my name is Nouf (16)

" yalait yakhthich wild Mona rifeejti, mashalla 3alayh adab o akhlag  weshzeena, o foug kil hatha 3inda khair mashalla, bes enti wayn kella emkamkima 3omrich matyeen tirtazayn ma3ai bil 3azayim" Nouf's mother told her while Nouf drove them to the chalet.


" mabi atzawaj wa7id ma3rfa" Her daughter replied.


" enshalla shlon bet3arfeena gabil el zawaj?? 7abeebti eyey ekha6bich el rayal taalii teyeen et3arifayn 3leh, sowalif 7ub o misakha hathi matamshi 3indi"


" yumma enti da2a adeema" Nouf said.


" chubbay"


" enshalla, basik el thalatheen o lal7een etcha3mooni! bachir jiddam e3yali etcha3mooni" Nouf complained.


" drama queen" Her mother said in a thick accent.


Nouf burst out laughing. " mino em3almich?? cuuute"


 " moo bes enti et3arfeen engalayzi" Her mother blushed. Nouf's mother was thirty six years older than her, she was so old fashioned and the age difference between the two made it hard for them to understand eachother and that led to a constant quarrel, yet they both secretly enjoyed the strange, warm friendship they shared. However Nouf liked her father best because he was everything a father and a man should be. He was a respectful and honorable, he was kind-hearted, generous and very understanding. he was all that and more and he loved his daughter with all his heart.Unlike her mother he spoiled his little princess yet treated her harshly when it came to teaching her the most imporant traits a person can posses, such as integrity and honesty, he wanted her to be the best in everything and she definately earned her good heart, honesty and pride from him.




" elyoom 7i6eelich hl k7aila wil 7omra o ta3alii ge3dai m3ana, khalatich o sadeeqat'hom beyoon, oo latsaweeli tasree7at leskhool maltich! na3mai sha3rich khal eshofoona"


" enshalla yumma" Nouf answered her mother automatically, she wasn't in the mood for another argument.


When Nouf drove by Faris's family's beach house in Bnaider she cursed under her breath and her mother heared her.


" 3alamich?" She eyed her daughter suspiciously.


" ma7ib waladhom emghazilchi" She said quietly, trying to hide her annoyance.


" haw, esh3alaych minna" Her mother said, curiousity filling her voice. " latitkalimayn 3n khalg allaa"


She snorted. " ok khayr enshalla" Nouf's mother always told her not to gossip about other people yet her mother did exactly that and Nouf found it for someone reason, funny.



Her family's chalet was already packed with her mother's sisters, friends and their daughters. Her aunts' beach houses where next to her family's and the entire family gathered here every weekend and this weekend was no exeption.Nouf went straight to her bedroom to steal a moment of solitude before she joined them again downstairs, today like every other friday would be long and tiring and she needed to be fully prepared for it. She streched down on the cold bed and reached for her BLACKBERRY, dialled Sagir's number and waited for him to wake up. The other night he had told her to wake him up at eleven, and it was already eleven thirty.


After dialling his number twice, he didn't pick up.With great dissapointment, she brushed her natural, thick waves that were spilling like melted chocolate around her shoulders and back, applied lipstick to please her mother and headed to the door. As soon as she turned the door knob to leave,her phone vibrated and a giggle tore from her throat. " mu sij!" She said before pressing the phone to her ear.




" Shsayir?" He said huskily, sleep filling his voice.




" ams geltli ga3deeni esa3a 11, al7een esa3a 11, sa7 elnom" She mumbled while she grinned involuntarily, she was so damn happy to hear his voice.


" oh, mashiba3t noum" He almost whispered, and she regretted it emmediatly.




" I'm terribly sorry, yalla ana akhaleek etnaam" She said apologetically.




" I love your voice" He suddenly said, still in that  husky,intimate voice, taking her by surprise. "it's raspy and very sweet"




She chuckled while blushing hard. " thank you!"


" entai bil shaleh?"




She was glad that he remembered. " ee!"




" enjoy it darling" He said surprising her again by the term of endearment he was using with her


for the first time. She swallowed hard. " t-thank you, you too enjoy your w-weekend"




" you enjoy it for me, shakli banaam le yom el a7ad"


" that's boring!"




" try working as a manager for some boring investment company" He teased.


She giggled. " I thought you liked your job!"




" I live for my job, ofcourse I like it"


" nice"


" hmm"


She ended their silly yet so sweet, phonecall and headed downstairs to join her family. The breakfast was messy, big and filled with laughter and endless conversations. Nouf ate, laughed and talked with her favorite cousins about her new job and the latest fashions while the elder ladies gossiped about the latest engagements, marriages and receptions.




Nouf was so engrossed in conversation with her eighteen year old cousin who kept asking her about her college days that she didn't  even hear what her other was telling her from across the dining table.


" Nouf shisma modeerich?!" Her cousin shouted again.


" halaa?" She yelled back.


" your manager, elli wathifich 3inda!, shisma??" Her cousin demanded empatiently


" oh, ee Sagir AL-fulani" she said, her heart skipping a beat by the mere mention of his name.




" tara sa7 ohwa!" Her other cousin said.




" la7tha shel salfaa?" Nouf asked, now curious than ever.


" tathkireen Zain al-fulani elli kanat ma3ai bil jam3a?"


Nouf shook her head.


" embalaa et3arfeenha, hatheech elmamloo7a el smayra, sha3rha curly? elli es7abat awragha o ra7at tadris barra?"


" aaah, ee 3araft'ha" Nouf said. " eshyab el6ari?"


" She's married to your boss!" Her cousin grinned mischievously.


