‘I wish it didn’t. He sounds like a good guy, this Zakariya.’
I contemplated Dina’s words. She had always been sensible and was a good judge of character. I was also known to be sensible, although admittedly my people radar was a little off. But was a car ride all it took to make Zakariya seem decent in her opinion? What about the way he behaved in the art class?
‘He probably wanted to start a conversation with you and said the first thing that came into his head,’ Dina replied when I reminded her of that fact. ‘It was a crap thing to say, but I don’t know if he should be charged and tried based on one dodgy remark. If he reaches out to you again, which he might not since you rejected him, you should get to know him properly and make a more informed decision about his character.’
‘Well, he’s moving to Dubai and I’m going back to uni, so we’re on different paths. It’s not meant to be.’
When I got back home early the next morning, the first thing I did after greeting my parents – who were so engrossed in the Bollywood movie they were watching that they barely acknowledged me – was check out the next item on Noah’s list:
10. COMPLETE THE WHOLE 30 PROGRAMME 
Smashed it like I knew I would and feel amazing! Need to make this a yearly thing.
What in God’s name was the ‘Whole 30’ programme? It could be anything, from devil-worshipping to learning how to code. I was probably going to have to get creative with how I would adapt it to suit me.
I typed it into Google and immediately realised that it was a healthy-eating programme, which sounded a lot like a diet to me. Apparently, it wasn’t, as weight loss wasn’t the goal and people didn’t count calories or carbs like with other diets. If I did this – which was a huge IF at that point – I wouldn’t be able to eat dairy, wheat, grains, legumes or pulses, processed meats, sugar and some fruit. What sort of diet didn’t let you eat fruit?
‘It’s only for thirty days,’ Lucy voice-noted me when I sent her a text to complain. I could hear a lot of noise in the background and I immediately felt bad for disturbing her on holiday. ‘Think of it like a detox.’
‘Trust a bloody personal trainer to add some sort of crazy diet to his list,’ I moaned in my reply. ‘Why do I have to? Why can’t I tailor it to my needs?’
‘You need to tailor things that make no sense at all, like participating in a triathlon or doing a physio course. This does make sense. Everyone could benefit from an internal cleanse every now and then.’
I wasn’t sure how and when Lucy became the authority on the way I interpreted the list, but I let her because it was easier with her support.
‘Everyone . . . including you?’ I asked hopefully.
Lucy sighed audibly through the voice-note. ‘Fine. Including me. I’ve wanted to try this for a while anyway. No time like the New Year to try a diet.’
‘You know you can’t drink alcohol on this plan,’ I told her. ‘Too much sugar.’
The next message came a few minutes later, starting with another long sigh. ‘Two New Year’s resolutions in one then. Let’s start on January first. It’ll give us a few days to enjoy ourselves.’
‘And give you New Year’s Eve to go wild.’
‘Exactly.’
After I finished bothering Lucy, I decided to check what was next on the list. The Whole 30 was called that because you did it for thirty days, not because you had to eliminate thirty foods like I initially assumed. It didn’t make sense to stall the rest of the list for a whole month, especially if it was something I could do in tandem.
Taking the notebook out for the second time that day, I flicked through the pages that were getting more and more tired and worn from all my constant touching and analysing and checked out number eleven on the list:
11. TAKE ARABIC CLASSES
Marhaba, Habibi!! Getting there, but got a long way to go!
I stared at the words in surprise. I had assumed that Noah was Arab, but how could he be if he was planning on taking classes? Having said that, my parents made me take Bengali lessons when I was younger. Maybe Noah’s parents barely spoke Arabic at home and he wanted to brush up on it. Or maybe he was planning on moving abroad like Zakariya. My heart dipped a little bit at the thought. If Zakariya left the country, I would never see him again.
Unless we took the same class, I slowly realised. I could ask Zakariya. It would give me the perfect excuse to text him again, without looking like I was trying it on.
Unlike other items on the list, Noah didn’t provide options for where to take the classes. For all I knew, he was doing them online. In fact, he probably was. Everyone did things online these days. I didn’t want to though. I wouldn’t focus half as much as if I did it in person. Plus, doing it offline meant I could meet more people and get out more.
Nerves tingling in my belly, I took out my phone and painstakingly crafted the perfect text after two failed attempts:
ME: Salaams Zakariya, hope you’re well. Remember the list I told you about? Taking Arabic classes is on it. Any suggestions on where I can go to take them? TIA!
Hitting send, I leant back in my chair and waited. After checking my phone three times in one minute, I distracted myself by creating a meal plan and shopping list for my Whole 30 month, which was a lot harder than I originally thought it would be. I couldn’t eat cereal, granola or yoghurt for breakfast. I wouldn’t be able to buy something quickly whenever I needed to. I’d have to plan my meals properly otherwise I would fail. It looked like eggs were going to become my best friend.
It took me a while to create a meal plan that I would sort of enjoy – there were a lot of salads, soups, eggs and baked proteins on it, but I could live with it for a month. Potatoes were allowed, which meant that I could have jacket potatoes from the greasy spoon cafe next to my office if I needed to. Not with beans or cheese, though. Or butter. Tuna mayo it was going to have to be. If I could take up running, surely, I could cut back on some of my favourite food groups. No problem. Hang on, was mayonnaise dairy?
My phone buzzed and I grabbed it so quickly that I knocked over a stack of papers on my desk. But I didn’t care because Zakariya had replied: