“Look I promise I did not go to the festival without you. I'm just at the beach finishing up my work…… because I needed a quiet place to think and I couldn’t do it with you hovering over my head……. I will be back as soon as I finish this….. the more you talk to me now the longer I have to stay here because you’re taking out of the time I'm supposed to use to finish working….. fine fine I’ll hurry sheesh anyone listening to this conversation would think I owe you an island or something. I’ll talk to you as soon as I'm leaving.” that girl would be the end of me thought Zara as she went back to typing her 10 page report on the exciting activities of bacteria (note extreme sarcasm).
As she sat down facing the beach, she couldn’t help but miss home. The beach reminded her of the long hours she spent there as a child with her family, so she always came here anytime she needed to feel at home. Hell she has been here so many times she is on first name basis with a lot of the staff here at Qaryat al Beri.
She discovered this place a year back after she moved to Abu Dhabi. She and her friends had been on an adventure to find the perfect birthday spot and this was one of their venues. She had also celebrated her 18th birthday here, so it made it all the more special.
****
“Do we have to get her the burger from here?” asked Adam for the 100th time.
“You know that we will have our butts kicked back here if we don’t get it now. Besides why don’t you want to be here? It’s not like there is an axe murderer on the loose who is after you” replied Suhail rolling his eyes
“Stop the eye rolling thing it’s distracting. And it’s not like I have something against this place. It’s just that I might have pulled a mini tantrum last time I was here”
“Seriously, why am I just hearing about this? This might make me sound like a chick but details man I need details.” Said Suhail faking offense
“It does make you sound like a girl… ouch what the hell. You didn’t have to hit me”
“just tell me and keep your comments to yourself”.
Shaking his head, Adam continued. “Well remember the day we lost that deal because of one of the employees? I came here after cuz I needed to be alone and I didn’t want to go home. Then I was speaking to one of the staff here and the guy couldn’t understand a thing I was saying. I then asked him to get me any colleague of his that could speak good English and the guy got me a bunch of flowers. Can you believe it? Now when I think back at it, it was kind of funny, but at that time it was anything but funny. And then I sort of lost it and poured out my frustration on the poor guy. Don’t give me that look I feel really bad for doing that and my sister already gave me the lecture on manners.”
“Don’t sweat it. I bet he wouldn’t recognize you seeing as you’re dressed the same way as most guys here. By the way, what was your inspiration? What happened to ‘I would not wear that out! It’s unprofessional. What if I run into a business associate?’”.
“Considering I was in a rush as someone was overly impatient to get his precious girlfriend a burger, I didn’t have time to look for something better to wear.” And this was how the banter went on. As they walked pass the beach, he noticed a girl who was furiously typing into her laptop while talking on the phone. He only caught onto the last part of her conversation where she was talking about owing someone an island. Weird. The light brown color of her skin indicated that she wasn’t from here. But her skin color wasn’t what caught his attention; rather it was her dressing that did it.
Unlike most of the female population in Abu Dhabi, she wasn’t dressed in either the signature black abaya with the accompanying headscarf or the normal skinny jeans, tight shirt, and headscarf others opted for nor did she have a face that looked like the test canvas of an amateur artist. She was dressed in a simple plain grey oversized sweat shirt, loose black pants, and a black headscarf. She didn’t look like one of those girls that spent hours getting ready to come to the beach. But most of all, she looked oddly familiar. Not someone he knew personally but he could swear he had seen her before.
YOU ARE READING
Rapture
Romance“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one”. George R. R. Martin. We all know the stories. Boy loves girl, girl loves boy. Something happens and a problem arises. They get over it and love each other aga...
