I woke up alarmed when the phone rang incessantly right next to my head.

Eyes half closed, I sat up, massaged my neck and grabbed the phone to check the caller ID. It was a very long, unknown number.

"International call?" I frowned, trying to figure out who was calling this early from across the ocean. The number started with +1. The USA country code.

Hesitantly, I pressed the 'accept' button and lifted the phone to my ear. I cleared my throat and spoke. "Hello?"

"Most_bay... Help!" An anxious male voice with a pleasant tone pleaded. It sounded familiar for some reason.

"I'm sorry... Who are you?" I asked warily, feeling self-conscious about my terrible accent.

"It's me. Your favorite son, remember?" The voice asked impatiently.

"Uh! Wait! You mean...?"

"Yes! Yes! It's Akram!" He interrupted. "And there's a bunch of crazy girls standing in a line outside of my door. DO SOMETHING, PLEASE!"

I got over my brief surprise and straightened up. "Hey, Akram. How are you, man?"

"Hi," Akram replied and hemmed in embarrassment. "Sorry I should've greeted you properly."

I chuckled. "It's OK. So what's the problem? Why are you afraid of a couple of girls?"

"I'm not," Akram groaned. "It's just that Melody is scared and I'm worried sick about her. She thinks Vivian sent them and I have to protect her. I promised."

"Alright. Alright," I said, scratching my forehead. "Did they say what they wanted?"

"No, but they're making a commotion outside in the hallway. They're all talking at the same time and I can't understand anything."

Pursing my lips, I contemplated the situation for a moment. "Could you walk to the door and let me hear what's going on?"

"Sure."

A faint sound of footsteps followed the answer, while another kind of noise began to rise.

"Oh Akram! Such a cutie pie!"

"Marry me, Akram!"

"Open the door and I'll make you coffee!"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious guy, isn't he?"

"Akram, I brought cupcakes!"

"I'm your craziest fan! Open up before I break the door!"

Recognizing the familiar voices, my eyebrows flew up. An amused smile began to spread all over my face.

"Did you hear that?" Akram asked and swallowed.

I laughed out loud, which was a very rare occurrence. "Yeah, man. Just open the door."

"Are you kidding? They're crazy. They could hurt Melody! I can't risk it," Akram growled in my ear.

"I assure you, they're harmless. They love Melody too," I stated confidently, resting my back on the pillow.

"What do you mean? You know these people?" Akram sounded confused.

"They're your fans, Akram. They just want to meet you," I explained quietly. After all Akram needed to know how much readers loved him.

"I have fans? But I'm not a celebrity. I haven't started my career yet."

I chuckled and shook my head. My boy was oblivious that he was famous for completely different reasons. "Apparently, you have fans you're not aware of, so don't keep them waiting. You should never disappoint my re... I mean, your fans."

"Well, If you say so," Akram sighed. "But I can't let them in. First, because the place is too small and second, I shouldn't invite girls in my apartment."

"Haha! Say that again," I joked.

"Hey! Melody is a different case!" Akram defended.

I rolled my eyes, glad that he couldn't see my reaction.

"Okay, okay... just tell the girls to wait for you at the cafe and I'll get up and meet you there." I yawned and rubbed the sleep off my tired eyes, reaching to pick up my glasses and thinking about a steamy, gigantic cup of coffee for the road.

"How? You're in Cairo and we're in New York City," Akram questioned dubiously.

"Piece of Chocolate... I'll write up a fictional flight in five minutes and I'm there. It's faster and cheaper this way," I assured him.

"Huh! Very convenient. I should've become a writer," Akram remarked.

"I wouldn't have let you. Your destiny is to become a musician. Now bring Mel and do as I said."

"You sound like my mother," Akram groaned.

I laughed inwardly.

We ended the call with a quick 'see ya' and I immediately fiddled with my phone to open a new Google doc. I typed the title 'Flight To New York' and began typing as fast as I could...

******

Hello dear ones

This is the beginning of a book of interviews with your favorite fictional character from MELODY.

Yup! He's the cupcake, cutie pie gentleman, Akram... ;D

The idea started with a long thread of Comments by
AnkuGarg
vanuSh99
rampoorna
_Imperfect_Writing
poornaram
AnAspiringSoul

😁😜

It's supposed to be an interactive book. Meaning, The idea is for readers to post all the questions they want to Ask Akram in the comments (I guess that's going to be in the next chapter. Not sure yet.)

Then each reader will get an exclusive interview with Akram in a separate chapter. I know it's not very clear yet, but it will be when chapter 2 is posted... any way, tell me what you think , and I'm open to suggestions if you have new ideas...

Much love

Most_bay