" What?" Nouf stared at her blankly.


" hathy tizawijat Sagir, the owner of the company you work for"


Nouf Laughed nerveously. " No, this is a mistake, ohwa moo mitzawij"


" yes he is! yal thakeya, tathkireen marra dazaw broadcast khi6ba taqreeban last year? ehya tiseer cousin rifeejti o rifeejti dazatli eyaah o ana dazaytlikom!"


Nouf paled and her heart began thumbing hard." mit2akda?" She swallowed hard.
" walla el3atheem, awareech el message, mitsayiv bil history" Her cousin said proudly.

" egoloon ti6aligaw" Her other cousin provided.


"noo lal7een together, egoloon tishtighil ma3ah! ana esara7a madrii 3anha bes her cousin etsolif o chethi"

Nouf's face slowly drained of color and she was clutching at the wooden dining table forcefully for support, a married man?? she thought almost hysterically, she kissed a married man?? she was falling for a married man?? the whole idea was so ugly and revolting to her own ears that she almost threw up right there and then.



In his little modern kitchen, Sagir poured himself a cup of freshly ground coffee, while holding the coffee pot in his other muscular hand. He stood in the kitchen barefoot, dressed in only his pajama bottoms, his hair in wild dissaray, contemplating his future and his new found lovely girl.


A year ago he had finally decided to marry, and his beautiful second cousin whom he held powerful feelings for was the one and only candidate. Sagir trully believed that he had strong feelings for her, as she was intellegent, witty and simply different. She came back home after three years of studying abroad and the moment they lied eyes on one another there was an undeniable spark between the two. He never thought that he'd fall for his mother's cousin's daughter but it was there and he couldn't ignore it and to top it all, she welcomed his love with an open heart and agreed to marry him.

In their first engagement days, he discovered that she was in love with someone else and that Sagir was a mere tool to make the other man jealous and to his own horror and humiliation, Sagir was the other man, not the other way around. After that painful, ugly discovery he called the wedding off and banished the idea of remarrying.


After a whole year of being loyal to that decision his traitorous heart began softening toward another woman, another magnificent woman and suddenly his single marvellous life seemed so dull, so plain and in desperate need for a woman. Nouf was very pretty, he thought, but it wasn't that that drew him to her, she was incredibly sweet, smart and kind-hearted, most importantly she was everything his ex was not.

He wasn't sure if he loved her yet but he liked her enough to know that with time he would and that she represented everything he wanted in a wife. In the four months they had been together she showed him that she wasn't another mindless, airheaded beauty and he knew that she was in the perfect age to marry and even bear a child.


He'd see her tommorow and talk to her about it, he thought with a smile.


After fifteen minutes of trying to supress her furious rage and tears, Nouf burst into hysterical, uncontrollable laughter. She didn't believe how fate was being cruel to her! and she didn't know how to react to that so she found herself torn between laughing and crying, confronting and ignoring him, she decided to do the latter.


An hour later Nouf tossed the whole matter behind her head and decided to enjoy her day with the rest of her family, she did not want to spend another tear on that adulterous, filthy man. She put on her swimming suit, short shorts and headed downstairs again and to the pool were the girls were gathering.



While the girls talked, ate freshly cut melons and swam, Nouf didn't, couldn't fully enjoy herself. He took advantage of her and she couldn't simply ignore the whole matter! She decided she'd confront him next sunday, impersonally and while they were at work, meanwhile she'd enjoy her time without the constant interruption of his face in her mind.  A fresh surge of anger shot through her and she took another dip in the swimming pool to cool off.


At six pm. the girls finally left the pool and went to dry off and change. Nouf went to her bedroom and involutarily the first thing she did was to search for her BLACKBERRY. She picked it up from under her pillow where she forgot she even put it there and to her horror there were three missed calls from him.

With a sigh of frustration she put the phone down on the pillows and headed to the bathroom. When she finished scrubing herself red, blow dried her hair and put on fresh clothes she picked up her phone again and began writing a message to him. " I don't want anything to do with you anymore, kindly delete my number, and if you no longer  want me to work in your company, I'll gladly resign. BYE!"

In less than five minutes her phone rang as she had expected. Her heart sank and her hands began to tremble, she closed her eyes and desperately fought the urge to pick up the phone.

The phone stopped ringing after a few minutes and she let a loud sigh of relief. She rose from her bed and began to leave her depressing bedroom when her phone beeped announcing a message and she collapsed back down on the soft sheets with a moan of defeat.

" may I know why?" She read the simple four words and sudden outrage exploded in her brain. She picked up the phone and dialled his damned number hastily , her fingers shaking with indignation.

" Why did you lie to me?? why didn't you tell me what you really are??" She yelled. "of all the sick,vile, low people-"

" lie about what exactly?" He interrupted her calmly.

His cool tone made her even angrier and she thanked god he wasn't anywhere near her. "why didn't you tell me you were married?"

" what?"

" you heard me!" She snapped.

" I'm not married to anyone" He said icily.

She laughed without humour. " stop it!! khalas I know the truth you don't have to hide it anymore, bes I called to end this stupid, sick game! I don't want to play anymore, I'm breaking up with you!"


" you're crazy" He suddenly said. "I refuse to talk to you in this mood, oh and next time make sure your "information" is correct before you attack me like this and by the way there will be no next time.bye" He ended the phonecall without even giving her a chance to react.

Her chest rising and falling with fury, she looked at the phone in her damp hand and remembered his calm, insulting voice. She felt tears sting her eyes and the indignation she was feeling slowly subsided replaced by great pain and a strange sense of loss, because a part of her actually believed that he was telling the truth.


to be continued...