ME & THE MONSTER

fair trade

Kal wasn't coming.

I checked the time on my phone for the fifth time: ten past eight. He was ten minutes late. After I'd called him, he'd agreed to meet up with me for a quick drink at a pub he'd suggested.

I hadn't explained about the change of plan or why I'd turned him down that morning on the phone, because I hadn't really known what to say. He hadn't asked either, much to my relief.

I drained the rest of the coffee I'd ordered, my hands shaking with nerves so badly I spilt some onto the table. I didn't even really like coffee. But I hadn't wanted to look like a prat, sitting there by myself doing nothing, obviously waiting for someone.

Twenty past. My guts gave another vicious churn. The caffeine was doubling my already skyrocketing anxiety. I checked my phone for any messages he might have left. 

Nothing. Radio silence. 

Twenty-five past.

I felt both indignant and humiliated. He definitely wasn't coming.

Why would he, when I'd turned him down this morning? Why would a guy like that ever agree to hang out with me? He could've at least told me he couldn't make it in the end, anyway, instead of standing me up and making me feel like an idiot.

Who did he think he was?

I stood up. If I sat there a second longer, I'd explode. I asked a nearby waiter where the ladies' was and rushed off. I looked at myself severely in the mirror.

"You're fine," I told myself. "You're not going to wait a second longer for that bastard, you're going straight home and you're going to stuff your face with takeaway pizza. You're fine."

I took a deep breath. He was so not worth it, and pizza and a chick flick sounded like a plan. Buoyed by this, I stepped out of the toilet and into the rumble of noise once again. The air was sharp with the tang of smoke. A Dua Lipa song was playing in the background.

And there, totally at ease, sitting at the small corner table where I'd left my jacket and my empty coffee cup, was –

"Kal," I said.

My voice sounded high-pitched from nerves.

Kal Mellketh looked up from the book he was reading. He smiled a long lazy smile at me, the way a panther might stretch in the sun. It did strange things to my body, that smile of his.

"Hey," he said, pocketing the paperback into the depths of his coat. This surprised me, as I hadn't pegged him down as the reading type. I guess you never know. "Sorry I'm late. Sometimes I'm a bit of a pain in the arse. Got distracted, etc."

I swallowed.

"It's fine," I said, sitting down to his right. I was careful and vain enough to face him with my scarless side. "Is that for me?"

He pushed one of the beer bottles towards me. "Yeah. This round's on me."

"Great, thanks," I said, feeling my annoyance start to subside. I looked about the quaint little pub. "Nice place. Do you come here often?"

Kal stretched his long legs out in front of him.

"Every now and again. My mates like it here," he said. "Drown our troubles."

"Drown your troubles? What kind of troubles?" I asked.

Kal shook his head, and half-smiled.

"You ask too many questions, Rae," he said.

"Very well," I said, over the rim of my bottle. "I'll trade you. A question for a question. An answer for an answer."

He looked at me. I was finding it hard to maintain eye contact with him, to be honest; he still somewhat intimidated me. His mere presence made a terrified sort of elation flare up in me.