Bubbles (4.5)

 

Part 4 :

Mourad

Ah, it’s no use.

Mourad got up from his desk, trying to stretch his sore legs. He had been working on the report for the whole morning, and so far his efforts had yielded a modest paragraph of three sentences.

He glanced at the empty desk next to him, wondering not for the first time when Amina would be coming back.

He had been surprised by how badly she had taken the news of Allal’s death. She never really struck him as the emotional type, and yet, he had rarely seen a human being turn as pale as she had.

Like she was seeing ghosts.

--

The company had generously offered free counselling sessions and a couple of paid time-off days for anyone “distraught” by the incident. Mourad thought really hard about it, then decided he wasn’t particularly affected by the whole thing. Sure, he had known Allal for years, and the thought of never seeing him again was a little uncomfortable, but he didn’t feel the grief the others around him seemed to be consumed with.

In fact, he didn’t think that much about it. In his point of view, Humans lived, and then they died. Very simple, and yet, the second part seemed to always catch others off guard.

Amina had known the guy for less than a week after all, and she couldn’t stand to be near him. So why was she so affected by his death?

Maybe I’m the weirdo here.

He shrugged, then made himself a third cup of coffee, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable brain fog he couldn’t seem to shake.

---

But the brain fog only got worse as the day progressed.

And so, after catching himself daydreaming for the seventh time, he sighed and decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a break.

The brain fog wasn’t new, of course. It had been a near-constant feature ever since he stopped smoking. But the daydreams were, and however he thought about them, everything about them was weird.

He picked up his coat and stepped out of the eerily empty office. And then, almost mechanically, he found himself dialling a phone number.

- “Hey. can we meet for a coffee real quick?"


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