I looked back at him brazenly, and our eyes locked. He smiled widely, and he had dimples , I realized surprisingly..it’s like I was seeing him for the very first time, his face dark with five o’clock shadow and his eyes sleepy like that of a puppy , he looked almost boyish.
“ you’re everywhere” I sent jokingly
“ you follow me!” He texted back
“ now why would I do that?”
He didn’t text back until later that night. “ good evening”
I left him on read and threw my iPhone in my purse.
“ do you know Hamad alfulani? The guy-“
“ eee” my cousin interrupted me “ shmil7a , he’s single”
I laughed “ bismillah! Shdarach”
“ madry khosh wa7id , okhoy wayid yemd7a, his sister makhtha our cousin Flan”
“ ohhh okay, wlni3im wallah”
“ so , why you asking”
“ I see him at yoga regularly he’s nice”
“ also nice looking” she wiggled her eyebrows
I laughed. He was. Indeed
“ ooh sa7 he also has his own house with a sea view takhyli , dreamy”
I woke up late that morning , almost noon and I hated it when I overslept.. I reached for my phone and sent him a good morning text, just because.
He didn’t reply back until I was in my car heading back to the city , with my cousins.
“ hala wallah, shl akhbar?”
“ 7aadra eldeera, u?”
“ staying the whole week bil shalaih , taking the week off of work”
“ lucky..”
“ not really, 3ndy 3ommal mjabelhom hni”
“ oh not so lucky then..” He left on me read, he was probably occupied .. I didn’t really care, the only reason I participated in this texting game was because I wanted to know things about my ex, and be close to someone related to my ex. I was stupid and still in love with him..
He didn’t bother to text again after that weekend and I totally forgot about him. I woke up early on Sunday morning to get ready for work. I normally woke up late and rushed but today Was exceptional, I needed to look good, it’d been a while. I put on my eyeliner impeccably, curled my blonde hair to glossy perfection and wore a Balmain tee and matching blazer and my old jeans which (delightfully) fit now that I lost 20 pounds. I sprayed myself with Blanche byredo my go to day scent , some Bukhoor and left to work.
It was a slow day at the tower. I was bored to death and I needed my zillionth coffee for the day. So I called my favorite colleague
“ yallah ok bs let me water my plant”
I waited for her outside her cubicle checking myself on the long mirror opposite, Hair looked great, lipstick great. “ yalla zayon”
It was 1 in the afternoon , The coffee shop was swarming with employees from different companies in the tower, I waited in the queue for my turn while listening to my colleague Maha chattering about her latest travels. Her wild honey brown curls like a halo of light surrounding her..
“ you should come to this village in mexico”
No I shouldn’t, I prefer luxurious cities and hotels and-
“ we get to cook with the villagers” she said enthusiastically, I shuddered. “ sounds fun” I lied, my eyes scanning the boys in dishdasha’s before me , some familiar some not..some hot.. some not..
And then there was Hamad! My ex’s cousin.. standing a head taller than everyone else, his stance emanating power and authority…I didn’t know he worked here , did he work here? Was he always this tall? Why did he look different? Darker?
“ zaina what’s your order?”
Maha’s voice brought me out of my reverie “ non fat vanilla latte” I mouthed out my order , still aware of him in the table before us.
We grabbed our coffees and sat on the table next to his.
Maybe he knew about me and Musaed! Oh god , my face started burning, my paranoia escalating, how? How did he know? And what if he did? It wasn’t any of his business
He totally ignored me.
I went back home that day feeling a little crappy, I hated that I still had feelings for Musaed and that I wasn’t moving forward with my life.
It was 5 pm , I changed into comfy pajamas and crashed on my couch.
I woke up two hours later to the sound of my alarm. Shit it was past 7
I scrolled through my messages and surprisingly saw one from him “ hi sorry elyom ma gedart asallim kint with business partners ..”
“ his! La 3ady eshda3wa , you work in the tower?”
“ 3ndi maktab hni bs not daily”
“ oh okay”
“ wanna have coffee in my office bachir?”
That took me off guard! He wanted me to have a coffee in his office! That felt so wrong I didn’t even like him really or did I?
“ sure when?” I sent because I was single and bored and had nothing better to do
