Purple Romance

'What are you doing here?'

They both asked the same questions the same time and laughed shaking their heads.

'I came here with my family. My daughter was going on about children's day and I decided to bring her. What about you?' Kobby said and asked.

'I came with my sister. She wanted to take some pictures for her project'. Ad-Din said and smiled. He really liked this his new doctor.

'What a coincidence' Kobby said. 'Oh they went to the washroom just now, my family'.

'Ad-Din, how could you walk away and leave me?' Calia spoke from behind and the two men turned and looked at her.

Calia blushed seeing that there was another man besides Ad-Din. A handsome man, she thought and walked closer.

'She is my sister, little cousin. Calia, this is Dr. Kobby, the one you made the appointment with for me the last time'.

Ad-Din said and Calia looked at Kobby. She only made the appointment through the attending nurse and didn't know that the doctor was this handsome.

'Calia, what are you doing?' Ad-Din asked Calia in a soft tone when he noticed she had zoned out.

Calia came back to her senses and noticed Kobby's hand in the air and stretched her hand to him saying 'sorry. Nice to meet you, Dr. Kobby. I am Calia'.

'Hi, nice to meet you too'. Kobby said and tried to take his hand back and Calia tightened her grip on him and stared at him without batting her eyes.

Ad-Din saw it and shook his head before forcefully taking Calia's hand away. She smiled awkwardly and bit her lips. Kobby noticed the subtle action but said nothing. He shouldn't be thinking of such a thing when he was meeting her for the first time.

'We will go now. We still have some things to do'. Ad-Din said and pulled Calia away and Kobby nodded his head.

'Why did you pull me away? I wasn't done admiring him', Calia said after they walked a distance.

'That was so embarrassing. How could you look at him like that? You are a woman; don't you have self-respect?' Ad-Din asked and frowned.

'I was only admiring him. Did I eat him? or did I ask him for number?' Calia said.

'You were being obvious. Men don't like such thing besides; he is already married with a kid. Don't harbour any designs on him'.

Ad-Din said and Calia felt hurt and spoke furiously at him.

'You jerk. Did you have to say it that way to me? He was sitting on a mat; do you think I didn't notice? I just fell for him at first sight. Why? Can't I do that? You can do that with Miss Lee but I can't?'

'Yeah, Calia, be careful with your words'. Ad-Din replied angrily.

'You should be careful with your words as well. So annoying'. Calia said and walked away leaving him behind.

Ad-Din sighed and tussled his hair. He turned to go and saw Maria with Tiana. They were holding hands walking towards him and he stood frozen watching them. They wore the same outfits just like that time at the airport.

Maria smiled at something Tiana said and looked up and saw Ad-Din. Because Tiana was behind her, her face bumped into Maria's back and she squealed.

'Au…mom?' Tiana changed her sentence as soon as she saw Ad-Din. The girl had a really good memory and recognised Ad-Din.

She looked between Maria and Ad-Din and saw that both of them were staring at each other without saying anything.

This was their second meeting yet the two of them didn't have the confidence to start the conversation first. Just like the last time, their second meeting was unplanned and untimed. Was it a miracle that they were meeting again or was it destiny.

Ever since the last time, Maria had thought about how their second meeting would be. She even thought that Cosmos was so big and they lived different lifestyles so there wasn't a way that they would run into each other again but she was wrong. Here she was again meeting him again exactly a week after their first meeting.

Maria clutched his palms into fist as her palms sweated. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

Seeing the kid tug at Maria's blouse sleeve, an overwhelming feeling overtook Ad-Din and his mood suddenly worsened. He glared at Maria with a deadly chillness making Maria to take a step back. With a heavy heart, he didn't even look at her again before walking away.

'Ad'. Maria almost called his name but stopped midway. What was she going to tell him when he turned? The way he looked at her just now made her realised how much he hated her. He must really despise her right now.

'Aunt, are you alright? Is he someone you know?' Tiana tugged on Maria's sleeve and asked.

'No, let's go'. Maria wiped a tear that almost fell and Tiana saw it.

...…..

It was late at night when Kobby walked out of his room and saw Maria watching TV. He walked closer and noticed her mind wasn't really on the TV. She was thinking of something else. He remembered before he tucked Tiana to sleep, the girl told him that Maria met a man who made her cry. So, he sat beside her and spoke.

'Did you meet him?' Maria turned and looked at Kobby.

'Huh?'

'Your first love. That high school boy from 8 years ago. I asked if you met him today?' Kobby asked and looked at Maria. Maria laughed and nodded her head.

'He wasn't a boy anymore. I'm surprised I still recognised him. He looked so different and…cold. The way he looked at me was so cold and distant, Kobby. He was disgusted by me and didn't even want to stay in the same space with me. He hates me'.

'I doubt that is the case. Why don't you find him and speak to him? Everything is about communication. Actually, all these years. I've always known you were never over that boy. I'm even surprised of how you have held on for so long?'

'Am I been silly? My heart still beat when I saw him. I still felt happy when I saw him, even though all he did was to walk away from me. He didn't even look back. He must hate me so much for leaving so suddenly'.

'Leaving Cosmos wasn't your fault. Maria, everything happened so sudden and you weren't even well at that time. Why didn't he find you himself? He never came to look for you at your old apartment'.

'That is because I was the one who broke up with him. We had already broke up before the accident'. Maria sobbed and Kobby hugged her.