Chapter Three:
Scenes from an Arabian Restaurant
Dedicated to all the people who left reviews or e-mailed me about this story, but mostly to Laura, because she managed to infiltrate my home life with her campaign. :P
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were ignoring me."
"Hmm."
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Well, anyway, as I was saying," she said, "it was then that the pirates turned up and we had to fight them for the treasure – luckily, I had my whip with me and we beat them back…"
"Really?"
Sadie glared at her best friend. "And then Indiana Jones turned up and fought them all off with a lightsaber. "
"What?" said Aladdin, looking up from the pavement in confusion. Sadie waved her hands in exasperation.
"Finally! I've been talking rubbish for the last five minutes and you haven't listened to a word I've said!"
"I'm sorry, Sadie," said Aladdin, digging his hands deeper into his threadbare pockets "I was just thinking about…"
"Cassim," sighed Sadie. She squeezed his arm lightly. "Don't worry about him," she said. "He's a grown man – he can deal with himself."
"And then he drags me into it," muttered Aladdin.
There was nothing that Sadie could think to say to that; she didn't think that agreeing with him and saying, "yes, your father is a jerk," would help matters.
"Here we are," she said brightly, unable to bear the silence any longer.
"Sadie," began Aladdin, "maybe I shouldn't-"
"Oh no, you don't!" She grabbed hold of his arm again and dragged him into the restaurant.
The Marketplace looked like a quiet, family-run place from the outside, with its candle lamps hanging from the sandy-coloured walls. The scent of spices and soft, powdery bread being baked filtered out into the street, and the couples sitting in the window seats smiled languidly at each other as they ate. Smiling a little bitterly at this, Sadie pushed open the door and nearly stumbled over backwards from the sheer barrage of noise that hit her.
Oh, good. It must be a theme night, thought Sadie, pushing Aladdin inside before he had a chance to protest. Instead of resisting Sadie, he looked surprised.
"What on earth is going on?" he asked the restaurant at large.
*
"Why is it so noisy?" cried Jasmine.
"What?"
"I said," shouted Jasmine, leaning closer to her friend, "why is it so noisy?"
"About ten past eight, I think," replied Lisa, sipping her tea. Jasmine sighed and gave up questioning her friend any more.
"Surely poetry doesn't make this much noise," she grumbled to herself, tapping her spoon against her coffee cup.
"I'm sorry, Jas," sighed Lisa. "I think there's something else going here tonight…"
Marvelling at her friend's erratic listening skills, Jasmine nodded in agreement as she gazed around. She'd heard about the Marketplace – something of a cult place. A restaurant which kept alive the ideals of a Middle-Eastern bazaar. The moment Jasmine had stepped through the door, she'd been accosted by two men trying to sell her a fig and a necklace. Apparently, haggling the price of your meal was encouraged, although it was not compulsory, much to Jasmine's relief. She'd visited a bazaar once before in her life and loved it, but she wasn't in the mood for it tonight…
The scene at her father's house had been so strange. Jafar was an odd man, no mistake, but there was odd and there was… odd. She could not explain the emotions that had boiled up inside of her when he had touched her. The strangest thing was that she could not quite recall them; she knew that when he'd touched her she'd been terrified, feeling that she'd been buried alive… But now, sitting in a warm restaurant with her best friend, the feeling was far off, as if she'd read about it somewhere instead of actually experiencing it.
She was tempted to pretend that it had never happened, but a feeling of disquiet niggled at her. Not just about Jafar, but about Iago too. How had he known what she'd felt? Well, maybe not what she'd felt exactly, but he'd certainly known that something was affecting her, and seemed to know that the cause of it was Jafar. Perhaps she had given Jafar an odd look, or flinched when he'd touched her… But then her father would have noticed, and anyway, Iago had given her the excuse she'd needed to get out of there. Why had he done that? Iago had always behaved indifferently towards her. Polite – well, as polite as Iago could be – but he'd never enquired after her studies or anything else. In fact, the last time he'd spoken to her properly before tonight had been at her mother's wake…
Jasmine swallowed and nibbled at the biscuit that came with her drink.
"He's not here yet," said Lisa, staring anxiously around the room. "I'm sure he said tonight…"
"It's still early," said Jasmine, in what she hoped was a comforting voice. "He'll be here soon, I'm sure." Lisa bit her lip and carried on scanning the tables, tapping her spoon against her cup. Jasmine hadn't told Lisa what had happened before she'd left her house. She wasn't quite sure how she would explain, and it was all so strange anyway… It's probably nothing, she thought. Just tiredness and nerves, what with exams and Jafar coming over… She sighed, wishing that she could accept that answer. An instinct buried deep inside of Jasmine told her that there was more to it than tired nerves.
