"So you're telling me these people keep prisoners?" Faisal tapped his feet to the beat of the romantic music that was playing in the cafe in the evening.

I looked at him dumbly.

"Faisal? How can you take this so lightly?" I asked him with a worried tinge in my tone.

He leaned in and almost spat through his gritted teeth.

"I'm not, dammit. I'm coming up with a solution and if you ain't wanting my help, then I completely thrust this responsibility onto your shoulders." He crossed his arms and leant back in his chair stubbornly.

I sighed. "Faisal. Look at me."

He looked at me obstinately.

"The whole point of meeting you was to understand why you're so grumpy nowadays? What's the problem, and why aren't you helping me in this case like you used to?"

His angry gaze softened slightly. "Reem, listen. Losing my wife, my kids and my parents was a big event in my life. A human changes after these changes change him. I know you're younger than me, and you're new to my unusual behavior, but - but....."

"But what?"

"But I'm not mentally suitable for this role."

A silence between us made my heart throb loudly.

My pitiful voice went shaky. "I know. Losing family is awful. Even friends."

He looked up at me instantly.

I wore my fake smile and smiled gently.

"You're an amazing co-investigator, Faisal. Sometimes I just forget to be grateful to you. I'm so sorry about all that - what was it? Oh yeah, the 'who gets more credit' debate I always used to set up." I found myself giggling and making him laugh.

"So, we're going for this case?" He put up a hand in the air.

I slammed it as a high five. "Yes! We're going to work together."

"So, be the enemy under the wig." Faisal said enthusiastically.

"Huh?" I stared at him with a smile.

"Alright then, so first. This may sound odd, but before any counter investigation we must seek out relative information. We will get more cops involved after we know accurate details but for now, talk to your victims."

"Ahhh, of course."

"Vishal is your neighbor but he regards you as a friend anyway so you'll be safe. If you feel like you need me at any point, just give me a call."

I laughed at his seriousness.

"You care about me so much!"

"Why shouldn't I? Your my beautiful co-worker." He rested a hand on my delicate fingers on the cafe table.

After my glass of coffee sprinkled vanilla cream drink, I reached into my bag to pull out my wallet.

"What are you doing? Why are you paying?" Faisal said in a loud voice which made me jump.

"B-b-because we.... b-bought stuff...." I said surprisingly.

He quickly took out his own wallet and paid before I could even work out the situation.

"Hey! I invited you so I pay right?" I shook my head in disapproval.

"No arguments." He said in a stern voice.

His wallet accidentally slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor near my feet.

I quickly bent down to pick it up. Somehow a photo managed to fall out.

I handed him the wallet and picked up the picture, not taking my gaze of it.

While he was busy asking the waiter something, I felt like my heart was traveling to different places; sometimes it didn't even feels like it was there, sometimes it went up to my brain to make me thing logical. Right now, it was in the left side of my chest; just where it should be.

A beautiful woman was printed on the photo, with silky long hair that seemed to be flying around by the autumn breeze surrounding her.

A smile was visible in the corners of my mouth.

Faisal blinked towards me and I was still engrossed in smiling at this photo.

He took it from my fingers hesitantly and I broke out of my trance.

"Oh... err, I was just -"

"It's fine." He said solemnly, blinking towards it himself.

"My wife." He smiled.

"Ahh! Wow, she is so pretty." I said to cheer him up.

"Was." He said, looking up miserably.

Awkward.

"Keep hoping..." I trailed off.

He turned his head to one side to listen to it as if I had come up with a conclusion that Pythagoras' theorem was incorrect.

"Ree...... anyways. What's the point?" He jerked his head and stood up from his seat.

I got up instantly and he shook my hand. I smiled back, not feeling full satisfaction and I realised his wife's picture was still lying in my palms.

💓

I reached home and I was just about to turn the key in the lock of my house when the door jerked open and my mouth fell as I fell straight through the doorway into a pair of strong arms.

I gasped for breath and found myself looking into a pair of deep, brown eyes.

"Sidd, what a..."

"Sshh." He whispered seductively.

I couldn't help but smile and I rested my head on his shoulder, sadness hitting my insides as a flashback of today came into my mind.

Here I was, with someone who cared for me so much, and Faisal was all alone. It didn't feel right.

I pulled back from the hug and placed a palm on his cheek. He smiled at me gently and rested his hands on my waist.

"Err... you waited for me for three hours? At my house?"

"Yup."

"Awh that's so sweet!"

"Well, I wanted to take you out... like -" he searched for words.

"On a date?" I asked him questioningly.

"Err yeah! That."

I laughed and nodded politely.

Suddenly, his phone beeped and he scrambled in his pockets to pick it out.

"God, who's this now?" He whispered frustratingly.

"Hello? Ah... oh. Alright. Okay. I'll be there."

He cut the call with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" I asked nervously.

"Ohh! Nothing nothing." He covered it up with a smile. "Chill bruh, you look like you've seen an alien." He gasped and we both broke into giggles.

I laughed, but somehow I wasn't convinced. He hurriedly put on his leather jacket that was dangling down a door handle and he shut the door behind me, just as I was half way through saying 'bye'.

Alright then.

Where was he going so urgently? I felt curious to know, as he didn't tell me.

Oh my god what's up with you? How can you not trust someone who's so nice to you Reem. Chill dude.

Okay okay. I turned around when I halted and re-thought.

If he cared for me so much then why didn't he tell me where he was going? I would have to find out where he was going.

I can't believe I'm actually stalking him.