Short Cake - Chapter 1

He sat there watching the world go by. No one noticed him, and he didnt care. The coffee shop, starbucks, was at it's peak. Customers were diligently coming and going. The air in the city centre was getting thinner and thinner as crowds grew by the number. Oman was fast getting infested with the population blast, but he was not going to care. Today he was just going to sit and enjoy his coffee, two lumps of sugar, a little bit of milk, and a strong aroma. He still wondered why he loved coming to starbucks? This place after all was made to loot the innocent coffee lovers. At 1.5 rials a cup, it was a shocker. But then nothing made sense in this country. After all theory said, Arabs were rich, use their money.

Nearby, an aussie dance group were performing one of their many shows on the mock stage set up at the last minute. People, mostly families, milled around and enjoyed the show with their little kids hanging on the shoulders of their fathers. The moment was a kodak moment. Looking around, he noticed the casual youth, thousands of whom aimlessly roamed the city centre in search of the elusive flirt. Guys with tight jeans, probably copied from western and eastern movies, with hair combed back to the skull, and with bulging muscles, the trend that had entered Oman. Girls with their see through abayas, smartly dressed with tight jeans as well. They were a sight. Chitter Chatter and smoking was the craze in town apparantely. He could sit there and watch this horror show for days, but he was now getting bored of it. Salim had yet to make his way down. Where was he?He glanced at his watch again. It was ten minutes past eight. He would be here anytime soon he promised himself and took another sip of coffee. He took out his phone and dialled home.

After a ring or two his sister picked up, "Salam bro, wassup", she asked.
"W'salam Sara, is mum home?".
"Yeah she's here, wanna speak to her?".
"Nah it's ok. Just let her know, I wont be in till late. Tell her not to worry about me. Im with friends. I got the keys so I'll make my own way back in the house. ok?".
"Sure, have fun bro."
"Thanks babe, you too. Laterz". He put the phone down, took a deep breath and looked around again frantically looking for Salim. Where the hell was he? That's when she caught his eyes. The most beautiful thing that he has ever seen so far in his hour of looking around. She was dressed very simple. A stylish scarf covered her hair, and her face had a radiant smile, which made her look more pretty. She wore a beautiful abaya which covered everything she wore on the inside, and she walked elegantly, as if some princess from another country happened to visit his beautiful country. For a moment he caught her eye too. He did not look Omani at all. Maybe a tourist? He was dressed in soft baggy jeans and wore a black T-Shirt with a cool logo of a skeleton on the front. He was was neatly combed and he had a cool light barely-visible beard. And that smile. She loved that smile. Her brother called her out from the distance. She hesitated and moved along quickly. Whoever this guy was, he was cute, but her brother was very watchful. She made a quick exit.He watched her leave.

He was sure she was looking out at him. Otherwise why would she smile? He took a quick picture of her in the camera of his mind. He would remember her for days to come. He picked up his coffee again for the umpteenth time, but the coffee too had deserted him. It was half past eight now, and Salim was nowhere in sight. Suddenly just like that, out of nowhere Salim appeared like a flash of light and sat himself next to him.

"Sorry Abbas, got caught in trafic."
"Dude, I was about to leave. This place is making me sick now with all these show offs", Abbas said pointing in the direction of three guys smoking away like as if Cigarattes were suddenly banned from tomorrow.
"Ouch. Let's just walk about a little and then we'll go. Im meeting Zubair here as well. So we'll have some fun at the PDO later."
"Cool, Zubair is here as well?".
"Yeah he just came back from his holidays. The dumbass looks well tanned".
Abbas managed a short smile. Zubair was the joke in the group. His jokes were so funny, you had to have a huge appettite for laughter.
"Right then let's get moving. This smoke is gonna kill me matey". With that they left to have the promised walk.