"There he is!" cried Lisa suddenly, dropping the teaspoon on the floor. She pointed at the door and Jasmine turned around just in time to see the object of Lisa's wistful looks walk in through the door. His eyes scanned the room briefly before alighting on Jasmine and Lisa's table. He smiled and waved; Jasmine waved back, although she had a feeling that Christian – was that his name? – was looking right though her at Lisa. There was a clatter and then a tinkle of broken china.
"Oh no…"
Jasmine turned around to see Lisa, dripping with tea, staring miserably at the broken cup on the floor. "He makes me so nervous!" wailed Lisa, as Jasmine handed her a napkin.
"Don't worry," she said consolingly, "I'm sure he didn't-"
"D'you need a hand there?" asked a voice behind her. Jasmine didn't need to turn around to know who it was; the look of mingled horror and pleasure on Lisa's face was enough to tell her that Christian was standing behind her.
"Um," said Lisa, her cheeks flushing. Christian walked over to her, bent down and picked up the cracked cup.
"I'll go get you a new one," he said. He licked the tips of his fingers, tasting the amber liquid that had spilled from the cup to his hands. "Tea, was it?"
Lisa nodded mutely and Jasmine smiled, seeing the back of Christian's neck flush red as he turned away.
"Oh my god," moaned Lisa, burying her head in her hands. "That was so embarrassing…"
"What are you talking about?" said Jasmine, suppressing a grin. "He's buying you a drink! How is that bad?"
"I'm a mess!"
"Here," said Jasmine, rummaging in her bag for tissues and her compact mirror. She handed them to Lisa, who smiled gratefully. Jasmine watched her friend, who was dabbing excess tea from her clothes and still smiling faintly. She felt a rush of gratitude towards Lisa for no particular reason. Just sitting with her in a noisy restaurant made the Jafar Incident seem far away and unimportant. The longer she sat there, the easier it was to pretend that it wasn't very important, or could at least wait until the morning for further analysis.
"Where are you going?" asked Lisa in alarm as Jasmine stood up; she had just seen Christian meandering his way through the tables and chairs towards them.
"I'm just going to find the ladies… Good luck," she replied, winking and squeezing Lisa's shoulder.
"But-but," spluttered Lisa but Jasmine had already walked away. She gave Christian an encouraging sort of smile as she passed him, and smiled to herself as she heard Lisa squeak a nervous "hello" to him.
*
No matter how long Aladdin had known her, no matter that they'd eaten together probably thousands of times, he was still amazed at how much Sadie could eat. Three empty plates sat in front of her and she was still wolfing down a final plate of kofta, wiping up the sauce with her bread. Aladdin grinned at her.
"How on earth do you do it?" he asked.
"Fast metabolism," she said thickly, placing a huge chunk of bread in her mouth that rendered her speechless for a few moments. Aladdin laughed.
"Lucky you."
Sadie finished swallowing. "Well, one of us has got to eat. Since you've barely touched your meal, I figured I'd eat enough for the both of us." She smiled gently as Aladdin looked down at his plate and played with his food for a little. "You need to stop worrying about him," she said softly. "Live your own life."
"I know," he said. "But it's hard to when he keeps appearing in my apartment." He looked up. "Thanks, Sad. I think I needed… to get out for a while."
"Well, what are friends for? Besides," she added, "this place makes the best apricot pudding."
As she hailed down a passing waitress who was talking on her cell phone very loudly, Aladdin forced himself to stop thinking about Cassim. It wasn't any of his business what his father got himself into. If Abis and Haroud were after him… Well, Cassim had handled worse than them.
I've much bigger fish to worry about than those two clowns.
"Would you mind taking our order, please?" asked Sadie, glaring at the waitress, who glared back.
"I'm on the phone," she snapped, and then turned back to her phone. "If you liked him so much ask him out, I know I would, he's a real doll, a sweetheart, he'll take you out somewhere nice, and you can wear that new dress you bought – what? – Ooh, yes, wear that!"
Sadie grunted with disgust. "They must be desperate for waitresses to hire that."
"- no, blue really isn't your colour, honey, wear pink-"
"Oh, for goodness sake," muttered Sadie. "I'll go to the kitchen myself. Want anything?"
Aladdin nodded. "Same as whatever you're having."
