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Samiha fell into the arms of Shams kissing her, sat next to her while she was stroking her hair, Nabil stood in front of Shams bed and Noha stood beside him. He looked at Noha first then smiled and looked back at Samiha and Shams and said:
- I decided to approach Samiha and ask for her support.. I am waiting for Mama Shams' first opinion.
Shams couldn't control herself, she got up on her bed and pulled Samiha to her lap as she signaled to Nabil to approach. Nabil hurried from the other side of the bed, bent down and fell into his aunt's arms, hugging them tightly while Noha stood smiling and her tears spilled on her cheeks. After a minute, Shams Nabil and Samiha escaped from Hugging her, Noha ran and hugged Samiha so that their tears mixed together.
***
In the morning, Shawkat prepared to receive Shweikar and her friends. He asked the worker responsible for serving him at the break to bring some milk, malmuda, jabouri, and some cheese, not forgetting to buy a quantity of fresh vegetables, so that it would be a different and special breakfast meal when Shweikar and her guests came.
Shawkat wore suitable clothes to receive his wife and decided to drive the work car himself to the bus stop. He stopped the car and kept waiting in it. When Shawkat came to work a few days ago, he was amazed at the conditions the town is going through. The roads are not paved, the verses are somewhat random and most of them are uneven It even amounts to huts, the water problem is a big problem that bothers him, even the existing condenser does not provide potable water, as it merely performs a process of desalination of sea water and is only suitable for washing and bathing, a long road crossed by agricultural tractors dragging large tanks behind them to carry potable water from Aswan to Shalateen, And he heard more than one complaint that some of them are unscrupulous, mixing that water with condensate water. The youth center for which the land was allocated and has not yet been built, the health center, mosques, schools, service files are all for him to seek to solve. It is true that the people here are very kind and generous, but their problems are equal Their kindness and generosity, and even more than that, remains the charming nature that will surely capture the heart of Shweikar is the most important thing now, and he planned well for her visit and prepared everything that she and her friends would need in the few days that they would stay with him.
Finally, the bus glimpsed from afar. Shawkat got out of the car when it approached. The bus stopped, followed by a sandstorm that stirred it along the way. The sand settled and settled after which the driver opened for the passengers to disembark. Shweikar and her friends were the last to get off the bus.
Shawkat felt that the earth shook with joy with every step Shweikar took, his smile almost filled his entire face, everything in him smiled and laughed, his lips, his eyes, his heart, his soul fluttering around her like a crazy butterfly dancing around the fire, he shook hands with her warmly, he wished to hide her in his arms but he knows The traditions of that country were well established. He opened the car door for her and she rode beside him. Her friends rode behind after Shawkat shook hands with them and welcomed them.
Shawkat looked at his wife as he was driving towards the rest house and asked her about her trip. Shweikar replied:
- Not unemployment.. The road is long and hard, and there are not enough breaks.. If it weren't for the bus, it was well equipped, we would have suffocated.
Shawkat nodded in agreement.
- The weather here is really hot.. but the sea and nature will impress you very much.
Shweikar's friend, Naira, asked:
- Is the break far? I myself take a bath.
Shawkat laughed and replied:
- Here, the distances are different from Cairo.. but generally half an hour and we arrive.. You break your fast first, and then do whatever you want.. We will prepare a decent Shalateen breakfast for you.
Ghada laughed a long laugh that rang out in the car, whose windows were closed. Everyone turned to her. She said in a voice that was not devoid of coquetry:
- Sweet Shalateen de, Mr. Major General.
Shweikar felt an approaching danger, she knows Ghada well and she does not hide her adventures with young men who are at least twenty years younger than her. She prefers them in the early thirties and this is what prompted Shweikar to agree to take her with her on such a trip. She miscalculated, she should be careful and take precautions.
Afaf responded to Ghada's comment while looking through the car window, saying:
- It is clear that everything will be Shalateen.
Shweikar wanted to set some limits, so she said:
- It is very clear that the country here is a bit primitive.. This means that there are many things that may remain normal for us, but it will remain a disaster for the people of the country.. Isn't that so, my soul?
She asked her last question while stroking her husband's hair. Shawkat felt a shiver running through his body. His body shivered. He wished that Shalateen had been confined to him and Shweikar only at this moment. He increased the speed of the car until the time was limited.
The car stopped in front of the break, he quickly landed and received a splash of sand left behind by the car, hurried towards the door next to which Shweikar was sitting, waited until the sand subsided, opened the door and held her hand, taking her out of the car like a princess from a royal family, before she got off, Shweikar threw Ghada with a fiery look meaning that Do not exceed your limits, for this man belongs to me alone. Shweikar got out of the car and the rest of the friends followed her. Shweikar wrapped her husband's arm in his arms and clung to him.
The worker's wife hid her face while smiling shyly when she saw the ladies of Cairo in their strange clothes. She did not imagine that a woman could walk even in the midst of her living in such a way. Shweikar's arming the Major General's arm was what caused her the most shyness. Shawkat arrived with Shweikar beside him, he pointed to her and said:
- This is Fatima, the wife of Abdul Qawi, the worker who is assigned to rest here.
She said incomprehensible words. Shweikar looked at her trying to understand what she was saying. Shawkat laughed and said:
- Don't try.. you don't speak Arabic..
- What are you talking about?
- You speak a language called Rotana.
- What language is this?
- Local language in some villages here.
The rest of the friends arrived, where Shawkat, Shweikar, and Fatima stood watching Shawkat's words, and they were amazed at what they were hearing. Shweikar looked at Shawkat and asked him:
- And her husband Abdel-Qawi speaks like this?
- He does not speak normal Arabic to us.. but of course they talk to each other in their own language.. one is afraid that they will insult him while he does not feel.
Everyone laughed, but Ghada advanced and stood on the other side of Shawkat. She tried to get as close to him as possible until her chest touched his arm. Shweikar did not notice this as she focused on Fatima's features. Ghada Shawkat asked instead:
- Aren't we going to break the fast?
Shawkat noticed and moved his arm away from Ghada's body and said:
- Oh, of course, go ahead.. go ahead.
Shawkat entered with Shweikar behind him, Ghada immediately behind her, and then the two remaining female friends. They looked at the place. It was a simple one-story building. The furniture was simple but sufficient and comfortable. To the right was a large kitchen with a slightly smaller bathroom next to it. It is one of the few houses that have a suite bathroom, as most of the houses here do not have a bathroom. And when they want to relieve themselves, they go far to the mountain to hide from people's eyes. Of course, when Shweikar learned about this, she did not imagine how people could live like this. In the front of the hall is a very large room that Shawkat prepared for Shweikar's guests, equipped with three metal beds, chairs made of palm leaves and a table. As for the wardrobe, it is very primitive and made of palm leaves as well. On the far left is Shweikar's bedroom, which is almost completely separate from the house. Its furniture was bought by Shaukat from Aswan especially for it, a comfortable bed that can accommodate two people, a metal wardrobe with two leaves, and a huge dresser with a large mirror and contains Several drawers, the floor covered with local rugs.
In the hall there is a medium plastic table surrounded by six plastic chairs as well. Fatima stacked the breakfast food on it. Shweikar chose a chair for her that would be a separator between Shawkat and the rest of her shells, and to increase the number of rows, she put her handbag on the empty chair next to Shawkat on the other side of her.