Kareem smiled and posed for the cameras and selfies happily and gave out various autographs, with much patience. After another ten minutes, of being oggled, swooned and admired by girls soon he made the crowd settle down a bit and requested the manager for a little more private place to sit.
"Offcourse sir! This way please" The manager obliged happily, and leaded him to one corner. The cafe was dimly lit, so Kareem quickly walked behind the manager, covering his face with his hands a bit, avoiding to catch any more attention.
The manager stopped near the corner most, table, which covered from three sides with wooden panels, in shape of lotus petals. The cafe was dimly lit, so this was the safest place to sit in seclusion, avoiding any public attention.
"Yes! This is simoly perfect! Thank you." Kareem sat on the couch, from where he was hardly visible to any of the crowd now. "Umm...! I have a request, James Wilson, the actor and my friend, will soon be coming to the cafe too. So please if you can usher him to this place as well, that would be a big favour!" Kareem smiled plesantly at the waiter.
"Oh! Wow! That would be a pleasure sir!" The manager obliged and walked away excitedly.
Kareem was flipping the paper weight placed on the table, waiting for James, when suddenly once again he heard loud shreiks, majorly from girls all across the cafeteria.
"Ahh! He is here, it appears. Five minutes of photo sessions, five minutes of autographs, as per training by our mothers, and he will be here walking in exactly ten minutes!" Kareem chuckled, flipping the square paper weight with his two fingers.
Soon after ten minutes, James walked with a big smile being ushered by the same manager, who was having his star-struck moment currently, looking at the two leading hollywood stars together.
"Heyyy man!!" Kareem stood up and hugged the boy, patting his back.
James hugged back the man"s neck with his string arm and patted his shoulder.
James smiled. "Bro!! Looking fitter than before and wait!!! Have you been on a beach holiday...?? You look a bit tanned..!!" James looked at the man"s face in surprise.
"Ahh! No!! Offcourse not. But I have trying to absorb vitamin D, due to doctor"s advice. So I sit by the pool a lot!" Kareem spoke in hesitation and sat back on the couch, while James seated himself on the couch just opposite to him.
"I did not know, it would be so crowded here. I was kind of surprised!" Kareem shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
"Ohh! Yeah I was kind of startled too. I guess we can not just sit anywhere in regular cafes, like the old days. Got to live with the fact that we are famous now!" James chuckled looking at the man.
"Ahh! And mom says, we should always be thankful for it!" Kareem smiled, reminding the boy.
"Oh! Offcourse! I am thankful. A lot thankful for several things in life. But that is also true that I miss those old days!" James sighed picking up the menu card.
Kareem also picked up the menu card and sighed. "That is true. Care free old days, thise were. With no complications and no battles to fight. At times, I feel ignorance is truely a bliss. What we did not know, never really bothered us befote. We were carefree, young and wild- spirited. You, me and Rose. But now.... Now things have changed a lot! We know, so many things, which is taking away our night"s sleep." Kareem placed back the menu, looking sadly in James"s eyes.
They both looked in each other"s eyes sadly, as if sharing their unspoken common grief. Soon the waiter arrived with a wide grin looking at the two celebrities. "h.e.l.lo respected sirs. It is an honour to have you both here. What would you like to have at our humble cafe?"
"Thank you, it is a pleasure to be back here after so long!" Kareem smiled looking at the waiter.
"Yes! Back then, when this guy was not a star, we would come here atleast twice a week!" James smiled looking at Kareem. "Well a supreme Latte for me and some coffee beans to go with it. Thank you!" James turned to look at the waiter and smiled.
"Well, I would like a slice of an apple pie and a cold coffee with extra vanilla icecream. That will be all! Thank you!" Kareem smiled.
"Great!" The waiter bowed and walked away.
"What is it with you dude. The "no sugar in my diet" person, is today getting high on sugar? There is somthing really different about you. The way you sit, the way you talk, your food choices, everything! It is changing!" James looked at the boy from head to toe.
"Well, So have you my little boy! It is just that, you can not see it, but I can see it clearly. And we both know, what is the reason behind it!" Kareem suddenly spoke in a serious tone.
James"s smile faded away and he looked at Kareem"s grim face. For a very long time their was dead silence, between the two friends. None of them knew, what to say to each other any further.
Suddenly, the same waiter arrived with a wide smile on his face and placed their orders each, in front of the two celebrities.
"Anything else, you both would like to have?" Asked the waiter in a very respectful tone.
"Huh? Ah! no! That will be all for now thank you!" James smiled, suddenly coming out of the trance.
He then turned again and looked at Kareem. "Hmmm.... for the same reason you say! Huh? That is definitly not the next movie you are talking about. Are you?" James lifted up his white latte cup, taking a sip of the aromatic coffee.
"No! I am not talking about our next movie together. Even on that day, I was not talking about the movie, in which you are the hero and I am the bad guy. I was talking about the our real life action scenes, bound to happen any time, any day!" Kareem smirked, taking a bite of the sweet apple pie, giving his tongue a slight relief to the sour taste of his mouth.