Mikaal

22: Mikaal

"You think so?"

"Off course! You're going to be a great primary teacher, I have no doubt about it."

"I hope so..."

"Simon!" Dalia shoved him playfully as if an attempt to wake some sense into him. "Stop doubting yourself. I've seen you with kids, like in our Save the Children uni club days. You're a natural. Me on the other hand..." Dalia pulled a face.

Simon laughed, "You're exaggerating. Kids like you from what I remember."

"Hmm," Dalia said, unconvinced. "Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't like kids, they're okay... I don't know. I'm just not the clucky type."

Simon didn't say anything in response but his warm eyes spoke instead, matching the grin he now wore on his oval face. Dalia began to feel self conscious under the growing intensity of his gaze, darting her eyes towards the barbecue, noticing the prawns were already on a serving plate, as was most of the chicken; only the steak remained to be cooked medium to well done, the way they both preferred.

As Simon moved another cooked drumstick onto a non-disposable, yellow, plastic plate, he gave each steak another flip.

It was at this point that Dalia's nose twitched as it caught a whiff of the chunk of beef still on the bone, unexpectedly finding herself feeling queasy. Frowning, she turned away to breathe in some fresh air to keep the nauseous feeling at bay. "Looks nearly done, so I'll get the picnic mat ready," she said, her voice distracted.

"The mat's in that black bag," Simon said, pointing next to the tree where they had marked their territory earlier by parking their belongings.

Dalia threw the black and red checkered mat onto the slightly moist green grass and smoothed out the soft fabric that had a plastic underlay, before moving their belongings to each corner of the mat to weigh it down against the wind. She then neatly arranged the bowl of salad, bag of rolls and their plates and cutlery on the mat before taking off her slippers and finding a comfortable spot.

Simon joined her shortly after with two large plates of charred meats, using the tongs to dish out a couple of pieces of each type onto their plates.

'What's wrong with me,' Dalia wondered to herself, the ill feeling returning with more force at the sight of the sizzling piece of steak on her plate, its smell filling and overwhelming her senses. Looking at the spread of food on the picnic mat, reminded of the effort Simon had gone to, she fought hard to keep a straight face. 'I'll eat it first and get it out of the way,' she thought, cutting and tearing a small chunk off the T-shaped bone before placing it in her mouth.

"Dalia, is something wrong?" Simon asked, concerned etched on his face.

Dalia clenched her teeth as she forced down the partially chewed flesh then immediately sculled three mouthfuls of coke to wash out the taste. "I don't know... Just feeling a bit sick."

"Could you be allergic to steak?" Simon asked, not waiting for permission to remove the second untouched piece from her plate, reaching over and stabbing it with his fork, moving it to his own plate.

"Allergic?" Dalia's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Remember you felt sick at Little Lebanon after eating my steak?"

"Really?"

"Yeh."

"I only remember those delicious barbecue prawns that these prawns are reminding me of," Dalia said with a sheepish grin.

Simon laughed, but his expression grew serious. "You definitely looked sick after just a bite of my steak. Maybe you should go to an allergy clinic?"

Dalia scrunched her face. "But that's a bit ridiculous, being allergic to steak, don't you think? I've never heard of anyone being allergic to steak."

"I think being allergic to carrots is more weird when they're supposed to be good for you," Simon said in disagreement. "I really think you should get a professional opinion about it. Maybe for now, try to eat something else to compare?"

"Yeh, I guess," Dalia said with a shrug, obediently taking a piece of prawn, using her fingers to free it from its barbecued skin, biting it in half. Her eyes grew heavy from the tantalising taste of heaven in her mouth before she said, "This is so good!"

She continued her experiment, taking a bite of chicken this time, licking her honey-soy, greasy fingers afterwards with pleasure.

"How are you feeling?"

She paused as if trying to become more acute to her body's reactions. "Totally fine... but let me try another bite of steak to make sure," Dalia said, cutting a smaller piece off another part of the bone, surmising that maybe it was the part she had eaten that disagreed with her.

Simon's eyes remained fixed on her face as she forced herself to chew and swallow. "See, it's weird to be allergic to one type of meat; it's not like I'm breaking out in rashes," she started to say, when suddenly, her unsettled tummy began to revolt with fervour as if repulsed by what was approaching. Against her will, she felt a force pushing the contents of her stomach back up. She immediately shot up to her feet and frantically scanned her surroundings for the black bin bag Simon had used earlier, running barefoot towards the large plastic bag next to the barbecue, throwing up into it.

She wasn't exactly sure at what point Simon had followed her, but Dalia became aware of him holding back her hair as she vomited out all his thoughtful efforts.

"I'm so sorry," she said, her cheeks burning from embarrassment, her eyes remorseful. Although her chest and throat ached from the unpleasant episode, the pain of ruining Simon's heartfelt gesture ran much deeper.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," he said with the kindest eyes she could ever remember, handing her some serviettes that he had magically conjured up somehow.

"I just don't understand it. I've never had a problem with steak before..."

"People sometimes develop allergies later on," he said, before his eyes demanded her full attention. "Dalia, promise me you'll go to an allergy clinic."

"Do such places even exist? Shouldn't I just see my doctor?"

"No, a doctor will probably say it's just a bug," Simon said patiently, reaching into his pocket for his Android phone. He tapped and swiped away at the screen for several seconds before Dalia suddenly felt a buzz in her own jeans pocket. "I just text you an allergy specialist clinic I found on Google," he said in explanation.

"Geez, you're efficient," Dalia said with a raised eyebrow, pulling out her iPhone and briefly looking at the link Simon had sent.

"Promise me you'll see them," Simon said again, his tone uncharacteristically stern.

Dalia chuckled, Simon knowing her too well, in particular, her dislike of seeing a doctor. She was never the 'princess' type, rarely seeing a GP to get ailments checked out, assuming they were no big deal. Perhaps it was her study of Chemistry that made her mistrustful of modern medicines, but she refused to take even pain killers, not even for period pain! "Okay, I promise," she finally said, looking up at her best friend with the warmest of smiles that matched the glow she was beginning to feel inside.

'But is this love?' she found herself questioning, still uncertain of the state of her wavering heart.

---

Hello new and old readers!

Thanks for your patience for this next instalment. Don't you just wish you didn't have responsibilities other than writing so it wouldn't get in the way of releasing to schedule?

Hope you're enjoying how the story is unfolding... lots more exciting things to come ;)

Please continue your comments and votes - they are the fuel that motivates me to write more!

-Noelle