Naila took a deep breath, and stopped scrolling her Instagram. It was almost 9.30 PM. She felt hunger for the first time in a while. She has skipped the dinner at dorm and now regretted it.
"What do I do?" She wondered. "I want something spicy," she wished there were food delivery services here but sadly there were none. Naila changed her pajamas. She put on her black jean and a round neck brown t-shirt. She then pulled out her black hoodie and stepped out. It was 8 degree Celsius outside. Saturday night it was and there were no crowd at all despite being a Christmas week, a holiday season.
She saw hardly three or four people on the road stepping in and out of stores. Naila had sneaked out of corridor till the main gate.
"Please, it's urgent, I need to buy a person thing," Naila literally begged the security to let her out. "I will be back in thirty minutes," she kept begging.
"Please return back quickly ma'am, or I will get into trouble. I cannot afford to lose this job," the security guy lectured her.
"I get it, get it," Naila nodded and ran out.
"Come back quickly, I will lock it after 10.30," security keot saying as she ran away.
Naila panted ahrd after running away quickly. She walked towards the restaurant she dined with Luke.
Naila slowly opened the glass door and put her head in. The restaurant looked pretty crowded inside while it looked completely silent outside. The dim light, the Christmas decors, and buzzing with people. It gave a weekend vibe to Naila finally.
"Come, come," Shey invited her.
"Hi," Naila greeted her.
"Alone?" She asked Naila.
"Yes," Naila nodded back.
"Mind waiting for five minutes?"
"I have 30 minutes, I have to finish before it. Anything within this 30 is fine," Naila informed her.
"Then place the order now, food and table will be ready together."
"Great idea," Naila liked the idea.
"We have ramen bowls, pasta Alfredo and Aglio olio, the pizza, and risotto. Everything else is over," Naila was given choices.
"I will go with Alfredo chicken," Naila placed the order. It was easy.
"Good choice. That's our best seller," Shey patted Naila's shoulder and left.
"Girl, my dear girl, come over here," Shey arranged the table for Naila in five minutes just as she promised.
Naila sat next to the window watching all the Christmas lights on the street. She rubbed her palms and touched her cheek. While she sat gazing outside, someone walked into the restaurant.
"She is sitting there alone," Shey informed the person
"Can I get a cup of cof..." Naila stopped midway as some sat opposite her. She put her hand down.
"Such late dinner?" He asked her.
"Luke," Naila's voice came out softer than she intended, her eyes widening as she took him in.
He stood before her in an oversized black V-neck hoodie, the loose neckline dipping just enough to reveal a glimpse of his bare chest. A silver chain rested against his skin, while a bracelet circled his right wrist. His hood had slipped down, exposing his silver hair, streaked with subtle purple highlights. The black piercing in his ear only added to the effortlessly rebellious look.
Naila stared.
She did not expect him to see at this hour and never quite like this.
There was something about the way he looked now, casual and untamed. Her gaze lingered for a second longer than it should have before she quickly looked away.
Why does he have to look so... good? Who is he? Super model? An idol? Actor? Her mind questioned her. Heat crept into her cheeks, and she silently cursed herself for noticing.
When she finally looked back at him, Luke was already watching her.
Their eyes met.
And suddenly, Naila forgot what she was about to say.
"Mind if I sit?" Luke asked her, smiling lightly.
"Of course, sit," Naila said. Shey brought the food at the same time.
"You said you're alone my lady," Shey made fun of her.
"I had no idea he would show up," Naila defended.
"True. I just got back from work," he said, laughing a little.
"This is how you show up at work" Naila thought but only that it was a little loud. Luke looked her.
"That's my work," he shrugged.
"What do you do exactly?" Naila asked.
"Modeling and Supervising Engineer at a construction company," Luke Rowan answered.
"Modeling?" Naila was surprised even more.
"Yes," Luke nodded. Shey placed the plate of Aglio Olio in front of him with a bowl of salad. "I do Modeling gigs partime, since college days," Luke sounded chill.
"Wow, that's wild," Naila said digging into her plate. "I did not expect that."
"Well," Luke smiled taking a fork full of pasta. "How was your week?" He asked.
"Busy," Naila concluded in one word. Luke put the fork down and looked at her. Naila did not get it. She looked at him.
"What?" She asked clueless.
"That's it?" Luke asked. "Busy?"
"Yes, it was a Busy week," she related again. He folded his arms against his chest.
"Oh" only then she understood. "I had a lot of work related to upcoming Christmas celebration at school. I am the incharge for many thing," she talked to him.
"Why are you in charge of a lot of things?" Luke demanded a proper answer. He wanted to know all about it and not just one word or everything summed up in a single phrase.
"Well, I fell into the trap. They asked me what my hobbies were and I was honest about it during my interview. I did not know that it would backfire. They asked me what I like to do in my free time, I said writing, so all the script works are on my head. They asked me if I was bad at dancing, I said no. So I am incharge of teaching dance for one of the teams. They asked me if I have a specific talent and I said I can sing then fast forward, now, i have the duty to teach the band carols," Naila stopped eating and explained.
"Oh my," Luke stopped eating too. "But I'm glad that you still sing," Luke smiled at her.
"Hmm?" Naila did not understand.
"It's nice to know you like singing," Luke corrected.
"Haha," Naila did not know what to say.