Insomniac's Dream

Chapter 21

Tell me if I am any good at this. This song gives me butterflies and that is exactly what you need for this one.

.   .   .

We are driving down the lane to my house, singing to my 'Impossible not to sing along' playlist. We are singing Liam's Strip That Down.

Yeah, you know since the day I met you,

Yeah, you swept off my feet.

You know that I don't no money,

when your love is beside me.

We are actually having fun. Who could have known that after hearing a part of my horrid past, someone can be so relaxed with me, singing to such songs.

Then again, Al Malik is not your usual someone. When the rap by Quavo starts, we stop. Okay so I am not the only one who doesn't knows how to rap!

I bite my lip to contain the laugh trying to burst through.

We glance at each other and to the back to the road.

Wait

We laugh. At each other, at ourselves. We continue laughing till he reaches my home.

"Damn . . ." I clutch my stomach to lessen the effect. I don't remember when I had such a laugh last time. It is freeing.

I sag back in the plush leather of car.

"Shit." He slows down the car and closing his eyes, leans his head on the steering wheel. I follow his suite and close my eyes too.

'What the partay! stopped?' my inner goodness, looking hot in her red sequined dress and skyscraper heels, stops when she sees that we have stopped. Yup, the party's over, girls.

I open my eyes and glance at Al who is now looking at me with a small smile on his face.

"What?" I ask.

"You . . . you look so calm right now, happy. I love you like this." He doesn't looks one bit flustered that he used to word 'love'.

"Love huh? Straight to the goal?" I smirk at him, now it is his time to get flustered. I know how boys run for the hills from this word and I vowed not to leave any opportunity to make Al squirm.

Instead he backs up and copies me on his seat, sagging back. Relaxed.

We both have our heads turned towards each other.

"Rose, I think I made it pretty clear, that what I feel for you is not the usual like " he puts his hand in air to show the quoting signs, "its . . . something different. I don't even know myself right now."

If someone else had said it, I would have given him two or three other pick-up lines myself and ask him to try these next time. But when Al said it, it didn't seem like the usual corny- cheesy- thingy, thing.

But I also knew that he was not telling the truth. Well not a complete lie, I guess, but still. The way he averted his eyes when he said 'I don't even know myself', said he knew more than that. I guess that could be something else too.

Usually when stating such things, people get confused but he, was still smiling as if it was a great thing to say.

'But he could be hiding his emotions well,' my subconscious point.

Maybe? Maybe not?

The song, long forgotten, we are sitting in silence and now, I know what is an uncomfortable silence.