Mikaal

2: Mikaal

"He likes you too."

These four words haunted Dalia's memories. Why had that day happened at all? She could have been saved from entertaining false hope and being wrenched back down to the harsh reality. Nevertheless, life pans out not as we desire, but how it was fated to be.

Simon now filled her mind's view. She smiled. He always had a funny way of making her smile. The number of times a meeting over a maths assignment turned into an afternoon of hysterics, were too many to count. But in all her memories, she could not once remember Mikaal.

She hadn't seen him since that night in San Churro a week ago, where he had interrupted her otherwise sorrowful evening. He still hadn't explained how and when they had met. She would have sooner rather than later asked Simon about their 'supposed' mutual acquaintance, but she hadn't seen him at uni either. UWA was quite a big place, or it certainly felt like it when you were a student unlucky enough to be doing a double major where the departments were a 20-minute walk apart. Yet even at Mathematics 101, she didn't catch a glimpse of him.

There was another thing that puzzled Dalia about Mikaal. Why was his voice familiar?

As if a response to her unspoken cry for answers, Simon's beaming, carefree demeanour approached her table in a quiet nook of Reid Library.

"Hey! How have things been?" he asked cheerfully although his tone was hushed. Around them, studious bodies peered at screens, at least pretending to be focused on their work between keeping a distracted eye on their Facebook feeds.

Dalia grinned; she couldn't remember ever having seen him in a mood other than cheerful. "I've been okay. Just trying not to think about how close exams are."

Simon chuckled. "I know what you mean. And maths is going to be tough."

"Definitely. How are your other subjects going? And where have you been? I haven't seen you lately."

"Oh, I've been quite sick, so I'll need to make some time to watch the lectures I've missed online, but other than that, I'm feeling much better now. My other subjects are going good. It's maths that I'm probably the most worried about."

"Our lecturer doesn't help too. I don't know how he was ever allowed to teach!" Dalia's expression turned thoughtful then her eyes lit up. "Actually, let's meet up for maths during study week!"

"Great idea! That'll help a lot."

Dalia smiled with enthusiasm. "Oh, before I forget," Dalia began, remembering Mikaal, "I met someone about a week ago who I didn't recognise, but he seems to know me and mentioned he's friends with you."

"Oh, really? Who's that?"

"He said his name is Mikaal."

Simon's eyes strangely retreated into his mind at the mention of the stranger's name. "What else did he say?" Simon asked carefully.

"So...you know him?" Dalia asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Uh, yeah, I know Mikaal."

"I haven't seen him since but he said he studies maths with us?" Dalia waited for Simon to shed some light on the mystery. But Simon remained silent and began to look uncomfortable, his eyes darting around, avoiding Dalia's questioning gaze. The silence now grew awkward.

Buzz! Simon's phone began to vibrate. Relief flickered on his face as he said, "I'll be back in a minute." He disappeared between some shelves of multicoloured, ageing books that looked untouched as if their purpose was purely for display.

'What is going on!' Dalia thought, on the verge of tearing her hair out.

A moment later, Simon returned. "Sorry about that Dalia. I just came to pick up a book before my lecture, so I'm going to have to head off soon, but, uh, where were we?" His eyes looked almost hopeful that she had forgotten and would drop the subject.

"We were talking about Mikaal," Dalia said, happy to disappoint him but she implored him for answers with her eyes.

A look of regret passed over Simon's face. "Dalia, I'm sorry, there isn't much I can say about Mikaal... It's not my place to say anything more than he already has."

"Can you at least tell me how he knows me?"

"Well, didn't you say he said he knows you through our maths unit?"

Dalia clenched her teeth, trying very hard not to verbalise the frustration that was brewing to boil in her mind. "Okay," she said flatly, her expression listless.

Simon's usually radiant face looked pained. Regardless, he glanced at his phone for the time, made some excuses Dalia barely heard and quickly retreated from their uncomfortable scene.

---

Hey there

I hope you're loving the story so far! The character Simon is actually inspired by one of my uni friends who just had such a beautiful, warm personality.

Do you have friends like Simon, face always beaming with a smile?

I'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to follow me or add my book to your reading list.

-Noelle