My name is Nouf (10)

With my now furiously shaking hands, I dialed his number while holding my breath; my heart was shaking hard as he picked up on the first ring. I was surprised, he never picked up his phone, and he always, always called back!


"halaa bil 7uuub killaaah" he said a little too loud.


"Faris?" I whispered my voice quivering.



"fajoooorty" he said " ma3aach"



My heart sank as I realized what he just called me and then I started to panic. I clamped my hand over my mouth in order not to make any sound. I ended the phone call without saying a word.



I sat on the bed, motionless and unable to breathe. I shut my eyes and breathed slowly, trying to regain my control. My sweaty hand reaching for my phone again, which was lying beside me on the bed. I pressed the letter F and his name immediately appeared along with many other names in my phone book. I punched the delete key, deleting him from my phone and my life, for good.

"Not this time Faris" I muttered under my breath, feeling the bile rise in my throat, but I refused to cry over that man again. At least it made sense now that I knew he was seeing someone else and was obviously so into that someone.


I vowed not to cry over that lying, cheating scumbag ever again and I so far I was keeping my promise. That night I miraculously collapsed into a dreamless, deep sleep.



I woke up the next morning just as suddenly as I'd fallen asleep. I smiled as I felt the sun rays streaming through my window and shining directly to my face. I stretched out on the warm bed before rolling out of it.



I showered slowly, enjoying the force of the water drops running down my body. I washed off the bad memories out of my hair, my face and body until my skin turned to a deep shade of red; I decided it's time I left the shower box.



I rummaged through my messy suitcase and looked for something nice. I decided to put on an effort to look hot for a change. Ever since I came here I didn’t bother even look at the mirror and that didn’t feel like me at all, I was missing my old self already and I wanted her back. I picked out a gray body-con jersey dress, silver tights and the same black, boring ballet flats which were the only shoes I'd brought with me. I inserted the flats to my feet in disappointment, secretly wishing they were a six inches killer Christian Louboutins. I applied some mascara, a bronzing blusher to define my cheek bones and a colorless lip gloss. I glanced at my hair and gasped with horror, I didn't think it had looked this bad before. I looked around the room for something ; my eyes laid on a bright brochure of the hotel's spa and I suddenly came up with the brightest idea.


I called the hotel's spa and salon and asked if it was okay to have my hair done without an appointment, for my delight the woman on the phone said that the best hair stylist was available and that I was welcomed now. I draped my bag over my shoulder and excitedly left the room.


I entered the spacious, airy place, welcomed by the strong smell of incense and aromatic oils. An Asian lady greeted me and led me to another room where she sat me at a shampoo chair and called the hair stylist.

"Hi!" the small, black haired woman greeted me with a huge smile and asked me what I wanted to do with my hair.

"I need a haircut, two inches shorter and perhaps a few highlights!"


She washed my hair with shampoo and rinsed it slowly while massaging my scalp. I sighed and shut my eyes; I haven’t felt this good in a long time!

After in what seemed like two hours my waist length hair was slightly shorter,  two shades lighter and much more alive. I loved it so much; I couldn’t stop touching it and beaming at my reflection in the mirror.




I stepped in the food court in the hotel lobby which was invaded by the glittery sunlight, it was past ten in the morning and my stomach was already making noises.



I spotted him immediately, from his dark tan which was so alien for this cold weather. He was wearing the traditional Kuwaiti dishdasha, ghutra and e'gaal and was sitting at the largest table in the centre with his phone pressed to his ear. He was talking to someone loudly and I could hear him clearly from where I sat. I sat on a two seats table, ordered a cup of coffee, cheese omelet and today's paper. I looked out of the window that overlooked the same huge pool I spent my previous day, in and around it. I smiled, today was different. Today was shiny, new, and beautiful.




He ended his phone call and looked up to meet my eyes. He didn’t recognize me immediately as he sipped his coffee and fumbled through the papers which were scattered across the enormous table. I found myself waving at him "Sagir" I called his name. He looked up again, this time smiling as he recognized my voice.

"Nouf?" he asked.


I nodded.

"asif mantibaht" he laughed. I blushed a little, fully aware that I looked completely different from the night before.

" 7ayyach, 7ayyach!" he muttered while standing up.

" la la 3adii I can see you're busy"


" la wallah tawni emkhalis ejtimaa3 min suba7 allah khair, raasy sadda3" he grinned. " wallah bint deeratna mankahleeha etarayg broo7ha, 7ayach"


I knew refusing to sit with him wasn't an option so I headed to his table, cheeks blushing and my large tote in my hand. He stood up and held the chair for me. " etfathilay" he said politely.


" mashkoor" I muttered and sat down on the chair opposite him.


