5

"I'm going to the bathroom for a bit." She turned to whisper to April, who seemed not to have heard her as she was conversing with one of the guys, before she picked up her bag and walked out of the bar.

She sighed as her hands curled around the railing at the entrance and the evening's breeze hit her face, sending her hair to blow across her face. What was with the waitress' smile back there? Was she trying to hit on him?

Tahti sucked in a startled breath. But why was she feeling so annoyed? This was really crazy.

"I should just head back home." She muttered. She had her piece at school to work on too, she thought and the door behind her opened. Turning to see Demir walk out of the bar, she tore her eyes off him as he walked towards her.

"I'm going to buy ice cream. Do you...want to come with me?" He said, without showing any form of care, for the drama he and the waitress just acted inside not too long ago.

Sol kept glancing at her phone every now and then, feeling uncomfortable around the girls as they kept talking about Jennie and how lucky she was to keep hooking up different guys.

The buzzer on the table vibrated, announcing their meal was ready and she hurriedly sprang to her feet, surprising the girls, who flinched.

"I'll get it." She said.

"It will be hard to carry it all by yourself." One of them replied.

"No, it's fine...Keep talking." She said and was headed for the counter, before anyone could protest.

She slipped out her phone and made to text Jennie to inquire on how her date was going when she bumped into someone, spilling his drink all over his cloth as she fell to hit her head against a table.

What kind of ill rotten luck did she have that day? She wondered as she groaned, raising a hand to her pounding head, before raising her eyes to see the damage she had done.

"My God!" She muttered as she rose to her feet. The guy's white shirt was completely stained with coffee. "I'm so sorry."

He raised his hand to sweep it off, but it was a useless attempt anyway. "I'm okay. Are you alright?"

"Yes...I was looking at my phone. I'm really sorry."

She had already regretted coming out that night as she didn't feel comfortable around any of the girls but Jennie was rather close to them and now she had made a mess.If only she had stayed back at home.

She followed the guy to the restroom and she wrote down her phone number as she waited for him at the entrance, while he cleaned up.

The guy walked out of the restroom a couple of minutes later and Sol noticed there was still traces of the stain on his shirt though. That night was a terrible disaster.

"I'm really sorry." She apologized.

"I'm okay." He replied and she handed him a paper where she had written her number.

"Here...This is my number. If you text me your bank at number and the cost of the dry cleaning service, I'll send the money." She said, in a rush.

"Alright. I'll keep in touch." He replied with a smile.

"I'm really sorry…." She made to apologise again.

"It's fine." He cut her, on noticing she had injured her head. "Your head is a bit red. Are you okay?"

Sol laughed nervously as she raised her hand to her head. "It's okay.My head is rock hard...Aren't you hurt? I'm sure I ran into you pretty hard."

"I'm okay." He replied.

"That's a relief." She responded, now wearing a smile of her own.

Tahti soon found herself in a convenience store with Demir, looking over different flavors of ice cream. Her eyes just couldn't seem to stop staring at him.

"What do you want?" He asked, raising his head to look at her and she was forced to look down to see he was pointing to a vanilla flavored ice cream. "This one?"

"No."

He tilted his head as he moved to a strawberry flavor. "Then what about this one?"

"No." She replied and picked up a butter pecan flavoured ice cream. "I want this one." She said and he smiled.

"Why did you smile?" She asked, the mystery person who walked beside her and he raised his head.

"Because you're cute."

"You're ridiculous." She muttered as he picked up a few flavors of ice cream for the rest of the guys.

"Your style looks different." He said as they walked over to the counter to pay.

That was true. It was rare to see a girl take butter pecan flavoured ice cream.

"But why did you say you didn't know me, back at the bar?" He asked on their way out, headed back for the bar.

"Well...I was caught off guard.It would have been strange to say I knew you...I didn't even know your name."

"So...why did you leave that day?"

"Something came up."

"You didn't erase it." He suddenly said, and she followed his eyes to see he was looking at the drawing of the moon with star on her arm.

"Oh, this?" She stuttered. "I washed it but it wouldn't come off."

