Ashraf & Suri

Ashraf & Suri 0.3

"Kenapa jadi susah pulak nak cakap ni?" Perlahan soalan itu didengarnya.
"Cakap apa?"
"That advice i need from you."
"Ha. Kenapanya?" Dia bangun, sebelah tangan menyusun buku-buku di atas meja dan mengemas kembali alat tulisnya. Kedengaran Ashraf mengeluh.
"Aku tak reti nak cakap macam mana."
Dia duduk di birai katil. "Start at the beginning then. What happened?"
Diam.
Dia berpaling dan mengerut dahi pada si koala. Dia membaringkan badan dengan kaki masih di lantai. Telefon itu diletaknya di sebelah telinga selepas meletaknya pada mode 'loudspeaker'. Si koala pun nak dengar jugak si Ashraf ni tergagap-gagap.
"Ashraf, kalau kau tak cakap apa-apa in thirty seconds, i'm hanging up. Thirty."
"Amna, wait."
"Berapa kali nak bagitau, it's Suri? Twenty five."
"Calling you Amna makes it easier to talk."
Dia berkerut dahi lagi. Apa kaitan?? "Apa-apa la. Twenty one."
"The name soothes me."
Jantung tiba-tiba terasa bertambah denyutan. Awat mamat ni bunyi lain macam ni? "Jangan mengarut, boleh tak? Seventeen."
"Aku tak mengarut. Sungguh, tulus dari hati."
Dia mencebik sambil menjeling si koala di sebelah. Koala pun dah nampak macam mencebik sama. "You're wasting time. And by the way, you're on loudspeaker. Nine seconds!"
"Kenapa aku on loudspeaker? Ada siapa lagi situ? Nasib baik tak cakap apa-apa lagi."
"Koala pun nak join dengar kau mengarut. One second. Tiiittt! Time's up! Bye, Ashraf!"
"Koala? Amna!"
Dan panggilan kuat itu yang terakhir didengarnya sebelum telefon itu mati sendiri. Dia mengangkat kepala sedikit dan merenung telefonnya yang dah gelap kembali. Ketawa. Bateri dah habis. Heh. Telefon pun pandai berkomplot dengan tuannya. Sorry, my man. Eh, salah. Sorry, man.

***
Tbc...
Yang sebenarnya, tukang tulis yang nak kena pergi caj bateri phone... Till then... Ta ta... ☺️

~ The time has come. And i'm writing this while biting my lips.
In accordance to what i wrote in the last entry of this story, 'Ashraf & Suri's huggable version', this story, re-titled 'Assalamualaikum Amna' will be published, soon.

So soon that my publisher has asked for me to edit a few entries here, since the huggable version won't be so much different from what i wrote here.

I'm sorry, dear kind readers, that i have to cut a few entries short, and turn them into teasers, instead.

I hope the story has been read with your full heart, that even when i've edited them out, you can still remember the meaning behind it.

Thank you so much for your time spent visiting this humble little 'house' of Ashraf and Suri. ☺