Kyle uncharacteristically grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well ..." he began, "Not by choice. I'd love you to come, but I believe you have a much more important job to do here?"

Ali looked at him in puzzlement, "Job?"

Kyle raised an eyebrow, "Sophia."

"Oh," Ali said, a bit surprised, "I didn't think you were referring to her when you said 'job'. I thought you were talking about the company."

"Well, since she's going to be part of your future, don't you think you should take it more seriously like a job?" Kyle pointed out.

Then he narrowed his eyes as he stared at Ali, "Or are you doing what you normally do?"

"What I normally do?"

Kyle rolled his eyes, "Do you need a cotton bud? When was the last time you dug out your earwax? That's twice you need to repeat what I just said."

Ali glared at him. Before he could retort, the waitress came over with their orders. He paused for a while as she placed their food on the table.

Kyle thanked her with a smile and she blushed as she went back to the kitchen.

"It's not that I can't hear you, but that you're not making any sense!" Ali snarled, "Being all cryptic and stuff."

"Look, Ali," Kyle said, looking serious, "Let's face it. You tend to avoid things. You know what you need to do, yet you drag your feet and convince yourself that there's time. Next time. Later. That sort of thing."

"You're falling in deep with Sophia and if you don't address that elephant in the room,* that elephant is going to destroy the room before you know it."

Ali gritted his teeth.

"As much as I'd love to literally beat you down to force you to talk, this is something I really can't help you with," Kyle said with a sigh, "It's your burden and your duty. How long are you going to drag it for?"

Ali looked away, not answering even though he knew that Kyle was right. He didn't like it and he had been ignoring it. Putting it off for another day.

Simply said, he's scared.

Scared to death of the uncertain future. A possible future without Sophia.

He couldn't imagine his life without her but he knew that it was a possibility. So long as he never broached the subject, then he can live in the present happiness. Being with her.

"I know it's hard, Ali," Kyle said softly, "And I'm feeling pretty bad leaving you alone to face all of this. So I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of ... doing something."

At that, Ali turned to face Kyle so fast that it was like he whipped his head over.

"Just what did you do??" Ali hissed, dread in his heart. He vividly remembered the headlock that Kyle put on him while baring his feelings to Sophia.

"I'm not in a position to give you guidance or help since I'm not a Muslim. Your struggles are beyond me. Heck, I'm not even a devout Christian," Kyle admitted, "But I know someone who might be able to help."

"Who?" Ali asked, wondering where this was going.

"Just someone," Kyle said vaguely.

He couldn't very well tell Ali it was an MIB agent now, could he? Kyle prefered to be vague as to the identity of the agent rather than lie about who he was. As far as possible, Kyle didn't want to add on "lying" to the things he hid from Ali.

Things he hid, for now.

"The point is, he's a Muslim and his wife was not a Muslim," Kyle said, "He can share his experiences and help you."

Ali nodded. Makes sense.

"He's also the one that will be the Teacher in charge of Sage Class," Kyle then revealed, "I pitched the idea to Principal Godric about having this specialised teacher to guide the members of Sage Class."

"Specialist ... " Ali began then shook his head. He almost did it again.

"What specialisation does he have?" Ali asked again, changing the way he was going to phrase things.

"He's a consultant, and his CV is quite impressive," Kyle said with a smirk, "After all, he works for me."

Kyle deliberately phrased it that way, and Ali was under the impression that Kyle meant 'Smith Industries' but in reality, it was MIB. He was one of those that had been headhunted to help steer the companies Kyle was creating and establishing.

In short, he was one of the key personnel that Kyle and Kay had. One who would do his job without question - even if it meant teaching school kids for a year.

"I'll introduce him to you before he starts work at the school," Kyle said.

Ali nodded, truly touched.