LIMITLESS

Chapter II

Rayan stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

"I said, does your brother know that you're here?" he repeated.

"Do you know this guy?" Mason shouted from where he was sitting before she could answer. Rayan ignored them both and walked passed Asad as she clenched her bag. Her palms were sweating and she couldn't believe the mess that she had gotten herself into. She stood outside along the side of the building and finally turned her phone on. There were a total of thirty-two missed calls divided evenly between Omar and her father. There were a lot more text messages that she was too scared to open. She almost called Hani when she heard Asad call out to her.

"Rayan, what's going on?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" she asked angrily, her hands were balled up into fists. "Why is it your business?" She was tired of everybody being so invested in her life. From her father and Omar to Hani and now Asad, she didn't need this many people policing her every action.

"I wouldn't want my little sister hanging out at a place like this."

"Good thing I'm not your little sister then." she said as she crossed her arms. "Leave me alone and go worry about your own! And if this is such a bad place then why are you here too?" He was taken aback by her anger and frustration. All he was trying to do was offer her advice, after all.

"I'm twenty-two," he began.

"You're a twenty-two year old guy in an eighteen year old girl's business and you're not even related to me. How pathetic is that?"

"You're an eighteen year old girl at a twenty-one and over club with some white guy. I bet that's a story your brother would love to hear." he shot back.

"Go ahead and tell him!" she exclaimed. "I don't care." Rayan was bluffing and Asad knew it as well as she did.

"I didn't come out here to judge you." he finally said.

"It seems like you did.” she said as a lump formed in her throat. She knew that she wasn’t upset because of his words. Nothing that he said to her was new or unfamiliar. But something about this family friend catching her here, especially with Mason, was just humiliating.      

"I didn't." he assured her, suddenly sounding much kinder. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I can look out for myself." she wiped a tear from her cheek.

"What's going on out here?" Mason asked them as he came around the corner to where they were standing. His voice startled Rayan. "Who is this guy?" he asked, pointing to Asad.

"He's a friend." she explained. Mason turned to Asad and looked him up and down and then redirected his gaze back to Rayan.

"I need to talk to you alone." he said. Asad raised his eyebrows at the sound of that.

"Can you just call me tonight or something?" she asked him. "Right now isn't the best time."

"Please?"

Rayan wanted to object again but he grabbed her hand before she could.

"I'll be right back." she whispered to Asad without making eye contact. The two of them walked to the other side of the building, opposite to where Asad was standing.

"What do you want?" she asked Mason.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I was being a jerk in there and I should have been more sensitive to your culture. It's just that we're so different. You have so many limits and I don't really have any." he shrugged. "If you still need a ride home I'd be happy to take you and we can talk about this some more."