Umm.
He called again, I hesitated at first
but I ended up answering.
Me: aloo?
Khalid: hala wala hala Lama shlonich?
Me: el7mdla bkhair..
Khalid: ha shlon umich o uboch?
Me: el7imdla tamam 3amy baghait shay?
Mala da3y en6awil elsalfa.
Khalid: ee Lama, uboch galich 3an el
mashroo3?
Me: ee
Khalid chuckled: ee, fe cham shaghla
aby agolicheyahum gabil la yistimir el mashroo3.
Me: tefathal..
Khalid: agolch hal mashroo3 bainy o
bain el CEO's ely eb sharikty, bs oboch yally o galy dakhilny bl mashroo3 tukfa
o 3a6any 20,000Kd first payment 7ag ras elmal.
What the hell?
Khalid: 3ad ana gitla ent rifeejy o
badakhlik, 3ad ba3dain ga3adt afaker bil mawthoo3, may9eer adakhla bilmashro3
wakhaly ystfeed o ana shakh9iyan ma astfeed!
Me: bas 3a6ak 20,000!!!
Khalid: haha hathaila mu 7agy agolich
hatha ras mal el mashroo3!
Ok latzifny :(
Khalid: o fakart gilt flos? Maby
floos 3ndy khair o n3ma el7mdla. Shnu aby yaraby shnu??
Lama: 3amy taby tkalim uboy?
I have no idea why I said that :s
Khalid: la!!
Lama: ok 3ayal shnu taby?
Khalid: aby akhthich 3ala sinat allah
o rasoola
I blurted out: shnu?
Khalid: Lama fakray feeha, ubooch
galy enkum khisrtaw floos o enkum b7aja 7ag hal mashroo3. Elmawtho3 kila eb
eedich. Etizawjainy, akhaly uboch bil mashro3. Tarfitheeny, a6rid obooch.
Fakray 3adel o ma3 esalama.
Khalid: ee gabil la asida, tara
kalamt uboch o gal ena ma3inda mani3 etha entay rethaytay.
He hung up.
*
I woke up the next day with the
biggest headache in the history of big headaches. Why? Maybe because I spent
most of last night thinking and crying my eyes out. Or maybe because a grown
man as old as my dad wants to effin marry me. Seriously, I feel like my life
should be turned into a Turkish series.
I texted Dalia yesterday telling her
that I won’t be able to attend breakfast. I had to make up a lie because I just
can’t tell her the truth!
I spent last night thinking about
what Khalid said.
"Etizawjainy, akhaly uboch bil
mashro3. Tarfitheeny, a6rid obooch. Fakray 3adel o ma3 esalama. Ee gabil la
asida, tara kalamt uboch o gal ena ma3inda mani3 etha entay rethaytay."
My heart and my mind were having one
of their daily feuds.
Heart: I don't believe Khalid for one
second, my dad would never do that! He would never sell his own daughter for
money!
Mind: But, he was so excited about
the project, he would do anything to be a part of it.
My father spent his life sacrificing
everything for my mom and I. He worked day and night just to provide for us. My
father worked really hard for this project and getting kicked out will cause
unwanted humiliation. However, the question here is did my dad tell Khalid that
he was ok with a 40 something year old man to marry his 22 years old daughter?
If it is, then I honestly don’t know
what to feel or think. What would any girl in my situation do? Oh right, I
don’t think any loving father would put his daughter in such a situation!
Thinking about it is mind throbbing.
I honestly don’t know how to handle such matters. If I refused Khalid, my dad
will be kicked out and we will suffer while living with small amounts of money.
Yet, if I said yes my dad will continue in his project, we will have money and
everyone becomes happy again .. except for me.
My phone vibrated, Wahab was calling.
I forgot about Wahab and Saud, what’s
their role in this whole Khalid situation. My decision will not only affect me
but it will affect Wahab and Saud. Well, maybe not Saud because we don’t really
know each other.
Me: aloo
Wahab: hala walla
Me: hala feek
Wahab: ha shfeech ams adig 3alaich
wadizlich messages matrideen? Ra7 ra9eedy kila hahaha
Me: umm madry nimt
I didn’t want to tell Wahab about
Khalid.
Wahab: ee, enzain magilteely shisim
hatha elly yabech?
Me: umm Saud Al*****
Wahab: a77
Me: haaw shfeek?
Wahab: madry ebtarftheen hatha
3ashany?
Me: umm ee?
Wahab: its either I’m a very lucky
person, or this is just a dream
Me: shda3waaa!!
Wahab: wallaa!
Me: way wahab
Wahab: enzain sim3ay, we both love
each other right?
Me: eee?
Wahab: ok laish mankamil 3elaqatna
bil 7alal? Ya3ny nitzawaj bsr3a? Laih meta binkalim ba3ath chithy bil khash
wildas, ya3ny e9ara7a ana marthaha 3ala ekhty wala arthaha 3alaich..
I stayed quiet..
Wahab: Lama la tifhmeeny ghala6, bs
e9ara7a ghala6 elly ga3deen ensawy ya3ny we both love eachother why wait when
we can get married now?