"You got it." She started to turn away when Aladdin caught her arm. He wanted to explain to her how much she meant to him… how much it meant to have someone who could bring him out of himself again.
"Thanks Sadie," he said finally. "You're a real friend." An odd look flickered across Sadie's face, but it quickly passed. She patted his arm and smiled.
"Any time, Al."
"Sadie! Hey, Sadie!"
Both Sadie and Aladdin peered around the crowded restaurant. Sadie laughed suddenly and waved at a table across the room. A man and a woman waved back, grinning.
"It's Evi and Alex," she explained to Aladdin. "Gosh, they must have just got back from Mexico – they were looking at all these old haciendas and things belonging to Evi's family, and am I boring you?" she asked anxiously. Aladdin laughed and shook his head.
"No… Go on, go say hello. I'll get dessert."
"Okay… Don't bother with her though," she said, shooting the waitress, who was still chattering on her cell phone, a look ("Honestly, I've never heard of anything so ridiculous – of course he likes you!"). Aladdin nodded and watched Sadie wind her way through the tables. The man – Alex, Aladdin presumed – stood up and pulled up a chair for Sadie. The three of them were soon deep in conversation.
Aladdin managed to hail a passing waiter to order dessert. He played moodily with his spoon. Snap out of it, Al! he scolded himself. You can't change Cassim; you can't do anything about him – just stop worrying. But he couldn't stop worrying; he was almost reluctant to admit it, but he cared about Cassim. And if you care about someone, you can't just switch off your mind from thinking about them… Especially when Cassim was being such an idiot – hadn't the death of his wife been enough to dissuade him?
Maybe I'll have to kick the bucket, thought Aladdin. Maybe then he'll stop.
Dessert arrived and Sadie was still deep in discussion with Alex and Evi. Aladdin half wanted to go over and tell Sadie her food was waiting, or even to join them, but he had an idea that they had somewhat forgotten him. Besides, he wouldn't have had any idea what they were all talking about anyway.
He had just started on his watermelon, when he noticed the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen walk out the door. The watermelon slice fell to the floor.
*
The poetry night at The Marketplace was like nothing Jasmine had never seen before. Beat poets hit their drums, whilst they shouted out their words into the melee of noise. Some of it, Jasmine thought, was quite good, or at least the parts that she could hear sounded good. She wished she could hear more, but at the same time she rather liked the cacophony that sounded around her.
Interestingly, Christian wasn't shouting out his poetry with the rest; he may well have been speaking it to Lisa, however, since they had barely stopped talking when Jasmine had returned from the ladies. She was happy for her friend (who smiled so widely her entire face was glowing) but at the same time couldn't help but feel a little lonely.
I'll feel that one day, she thought. Some day…
"Lis?" she said, reluctant to break the two apart. "I think I should get going… My dad might be worried."
"Oh, is that the time?" exclaimed Lisa, looking at her watch. "I didn't realise it was so late…" She smiled at Christian, and Jasmine suppressed her own smile.
"Oh, you don't have to go yet," she said. "I'll get a cab. Seriously," she said in a lower voice, "stay. It's not that late." She winked and Lisa blushed, looking around at Christian, who was talking to another one of his friends and sneaking glances at Lisa.
"I can't believe this is happening," whispered Lisa in an awed voice. Jasmine squeezed her arm.
"I can. Nice to meet you, Christian," she said, waving.
"Same here," said Christian.
"Are you sure you'll be okay getting home?" asked Lisa.
"Of course, I will. I'll stand right outside and hail a cab. I'll be fine." Jasmine waved goodbye and left the restaurant (but not before she was confronted by a man trying to sell her another necklace; she managed to wave him off quickly). The night air was cool compared to the sultry air of the restaurant, and Jasmine shivered a little, pulling her coat more tightly around her body. She stepped up to the curb and hailed a cab. It drove straight past her, spraying slush at her. She jumped backwards, colliding with something solid. Turning, she saw a tall, broad man standing behind her. He smirked
"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" he leered.
"None of your concern," she said and tried to step past him; suddenly waiting in the restaurant seemed like a much better idea. The man caught her arm and gripped her tightly. She could smell the musty scent of too much beer on his jacket.
"What's in the bag?"
"Let go off me!" she snapped. She kicked him hard in a place that ladies shouldn't know about. He grunted and let go off her; his huge form was blocking the entrance to The Marketplace, and so Jasmine turned and ran down the street away from him. She had only run a few paces when she stumbled and fell; her heel had caught in a crack in the sidewalk. She started to scramble to her feet, but already she could smell beer.
