[One month later] Outgoing call
Luana Yo!
Rasul Howdy ma'am.
Luana How have you been?
Rasul I’ve been good, coping with life. How about you?
Luana I’ve been very busy.
Rasul With?
Luana School. I’m not motivated enough, so I need to try harder.
Rasul Good girl! But why? Is your new lover distracting you?
Luana I don’t have a lover!
Rasul Hmm.
Luana Rasul I’m serious; quit being childish. I’ve not been in a relationship since we ended ours. I can’t afford to be distracted.
Rasul You don’t have to lie to me.
Luana Believe whatever you want to. I’m not interested in arguing, so please stop!
Rasul Hey, I’m just making convers...
Luana Look! I don’t have a reason to lie! I’m not like you.
Rasul Well, I see you’re in a bad mood, have a good day. I just wanted to check up on you.
Luana Thank you, have a good day!
[The following week] Incoming call
Rasul Yo!
Luana Not talking to me anymore?
Rasul I didn’t want to distract you. Also, I was focusing on school.
Luana You never distract me, you inspire me. Also, I need my friend, I’ve been thinking about calling you every day, but I just can’t get myself to go through with it. Calling you, I mean.
Rasul You know you can call me any time you want.
Luana Honestly, I don’t want you! I need you, because life seems better when you’re around. With you, I’ve a reason to wake up in the middle of the night, because I know I’ll have someone to talk me back to sleep. With you, I can look my worst and still have someone who will smile, call me beautiful, and look at me like he just fell in love all over again.
Rasul I need you too! I miss you. Honestly, I can’t approach a beautiful girl, without finding a way to put you above her. It feels like you cast a love spell on me, which only allows me to see or love non other but you, and I love it. I love that I can’t love anyone but you.
Luana So are you enjoying the college life?
Rasul Oh yes! I love it! I’m not acting like myself. I don’t talk to the girl I love. I’m constantly doing things I’d never do in a million years. I miss you, and doing these unspeakable things is the only way to stop myself from thinking about you.
Luana I hate you!
Rasul Why?!
Luana You promised me a good summer and broke your promise.
Rasul I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you; I’ll be home very soon. My current goal is to focus on studying, I have missed a lot of classes and I have to do everything I can to be motivated like I was before.
Luana I was performing terribly when school started, but I developed a strict routine to work harder. You need to motivate yourself.
Rasul How?
Luana First, you have to develop the mindset. You need to make a schedule, and start learning as soon as possible. Also, get a tutor or go to your teachers for help.
Rasul I’ll start tomorrow. I really need to catch up.
Luana Why not today?
Rasul I’m very tired. I’ve been depriving myself of sleep.
Luana You need to rest! You need to motivate yourself as soon as possible, or else you will fail. You’re smart, stop being lazy. Also I think, we need to stop talking to each other until your exam so you can focus.
Luana No, that is a bad idea. I love it when you distract me.
Luana I’m serious! I need you to concentrate. When are you coming home?
Rasul The 5th of October. I’ll visit you as soon as I get home, if you still want to see me.
Luana I’d love to see you, but I can’t on a school night.
Rasul It’s on a Friday.
Luana You just made my day! I can’t wait, but if you can’t on that Friday, then I’ll be available on Saturday.
Rasul I’ll be there whenever you want me...
Luana I’ve a surprise for you, but I can’t tell you until your birthday.
Rasul My birthday is in January, I want to know now!
Luana No it’s a surprise, and you will love it!
Rasul I despise waiting.
Luana It’s a very special surprise, you will have to wait. And that is final!
Rasul Fine, I’ll have to wait.
Luana Yes, but only if you’re home, and spend the day with me.
Rasul That sounds like a good plan.
Luana I love you, but you will only get the surprise, only if I get the promise ring you promised me.
Rasul I love you more!
Luana Not possible fool!
Rasul Luana, I love you more!
Luana Shut up loser, and stop screaming. We all know, I love you more!
Rasul That is not possible beautiful lady.
Luana I missed these moments. Don’t ever let it end?
Rasul I will never let it end. As I promised you, I will never give up on us. I know I’m not perfect, so I’ll never stop trying.
Luana Thank you. I miss you very much.
Rasul I miss you too. In a few weeks, you will be able to tell me that while hugging me.
Luana I can’t wait! But you have to get some rest and get back to concentrating on school.
Rasul I will.
Luana So is this good bye?
Rasul Yes, but just for a while. I’ll talk to you soon.
Luana Good night loser.
[Two weeks later] Outgoing call
Rasul Yo! We have to talk. I know I promised I’d be home on Friday, but I don’t think...
Luana Are you serious?! I swear you’re not worth it. You imbecile...
