismail on the arm. "Hey! The lady asked me," Ismail says defending himself. "So, did she force you to talk?" Udar says. "No, she did not, but I wanted to tell her," Ismail says like he did not do anything wrong. "You almost made them fight," Udar says. "They are fine," Ismail answers shrugging his shoulders. "I hate you man," Udar says, not meaning those words. "I love you too, bro," Ismail smirks. "It s fine, Udar, maybe we should talk about something else," I say trying to change the topic. "I could tell you why these two look like they want to tear each other apart," Ismail says dipping his head at Emma and Austin. "I think that s enough about other people s lives," I say not wanting to intrude in Emma and Austin s business. Ismail is about to speak but Emma beats him to it. "No, it's fine. We just used to date," Emma says. "Oh," I say not knowing what else to say. "Yeah," Austin sighs. "Ismail, I think it s only you and I that don t have a relationship history," I say. "Yes, my love," Ismail says smirking. "Don t call me that. I am still angry at you." "Hey, I said I am sorry." "You said sorry when?" I exclaim in disbelief. "At home." "You did not. You only explained why you felt what you did was necessary," I say with my eyebrow raised. "Oh, then I am sorry, my love." "For the last time I am not your love! And I will think about forgiving you," I say already thinking about forgiving him. Because even though Ismail did humiliate me in front of others, I can t stay angry at a person for too long. That s just the way I am. "What do I have to do to make you forgive me, my lady," he says. "Can you stop talking to me like I am your wife?" I say confused as to why he is behaving weirdly. "Because you are," he says with a big grin. "What!!!" Everyone at the table says at the same time. "He is not serious. We are not married. Please Ismail, tell them the truth." "We are not married just yet, but you guys should watch and see," Ismail says smiling. "What are you talking about?" I say utterly confused. "I will tell you later, love. Now, let s order some food," Ismail says, and I just shake my head because I don t know what to say. We all finished eating an hour ago. The girls and I are on our way to the movies. We arrive after a few minutes of driving. I step out of my car and see the last person I want to see tonight, parked beside me. "Are you following me, Ismail? Because I understood the restaurant was a coincidence, but now I am starting to wonder what is going on?" I say crossing my arms over my chest. "We are not following you guys. We are here to watch a movie," Udar says, coming up beside Ismail while Austin parks his car before joining them. "I hope so," I say, walking away to meet the girls at the entrance of the cinema. "I can t believe Ismail and his friends are here too," I tell Fatima and Emma. "I know! I saw them," Fatima says. "I just hope they are not watching the same movie as us." Emma responds. "I pray so too," I say making my way inside the cinema. I join the queue to get our tickets for 'Avengers: End game and Ismail joins the same queue. "That s it! There is no way you can tell me you are a Marvel fan," I say not understanding why he is following me everywhere I go today. "For your information, I am," he says. "Prove it to me." I say not believing him. For the past ten minutes that we have both been standing in the queue, Ismail has proved to me that he is a bigger Marvel fan than I am. "Wow, I didn t think you would have known so much about Marvel movies," I say accepting I am wrong about him. "Neither did I think a lady like you would be into this type of movies." "Really, why would you think that?" "Because most ladies I know, are more into romantic movies." "Just because a few ladies like romantic movies does not make it a general thing." "That s true." "Yes, and I would have you know that my preference in movies is action movies." "Wow, that s interesting." "Yeah," I say smiling. "And thank you for forgiving me," he says with a big smile on his face. I smile back at him not knowing what more to say.