She slowly slid off the stool, turned around and saw Moutasim standing in all his spunk, looking down at her, wearing an evil smile. Riya wasn't surprised because when something had thunked on her head, an alarm went off saying that it might be him and when she felt the egg slithering down the sides of her head, she was sure it was him, only he could dare to do something of the sort.
A cruel sneer formed on her face, her hands twitched and a wave of murderous rage swept her. Riya raised her arm as if she'd slap him but rooted on the spot, she reached behind to quickly grab whatever she could from the kitchen bar. Getting hold of the Nutella jar, she picked it up with shaky hands and dropped it. The glass went flying across the floor, the chocolate spilt over, laying in all its glory in a big blob among the shards.
"What the heck, Riya?" Aleesha glared at her.
She clenched her teeth, turned around and pushed three coffee mugs off the bar. There were three clinks, then a thousand pieces scattered on the other side of the floor.
"Riya, stop it!" Aleesha tried to get hold of her, but she pushed her aside and dashed towards the dish rack.
Hufaiz rolled his eyes, he'd seen this lunacy way too many times to get shocked. Whereas, Shahraz, Wisam and Aleesha got disrupted at Riya's mad hyper reaction. Hufaiz walked out of the kitchen and called everyone, "Get out of there guys, before she hurts anyone of you."
Shahraz and Wisam followed him while Aleesha stayed, in an effort to stop Riya from ruining everything, but it was useless. She threw a plate on the floor, it wobbled continuously without breaking, so she stepped on it and gave it a vigorous kick. The plate thwacked against a cabinet and split apart.
Moutasim stood there, quietly watching her go from one corner to the other, breaking away whatever she got her hands on. She went towards the stove and was about to touch the hot pan when he pulled her away. Turning her to face him, he jeered, "What are you trying to prove?" He snarled, his eyes flashed with indignance.
Aleesha warned from behind, "Moutasim, just don't talk to her right now."
Riya pushed him with all her might but his grip tightened on her arms, "It was a daring game, dammit!" His face became rigid and his jaw clamped tight, giving her a menacing glare he shook her slightly. "Why did you have to react so wildly?" He asked her harshly, demanding an immediate answer.
She turned deaf ear to his delving and continued to loosen his grasp from her arms, punching at his knuckles and pulling his fingertips to force open them. In vain, he was way too strong for her delicate flings. Not finding any other way to pull herself out, she felt a vein pulsing in her forehead and fiercely dug her teeth deep into his wrist. His grip loosened at first, and when the pain became unbearable, he completely let go of her. She threw a look at him, flame of hatred smouldered in her narrowed eyes and she scampered off but he caught her palm with a jerk.
"Moutasim, leave me right at this moment!" She yelled at him and tried yanking away his hand.
Aleesha pleaded she got afraid over the worsened situation, "Moutasim, please."
"Let me go..." Riya continued striking back when he dragged her out of the kitchen and sauntered in the garden.
Aleesha trailed behind, "What are you doing? Moutasim, stop!"
Ignoring Aleesha, he clutched Riya's hand tight, scanned for something and quickly spotted it. Roughly pulled her to the end of the lawn and tried unhooking the garden hose mounted on the wall in a looped bunch of pipes but it didn't come off. Turning the nozzle on right there, a burst of water dribbled down and he pushed her towards the wall under the gushing cascade.
Moutasim still held her but he loosened his grip, surprisingly she wasn't retaliating, just stood there silently with her eyes pinched closed and lips pressed. Rather, she was glad that the stinky egg was being washed off from her hair. The cold water seemed to cool her heated head, all the wildness slipping away too. He thwarted his eyes away from her, he couldn't just stand there and look as the water slid down her clear, smooth face and dropped like stringed crystal beads off her chin.
Aleesha didn't quite figure out what Moutasim was trying to do, she waited to see what would unfold next. After a good ten minutes under the 'shower', Riya came out of it and Moutasim turned it off.
He pushed her hand away, and snapped, "That was all you needed, it was just a damn egg in your hair, Riya. It wasn't like I had drilled a hole in your head. Why do you have to..." He didn't continue and yet again, averted his gaze away from her sceptical one.
She had her arms crossed on her chest and her lips quivered, the chilly breeze blew against her wet clothes, making her shiver more. Unwrapping the black knit shawl he had picked from the chair near the pool, he handed it to her. When she didn't take it, he put it over her head and flipped one hem over the other shoulder.