"You're going to regret that," said the man in a low, dangerous voice, yanking her to her feet.
"Hey!" cried another voice, "leave her alone!"
"And why should I?" The man turned and Jasmine saw a younger, much skinnier man standing behind him. The younger man raised his eyebrows.
"Do you really want to be arrested? Let the lady go." His voice and stance belied a confidence that bordered on arrogance.
The man holding Jasmine's wrists tightly sneered. "Or what? You gonna fight me, pal? Go running to the cops?"
"I don't have to run anywhere, pal." The younger man pulled what looked like a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. "Requesting back up to The Marketplace. Suspect is harassing a young-"
Swearing, the man holding Jasmine threw her to the ground and charged away, racing down the nearest ally. Jasmine stared at the sidewalk for a moment, frozen with fear and shock.
"Are you okay?" asked a voice above her.
"Yes," she began, "I'm fine-"And then she looked up and saw the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. For a moment, her breath caught in her throat and her entire body was frozen.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"… Yes," said Jasmine finally, forcing herself to look away, but unable to prevent herself from looking back almost straight away. The young man smiled at her, and she thought she'd never seen a perfect smile until now. "Lucky you had your radio on you," she choked out finally.
For some reason, he looked sheepish. "I was bluffing." He held out his radio to her. "Broken mobile," he said and he grinned again, helping her up. "It's a good thing he called my bluff; I'm not a cop at all."
She couldn't think of anything to say to this, except: "I'm glad too."
"I'm Aladdin," he said.
A smile found its way to Jasmine's lips.
"I'm Jasmine."
Aladdin was still smiling at her, his eyes fixed on hers. Jasmine's heart was pounding so fast in her chest she almost felt faint. He held out his hand for her to shake, and she took a step forward. The heel of her shoe finally snapped and she stumbled. Aladdin caught her, and for a moment the two of them were frozen, locked in an awkward almost-embrace, staring at each other. Again, Jasmine forced herself to look away.
"I want to thank you," she said softly, "for stopping that man."
"Oh," said Aladdin, "forget it." He bent down and picked up her broken heel. "I'm sorry about this."
"It wasn't your fault."
There was a silence that wasn't exactly comfortable, but not exactly awkward either.
"Listen," said Aladdin finally, running a hand through his hair. "I don't want you to think I'm being forward or anything, but if you like… I live a few blocks away and you can call your parents, or a cab or something. I think I've got some glue that could repair your shoe."
"Sounds fab-"
"Aladdin!" The door to The Marketplace flew open and a woman with slightly bushy brown hair peered out. She spied Aladdin and Jasmine. "There you are!" She ran towards them. "Where on earth did you get to?" she asked, poking Aladdin in the chest.
"Oh, geez, Sadie, I'm sorry…"
"It's my fault," said Jasmine, pulling off her broken shoe; there was no point trying to walk on it. "I got in some trouble with… well, Aladdin came to my rescue." She smiled at him again.
"Well," said Sadie, "aren't we the chivalrous knight?" She turned to look at Jasmine. "Are you okay now?" Jasmine nodded, noticing with a slight blush that Aladdin was still staring at her. Sadie must have noticed this too and gave Aladdin a little shove.
"Listen, Alex and Evi are coming to my place in a bit – wanna come with us?"
"No," said Aladdin slowly. "You guys will be talking shop and I'll have no idea what you're talking about." He smiled at Sadie and then turned back to Jasmine. "I want to make sure Jasmine's okay."
Sadie frowned slightly, but then shrugged. "Please yourself," she said. She nodded at Jasmine and then went back inside. Jasmine wasn't sure, but it seemed to her that Sadie had more stomped back inside than walked. All thoughts of Sadie drifted out of her mind as Aladdin smiled at her and said: "So… What do you want to do?"
"If I could use your phone that would be great… I think I need to call my dad."
Aladdin grinned. "It's this way," he said, leading the way. They walked in silence for a while and then Aladdin cleared his throat. "So, was this your first time at The Marketplace?"
Jasmine laughed a little. "Is it that obvious?"
"Well, you do kinda stand out…" Jasmine stopped walking and Aladdin coughed again, looking very embarrassed for a moment. "I mean, I saw Hasir hassling you for jewellery and you looked… surprised."
Jasmine nodded. "Well, I was surprised. I was expecting to eat dinner, not go shopping!" Aladdin laughed and they continued walking.
