Can we try again?

Hundred and one

Daniel

He was still on the phone with Kim, when he turned around and saw the door shutting, Samira on the other side. She was gone. She didn't even say goodbye or goodnight to him.

"I'll see you soon. I'm on my way home." He said hastily to Kim and hung up. He thought of charging towards the building, banging on the door and calling out to Samira, but he stopped himself. She must have left because she was getting annoyed with him for interrogating her about her date.

Daniel groaned in frustration as he opened his car door, glancing one more time at the building.  He didn't know what he was more angry about - the fact that Samira just left without saying goodbye or that she was going on a date on Saturday or maybe because she was annoyed with him.

A date? How was that even be possible? He still couldn't believe it. He turned on the ignition, reversed into the street and drove off. He felt all sort of emotions - anger, sadness, fear. He didn't know why he was angry actually. But he was sad and afraid that he might lose Samira to some man. A thought popped into his head: Samira out on a date with some random man, having dinner with him, laughing at his jokes. They'd finish eating, walk hand in hand to the car. What would he do afterwards? Drop her off at home, place his hands on her cheeks, look into her eyes, pull her closer to him, kiss her. . .
He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

But then why does it even matter? Why was he fussing over her date? Samira was a grown woman, free to do whatever she wanted and that included going on a date. Why was he bothered about it? The thought didn't occur to Daniel that he just might be jealous. Why should he be though? He had no reason to be, right? He wasn't in a relationship with Samira, neither was he was pursuing her. He had Kim. He was getting married to Kim. Still, why did it feel like someone  just kicked him hard in his guts when Samira told him of her date.

"Get a grip of yourself, man," he told himself firmly as he drove. His hands were steady on the steering wheel, eyes fixated on the road ahead. Getting all green-eyed isn't a very mature thing to do. He would have to take just Jameel out on Saturday, and like the mature man that he is, he'd wish Samira well on her date. 

Daniel found himself parked in front of his house, 15 minutes later. He must have been on autopilot mode, because he didn't even remember changing gears or stopping at any traffic light. He hoped he didn't break any traffic rules on his way.
He turned off the ignition and remained sat in the car, bracing himself for his conversation with Kim. He knew there was a high chance that it would cause some issues between them. Kim was probably going to deny the whole thing. Or she'd retract into attack mode and do what she mostly does whenever they had an argumentative conversation - raise her voice and turn the whole thing around so it looked as if it was Daniel's fault all along.

When Daniel got inside the house, he found Kim asleep in the bedroom. He was somewhat relieved, because he suddenly realised he didn't have the strength to argue. Although he knew he should have this discussion with her as soon as possible.

After a quick shower, he joined Kim on the bed. As if sensing his presence on the bed, Kim shuffled closer to him. She mumbled some incomprehensible words, still clearly asleep, and then buried her face in his body. Normally, Daniel would respond by wrapping his arms around Kim, planting a kiss on her forehead and holding her tight. Tonight, he was just tired, annoyed, confused, irritated. He laid on his back, his head resting on both palms, eyes staring up at the ceiling. Thoughts raced through his head. He reached out for his phone and typed a message to Samira, apologising again for everything - including his and Kim's behaviour that evening, for breaking her favourite mug and for acting like a dickhead and questioning her date on Saturday. He waited for a reply, but there was none.