"Really?...That's weird. It's a water based marker." He replied and she dropped her head and bit her lip. He had caught her lying.

"That's strange." She replied and he gently took her hand, which took her by surprise.

"Didn't you want to see me again?" He asked, a sad look on his face.

Honestly, she had hoped not to see him again but she couldn't bear to tell that to him, especially when he had that look on his face.

"Well, not much...but I was pretty startled on seeing you."

A smile crossed his lips as he raised his hand to gently pat her on the head. "I was glad...to see you again." He said before they turned to walk in.

"Why are you coming together?" Jasmine asked with a frown,on their entrance.

"We brought ice cream." He replied, passing the bag to them and they all reached for it, all like hungry hyenas who had seen their prey.

"Hey, love always begin with ice cream, you know." Ramiel said with a laugh, but got no reaction.

Herley suggested the gang go out to smoke a couple of minutes later, after they were all done with ice cream and the idea sounded cool to everyone.

"I don't smoke." Demir said and everyone turned to him in surprise.

"Seriously?... Tahti doesn't smoke too." Herley said and he turned to her.

"Is that so?" Demir asked, a smile on his lips.

"I'll head home then." She said, sliding her bag over her shoulder as she rose.

"I'll be off too." He said as he picked up his bag.

"Alright. See you tomorrow." A couple of people said together.

"See you tomorrow." The duo replied and bade the group goodnight before they headed out of the bar.

"Where are you headed?" He asked and she pointed eastwards.

"Not far from here." She replied as a text came into his phone and his expression changed when he looked at it.

"Is that...your girlfriend?" She asked and he raised his head to her.

"I don't have a girlfriend...I'm taking the bus here. Be careful on your way home."

"I will. Goodnight." She said, waving.

"Goodnight." He said as she turned to head for home, a smile crossing her lips.

She was glad she had come out to drink, her night had not gone badly.

"Hey Sol, aren't you going for a smoke?" Tahti asked the next day, hoping to catch a glimpse of Demir on her way to the rooftop. She had barely been able to sleep the previous night, as her thoughts were occupied with him.

"I already did." Sol replied and she turned to Ramiel and Herley who were buried in their pieces.

"Aren't you going for a smoke?" She asked the pair, who didn't even throw a glance her way as they were buried in their work.

"Just go. I'm totally busy." Ramiel replied

"No. This isn't sticking." Herley replied and she tried not to wear her disappointment on her face as she turned to leave.

"You're really not going?" She turned to ask one more time.

"Just go." Ramiel replied again and she sighed as she walked back to her table. She would probably not get a chance to see him today, she thought and frowned.

But why was she thinking about him so much and why did she want to see him so badly?

She slipped out her phone from her overall, before she went to the departmental group's chat room, wondering whether to message him or not.

"What are you doing?" A voice boomed behind her and she flinched, fumbling with her phone a bit as she spun to see the professor behind her.

"Were you startled?" She asked and turned to eye at her piece. "I'm more startled at your piece. Why is there no progress?"

Tahti knew the professor was disappointed and she swallowed. "Well...I'm almost done."

The professor turned back to her piece, with a look of major disappointment. "This shouldn't be almost done."

"I'll work late today." She responded, trying to end the topic quickly but the professor didn't look like she wanted to end it so quickly. "Working late isn't going to...Let's talk later." The professor said, shaking her head in discontent.

"Yes ma'am." She replied and Tahti sighed in relief as the professor walked off to examine other pieces.

"Hey April." She called as she walked over to sit at her table to look at a serious April, a part of her which she rarely saw, working on her piece.

"What?" April asked, not taking her eyes off her piece.

"You asked everyone to send money for the drinks. Did everyone send theirs last night?"

"Yes, everyone did. Why?"

She looked away, embarrassed to tell the truth. "I'm just curious."

"They all sent it." She replied, before raising her eyes to her, like she seemed to know who she was thinking of. "Demir Wilson gave it to me in cash right away."

"I see." She replied as she walked back to her piece.

"Focus already, will you?" April scowled.

"I am focused." She said, although she knew she wasn't.