Chocolate Milk

Chapter 4

Two weeks later, Idil received a text from Lubna asking her to come in because there was some corrupted footage they needed to reshoot. Idil had just walked into their office when she saw Lubna step out of the elevator.

"Hey, sorry to make you come in again," she said, pulling her into a hug. The weeks following her video filming, Lubna and Idil had become instant friends. As it turned out, Lubna had through a similar situation. The only difference being she left that marriage as a single mother to a three year old and was co-parenting with a man who cheated on her. 

"What are the odds?" Idil had asked one day while they were out for coffee. 

"That we became friends after all these years of living close to each other or that we were cheated on?"

"Both," Idil replied. 

"No idea," Lubna said. "But one thing is for sure, everything is within Allah's timing."

Back at the office, Idil and Lubna were walking to the elevator. "It's no problem. As long as you buy me food afterward," Idil joked.

"That might not be necessary," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Idil asked, furrowing her brows.

"You'll see," she replied with a wink which only made Idil more confused. "This shouldn't take more than an hour. Can you wait in my office for me? Second floor, room 205. I just need to grab something really quick."

Opting for the stairs, Idil went up to the second floor and into room 205 only to find Adam leaning against the desk wearing a navy blue turtleneck sweater with moss green pants. In that moments, Idil had unlocked a new and very specific weakness; Adam in a turtleneck leaning against a desk as if he were posing for a photo shoot. 

Someone should tell Black men to stop wearing turtlenecks because seeing Adam in that outfit ever so casually leaning against the desk with legs crossed at the ankles was causing Idil to be in serious need of an inhaler. 

Not to mention the butterflies that were currently doing olympic worthy gymnastics all up in her stomach. It was easy to see that puberty had been truly kind to this man. So much so that she'd had to remind herself to look away and that was when she remembered why she was here in the first place. She was about to speak when Adam beat her to the punch.

"Right on time," Adam said and Idil furrowed her brows in confusion while he was smiling to himself.

"Isn't this Lubna's office?"

"Nah, it's mine," he replied, about to stuff his hands into his pockets only to change his mind a few seconds later. 

"What's going on?" Idil asked.

"I....uh....I asked Lubna to ask you to come in," he said, looking at everything except her while struggling to figure out what to do with his hands. One second he was putting them in his pockets then taking them out and rubbing his palms together before leaning back on the desk. 

"Why didn't you just ask me yourself?" Idil didn't know why, but Adam was nervous.

"Because I was trying to surprise you and I wanted to do the whole leaning against the table looking cool and shit. Did I pull it off?" Idil snorted.

"Eh, you've got more work to do."

"Appreciate the feedback," he replied with a laugh, but Idil could tell the humor did nothing to alleviate his nerves as he was back to rubbing palms together.

"Adam, what's going on?" She asked, her brows knitting together. Now she understood why Lubna was being cryptic about what part of the footage was corrupted. In fairness, Idil hadn't understood exactly what was going on, but at least she had part of the puzzle and was waiting on Adam to fill in the rest of the gaps.

"I missed you," he blurted out and Idil choked on her saliva. It seemed Adam's straightforward way of speaking was still very much intact. That was another thing that had made them such great friends; neither of them had the energy to sugarcoat things.

"I-I'm not doing this right. Wait here," he said, quickly darting out of the room leaving Idil feeling both delighted and confused.

When he returned moments later, he was holding a small jug of chocolate milk that he extended to her. With a laugh, Idil grabbed the jug from him and looked at it appreciatively.

"I couldn't find the small ones that they used to hand out at school," he chuckled nervously. "I wanted to give myself somewhat of a redo. It's twelve years late, but I figured better late than never right?"

"What does this mean, Adam?" Idil asked, holding up the carton.

"I was wondering...if you wanted to catch up sometime?" he asked, bouncing back on his heels with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Catch up on what?" She asked, unable to hide the smile that stretched across her face. Her heart was thundering in her ear, but she forced herself to remain in the moment.

"The past, present and possibly the future?" Idil noticed how the last part came out as a questions. As if he wasn't making any presumptions and his voice took on a softness that sent her butterflies into more of a frenzy. The butterflies tingled so much, she almost giggled. 

What is happening to me?

Idil knew what was happening, but she wasn't sure she was ready to admit it. 

"So what you're saying is....there was no corrupted footage." Adam shook his head as he bit down on his lower lip. The softness in his eyes was so endearing, Idil didn't know what to do with herself. Glancing between the carton and Adam, Idil beamed up at him and was elated to find he was wearing a matching grin.

"I would love to catch up."