"So…" said Jasmine, wondering how she could phrase this without sounding too obvious. After a moment, she gave up and said: "Is Sadie your girlfriend?"
"Sadie? No!" laughed Aladdin. "She's like a sister to me… We grew up together."
"Oh," said Jasmine, cringing at the blatant relief in her voice.
"She works at the museum… She really lives for her work, you know? Like a female Indiana Jones..." He trailed off and they lapsed into silence.
It was strange… she'd only known this man five minutes and she already felt comfortable walking in silence with him. She didn't feel the need to fill the air with pointless banter. It was as if she'd known him before, as if they'd known each other for years.
"This is it," said Aladdin, stopping in front of a small apartment block. "Home, sweet home."
A young woman rushed up the stairs in front of them, balancing a huge pile of science textbooks in her arms. Aladdin rushed up the steps and held the door open. The girl smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Al," she said. "Watch out: Kleiss is on the warpath tonight."
"I know," said Aladdin, as the girl somehow propelled herself up the stairs, staggering under the weight of her books.
"Kleiss?" asked Jasmine, as she mounted the steps.
"Yeah, the landlord," said Aladdin, shaking his head. "Don't ask."
As they entered, Jasmine's nostrils were assaulted with the sharp, chlorine-fresh smell of bleach. She wrinkled her nose as they approached the stairs.
"Goodness," she exclaimed, "I can see my face in the banister!" She reached out to touch her reflection and Aladdin grabbed her arm.
"Kleiss is really particular about keeping everything clean," he said, nervously looking around for some reason. "I swear he has this sixth sense about dirt-"
"A-lad-din!" The door to the ground floor flat opened and a slightly high-pitched nasal voice emerged from it. Aladdin tugged on Jasmine's hand and pulled her up the stairs. Jasmine felt barely aware of her feet running up the stairs; her entire being was suddenly concentrated on the way his hand felt in hers and the beat of his pulse against her palm.
They didn't stop running until they'd reached the top floor, their hands still entwined together. Aladdin seemed reluctant to pull his hand away so he could get his key out of his pocket; when he did he suddenly froze.
"What is it?" she asked as Aladdin put his ear to the door, apparently listening.
"I forgot my dad's visiting," he said. As Jasmine tried to work out why this would be a bad thing, Aladdin slowly pushed the key in the lock and opened the door. He peered in cautiously.
"Anyone home?" Inside, a cat meowed. "Abu," said Aladdin, opening the door a little wider; Jasmine could see a brown cat sitting patiently by the door. "Is Cassim home?" The cat meowed again and Aladdin let out a barely audible sigh. "Good." He flicked on the light switch by the door.
"I'm sorry the place is such a mess…" Jasmine didn't think it was so messy – yes, the shelves were cluttered with books and ornaments, and a ball of wool had been unravelled on the floor – presumably by Abu, thought Jasmine.
"It's like you understand him, or something," said Jasmine, watching as Aladdin scooped Abu up with one hand and put him on his shoulder.
"I've had him so long now," he said, "I think I do understand him, as crazy as that sounds."
"I don't think it sounds crazy… I have a cat, too." They smiled at each other again. "I like your apartment," said Jasmine softly.
"Well, it's not much," said Aladdin.
"But it's got a great view!" said Jasmine, pointing out the window. "You can see the park."
"Yeah," said Aladdin, "Abu can see the squirrels running around and it drives him crazy, doesn't it, buddy?" He tickled the cat's chin and Jasmine smiled. She knew that now should be the time that she asked him where his phone was; her father would be expecting her home any minute now and she didn't want to worry him… Not to mention the fact that she was in a strange man's apartment, late in the evening. It's time to go home, said her sensible side. Ask him where the phone is.
"Do you live with your dad?" she asked.
"No," said Aladdin, his face darkening slightly. "I don't. His… business takes him out of town a lot. But if he needs something, he comes here for a visit." His bitter tone disturbed Jasmine, and she wished she had asked about the phone; she didn't quite know what to say. Abu licked Aladdin's cheek.
"I'm sorry," said Jasmine eventually. Aladdin looked surprised.
"It's not your fault," he said. "Uh, the phone's by the window, if you want to use it…" He put Abu on the ground and pulled Jasmine's broken heel out of his pocket. "And I'll find some glue for this."
He hurried out of the room, and Jasmine walked over to the window and stared out.