Me: la Wahab mafahmtik ghala6 bil3ax
I totally agree! Haha kubart eb 3ainy e9ara7a
Wahab: ashwa zaain! Khalas 3ayal ana
bagol 7ag umy edig 3ala umich.. bs enyeelich enshallah 3ugub hatha Saud
He almost spat after saying Saud’s
name I can feel it.
Me: haha shfek 3a9abt
Wahab: bs karih Saud mo zain ashoofa
Me: enshallah matshofa :p
Wahab: ok khalas 3ayal ana basida
al7een o etha fe emergency kalmeeny ha?
Me: enshallah
Wahab: so this is goodbye..
Me: more like a see you later..
Wahab: ee.. Lama
Me: hala?
Wahab: deray balich 3ala nafsich o
latkhaleen Saud egi9 3alaich ha?
Me: haha don’t worry about it
Wahab: faman allah
He hung up.
I’m going to miss talking to him, but
what he said is right. What we’re doing is wrong and we will make it right by
actually getting married.
My phone vibrated, my mother was
calling..
Me: alo
Mom: aloo lama?
She was shouting in the phone, 7ada
ez3aj 3indaha!
Me: eee yuma shhal ez3aaj??
Mom: ana bilsayara ma3a khalatich
Ghanima o Mothy binroo7 360 o Ghanima mu9era ennich etyeen ma3ana
Me: la yuma maly khilg
Mom: yalla 3ad 3an edala3 o ta3alay
ekhthay sayartyy
Me: yuma please!!
--: Lama?
Me: alo?
-- : 7abeebty ana khaltich Ghanima
yalla 3ad mama badlay o ta3alay ba3ad murt wildy enshallah lazim ag3ad ma3ach
shwaya
Oh my god?
Me: hehe khalty
Embarrassed is an understatement.
Ghanima: yalla shgiltay?
Me: enshallah khalty al7een ayelikum
Ghanima: 3afya 7abeebty yalla
na6reenich
She hung up..
Ugh, I dragged myself out of bed,
changed quickly, and left.
I called my mother as soon as I
reached 360.
Mom: alo
Me: hala yuma wainkum?
Mom: e7na eb cacao
Me: ok kany yaya
I parked my mothers Benz and walked
to Cacao. As soon as khalty Ghanima saw me she grinned and stood.
Ghanima: hala eb Lama hala wala bil
channa
This is awkward!
Me: hehe hala feech khalty shlonich?
I kissed both her cheeks, and did the
same to khalty Mothy and my mother, then I sat down.
It was fun, hanging out with my mother’s
friends. They were funny and they made it really easy for me to join in with
them. Of course, khalty Ghanima made sure that I wouldn’t forget that I would
marry her son. I don’t know how hard she’s going to take it when she finds out
I don’t want him. Halfway through the afternoon a guy walked to our table.
Ghanima: hala yuma Saud shlonik?
My face was like this “:O”
What is he doing here? Khalty Ghanima
kept looking at me and flashing me mischievous smiles. FASHLA.
Ghanima: ta3al salim, hathy khaltik
Khalda o hathy Mothy o hathy Lama bint Khalda.. she nudged him.
Is this some kind of set up?
He looked at me and smiled.
Let me say this: he is CUTE!
He is tall, not very bulky he was
good, his hair is long it reached his neck and he has this baby face. He looks
so much like his mother.
Ok now I have to stop staring. He
chatted for a while then left, I was blushing the whole time and he wasn’t even
talking to me. Shortly after Saud left, the women and I left Cacao and started
shopping. We entered Bottega Veneta, everyone spread around the shop. I looked
at the small clutches and instantly liked a blue colored clutch. I turned to my
mother
Me: yuma shofay hathy
She inspected the bag..
Mom: ee 7ilwaa shofay cham si3irha
I turned to the sales woman and
asked: hi, how much is the clutch?
Sales woman: 560 KD
I looked at my mother and she looked
back at me. My mother lowered her head and there was an expression on her face
that I can’t quite put my finger on. It was like it hit her that we couldn’t
actually afford anything with that price anymore.
Mom: uhm la china matiswa
I have never heard my mother say this
sentence before; she always gave me some other excuse but never this one.
Ghanima asked my mother: allah 7ilwa
el clutch eb takhtheenha?
Mom: la ma3jibat Lama
Ghanima: wee ma3indich salfa etyanin!
Ekhtheeha lich Khalda malich shighil eb Lama
Mom: haha la wain ana malbis’ha 7aram
akhith’ha o a7i6ha bil kabat
Ghanima: wee min meta hal kalam
Khaldo hehe
Ok let me tell you something, my
mother and her friends define the term “shopaholics”. They buy everything and
anything they like never minding the price. My mother used to be like that but
now she has to cut down on buying. That’s why I’m not surprised at all that she
lied to khalty Ghanima, because under normal circumstances we’d be paying for
the bag by now. I know its crazy buying everything, but not being able to buy
simple things makes my mother sad and I don’t like to see her that way.
Khalid came to mind.
*
I was pacing back and forth in my
parents’ room, I was so nervous.
Dad: yuba shfeech yalla ta7achay!
Mom: tara khara3teeny tgolelina bsr3a
bagolikum shay muhim o sa3a 3ala ma t7acheen!!
Me: ok ok al7een agool
My heart was going so fast, I can't
even feel it beating anymore.
I took a deep breath before I said:
yuba, ana mwafqa.