So I did join him on breakfast, feeling slightly awkward yet delighted that there was someone I could talk to. I was beginning to hate this whole time alone.


"So, ejtimaa3 shno if you don’t mind me asking?" I said while smiling at him.


He sighed. " wallah this is a business trip o lazim kint asawi meeting with a couple of foreign business men wayid mohimeen 7g sharikatna"

" oh, mashallah" I said. "So everything is going well, I hope?"


" ee el7emdella, aham shai eftakait o agdar arja3 el deera bachir el sib7 enshallah" he said while beaming at me.


" anyway shino tishribeen?" He asked , not giving me a chance to talk.

"Thank you, I already ordered coffee" I said.

" brilliant. So what about you Miss Nouf, mita ra7 tirji3een enshallah?" He asked. I caught him frequently looking at my hair.
I hesitated. " mo mista3yila 3l raddah, mita ma radait. Besides I don’t have a job or anything important to get back to"

"oh, mo nawya teshtaghlen? Qadamti 3la watheefa?" he asked, he seemed so interested.


" wallah weddi! Qadamt 3la wayid amakin bes na6ra mokan zain, mabi ashtighil ay mokan" I said honestly.

" shino your major?"

"Marketing" I said confidently.

"Excellent. Are you interested to work for our company?"

"You're serious?" he took me by surprise.

"I am" he grinned.

"I… erm, can I ask what's your company?"

"It's Al fulany's investment company but we really do need some good marketing students" he winked.

I laughed. "That would be awesome! Thank you so much"
" So I consider that a yes?"

" yes!" I giggled.
He nodded. " bes 3la shar6!"

" shino el shar6?!"


" ana aseer your boss" he said ever so seriously.


I laughed again. " 6ab3an Mr Sagir!"


" o ba3ad fee shar6 thani"


"And that is?" I raised an eyebrow.


" el a7ad el yay tabdeen dawamich, which means ra7 etrideen el Kuwait this weekend"

My heart sank and my stomach churned. Nausea overtook me as he brought up the subject of me getting back, was I ready to get back to the place I escaped from?

" ha eshgiltay?" he asked gently.


"Can I think about it and get back to you?"


"Yes. Sure! "He muttered.


Relief washed over me as the waiter showed up with my cheese omelet and the cup of coffee. He placed the tray on the table before me and asked me if I needed something else, I thanked him and sent him away.



We talked a lot while I ate slowly, I loved that he did most of the talking and since his stories were  interesting and funny, I enjoyed listening to him very much.



" I enjoyed this very much Nouf, thank you for keeping me company" he smiled while standing up. " ana sar lazim amshi 3ndi cham shaghla lazim asaweeha, bes gabil la amshi mumkin takhtheen raqmi 3ashan mawthoo3 el shighil?"

" ee ee sure" I reached for my phone on the table and asked him to type the number himself. " ektiba enta a7san akhaf aghli6 eb a digit"

He did as I said and gave me back my phone. " sayavta bes digeely ranna 3ashan asayiv your number too"

"enshallah" I said.

" yallah, tabeen shai yuba?"

" salamtik, o etrid bil salama enshallah" I said.

" esalmich, o na6ir minich rad" he smiled.

" enshallah" I giggled.

" faman ellah"

"bye"
------------------------------------------------------------------------


That night I couldn't sleep. I lied awake thinking of everything that happened earlier today. I thought about the job offer, about Sagir and everything he had told me. I was begining to feel very lonely, that was when I decided to call my favorite people in the world; my two best friends, Noura and Sheikha. Knowing that Noura's mother would never allow her to travel alone I called Sheikha; I desperately needed a friend.


" Noufaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" she screamed my name, she didn't even wait for my hello.

I giggled. " 7abeeeeebti walhana 3leeeeeeeeeech o 3la Nwaaaair!"

" Noufooooooooooo wai wai masaaadig" She yelled excitedly.

" sadgay sadgay, sheikho ta3aly el ba7rain!" I said.

" faj2a! I would bes lazim agool 7g oboy!" she said.

" eeeh please goleela Noufa ga3da hnii with her cousin o min hl 7achi" I was desperate.


" enshallaah bes 6amneeni 3alech, shloonich? shakhbarich, are you okay??" she said, concern filling her voice.

" magdar agool shai al7een , please come over, I really do need to talk"

" khalas I'll go talk to my father now o I'll call you back okay?"

" I might be asleep etha maradait text okay??"


" okaaaay, emwaah bye"

I phone kissed her back. " bye"




My phone beeped an hour later indicating a message. " I'm coming baby!" it was from Sheikha.


You could imagine how happy I was, I didn't bother text her back, as I was drained with exhaustion, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I dreamed of Sagir, the job offer and Faris's phone call.



to be continued....