I was woken up early that morning by a familiar, yet out of place, sensation on my face. It was recurring… and wet. I open my eyes to see a black blob smack dab in front of my face. Oh, right. I have a Shadow now. “Well, good morning to you too,” I say to Shadow, as he finally stops licking my face. I look around to make sure that there weren’t any little ‘surprises’ left by him. Fortunately, he left none. “I’d better let you go potty.”
I get out of bed and pick up Shadow, then head out of my room. As I approach our front door, I put on my slippers and take Shadow to our rooftop patio where my dad used to have his dogs. The whole ground was covered in artificial grass and had the dogs’ old doghouse. There were also a couple of garden chairs and a rocking chair. This is my favorite place to read in the seasons when it’s not freezing cold or scalding hot, which is rare in Egypt. I put Shadow down onto the grass and let him roam around and get used to the area so he could do his business with ease. Sure enough, business was done.
I take Shadow back down to the apartment and put him on the floor when we get in. I feel like making myself a cup of coffee so I head to the kitchen. Naturally, Shadow follows right at my heels. I turn on the kettle and grab my mug, put in two teaspoons of instant coffee and wait for the kettle to boil. “So, Shadow, what would you like for breakfast?” I ask as I look down at my feet. He looks back up at me and then towards the counter to the left of the doorway, where the eggs are. “You sneaky, smart, little thing,” I say, smiling. I grab two small eggs and put them in water in a small pot over the heat on the stove. The kettle clicks. I pour water 3 quarters of the volume of my mug, and then grab some milk from the fridge to add for the remaining quarter. Stir a little bit. Done. My perfect morning cup of coffee. While the eggs boil, I go to grab my phone from my room, Shadow right behind me, and then go back to the kitchen and sit on the chair we put in there.
I check my notifications for anything new. Good, no university related news. I see a couple of mentions, shares, likes. But what I didn’t expect to see…was a notification from messenger. Who could be awake enough to chat at this hour? I open my messenger app, to receive quite the early surprise.
‘Good morning :D’ sent by Khaled Ibrahim.
“Oh…my…God,” I say staring at my phone screen. I was staring for about a minute when I heard the timer for the eggs go off, snapping me out of my trance. “Oh right, you’re breakfast is almost done, Shadow,” I say to him. He looks very eager. He messaged me! He messaged me first!! But should I reply now?? He was active 30 minutes ago. I was torn between waiting and replying. What if he’s busy? I don’t wanna interrupt anything important. So then, I turn to my only source of wisdom at that hour. “Shadow… should I reply now or should I wait?” I say, looking him in the eyes. One second, two seconds, he’s just staring. “I’m guessing that means ‘feed me hooman’ right?” He starts whining. I’ll take that as a yes. I peel the eggs and mash them with some soft bread and a bit of milk. Then I place the bowl on the floor in front of him and he’s happily wagging his tail, scarfing it all down.
While Shadow eats, I sit back down and stare at the chat with Khaled. I think I should reply now. He’ll see that I saw the message and didn’t reply, if I wait. He’ll think I’m rude. So I start typing.
‘Good morning…’ wait, what emoji should I use? I think for a few seconds…
‘Good morning :D’ aaaand send… I watch as the little icon by the message changes from a clock, to a white check, to a blue check. All that was left was for him to see it and respond.
“Phew!” I sigh loudly. Shadow comes over to me when he’s done eating. “Good boy,” I say to him as I scratch behind his ear, causing him to shake his leg. I head back outside to the couch in the lounge area. Shadow wants to jump up next to me, but, of course, he’s way too small to make the leap. I pick him up and put him next to me. He lays on his belly and puts his head over his little crossed paws. I open my chat with Farah and send her a message to let her know about Khaled’s message.
‘OMG you’re never gonna believe who sent me a message!’ I type and send.
Farah was active about 6 hours ago so she’s probably sleeping right now, with her not having an early-rising puppy to lick her awake. I’m intrigued to see her reaction, but I have a guess as to what it will be. Something along the lines of squealing with excitement while typing her response in all CAPS.
