A group of six friends, bound by their friendship. Three boys; Luca, Seth and Omar. Three girls; Ivy, Anna and finally Malaika. Not only were they friends but also everyone was dating everyone. Luca and Ivy, Seth and Anna finally Omar and Malaika.
Opening her arms wide ' Malaika , come in for a hug, I missed you so much,' Ivy Implored as tears of joy cascaded down her cheeks. ' Me too, Mishy began, I even thought you guys had bailed on me.'
'Guurl please, Anna retorted with her soft voice and nasal pronunciation and American accent she had acquired for being in the States for five years. _ You have always been our groups vibe.' Chin held high, cheeks on fire and a wide smile that she was trying so hard to hide she blushed 'Quit flattering me.'
Tension from the earlier fear of abandonment had gone away and now she blended in with her old friends like the old days. 'My tattooed darling,' using her hands 'you've added weight,' smilingly like a blooming flower she remarked. 'Are you body_' 'Have you added any tattoes though?' She interjected Luca. 'You can't woe me with that after body slamming me,' he noted smilingly. 'Who? Me? Body Slam you? Never' she interrogated with a beam of smile on her face.
'Oh my God, look at him and his beards,' swipping her hands down her chin as if she had beards. Winking at him jokingly as she laughed 'Why did you trim them? You were cute back then.' Taking a deep breathe 'It was Anna's Idea,' Seth asserted. Turning to Anna ' Gurl you've got taste, style and fashion oriented, I had a hunch Seth can't reason like that.' 'Did he quit chugging?' She immediately changed the topic. Smilingly Anna nodded in agreement.
'Now to you,' with a soft voice. Her eyes fixated on him 'Omar' she called him. At even intervals of two seconds she mentioned his name thrice. It was as if it was God calling Samuel from his sleep. The slow jam in the pub, it's like it was turned off. The clinking sounds, the chirping of the young and old friends and professionals was blur. It was just the two of them existing. Her eyes, they were midnight blue, heavy with shadow, like a sky long after the stars had gone quiet. Her gaze burning slowly and constantly but capable of catching fire if you leaned in too close. Flickering briefly to the mouth and back to his eyes.
Taking one deep breathe and exhaling loudly through as if she was letting off some steam. Placing her right hand over her chest. Her heart throbbing. 'I – I ummh!' she stammered
'Mishy,' Luca called out with a rising tone. All of them turned to him with bent heads and raised eyes they turned to him except for Malaika who looked him dead in the eyes. Her teeth ' Luuuca ! What!' You're ruining the moment,' she muttered with tightened jaws and clenched fists. Smilingly she turned back to Omar, however, from a distance Luca was shaking and waving at the others. His eyes darting all over. They stared at him with eyes wide open and raised eye brows trying to get what he was saying. Their eyebrows pulled in together once they couldn't understand what he was trying to convey.
'So my one _,' Malaika began and immediately was intercepted by Luca 'Babes , what should I order for you?' Exhaling out loudly with hands over her chest she stared at him in annoyance. 'Gin, vodka, champagne or a margarita,' 'Excuse me waiter ,' he commanded the man over the counter to come over. It was Filly
'You're acting weird, what's wrong Luca?' she implored glancing at him. Lucca rubbing his head and ensuring not to make eye contact with her. Scoffing, he replied without making a sound ' I am not.' She noticed no one was looking at her, her friends were just being weird.
'Anything I should know ? Ivy ! Anna!' she asked.
Ivy turned to Anna, 'Is there anything she should know about ?'
Scoffing 'Like what!' Anna intercepted immediately itching her earlobe.
'For the bride and groom amongst us,' Omar broke the silence and weirdness. Malaika's brightened up like the early morning sun rays, cutting through the fresh leaves. 'Filly, get six glasses of screwdriver, we have to toast to the bride and groom to be amongst us,' excitedly she rambled. 'On it,' he said and walked away hurriedly
'So who is it ? facing Luca her hands criss crossed over her breasts. Shrugging he shaked his head in denial. Slowly she turned back to Seth 'No waay!' she screamed. Just like Luca, seth also declined the allegations. 'Stop fooling around already ?
'It is me,' a smooth, rich, and pleasant sound that is easy to listen to noted. Seth cleared his throat almost at the same time Anna mumbled 'I need water.' The other two just stared with their chins supported with the back of their arms.
' Congratulations! Stretching out her left hand prompting her name. 'Belinda,' the lady said
'Congratulations Be-lin-nda' 'Anyways who is your boyfriend? Tell me about their preferences, style. Or we could just go up to the rooftop and you could see my sample work I bet you'll love it you could appoint me as your event organizer,' she went on and on.
'All that is not necessary, is it Malaika? Belinda asked.
'Malaika it is , but mostly they call me Mishy . you can also call me Mishy,' she accepted her with a friendly tone
Belinda continued 'My fiancé is here.'
'Where is he?' she asked her eyes darting at the nearby tables. She couldn't spot anyone smiling at them as the fiancé. She turned over to the door still no fiancé was approaching them.
'It's me,' the fiancé admitted. Her heart throbbing, her blood boiling up. The saliva in her mouth tasted like the unforgivable sin. Her eyes watery, her heart broken into pieces. The fiancés words irritated her ears. Her world came crumbling down in a second.
'Omar! Fiancé It wasn't a "shattering." Shattering implying a loud, dramatic explosion. This was a tectonic shift—quiet, subterranean, and permanent. The silence didn't just feel empty; it felt predatory, expanding to fill the spaces of his words
She tried to take a breath, but it hitched in her throat, coming out as a jagged, shallow gasp. Her chest didn't just ache; it felt hollowed out like a pumpkin scraped clean by a dull knife
"On the house," Fiily announced from a distance, his voice booming with a forced, hollow cheer as he swung the tray onto the wood. The glasses chimed together—a bright, celebratory sound that felt like a scream in the quiet bar. "To the big news. I heard she said—"
The words died in the back of his throat. Mishy was struggling not to let tears roll down. Her shoulders were shaking with a silent, jagged rhythm. The "big news" hadn't been a beginning; it had been a demolition
Filly stood frozen. Here he was, holding the tools for a party in the middle of a funeral, and beneath his professional pity, a dark, shameful spark of hope flickered. He didn't pull the tray back. He couldn't. Instead, he reached out and quietly pushed one of the glasses toward Mishy. The celebration was dead, but the numbing was just beginning.
Reaching for the glass with a hand that wouldn't stop trembling. "That's the problem with timing, isn't it? It's never on your side' She smirked forcing on a plastic smile. Holding her cheecks with the cold hands , Filly stared at her eyes, stealing lip glances 'Code red ?' he asked. All eyes were on them. She nodded.
'Guys, you can continue she just experienced her mences,' he lied 'could you excuse us.'
'Lemmie come along further more she needs a lady's help more,' Ivy suggested. Malaika staring him dead in the, she pointed Ivy with her eyes and slowly shoke her head. 'No need, we will be fine.' Filly Countered.
'I insist,' Ivy insisted. 'So do I ,' Filly ordered. Supporting her up, they walked to the exit.
'What a beautiful couple,' Belinda commented unknowingly making Ivy roll her eyes and inaudibly cursing at Omar. Belinda's statement truly showed that she had no single hint of what was going on