"What are you doing, Jasmine?" she murmured to herself. Abu hopped up on the window ledge and gave her a reproachful look. She scratched his head and he purred. "He's a nice guy, isn't he?" she said. "I can tell…" She reached for the phone and paused for a moment. It really wasn't worth calling her father, was it? He'd just worry and ask her where she was; she had an idea that he wouldn't be overly thrilled that she was in a near stranger's apartment. She glanced around and saw the number of a taxi firm pinned to a corkboard near the window. By the time Aladdin came back in with the glue, she'd ordered the taxi and was gazing around the room again.
"Taxi'll be here soon," she said.
"Great," he said. "I mean, uh, I imagine you want to go home. After, you know… everything." His awkwardness made him seem younger, and Jasmine smiled.
"Yeah," she said slowly, playing with the broken shoe in her hand. She stared at the broken heel in his hand and back to the shoe, remembering the feel of her attacker's hand on her arm.
"Are you okay?" asked Aladdin, stepping closer.
"Yeah," she said, taking a deep shaky breath. "I'm just a little shook up, that's all."
Aladdin nodded seriously. "Do you want to go to the hospital or anything? They can give you things for shock-"
"No, no," said Jasmine, "it's nothing that serious." She blinked furiously and Aladdin took her arm and sat her down on the couch. He didn't say anything; somehow he didn't need to. The concern written on his face made Jasmine smile. "Really, I'm fine. I just need to get home and sleep." Aladdin still looked unconvinced. "Honestly. I'm fine," she repeated. "Thanks to you."
"Oh, well," said Aladdin, "it's all in a day's work really… Rescuing damsels in distress is my specialty." Jasmine laughed "Although," he added, "I wondered if you needed my help… You dealt with that guy pretty well on your own."
"I hope it makes him think twice about doing it again," growled Jasmine. Aladdin raised his eyebrows.
"Remind me not to cross you." Jasmine smiled. Aladdin grinned and Jasmine felt her heart beat faster. He ducked his head and coughed. "Now… to fix this thing." He took the shoe from her hand. The contact from his skin brushing hers made Jasmine flush.
"Aladdin." He looked up, his face very close to hers.
"Yeah?" he whispered, his breath tickling her skin. Jasmine shut her eyes and felt him shift on the couch, leaning closer to her… She could smell his scent rolling of his skin like smoke from a campfire…
Suddenly a horn blasted from outside. They jumped and Jasmine's eyes flew open. "I think your cab's here," said Aladdin. He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.
Jasmine nodded. "I should be going." She didn't move. Aladdin looked back at her, his smile lighting up his face again. The cab horn outside sounded again and they both jumped. He laughed again somewhat sheepishly.
"I'll walk you down," he said, standing. Jasmine didn't think she was imagining the look of faint disappointment on his face, and a small thrill ran down her spine. He offered his arm to her with a faint smile.
"Your carriage awaits, princess," he said, his tone mock pompous. He was trying to cover up, she realised, trying to brush over what had just happened. Her own heart was still pumping very hard and she felt a little sick. Shock, she thought, I'm in shock. She hoped that if she ever saw Aladdin again, she'd still feel this delicious bubbling feeling in her stomach. She didn't want this to be the result of a frightening evening.
She took his proffered arm, and they left the apartment and walked down the stairs together, Jasmine limping on one shoe. Again, there was that silence, that should have felt awkward but it wasn't. They'd been so close to… Jasmine was shivering before they'd even got outside again. If Aladdin noticed, he didn't mention it.
"Here," he said, handing back her shoe and the tube of glue. "I'm sorry I didn't have time to repair it."
"That's okay," she said, taking them from him. She smiled at him, ignoring the annoyed looks the cab driver was throwing them.
"Goodnight Jasmine," said Aladdin softly.
"Goodnight Aladdin." Jasmine wanted to ask if she'd see him again, but she didn't. Somehow, she knew that she would – this couldn't have been a once-in-a-lifetime meeting. They'd meet again. For one thing, she thought as she climbed into the cab, I'll need to return his glue.
Aladdin shut the door behind her. "Sure you're okay?"
"Yes," said Jasmine, a little exasperated and very touched. "I'm a big strong girl – I tie up my own shoes and everything."
Aladdin laughed and stood back, waving as the cab drove off. Jasmine waved back, staring at him out the back window until the cab turned a corner and he was gone. She sat back in her seat, grateful that the driver didn't seem to be the talkative sort. She wanted to replay every moment she'd had with Aladdin over and over in her mind… The feeling of his breath against her cheek… The scent of him… The feeling of his warm, dry hand clutching hers. Jasmine smiled and hugged herself.
It's all so magical…
