Elemental Dissonance.

Cutting the call, he put the phone in the back pocket of his pants while wholly concentrating on his breakfast. He averted his eyes towards the Date syrup, its composition was very viscous with a dark brown tint to its color. Unable to wait anymore in front of this delicious looking breakfast, he tore a piece of Raqaq bread directly and dipped it into the bowl.

When the date syrup-filled Raqaq entered his mouth, he felt an explosion of sweetness in his mouth with a tender taste of Raqaq bread as well. Within just one bite, he experienced euphoria, he couldn't help but scared, suspecting that he entered a 3 or 4-stars restaurant by mistake. But the infrastructure of the restaurant didn't let him believe it, so he became somewhat relieved.

Bite by bite, he finished both the Raqaqs and drank the remaining syrup directly from the bowl. It was then the turn of Shawarma, he held it using both of his arms and bite off a huge piece of it. Unlike the Date syrup and Raqaq, this wasn't just sweet, it was a plethora of flavors. But the texture of tender chicken t.h.i.g.h meat got stuck to his head. Alas, he finished it quickly too.

Eating this euphoric breakfast, he felt an urge to call the cook and give him a big reward like the 'Kings of Middle East'. Experiencing this delight, he comprehended the meaning behind the name of this restaurant.

But good things never last that long, it was his time to pay the bill and leave too. He stood up from his seat moving towards the cash counter with a refreshing expression on his face.

Sitting on the cash counter was an old man with a long beard, nonexistent mustache and a Thawb(1) on his body. The typical getup any Emirati would have throughout the year.

Bilal asked the old man "How much is the Bill?"

The old man looked at him and pointed his finger towards an acrylic standing signboard that was there adjacent to the cash counter.

On the signboard, three lines of Arabic text was printed there.

[ All the meals are provided free of cost to all the worker brothers and those who can't afford to buy one...

~ Sponsered by Raza Khatib charitable organization.]

Seeing the signboard he understood. This restaurant is a community kitchen which gives distributes free and quality food to those who can't afford it.

But the quality of food didn't let him believe it was a community kitchen, he interpreted if the owner were to do a good renovation and some revamping. It could effortlessly become a high class restaurant.

"So you still want to pay?" asked the old man with a curious expression on his face.

"Yes, I still do." Bilal said

"Ok then, your bill is 50 dirhams."

Bilal took out 50 Dirhams from his pocket and paid the bill. He looked towards the old man and asked in an enthusiastic manner "What is your name mister? Are you the owner of this restaurant?"

"Yes I'm the owner of this restaurant, my name is Raza Khatib and you've guessed correctly I'm also the founder of the organization..."

------------------------------------------------

He then walked towards the parking lot, taking out the keys from his pocket and started the truck's engine. While at the same time, making a 'to do' list for the day in his mind.

As soon as the truck started his mobile phone started ringing loudly. He picked it up, not expecting a frightened voice from it.

"Buddy it's me Omar...I don't have much time… Come back to Dubai... Roads blocked..... Television..."

" Hey Hey Hey!!!!!! Don't disconnect the call, tell me what happened, tell me."

By then, he was already screaming with the top of his lungs hoping for a response and what answered him wasn't Omar but the pre-recorded voice 'Your call has been disconnected'.

He tried re-dialing the number but it was of no use. Omar is one of the few friends he had and now something had happened to him. In a panic, he started accelerating the truck thinking of numerous ways to arrive there faster.

'What happened to him? Roads blocked? Television? What did he want to say? Did he get into some trouble? ' he thought.

Unable to stay calm, he speeded up the truck even further, pushing its engine to the limit. His truck screamed with noise wherever it passed by. Just as he was going in for a turn at high speed, a blinding light flashed at the corner of his eyes which distracted him for a second.

But only one second was enough for a disaster to descend. He lost control over the truck with a 'slish' sound and crashed into the lane's nook. Luckily for him, the impact wasn't that great and ladyluck was on his side too, just before the crash, airbags got activated and safeguarded him from the crash damage and shrapnels.

He then pushed the door open and exited the truck. Quickly laying his hand on the asphalt floor, he supported himself while breathing heavily. After a minute or so, he got up from the road and tried examining himself and the truck. There was no visible injury on his body, just some blood was oozing out of his forearms due to some scratches, nothing more than that.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the truck. During the accident, it flipped over so its exterior got extremely damaged, there were dents and bumps all over the place and this was just the exterior.

He then finally realized how fortunate he was to get out of this mishap with just some superficial scratches.