Layla and Nerdyy eyed the tall man as he uncovered the tray and set out plates of steaming food. Satisfied, he looked up at them.
'Please, take a seat, and have some food.'
'Err, maybe later,' Nerdy muttered, eyeing the food and licking his lips. 'I, err, not really too...Ah..ouch.' Layla pushed past him and rushed to the table.
'Oh my God. Chicken! Chicken! Oh, it looks so good! And lamb! And cauliflower cheese! All my favourite foods! Yess!' She sat down happily, tied the napkin around her neck and dug right in.
'Err, Layla...Are you sure you're hungry?' Nerdyy tried to put a little nudge into his tone, hinting to her that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to eat food from a stranger. For some reason though, Nerdyy found that he couldn't say this out loud in front of the stranger. Odd, he didn't want to offend this courteous man who didn't want to hurt him.
'Are you crazy? Of course I'm hungry! Look at this food! We haven't eaten since...' Layla stopped to think. In the silence, Nerdy's stomach growled loudly.
'Please, eat.' The man gestured again, and grabbing a chair for himself settled down. Nerdy shrugged to himself and sat down. Damn, it smells so good. It feels like I haven't eaten for weeks. He took a forkful of food and almost died with joy.
After eating for a few minutes, Layla and Nerdyy realized that the man was just watching them. Suddenly awkward, Nerdy put down his fork.
'So, can you tell us where we are? What are we doing here? And..'
Layla interjected, 'And who the hell are you?'
All traces of cordiality vanished from the man's face. Layla froze, seeing the frown. She exchanged looks with Nerdyy during a very uncomfortable silence. Then the man finally spoke.
'Where is IQ?'
Nerdy shot a look at Layla. 'Err, IQ? Who...ah..'
'We don't know!' Layla threw at the man. 'Even if we did we won't tell you!'
'You realize I won't let you go until you tell me?' The man said in a soft yet somehow menacing tone. 'So you should think carefully before lying to me.'
'Let us go first! Then we'll tell you!' Layla refused to budge from her stance. 'In fact! Maybe we will show you where she is!'
'First you tell me you don't know where she is. Now you want to show me?' The man raised an eyebrow.
'Well, we won't tell you anything then! Until you let us go!' Layla crossed her arms stubbornly, and tossed her head.
'Umm, mister.' Nerdyy said thoughtfully. 'Say we tell you. What do you plan to do with IQ?'
'That's my concern. Not yours.'
"Ah, well you see. It surely is my concern, and I'm sure Diyah's also.' He shot a questioning look at Layla, who shook her head furiously. 'We care about our friend.'
'Friend?' The man looked curious. 'You don't sound like a Brit. This girl here does, but you, you sound foreign.'
'Yeah, I'm from- OUCH!' He shot a look at Layla and bent to rub his leg under the table. 'I'm from, err, Uganda.'
'Ehm.' The man blinked at Nerdyy. 'Orite then.'
'He cut off his dreadlocks for me!' Layla tried to explain. 'And yeah, he did look hot with them, he gets them fixed at the hairdresser every week just for me, and I like men who take care of themselves! But I like short hair you see. Like my John baby! Hot!' She nodded again at the glares of both men. 'WHAT?'
Both men started laughing.
'What?' Layla looked around mutinously. How dare Nerdy laugh with this man! What a bloody traitor man! I swear I'm gonna knock his head out!
'Err Diyah, calm down. I know what you're thinking.'
'Huh, what? How?' Layla asked.
'Remember, I can feel you."
'Oh yeh.' Layla actually blushed.
The man cleared his throat. 'If you don't tell me, I promise you, you will live to regret it.' He was playing with a knife he'd picked up from the cutlery on the table.
'You don't scare us!' Layla retorted.
'Look. Keep me here. But let her go. She has an exam tomorrow, and she's young, you can't have her fail her exams..'
'Romeyo! I ain't writing that stupid exam. I don't know anything yet! It's your fault, you can umm adjust the marks or something, can't you!'
Nerdyy breathed in, seething. I'm trying to help her get out, and she's making it worse. 'Diyah, I told you, I'm just a guest lecturer. I don't have any influence like that.'
'What do you mean? You're the one giving the freaking exam!'
'I know! But if you had paid attention,'
'Don't blame me now!-'
A keening siren wailed, silencing them. Layla and Nerdy cringed and covered their ears. The big man waited then pressed a button on his device. The siren stopped.
'I don't know what the beep your issues are. And I really don't give a beep. But if you aren't going to tell me where IQ is, you are the ones who will be responsible for what will happen to you.'
Nerdyy gulped.
'Okay. You want to know who I am. I'm an assassin. I kill people.' The man looked at both of them, and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head lazily.
'You, you're going to kill us?' Layla whispered.
'I may. I may not.'
'Where's your gun? How do you kill people? I don't see nothing.'
'I work undercover obviously. I don't want attention. I don't like attention. The best way to kill people is naturally. Food.'
Nerdy and Layla stared at their empty plates in dismay.