"Hey! Wa-why doy-you have my s-sh-shawl?" Shuddering, she asked him.
He furrowed his eyebrows, and took a close look at it, "It's yours? I didn't know, it was lying on the patio." No wonder it smelt heavenly, Moutasim thought with a little smirk.
Riya scowled, "S-so, y-you'd j-just pick anybody's and..."
She was going to start another argument. Even if she froze to death, out in that cold windy night, wearing wet clothes at two in the morning, she felt it was mandatory to have a face-off with him first.
"Go to your room." He cut her and turned around to leave himself. Hands hanging by his sides, he went towards the glass walkway to go to his guest room upstairs. From the corner of her eye, she saw a tiny bruise on his left wrist and shook her head. Did she feel bad for biting his hand? No, she just wanted to leave a bigger bruise!
"Quickly change your clothes, Riya! You'll catch the flu." Aleesha urged her inside.
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Moutasim awoke to the vibrating phone under his pillow; reluctantly he opened his eyes and blinked at the streaks of morning light trickling in through the window blinds. Groaning, he fetched his phone and glanced at the screen. He sat up with a jolt and instantly took the call.
Udayl's hushed voice came in, "Moutasim?"
"Is it something big?" He asked him tensely in his throaty, sleepy voice.
"Err... yes." He replied.
"Don't waste a minute, be quick!" Moutasim demanded impatiently, he already sensed what might be coming.
"Bin Saleh's gang has been busted," Udayl reported in a muffled tone, a bizarre noise blared in the background.
Moutasim chuckled, "Now the police are to me, isn't it?"
Udayl gave a small laugh, "Forget the police, sweetheart. Panther is after you!"
His eyebrows shot up, "He knows?"
"How wouldn't he get to know?" Udayl snapped back. "Two out of four gangs you worked for are gone, Moutasim. Now, it's Jake and Panther, remember you won't be able to slip out as you did with those two. When Panther gets caught, you'll be swept in as well." He said it all without a pause.
"So are you!" Moutasim answered back, and both of them cracked up. The fact that both were going to be arrested and possibly hanged someday didn't distress them; for they knew that they had each other until the last that would remain of them.
Udayl was Moutasim's partner in crime, literally. They'd often give each other a hand on slippery grounds when on duty at some of Panther's most evil-ish tasks. Unlike him, Udayl worked only for Panther. "I've got only one head to lose Moutasim, can't get killed a couple of times for double-crossing them." He often joked when Moutasim suggested that he should work for other groups along with him.
When Moutasim had lost all his old friends ever since his lunacy, he found a true one in Udayl. Like Moutasim, he was a criminal too but he'd always proved his loyalty to him at various points in their mafia junket. He was an Arab and Moutasim a Pakistani, yet friendship knows no differences; rich or poor, black or white, criminal or noble, all it takes is to have someone when everyone else walks out.
"Where are you, Udayl?"
"Behind the sugar factory, Panther's in greasin' the manager's palm to hide cocaine in the packaging" He informed.
That's what the whole machinery noise was about. "Where's the shipment heading?" He asked.
"Saudi Arabia."
"Hmm, it'll flop big time." Moutasim was certain.
"The devil will pull it."
"You bet?" He challenged.
"Yeah man, It's on!" Udayl whooped.
He grinned, "Alright now Udayl, listen to me very carefully. Tell Panther that I quit."
"WHAT?! Are you insane, Moutasim?"
He asked, "You trust me?"
Udayl answered, "Obviously dude, but what you're doing..."
"Then just do what I said!" He ordered and hung up the call.
He then texted Jake saying, "I quit. Get me if you can *wink emoji* Love, M."
Next, he got off from the bed, flipped his phone, ejected the sim card, grabbed a lighter from the night table and lit its edge. The flame flared the sim and he threw it on the floor. Fire ate it all like a hungry ogre, belching out ashy smoke. Picking up a glass, he poured some water over the glowing ember until it died out. He sat on his toes, and stared deeply at the remains, the blackened scrap satisfied him, finally.
A burst of laughter escaped his throat, "The game with Panther and a bet with Udayl are totally on!" He said it loudly to himself and fell back into the pillows.