Rasul I see you added a new word to your vocabulary, but please calm down. I can’t make it because...
Luana Do you think this is a joke? Don’t ever tell me to calm down, and don’t ever call me. [Phone call ends]
[The following night] Outgoing call
Sarina You have the wrong number, if you were planning on calling Delilah, you imbecile!
Rasul Sarina, please listen to me. I’m home but she thinks I’m in school; I wanted to buy myself some time to surprise her on Saturday.
Sarina What is wrong with you?
Rasul I’m trying to surprise her, I missed her birthday, and I broke my promise, when I promised her a wonderful summer.
Sarina You’re insane!
Rasul I know, but please help me.
Sarina I’ll help you. But never forget, I’ll kill you if you continue to hurt her.
Rasul Thank you very much, I appreciate it. And please give me Asher's number. I need his help with something else.
Sarina I’ll give him your phone number, and tell him to give you a call. Have a good night imbecile!
[Eight hours later] Incoming call
Luana Hi.
Rasul What do you want?
Luana I miss you. Please come home.
Rasul I can’t, I already gave a friend my bus ticket.
Luana Sarina and I, heard a song playing on the radio, and it made me think of you.
Rasul Oh. Well, I’ve to go Luana. Tell Sarina I said hi.
Luana You’re a moron! I swear I’ll never forgive you.
Rasul Lu… [Phone call ends]
[Interrupted by Nabi]
Nabi Stop! Why do you want her back? You treated her as if you didn’t care...
Rasul C’mon Nabi, you know I’m no longer the person I’m telling you about. I was young, immature and I didn’t know Luana was the love of my life, and I’ll never meet another woman like her. I only wanted to surprise her; I regret everything I did, which is why I want a last chance to give her the type of love she truly deserves.
Nabi What happened next?
Rasul Well...
Nabi Hold on, let me guess, did you break her heart again?
Rasul Nabi, you’re getting on my nerves. And for your information, my plan worked out perfectly; Sarina’s job was to make sure she persuaded Luana to come with her to the beach on Saturday, Asher’s was to find a vehicle that could drive us to the beach, and my job was to prepare the best picnic, with her favorite fruits, drinks, and foods. Everything worked in my favor; Asher’s brother, Josh, who drove them to the beach, left them, and then drove back to the train station to meet me, he then escorted me to the market where I bought some food for the surprise picnic. He drove me to another part of the beach, to set up the picnic at five o’clock; as part of the plan, Sarina and Asher were supposed to go back to the car at five-twenty, leaving her alone for a few minutes, and then they gave me a call to begin the next part of the plan, which was to pretend as if I was in need of help because I was drowning, so I then took a swim in the ocean; exactly at five-thirty I began screaming for help, then I heard her calling out for Sarina, repeatedly saying “I think someone is drowning”, as she was running towards me. She didn’t know I was the one screaming for help, without hesitation, she jumped into the water to save me. I thought she would be angry when she noticed it was me, but the first sentence that came out of her mouth were “I hate you” while smiling, then she splashed a huge amount of water in my direction, and began swimming back to the shore, then I shouted “please wait! You know I barely know how to swim, but look at me, risking my life to surprise you!” I then grabbed her, kissed her, and said “I’m sorry for lying to you, but I had to make it believable to surprise you. I’ll always go out of my way to give you a love that will not only last for a lifetime, but a timeless love”, kissed her again and then she taught me different ways to be a better swimmer for about ten minutes, as the sun began to set, I told her to go to the shore for the rest of her surprise, as she reached the shore, she spotted the picnic setting and turned around to say something to me; she instantaneously swallowed her words and was rendered speechless at the sight of the sunset behind her, she swam fast towards me, kissed me like she never wanted to let me go, said thank you, and grabbed my hand directing me to the shore. We sat down and enjoyed a perfect picnic in the sunset over a paradisiacal view. A few joyful months passed by; we were in perfect harmony when I returned to school, we spent about nine hours talking to each other on a daily basis, life couldn’t have been better; we motivated one another, her grades skyrocketed, better than it had ever been, mine were also improving, she helped me with most of my ideas, those few months of pure happiness were responsible for the creation of Rhythm Technologies, and its initial creations. We pushed each other to be better in ways you can’t imagine; there was a healthy competition between us. Nabi I swear, no one in my life has ever pushed me to be a better person and thinker like she did, except you, of course. At the end of the semester, I spent every second of my thirteen-day vacation with her.
Nabi Wow, I guess I’m sorry for interrupting you.
[January 1st, 2002]
Luana I told you, you would love it.
Rasul It was surprisingly good.
Luana You have to watch the prequel to fully understand the beginning...
Rasul There’s a prequel?
