He took the phone and quickly scrolled through the messages. Surprisingly, he put it away rather than replying. "It keeps things easier. Like if the family phone rings, there is a ninety percent chance it’s my parents and I wouldn't pick up," he explained, winking at me and walking.
It took me a moment before I found my legs and trudged after him. The next few stalls, we just took food to go since we were both too full to eat and he told me to save the small place left in my stomach for the last cart.
"I wonder if Adrian got home alright," I said as we waited for the lady to pack it up. By now we were both carrying a bag with food, and I was sure Adrian was going to devour this when we got back. Knowing him, he was probably waiting in our bedroom for us.
"He should. We left the limo there for him."
"But it’s Adrian," I said, shaking my head. Darius shrugged, seemingly not worried. But then again they grew up together so he probably knew him better than I did. Yet, I understand Adrian. I was like him in a way. Normal. Till we saw something that we never got to do as a child and then we became children, excited by the simplest things, moody at the most random thing only because as a kid I was never allowed to be moody.
Blame my mother for that, for teaching her little girl to never show her feelings.
"How come you never told me you didn't like seafood?"
I looked up at him as he leaned against the cart. I shrugged. I didn't know why.
"It was rude to complain. You sucked up and ate it. Well, at least that’s what mum said."
She knew I didn't like seafood from a very young age, but it didn't stop her from ordering it all the time. I got used to the fact that people would order it and if I didn't like it, I would just sit there and eat it.
"You should have told me," Darius insisted.
"Well, you know now." I took the box and walked on. We had to skip a few carts because we didn't have enough space in our hands. For once I forgot I was with some rich business man. It just seemed like a nice evening.
Till his phone rang.
"So, which phone is that?" I asked curiously, realising it wasn't the one in his coat pocket. He slipped his hand into his left pocket, taking a phone out.
"It's a normal ringtone. That would be business," he said.
"They all sound like normal tones to me," I said, shrugging. He switched his phone off and put it back into his pocket.
"You're not going to take that?"
"They all have a different variation in the tone," he explained.
I rolled my eyes. Of course, only he would be able to tell the difference between three similar sounding ring tones. "And it's outside of working hours," he added, taking out his other phone and switching that off as well.
"Do you want to switch off this one too?" I asked, amused, pulling the one out from my pocket. He took the phone, turning it in his hands before placing it back in my pocket.
"Nope, that's family. I don't switch that one off."
I stood there for a moment, staring after him as he walked to the next cart and spoke to the man there. He looked to his side and looked around for me when he realised I wasn't beside him.
"You coming, Aluminium?" he asked when he saw me.
I hurried up to him and snapped, "You're never going to stop calling me that, are you?"
"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' and making me bite back my smile at how childish he looked. His hands were in his pockets as he looked at the man do whatever he was doing. Wait, didn't we already have crepes?
I said to Darius, "Good. I have an annoying name for you, too."
He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yep," I said, popping the 'p' like he did. He gave me a half smile as he shook his head.
"Alright, let's hear it," he said.
"Dairy."
"Dare what?"
"Dairy, like cows," I said, hiding my smile as I thanked the man and walked off. I realised there was only one cart left and felt sad. It was over already?
I looked back at him to see him staring at me in confusion and then turned to the cart driver, saying "Dairy?" in annoyance. Perfect. I didn't want him to like the name.
"Hey, Dairy, are you coming?" I called, laughing at the scowl he gave me.
Darius and Dairy. It sounded more relevant than Aluminium and Ivory, which had nothing in common.
"Dairy?" he asked as he walked up to me. I shrugged and realised the irony of the last cart and burst out laughing.
"Ice cream. Really?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath from laughing. Darius looked annoyed himself.
"Rose said you love ice cream. Dairy, huh? Can’t you come up with something better like munchkin or something? No, not munchkin. Something manlier. What the hell is Dairy?"
"What the hell is Aluminium? And yes, I love ice cream," I said, talking to the lady and ignoring his mutterings and tried to find the right flavor to try. There were so many. In the end I got a three-scoop ice cream with bubblegum, chocolate and guava; weird combination but I was dying to try guava and bubblegum and chocolate was the safe option in case the other two tasted bad.
"Are you going to get one?" I asked, secretly hoping he would.