Contrasting Realities 18

tra ana bamoot men elta3ab!

like literally bamoot!

bs adree 9ayra 7addy mo shay, oo I haven't posted for a while, so metfashla menkom oo '3a9abt 3la nafsy akteb =(

oh, and one more thing I noticed, it seems that I get more followers and comments kil ma i go away for a while =\

so a5aleeha 3ada eni a6awel wla shlon? ;Pp

ela a6awel ya3ny 3shan you follow oo comment? ;Pp

tra I like your feedback, la ta7remoony menna =(

hope you like it! =D

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I woke up to find that all the tears that had escaped my eyes as I cried myself to sleep had dried up on my pillow. The sky outside was dark, informing me that night has fallen. I turned over to my side to find that Layla’s bed was empty, but her luggage still lay where she had left it.

I quickly scanned the room for my bag that I had thrown on the floor once I had entered. Amidst all the body aches and pain, I tried to reach my bag with my hands, without actually getting out of bed. I needed to find my mobile. I needed my mobile screen to read 3abboud so desperately. I needed to talk to my best friend.

Then the door sprang open and Layla walked in. I had to shield my eyes from the lights coming from the outside.

“Noum el3awafi” she said. Her facial expression was strange, but I assumed that it was all in my half-awaken head.

“Lilly 7abeebty” I said with my baby voice.

“Awww! 7abeebat Lilly entay wallah!” She sat next to me on the bed and put my head on her thigh. “Ashoofich nayma eb malabsich ma badaltay” she said as she gently stroked my hair.

I looked down at my jeans and sweater.

“Yeah, kint 7addny ta3bana I guess”. I tried to change the subject. “What time is it anyway?”

“Nearly 10pm. 9ayratly sleeping beauty entay ya3ny 3shan 7abeeb elgalb mo hnee?” she teased.

My heart ached upon his mention. “La bas sleeping, bedoon beauty”

“Shaklich you haven’t had the best day”

“I havent had the best week wenty el9ajja”

“Come, tell Lilly all about it” she said as I fixed myself into her teddy bear arms. I sunk into her chest, closing my eyes and wishing they were 3abboud’s. The knowledge that they weren’t, though, made my eyes fill up with tears. “But lets do that over a mug of hot chocolate, shrayech? Lets go order mn room service”

“I’m not going out there” I said sharply as I pulled away from her embrace.

She sighed, and gently stroked my back.

“Adree ena 7mar”

“That’s an understatement Lilly”

She laughed.

“Kesarty 5a6ry wallah. 9arlich cham youm bro7cih met7amleta chithy?”

“That’s just it!” I snapped, “He wasn’t like this at all. He was all sweet and nice, eli ana en9edamt. I thought eny kint thalmeta all this time! Bs al7en madree shfee! Faj2a out of the blue, he decides to act all crazy and freak-like! What the hell is his problem?! Better yet, what the hell is stuck up his ass?” I said, speaking a little too fast.

She sighed once more, giving me a nervous little laugh. I thought there was some acknowledgment underneath it, but I wasn’t too sure.

“Adree 7abeebty, wallah adree.”

“La2 ma tadreen Layla! He was acting so unbelievably sweet those past few days. I felt terrible ena I’d formed such a nasty image of him before. 7asait myself way too judgemental oo oho ma kan mga9er weyay wallah. Bs al7en…” I let out a painful sigh, “I just don’t know what the hell is wrong with all the testosterone-containing creatures in the world!”

“All of them?” she said as she hugged me tighter.

“All of them” I said with a sulky voice, and fell back into her arms.

“Shfee el2a5 elthany ba3ad?”

“They’ve all gone crazy, I tell you. It must be something in the air…or maybe its boy-gone-crazy season or something” I said, as I proceeded to tell her about 3abboud’s attitude earlier.

“I’ll make a deal with you, zain?”

“Sounds good to me”

“I can fix one of those problems, bs you have to promise me ena you won’t ask any questions. Just trust me and I’ll make it go away”

“Zain”

“Promise?”

I turned around and looked at her. Her eyes gave me a sympathetic look. I knew my misfortunes were breaking her heart.