While continuing to sip on my coffee, I thought channel surfing was an appropriate morning activity. Usually there are some pretty good movies to watch that early in the day. Romance, romance, romance, comedy. I decided watching ‘Just Go With It’ was alright. Oddly enough, Shadow was kinda watching with me. “You like Jennifer Aniston, buddy?” He looks at me and tilts his head to the side with one ear perked up. Just a basic canine ‘what?’ Yes, I talk to animals like they’re humans. No, I don’t find it weird at all.
My phone goes off with a notification sound from messenger. Farah couldn’t have woken up. Could it be? My heart races. I slide down the notification bar. All I managed to see because my eyes darted to it was ‘Khaled Ibrahim.’ IT IS! I unlock my phone and go straight to the messenger app.
‘Sorry about that. I’m at work and had to get something done. How are you? :D’ he sent.
He’s still online! PLEASE DON’T BE AWKWARD, ME!
‘Oh it’s no problem. I’m good! I just recently woke up. And how are you? :D’ I replied.
‘Good good! It’s a bit of a slow day at work, so I thought I’d continue our little catch-up :D’
AAAAAH! I internally squeal with joy. Then I realize that we’re only just starting to chat and I’m already freaking out. Calm down. Keep it really cool, and just be you. Well, maybe just 50% you. We don’t wanna scare the guy.
‘Sounds great! :D Oh, I never asked! What is your job?’ keeping it nice and casual.
‘I work at a lifestyle magazine called Generation Y and run the online division.'
‘Ohhh sounds interesting!’ I type. ‘So what are your duties towards the online division?’
‘I control what’s posted on our official website,’ he replies.
Wow. He sounds pretty important. Enough to run an official website of a magazine! Needless to say, I already began to feel just how out of my league I am with Khaled.
‘Wow! That’s really cool! :D’ I replied. ‘Must be exciting.’
‘Weeell not all that exciting anymore haha,’ he replies.
‘How come? Something happen?’ I type back.
Khaled is typing… ‘Well, I used to write for the web version of the magazine along with my responsibilities of managing it,’ he replies. ‘But I stopped. Now it’s just the managing part :) ’
‘Oh,’ I typed. ‘Were you a good writer? :D’ I asked. Just how nosey am I allowed to be?
Khaled is typing… I’m now scared of the answer. ‘Well, some people used to tell me I was.’
‘So how come you stopped?’ I asked, my brain whirring with curiosity.
‘I’m not entirely sure of a certain reason. But some people told me I should stop. And I thought it was for the best,’ he replies.
Hmmm…interesting. ‘Well…did you like writing for Generation Y?’
He saw the message. There was quite the long awkward pause. Then…Khaled is typing…
‘Yeah. I really did,' he replies. ‘It felt good to write, to express.’
‘Well, in my opinion you shouldn’t stop doing something you love,’ I cheesily wrote back. ‘Can’t speak from personal experience though haha.’
‘What do you mean?’ he asks.
Why did you have to say that?! Well, if he’s going to open up, I should too I guess.
‘Well…I was in the process of teaching myself how to play guitar. But I stopped,’ I answer.
‘Really? That’s cool! But why stop?’ he asks.
‘My parents thought I should pay attention to the more important things,’ I answer.
Khaled is typing…’ Well, in my opinion, if you love doing something then it’s something important :D’
‘Hahaha you have a point there :D’ Oh my God he’s sweet!
‘So…’ he types, ‘what are you up to on this fine morning?’
‘Well, I was woken up pretty early by Shadow, took him to go potty, made him breakfast and myself some coffee, then I was pleasantly surprised from seeing your message :D’ I reply, maybe a little too honestly.
‘Who’s Shadow and why do you need him to go potty? xD’ he jokes.
‘Haha he’s a puppy xD’ I reply.
‘Aw cool you have a puppy? :D’ he asks.
‘Well, technically I don’t “have” him. I found him cold and starving on the street last night on my way home from uni and I just couldn’t leave him. But we can’t keep him :/ ’ I answer back.
