Aliyah did her best to greet Neo casually. He smiled weakly and introduced her to his friend Darius, who'd lent his truck and himself.
Darius was a middle-sized man in his forties. He had dark skin and kind brown eyes. Aliyah said hello and thanked him for agreeing to help with the couch.
"Of course," he said with a deep, rich voice. "I can see why Neo here was so adamant to move this couch for you."
Aliyah blushed. Perhaps Neo had talked to Darius about her?
But she felt a little conflicted about Neo at that moment. He's barely said anything to her throughout the process of arriving and trying to get the wide couch outside. Luckily, Darius was very good at small talk, and it helped to put Aliyah's mind at ease.
After a couple of minutes of approaching the door at different angles, t