“Promise”

“Just go out and act like this morning ever happened”

I stared at her blankly. I only spoke when I realized that my stare was inducing no reaction from her whatsoever.

“Mn 9ijich Lilly? Ba3ad eli sawwa feeny, tabeeny I act like nothing ever happened”

“Haya! Ma etafa8na chithee! Gelna no questions!”

“Bs Lilly – “

“You promised!”

“That’s just it. I don’t think I can do it, like I don’t have the ability to do it a9lan. I would do it if I could, but I don’t know what I’ll do if I saw him again”

She got up and pulled me to my feet.

“Nothing” she said as she wrapped her arm around mine tightly and walked towards the door, “We’re just a couple of girlies eli meshtahyeen hot chocolate…” she continued as she opened the door, ”…oo ray7een na6leb mn room service and maybe watch a little TV”. She finished her sentence as we stood in the living room, overlooking at the sofa where M7ammad was plastered infront of the TV.

“Noum el3awafy” he said with a bright smile.

“Allah e3afeek” I replied quietly.

“3ad 6afich elyom kan mu6ar mo 6abee3y lma raddain ana oo Layla”, he continued, not taking his eyes off of me. “I hope we don’t catch any colds soon”

I nodded expressionlessly.

“We were craving hot chocolate M7ammad, taby weyana?” she said as she sat on the other sofa, but placed a pile of magazines on the other seat. She looked at me and nudged me to sit next to M7ammad.

“Hot chocolate! 3ad I was just thinking the same thing, bs gelt akeed all the cafes are closed now”. He picked up the phone and placed an order.

I glanced towards Layla, and she gave me an approving nod.

“Haya they have Addicted To Love on TV. I know you’re a fan of Meg Ryan. Tabeena?” he said as he winked to me.

“Sure…etha ma taboon shay thany ya3ny”

He picked up the remote and put the movie on.

“Tadreen Layla? It turns out Haya has really good taste in movies” he said as he elbowed me.

“Ee adree…5athatny cinema weyaha a few times” she said with a wide smile.

I blushed. Not at her remark or his, but at the sudden change of surroundings. I don’t know what the hell she did, but I liked it. I was getting the best of all the M7ammad’s I knew: not the incredibly seductive M7ammad, and not the incredibly vicious M7ammad. The incredibly fun M7ammad. The incredibly cozy M7ammad. The incredibly misjudged M7ammad.

Our drinks came later on, and we sat their sipping them while making conversation. M7ammad was acting normal again. I wasn’t uncomfortable around seductive M7ammad as I was in the past few days, and I wasn’t hurt by the incredibly vicious M7ammad as I was this morning. and I couldn’t be happier to have Layla around. I finally felt in place, for the first time since I left Kuwait.

The next thing I knew was me awoken by Layla’s voice as she woke M7ammad up from next to me. With my eyes still closed, I realized that his arm was around me as my head lay on his chest, listening to his heart beating very, very slowly. The rhythmic movements of his chest underneath my chest as he was breathing felt like a mother rocking her child to sleep. The warmth of his body and his arm wrapping me up was making me warm. The scent of his M7 was my sedative. The serenity of it all made me unable to move any muscles, including the ones that would open my closed eyes.

Layla was talking to M7ammad and they were saying something in mere whispers, but I couldn’t hear them as I lay on his chest, indulged in his heart beats. I felt M7ammad removing his hands from around me and placing it to his side.

“Haya goomay namy da5el 7beebty” came Layla’s soothing voice and she gently shook me awake.

With his hands no longer engulfing me, I regained control over my muscles. I opened my eyes and smiled at her. Getting up from my position, I looked to my side to see that M7amamd was still asleep. He had a distressed look on his face, like he was having a bad dream or someone just woke him up.

I never knew grumpy could look so cute on anyone…

“Ana aga3da al7en. Entay dishay namy. You’ve had a long day”

I nodded.

“Good night 7beebty”

“Good night Lilly” I said as I gave her a tight hug. I didn’t want to let her go. “Thanks. I don’t know how else to put it”

I walked back to my room and, for the second time today, collapsed on my bed without changing my clothes.


Before I slept, my brain had one little thing to tell the little voice in my head.

I told you so…