‘Oh, so you’re fostering him?’ he asks.
‘Yeah. Until a rescue gets back to me about finding him a home,’ I reply.
‘Well, I think it’s amazing what you did for him,’ he types. Is it just me or is my heart swelling? ‘I think he’s lucky to find you.’
‘Well, we sorta found each other :D’ I reply.
‘Wait, you said you were “pleasantly surprised” to see my message? :D’ he asks.
‘Oh that! It’s nothing hehe,’ I reply, trying to weasel my way out of having to explain myself. Did you really have to say that? Stupid!
‘Oh no you don’t. Come on. Tell me,’ he urges.
I hesitate. I think over my answer carefully, typing and deleting and typing again.
‘Well, I kinda thought you might have changed your mind about catching up, seeing how long it took you to accept my friend request he he.’ Please don’t think I’m desperate. Please don’t think I’m desperate. Please don’t think I’m desperate.
Khaled is typing… ‘Oh that! I’m really sorry, work and life basically just caught up with me and I didn’t get much time to log on to my Facebook. I wasn’t ignoring you, don’t worry! How could I? :D’
I didn’t know how to reply to that. If I had been told that to my face, I would have been redder in the face then I already was upon reading that message.
‘Oh good, haha!’ I replied, staying silent for what seemed like an hour.
‘Well, any plans for today?’ he asks.
‘Not any outside the house. No revisions today. I’m just gonna study probably,’ I answer.
‘Oh, so you’re nearing exams. Finals?’ he asks.
‘Yup, unfortunately,’ I reply.
‘Well, seeing as I’m not too great at online communication, which is ironic considering my job, I would really like to continue our conversations over a cup of coffee sometime!’ he types.
DID HE JUST SAY WHAT I THINK HE SAID? Okay, calm down. It’s not a date. It’s just two people having coffee.
‘Yeah sure, I’d love to!’ I type, with around 20 knots forming in my stomach.
‘Great!’ he types back. ‘So when will you be free? :D’
‘I think tomorrow. I can convince my dad to let me leave the house for a couple of hours, if I study hard enough today :D’ I reply.
‘Cool. Where do you wanna grab coffee?’ he asks.
I think it over. I wanted it to be somewhere cozy and comfortable. Where I’m less likely to have a panic attack just from sitting in the same table with him.
‘Well, there’s this really cool café in Dokki that I love going to. It’s in Soliman Abaza street,’ I answer.
‘Yeah I think I know it. Retro Café right?’ he asks.
‘Yeah that’s the one!’ I reply.
‘Cool. How does 9 am sound?’ he asks.
‘That’s late for me now. I have a little Shadow to wake me up at dawn ha ha,’ I joke.
‘Hahaha great then it should be a suitable morning for a cup of coffee :D’ he jokes too.
‘Exactly :D’ I reply.
‘Great! I’ll have to see you tomorrow in person then, work is calling me back. Study hard so you can make it!’ he says.
‘I’ll do my absolute best!’ I reply.
‘Good luck! See you tomorrow :D’ he says.
‘Thank you! See you then! :D’ I reply.
And that was the queue for the conversation to stop, but I wasn’t too sad about it. After all, in 24 hours I would get to see him in person again! YES! YES! YES! I’M MEETING HIM FOR COFFEE!
After those few minutes of sheer joy, my phone goes off again. This time it was Farah, and this time I had loads to tell her.
‘OH MY GOD TELL ME EVERYTHING!’ she typed furiously.
‘Okay so this is what went down,’ and I type for what felt like ages as I tell her about my conversation with Khaled and how amazing he is even though I’m only just cracking the surface. I tell her how I felt both happy and anxious I felt. All the details I could recall on the spot. Then when I’m done, I let her have the floor.
‘Wow! I can’t believe he asked you out for coffee tomorrow! :D’ she types.
‘I know! I’m so excited! And a bit scared! Kinda nauseous, but really excited! :D :D :D’ I reply.
