~Friendship blossoms in the most unusual of places.~
"Hey there. What are you two little kids doing out here on the street on this chilly rainy day?"
An elderly man with an umbrella, who seemed to be in his mid sixties approached two scrawny looking kids who were taking cover under a makeshift shelter they had managed to make by an alley.
"Ronnie, that old man looks like grandpa." Little Julie beamed at the old man hiding behind her older brother.
"No Julie, that isn't grandpa." He replied back tiredly, he was so hungry.
Their clothes were torn all over and they had both lost weight.
"Here you go." He brought out two cupcakes from the small basket he was carrying and gave them to the older one.
Ronnie's stomach growled as he stared at the mouth-watering cupcakes, he blushed in embarrassment.
He looked back up at the old man unsure.
'They weren't supposed to accept things from strangers,' he thought.
He swallowed the saliva that had already gathered in his mouth.
But what choice did they have, they were starving.
He gave one to his little sister. Julie dug in immediately and in a matter of seconds, it was gone.
He on the other hand took his time, savouring it, he didn't know when next they would eat something that delicious.
"Where are your parents?" The old man asked when they were done with the cupcakes. The children both exchanged looks.
"We don't know, we ran away from home," Julie spoke with tears in her eyes.
"Julie..." Was her brother's sharp rebuff.
The elderly man's eyes filled with understanding.
"It's ok little ones. Why don't you both come with me to my home." They didn't have much of a choice as the rain got heavier and the makeshift shelter was barely holding up.
They got into his old Benz, he put on the heater and on they went to an unknown destination.
|||••|||
Sarah and Noah arrived at a lovely ice cream shop. He had picked her up at her apartment and brought her there.
She didn't wear anything fancy just a black jean and a white top that had a single word written on it in red, LOVE.
She didn't know why she had picked that particular top, it was super comfy though. She had her hair in a messy bun and she wore a pair of black leather sandals.
He was wearing black pants and a plain white shirt. She found it strange that they seemed to match.
They took their seats in the far corner of the shop near the window.
"Impressed?" He moved his brows up and down in a pretty comical manner. She smiled.
"Not until I try their ice cream out."
"Well you can be rest assured Sarah, they have the best ice cream ever." He smiled at her and for a few seconds she was captured by his smile but then she averted her eyes.
"What flavours do you want to try out?" He asked.
She was about speaking when he interrupted.
"Don't tell me, mango right?" She chuckled as she spoke.
"Yes, do you have anything against mango? They're pretty amazing."
"No, it's just I've never met someone who has such an awful taste in ice cream." He teased.
"Be right back. One mango flavoured ice cream coming right up."
He was back in less than two minutes, holding two large cups of ice cream in both hands.
"Here you go, as you requested m'lady." She smiled at his cheekiness.
"Thanks."
"So, what flavour did you choose?" Sarah asked him.
He sat opposite her.
"I chose vanilla, it's my favourite." He took a spoon into his mouth, he moaned dramatically, closing his eyes.
"Now this is real ice cream. Come on try some." He said with ice cream still in his mouth. She chuckled at his goofiness.
She took a spoonful of her ice cream and as it was about entering her mouth she paused and looked at him and saw him staring at her intently.
He groaned when she didn't eat it.
"What?" She raised a perfectly shaped brow at him.
"Eat it already."
"Okay." So she did. The solid cold sweetness exploded in her mouth and for a second she thought she was on cloud nine.
"Well, how was it?" She looked at him and a mischievous thought popped into her head.
"It's heavenly right?"
"Well..." She paused deliberately for effect.
"What?"
"I mean it's not bad but I've had better, you know?" She took another spoon subtly observing his reaction.
He had a wounded look on his handsome face.
"Seriously?"
"And here I thought I nailed it picking this shop." He took another spoon of his vanilla ice cream.
"Maybe you're right, maybe it wasn't so good after all." He said with a slight frown.
"You know I'm just joking right?" She said with a chuckle. His eyes widened in surprise.
"The ice cream is lovely, it was thoughtful of you to bring me here." He bit his lip from smiling like an idiot.
"I'm glad you like it." He smirked instead. She nodded taking another spoon.
"So Sarah, tell me about yourself."
"What do you wanna know?"
"Anything, like how old are you? Your favourite pet?"
"Well, I'm 22 and I'm a dog person. What about you?"
"I'm 24 and...I'm not a pet person." He smiled at her and Sarah chuckled.
"Ok, my turn."
"Shoot."
"Um, your surname's Malik, are you maybe-"
"Related to Zayn Malik? I get that a lot."
"W-what?" Sarah was speechless for a few seconds. She eventually found her voice.
"Gosh, no. Of course not." She responded.
He chuckled
"I'm sorry, I was messing with you. My name's kinda conflicting and also confusing might I add."
"My grandfather's Pakistani, that's how I got the surname 'Malik' and my mom's Catholic, hence the name Noah."
"Noah's a nice name." She complimented.
"I've never really liked the name 'Noah' but since you just said it's nice, well..."
"Well, what?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, Mango?" He smirked at her from across the table.
"Mango?" She asked incredulously.
He tried unsuccessfully to hide his grin.
"Yes, Mango. I figured it'd be appropriate to call you by your favourite flavour since you seem to like it so much, don't you think?
"Uh, no, I don't think." She said.
"It's not even cute." She added after a while still brooding.
"It so is." He teased her more.
"What? With your mouse-like eyes and bottlenose, I think it's a perfect fit." Her eyes widened in what he could only describe as disbelief and shock but then she laughed, like really laughed.
"Really now?" She shook her head.
"Of course." He replied.
"You're such an egghead." He grimaced at the name she picked for him.
"That doesn't sound so cute." He said.
"And 'mango' sounds cute to you?" She pointed her spoon at him accusingly.
"Absolutely." He smirked at her.
"You're unbelievable." She smiled. His bright blue eyes trained on her.
"Did I ever tell you you have an amazing smile?" For a reason completely beyond her, her heartbeat increased.
"Did I ever tell you you're awful at flattery?" She retorted.
"No, you didn't actually."
"Besides, it wasn't flattery, you do have a really beautiful smile." He made sure he held her gaze as he said that.
"Thank you."
"No, thank you, for agreeing to eat ice cream with me." He stated.
"I'm glad I did, that's what friends do, eat ice cream together." His eyes dropped to his still solid ice cream.
"Yeah...friends."
He looked into her eyes and smiled.
"It's cool."
"Yeah."
"Besides, I'm in desperate need of a friend I can bully into eating ice cream with me even if said person has an unforgivable taste in ice cream." He smirked at her and she chuckled.
"Would you stop that already?" She groaned.
"What Mango? Stop what?"
"That! What did the fruit ever do to you?"
"Uh, other than it was added as an actual flavour?" She groaned out frustrated and stuck out her tongue at him.
"You're such an egghead."
"And you're such a baby. Really, sticking out you're tongue."
"Shut up."
"Yes ma'am."
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Authors note: Don't forget to vote and comment. Adios! For now😉
Did I ever mention I loved you guys? No? Well, I do♥️, so much. And I encourage you to keep reading to the end, you'll be glad you did. Thank you and stay blessed 😘😚☺️♥️