CHAPTER - 13 Mike argues with Dina

As Dina did not see any reaction from Mike, she changed her tactics.

“I am just kidding! Relax! Don’t be tense. If I don’t help my friend who is in need, then who else would I help? So, what is this project all about? Where are the details? Give it to me. I will finish it for you in a jiff. Come on, hurry!” She shook his shoulders and asked him desperately.

“You said you would not help me with that project earlier when we met in the morning. Why do you have a sudden change of mind?” Mike raised an eyebrow and asked her.

“Did I say that? I don’t remember saying anything like that. Did you hear it wrongly? I told you, how can I not help my only friend when he asks for help!” Dina asked him several questions in return and gave him a crooked smile.

“Stop smiling like an idiot and tell me what you want in return.” He asked her directly while looking at her devil face.

“I want you to submit these designs for approval. Once you are done, do not forget to get me my favorite ‘Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze’. I am craving for something sweet all of a sudden.” She rubbed her hands together and looked at him with dream-filled eyes.

“How about I say a, no?” Mike turned her down and walked towards his desk.

“Please, please, please… I will help you with the project from top to bottom. You won’t even have anything to do other than proofreading the papers once before submission.” She begged and chased behind him.

“Let me think about it for a second here. And my answer is ‘no’, no thank you,” Mike affirmed her.

“Really? You won't submit the designs for me. Don’t you want to improve the quality of the store? Didn’t you complain last time about cleaning the toilets every day, even though you are one of the boss’s? Only if you submit these designs and we win, then we will be able to afford such luxuries. Imagine having people working under you. All you need to do is sit on this desk and relax. Everything will be taken care of by your employees.” She stated while trying to create a magical scene in front of him by pointing at every corner of the room.

“Look here, someone is cleaning the floor for you. See here, one of the employees is cleaning the desk for you. And over here, someone is arranging a bundle of flowers in a vase that would bring a soothing feeling to your soul. And downstairs, there will be a huge line waiting outside in a line just to enter our shop...” Dina traveled into her dreamland and described everything that she wanted for herself.

Before she could even finish saying her dreamy life, he interfered and commented,

“You are not running a restaurant. It is a fashion boutique and we have enough space to let at least a hundred customers inside our shop at once. But did you see the reality? From morning, not even a fly entered our shop downstairs. I was sitting at the cash counter until now and we did not earn a single cent. If this keeps on going then the loan that we took from the bank, we would be unable to pay them even the interest. They will take this shop away from us.” Mike said disappointedly and brought her back to reality.

“We will succeed one day. We will definitely succeed. Don’t worry, cheer up.” Dina encouraged him and patted his back.

“It is because our store exists on the corner of the mall. It is so tiny that it’s not even visible from outside. If only we could get a big project using this fashion week, then we can put a big banner in front of the mall along with other stores. Now, all I am asking you is for one last time, will you submit these designs or not?” Dina asked while looking at him with puppy eyes.

“I have closed the shop for the lunch break. I have other work to do. Also, I am too tired to even lift my finger. So, you might have to do it yourself this time. So how about a no no no no no no no no no no…." Mike shook his head side to side.

‘Didn’t he just say not even a single customer entered their shop? Then how come he got too tired? Does sitting in one place make people exhausted?’ She wondered.

"Mike, what is wrong with you today? Why are you behaving in such an abnormal way?" Dina glanced at him weirdly and asked him.

He sighed and kept his hands on his face to hide it from her. He did not know how to explain it to her. He was notified this morning that there were some issues at their home. Moreover, the issue was growing out of their hands, uncontrollably. He doesn't know what has changed but the change is not that welcoming at the present.

One such instance is that the symbol that has been carved behind his back is now visible to everyone. It was well hidden by magic by his mother before he came to live next to Dina. But now it has got exposed and he was unable to find what went wrong. Everything that they had kept concealed or sealed with magic until now, has been slowly revealing itself one by one.

He could not understand if a war was awaiting them or something good was going to happen. Whatever it was they needed to be prepared, before they were thrown in for a surprise attack.

"Is there something troubling you? You can share anything with me, you do know that right? Did the doctor say, you have become impotent?" Dina asked.

"What? What rubbish are you asking me about?" He screamed and stood up from the chair in shock.

Mike got angered. He could not believe how she could even come to such a conclusion. He was definitely not impotent and that is the least of his worry. He could not understand how exactly her brain works. He glared at her and sighed.

"No. I mean, by looking at your facial expression, I thought it must be either you are having a troublesome day or the doctor announced that you are impotent," Dina tried to explain.

"I can very well do… Sigh… Really? At least your first suggestion was a little understandable and practical. Why did you even ask me or think about the second option? I really could not understand you. There was no connection between what we are talking about and what you had just asked…" Mike glanced at her with discontent.

"Hold on! It looks like I did not make myself clear when I asked you that question. Let me give you an example of why I asked you that question in the first place. See, every time I go to a bar, you would follow me almost all the time." She stopped and looked at him to make sure that he was following her.

Once he nodded his head accepting the fact that he did really follow her every single time, she continued to say,

"Then you would somehow use me as bait and get the phone numbers starting from bartenders to the customers over there. You even did not leave the female security guard in those bars. But think about it, until now, I never saw you go on a date with them even once. So, I just decided that you finally found out about your problem and you are upset about that." Dina announced her opinion.

Dina tried to make him understand the reason behind her question. Instead of trying to acknowledge and appreciate her for showing him concern, her explanation made him really angry. Flames came out of his ears and nose while he opened and closed his mouth. 

He could not believe she would act like she doesn’t know the reason. Moreover, how could she even ask this question to him? He could not understand that at all. He took several deep breaths and counted from one hundred to one to calm himself. Then he explained why he could not go on a single date with any of them.

"See, it is not that I do not want to go. But with a drunkard like you, how do you think I will even get any time to enjoy my life? Last time, when I went on a dinner date, I received a call from the south police station. Then the other time when I almost reached the hotel room, I got a call from the east station. Yesterday, I had just got the phone number from the beautiful lady and arranged to meet her after I dropped you home. But what happened? You disappeared from there! Now, do you understand why I cannot go on even a single date?" Mike muttered under his breath.

"Ok Ok! I get it! It is now all my fault! I completely agree with you." She said but her mind could not agree with his reasoning.