MANAL

29. Manal

"Uhm...so Hala invited you over?" I picked my rice and squirmed in my seat. I had no idea if the guy, whose name I had obviously forgotten was dense or just acting it. Was he so blind to see how uncomfortable his presence had made me. I wished I could just stand up and walked away, but I managed to muster all of the courteousness in me right in time.

"Yes, she did." He responded and shoved a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

I cringed at how deep the spoon went. Was it a mission of his to choke himself? I watched in disgust, as he picked a fragment of meat from his teeth, with a toothpick and ended up chewing it again.

Ew.

For the umpteenth time in thirty minutes, I heaved a sigh. "If she invited you and I over, why isn't she here then?"

Musa—yes, I remembered him introducing himself as that, picked the la casera soft drink on his side of the table and gulped almost half of the content. He wiped his mouth with a serveitte, before responding; "Excuse my manners. I haven't had anything to eat all day. I have been in the library studying for an exam I have on Monday."

"It's fine." My response was nonchalant. I actually didn't care about that. All I cared about, was seeing myself out of his company. I was tired already. "So, why isn't Hala here? I have been trying to call her for the last five minutes and she isn't responding."

"Hala isn't coming." He stated.

As if he had just grown horns, I gazed at him. "Did she tell you that? Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I should leave." I attempted to stand up, but he was quick to stop me.

"No no no." He shook his head and extended his hand, as if he wanted to touch me. "No, please. Don't."

"Why?" I glared at him.

"Don't tell me you're oblivious to what's happening here right now. You're not that naive, are you?"

"Excuse me?" I raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sorry if my choice of words offended you." He apologized. "Actually, Hala has told me a lot about you. She said you're a good girl and that you're very innocent as well."

Wait...is Hala playing the role of a matchmaker?

Is this what they call a blind date?

"Due to all the hyping from her, I took a liking of you. I practically begged her to make this meeting happen. Manal, I don't know how to say this to you and I don't want to beat about the bush either."

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

"Manal, I like you."

Okay.

"Manal, I want you to give me the opportunity of proving myself to you. Manal, I..."

Argh! Will he just stop with the Manal this, Manal that?

It irritated me that he had to call my name for every single sentence he uttered.

Who does that?

"Manal, are you listening?"

"No." I blurted. "...I mean yes."

"So..." He trailed off, a closed lip smile tugging at his lips, which actually made him look better. The glint of Hope in his eyes made me feel a tad bad for what I was about to say to him. "Will you accept my love?"

I wanted to laugh at his face. Was he for real? I barely knew anything about him. It was basically the first time I was meeting him. Perhaps, he was indeed dense. "Love?" I chuckled. "Do you realize this is the first time we're having a conversation with each other?"