‘We need to pick you a stunning but suitable outfit!’ she says. I should have expected as much. More wardrobe digging. ‘But I can’t come over because I promised my parents I’d study all of today.’
‘Oh. Well we can video chat or something. We’ll make it work,’ I say.
‘Good!’ she replies. ‘Now, let’s both have breakfast and study our butts off until around 6. Then we’ll get started!’
‘Okay, it’s a deal!’ I said.
‘Oh and don’t forget to tell your dad about tomorrow!!! If he refuses tell me and I’ll do whatever I can to make him let you go :D’ Farah types.
‘Hahaha although he wouldn’t stand a chance, I will not let it go until he agrees ;)’ I reply.
‘That’s the spirit! Now, go get your nerd on! ;)’ she says.
‘Cool. See ya at 6! :* ’ I typed.
‘See ya then! :* ’ she replied.
And so I made myself the breakfast I was allowed according to my diet, wolfed it down, and then went straight over to my dad, where he was tying his tie, getting ready to head off to work.
“Good morning dad. Sleep well?” I ask, as sweet as possible.
“Good morning, honey. Yes I did, thank you. Yesterday was quite the long day, so I slept like a baby,” he replied.
“Good. Want your usual cup of tea before you leave? Some breakfast maybe?” I ask again, with a bit of a sing-song tone.
“No thanks, I’ll just have them both at the office,” he says, while putting on his suit jacket, and reaching for his coat. “Need anything before I leave?”
“Yes actually, there is something,” I say, as casual as possible.
“Shoot,” he says.
I take a deep breath, then word out my request in the optimal sentence structure to ensure a good chance of him agreeing.
“If I study really hard and long today, which I promise you I will, can I go out tomorrow morning for a couple of hours?” I ask. PLEASE. SAY. YES.
“Where and when exactly would you be wanting to go out tomorrow?” he asks, with a brow-raised look on his face.
“I’m meeting an old friend at Retro Café at 9 am. You know it. The one in Soliman Abaza,” I reply, trying not to sound desperate.
“How long are you planning to be there?” he asks again, still suspicious.
“2 to 3 hours maybe,” I reply, confident yet worried.
He’s silent for a minute while he puts on his coat and grabs his briefcase. Then he sighs.
“Well, I guess you won’t need too long to get to and from there, seeing how you’ll be leaving early and that it’s close to here. I guess it’s alright,” he concedes.
“Thanks, dad!” I say as I hug him really tight and kiss him on the cheek. He finds this response a bit weird, but has no time to think it over since he makes to leave the house.
“Just study as hard and as long as you promised!” he reminds me as he leaves.
“I will!” I say while waving goodbye at him. As soon as the door closes behind him, and I hear the elevator go down, I start dancing with joy. YES! YES! YES! I’m thinking to myself as I fist-pump the air several times. That’s when I notice Shadow was sitting right in front of me, staring at me, wondering why I’m acting so hyped.
I pick him up and kiss him on his tiny head. “Shadow, I’m seeing him tomorrow!!” I say to him. He doesn’t understand, but wags his tail, nonetheless.
“Seeing who?” asks Shady’s voice from a short distance, which startled me.
“Shady! Don’t scare me like that! Especially when I’m holding Shadow!” I reprimand him.
“Sorry. Seeing who?” he asks again, looking skeptical.
“Oh. An old friend,” I answer hastily. He doesn’t look like he’s buying it.
“Well whoever it is, I’ll know eventually,” he says, matter-of-factly. “Right now, I’m going to school.”
“Oh okay, see ya later,” I say to him.
“Bye,” he says, exiting the house.
I need to learn to speak silently to myself. “I especially need to learn to talk to you away from people,” I say to Shadow, who still has no idea what is going on.
And so, I take Shadow into my room and set him on the little loveseat I had. Then I sit at my desk, turn on my laptop, take out about 4 textbooks and a giant separated notebook, and proceed to study like there’s no tomorrow. But there was a tomorrow. And it’s one of the most exciting tomorrows of my life.