Beyond The Stars

Panicking and Cuddling

He suddenly let go and took two steps away from me. He shook his head and said, "don't lie." I took a step forward but he put his hand out stopping me, "no, don't..lets go," he said before getting into the jeep. I looked down at my feet before going over to my side.

I turned to him in the car, my mouth slipping open but when no words came out I turned back. He put the car in drive and slowly rolled onto the road again. "I wasn't lying." I mumbled and he tilted his head towards me before staring out onto the road in front of him again.

"Mikhail I care ab--" his phone started blaring and I looked at it in confusion, didn't he say it died? The name on the screen was Mahra and I turned to stare out the window. "It receives calls from others but doesn't do anything else when dead." Mikhail mumbled and I looked at him as he picked the call up.

"Hey," he said into the phone clearing his throat to make it lighter. I looked at my hands in my lap not wanting to seem like I was hearing and clinging onto any word he said, even though that's what I was doing. I wanted to do know who this Mahra girl was. I let the subject go last time but now my curiousness was high.

"Uh yeah I'm trying t- no no I'll be there." He said. A light voice came from the other end but I couldn't catch what she said, usually Mikhail is strict about phoning while driving and puts it on speaker but he didn't seem to want to right now which threw me off a bit.

"No I won't," he mumbled into the phone and I caught him glancing at me before looking back at the road. I gestured for me to hold his phone to his ear but he shook his head and switched it to his other hand.

"Yeah I know," he said suddenly giving a laugh and my face fell.

If this girl could make Mikhail laugh so easily; after he was in the worst mood possible, she must be really special. But what he said next brightened my spirits up, "huh? Oh Rafa my cat, uhm no I can't send a pic but she's gorgeous, her fur is the most silkiest and soft, it's different colours, weird I know."

I blushed as he winked at me. His words were starting to affect me when before I'd get mad at him for saying the corniest things. Maybe it's the cold. My father said that when you're cold your emotions are all over the place. My mother had rolled her eyes at him and had told him to be quiet. So he could've been right but the look my mother gave him made it seem as if he made it up. Right now I was counting on it being right.

Mikhail was my best friend and apart from our so called marriage that made him my legal husband he was nothing else. But why  my anger was heating up as he cracked jokes with the girl over the phone was unknown to me.

"My phones in overdrive right now so I'll talk to you some other time okay?" He said into it and I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"Yeah...yeah, bye, Asalam Alai-" he looked at the phone, "no Salam eh." He mumbled before throwing the flashing red phone back onto his lap.

We drove in silence, him in his own thoughts while I was contemplating if I should ask about who she was again or continue what I was saying before. Which was basically me explaining how I cared about him because he was one good friend and I meant when I said I'd always be there for him. Every problem I've went through in my life, Raif and Mikhail have helped me through.

When my teacher was criticizing me about my hijab, Raif contacted the school board while Mikhail sent death threats to that teacher and 'accidentally'  ran into him with his bike.

When those two guys blackmailed me so I could do their homework (ww1 people that's the easiest), Raif tried to talk with them: most of the talk included inspirational quotes. When that didn't work and Raif warned them one last time, Mikhail beat 'em up.