Luana Yes, “Broken Promises”. Why are you stopping? We need to go outside, mama will be here anytime now.
Rasul I don’t think I can meet your mom.
Luana Why?!
Rasul Coz I’m shy...
Luana There she comes. Hey! Just be yourself, she will love you. You’re charming...
Rasul And? Go on.
Luana That’s all, you’re charming…
Rasul Hi, How are you doing…
Misskay Call me Misskay. And Rasul, I’ve heard a lot about you.
Luana Mom can you believe he cried during the movie?
Rasul I didn’t cry Misskay...
Misskay What movie did you catch?
Rasul “Un-Broken Promises: A Lifetime and Beyond”. I never thought I’d enjoy it, but I did. It was a great movie.
Luana Yes it was a good movie, he really did cry on my shoulder, throughout the entire movie!
Rasul Really?!
Misskay Ignore her Rasul, I know you didn’t cry...
Luana But mom! He actually cried.
Misskay And even if you did, It’s okay to be emotional.
Rasul I hate you so much!
Luana Why are you whispering Rasul?! Tell her what you just told me!
Rasul I love you. I said I love you.
Misskay I heard you Rasul, don’t worry, she deserved it.
Luana Mom!
Misskay She told me you’re very shy. You don’t seem shy to me.
Rasul Oh, I’m shy. The only reason why I’m confident is because Luana is here.
Luana I’ve an important question. Why did you cry?
Rasul I’m never going on a movie date with you, ever again.
Luana But you promised me we would see “Marks on My Heart” together on Valentine's Day.
Rasul Turn it! Now!
Luana Nuh-uh!
Rasul C’mon, please. Turn it for me.
Luana I said no!
Rasul And I said, turn it now! I’ll see “Marks on My Heart” with you. Also I’ve a surprise for you, so please turn it!
Luana Mom, stop looking at us like a bunch of crazy people! "Turn it", means to turn a frown upside down.
Misskay I’ve to go to the store Rasul do you want anything?
Luana What about me?
Misskay I know you want cookie dough; I don’t need to ask you.
Rasul No, I’m fine. Thank you.
Misskay Do you want to stay in the car or come with me?
Luana We will be with you in a minute, mom.
Rasul Can you get my camera?
Luana There’s no camera in your bag.
Rasul Oh shoot! I think I left it at home.
Misskay Luana, you left your old camera in the back, so I kept it in the glove compartment.
Luana Rasul, do you know what this is?!
Rasul Why are you excited? It’s just a camera. Oh, am I looking at a real time-machine?
Luana Your head is just a camera loser!
Rasul Thank you...
Luana Shut up, don’t you remember this camera? It’s the camera that brought us together.
Rasul If it’s important, why did you leave it here?
Luana Mama never loses anything of mine, that’s why.
Rasul We have to take some pictures together, but first I have a surprise for you...
Luana What is it? What is it?
Rasul Look inside the outer pocket of my bag.
Luana What is this?
Rasul Read it.
Luana "On behalf of Dew University I’m pleased to congratulate you on your acceptance into." Are you serious?!
Rasul I know, I couldn’t believe it either. Mmm, and what was the kiss for?
Luana Shut up, it’s an "I love you very much” kiss.
Rasul Mmm, I like it, do it again.
Luana Wait, over here, it says this is for the fall semester.
Rasul Yes I know.
Luana Fall semester begins...
Rasul I contacted the administration office, and they said I’ll have to send them my updated transcript after the up and coming semester. I’m not ready to transfer, and I’ve to discuss it with my dad, before I make any further decisions.
Luana You should tell him sooner! I think he will be thrilled, because it’s closer to home.
Rasul And, also closer to you.
Luana Yes!
Rasul Mmm, I’ve to say it, I love these "I love you very much” kisses.
Luana They are only for special moments like now.
Rasul Picture time.
Luana Yes!
Misskay You might want to stand in this direction for a better picture.
Rasul Excuse me?
Misskay Why does he look surprised?
Rasul Those are the first words I said to Luana in Manhattan.
Luana Hand her the camera. She is a good photographer.
Rasul Here.
Misskay Ready?
Luana Hold on; okay we are ready.
Misskay Say cheese.
Rasul Can you please take another one just to be on the safe side?
Misskay I think it’s perfect...
Luana Mom, Rasul is a perfectionist. Please do it.
Misskay Rasul, are you sure you wouldn’t like to join us for...
Luana No. He has to go home.
Rasul I’d love to...
Luana It’s almost eleven o'clock.
Rasul Maybe next time then Misskay.
Misskay When are you going back to school?
Rasul I’ll be leaving on the 13th, my classes begin on Monday.
Luana Mom, he applied to Dew and got accepted.
Misskay