Hiatus Lane [5]

A recap of the previous chapter;

Ali

The moment she held the phone tight next to her left ear and spoke to him, her mind had wandered a million miles. When Nouf asked if she could go, she’d agreed. Even though I was dieing on the inside to head to the zoo, Fares was, in fact, the last person I wanted to be escorted with.

Hiatus Lane: Chapter Five (Part one)

~ By: Kitten

- ‘Nouf, are you done?’

- ‘Wait! I just need some more minutes’
- ‘Ali?’
- ‘I’ve been ready for hours, can you please tie her shoes so we can move on with our lives already?’
‘Don’t give me that tone’
- ‘I said please’

Nouf finally came out and Deema was checking if she'd turned all the lights down when the bell rang. Ali lazily opened it and they all went out that night at exactly 7, just like Fares promised.

Fares

It was all I could do to not stare at Deema and start to joke around with Ali and Nouf. She’s been excited ever since she heard the word zoo earlier and I can’t blame her. I’ve read many great expectations about the place and I wasn’t going to go alone as usual.

We ended up enjoying playing around with the monkeys most of the time but I wish we’d heard the sleepy lion roar. It would have been awesome though nevertheless, Nouf liked to stare at the giraffes. Something about their long necks appealed to her. Or maybe they reminded her of ballerinas’ supposedly long and thin legs?

As much as I enjoyed the kids’ company, I wish I had a little more time to chat with Deema. She seemed distant…not at all the same when I first met her. Was I too pushy? If so, why didn’t she say exactly that to me? During these rare occasions where Ali would run to show how he's not afraid to get close from the lion’s cage, I fiddled my way around to Deema and asked if she was having a good time. She merely nodded and never spoke to me again. I wondered if it was my talkative nature, or if she’s not in the mood, or… I don’t know.

On the way back to our hotel, Deema received a call. By the looks of it, the person on the other end of the line did all the taking when all she said was a couple of yes, no’s and okay.

*****