Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The tense atmosphere of crowds was just too much for him. Naqi heads for the mall's entrance gate. Sat on a bench and lit a cigarette. Before his lighter could even burn the tip of his cigarette, he paused for a minute. Seems as if he went into a deep trance watching Syahira from outside the glass window. She's trying on some shoes. It's the 14th shoe already. The salesgirl's face has changed. It's no longer the cheery face that she had when they were entering the shop. Syahira's best friend, Tania, is on the phone with her boyfriend. Status report (heh). Hana is missing. "Probably went to the toilet", he thought.


His mind traveled back to a couple of hours back, trying to recall how he end up at the mall with Syahira, Hana and Tania all at once. It all started with a phone call. "I'm bored", Syahira exclaimed on the other line. "What entertains you then? Let's do that", Naqi replied with his usual husky voice. How he wish he didn't have said those words. How he wish he wasn't so nice. Girls and hours of shopping... he should have seen this coming. Sigh. He ignites the lighter once again.



"You like her, don't you?", Hana sprung on him.

"Woah, where the heck did you come from?"

"You'd think that you'd be used to that by now," smiling.

"You'd think," trying to light the cigarette once again.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yeah, I was planning on distracting you to avoid it, and now I forgot what the question was."

"Liar. But I'm repeating it anyways. You like her, don't you?"

Naqi exhaled what seems to be a thick fog of smoke. "Who?", with a puzzled look.

"You know who."

"......"

"......"

"I don't like her, she's more like a sister."

"What if pigs flew?", looking up to the beautiful blue sky.

"What do pigs have to do with my feelings?"

"I don't know. What if she was the last girl on Earth?", she looks back down at Naqi who's still smoking. There was an adorable smile on her face.

"Are we playing the what if game?"

"What if we were?". She still had the cute smile on her face.

"......"

"......". Now she's a bit embarrassed with herself.

"Ok, that's a yes. If she were the last girl on Earth, I wouldn't have much of a choice now, would I? "

"What if she loved you?"

"...Well, it wouldn't really matter, would it?"

"What if it did?"

"Are you implying something?"

"No, you're infering something."

"Stop using perplexing words, you're hurting my brain."

"Brain? What brain?", giggling.

"Don't push it.", frowning.

"Well?", making a cute face.

"If she did, and it did matter...I...I don't know. Why are you asking me all these questions, anyways? Do you-"

"What if I loved you?"

"......"

"......"

"Are we still playing 'what if'?"