That Winter You Came (Completed)

season 3: Episode 7

The truth never had one side.. I've come to learn this growing up.
i can't say that i've turned into a better woman since in my eyes i still have so many flaws.. But many years of misunderstanding and misjudging taught me at least how to have more patience, and how to consider others too before stating a judgment.
Seeing Issam again was one hot day of the beginning of July, it was such a hot dry morning, and that's another thing about the weather in the summers of Algeria.. The moment the sun rises it's already 40°c out there. So I was walking in a fast pace under the sun.. In slower one under the shadow when i noticed that a certain car was strangely walking per my crazy pace, and When i turned around to see what was happening my eyes caught Issam behind the driver's wheel immediately.
At that time i thought it was only some kind of a bizarre coincidence that brought Issam first thing in the morning beside our house, so even though i hated that man all the way to the middle of my bones i still felt it would be out of courtesy to act like if i didn't even see him when our eyes clearly met.
_"good morning" i said while smiling pretentiously.
_" my morning just started now after seeing you" he shamelessly answered.
And i regretted greeting him right away..
_"is your sister doing fine?" He asked while popping his head out of the car window, He was using such a big amount of gel to fix his hair that i wondered if i should dismiss my self before he decides to drive the car even closer and the smell of gel i always hated would suffocate me.
_"if you're concerned about the well being of your friend's wife mr Issam then i think you should ask your friend him self, i need to hurry to my work now so have a good day" i said with a serious face.
I didn't want to have more interactions with him.. So i turned around immediately and decided to take another path towards the bus stop. Although i knew that would be longer and would demand exposing to more burning sunshine .. But i still chose the road to hell rather than spending more time talking nonsense to Issam.. I hated that man this much, I hated the unbuttoned shirt he wore, i hated his yellowish teeth and the smell of cigarettes coming out of them.. And i hated the way he looked at me more than anything, those eyes that never could settle on my eyes because they examined other parts of me, Those eyes that never held respect in them. 
But i barely walked few steps away when the smell of gel suddenly came .. And a hand grabbed mine.
When i turned to look at Issam in Terror and anger he was just smiling like if holding some strange girl's hand is the most natural thing to do: 
_" astenay nehki m'aak"( wait for me to talk to you) he said.. "Why are you running away" 
_" how dare you hold my hand?" I said.
_" ok.. I apologize" he laughed while letting go of my wrist.
His tone held no sense of apology though. 
People like Issam make the rest of men seem like saints.. Speaking of the rest of men, the last one of them i wanted him to see me in such situation was apparently standing somewhere around me at that time, somewhere i couldn't see of course.
And since we always only see what we want to see and rarely seek the whole truth, Rayan misjudged me again..
_"the only reason i spoke to you was out of obligation, however .. I want nothing to do with you anymore" i angrily said to Issam.
_" why are you saying this? .. I swear to god that i like you so much" he lied 
_" like i said" i added with a serious face " never show me your figure again" 
And with that .. I walked in my way without him following me.
It was few days around that time that Rayan called saying he finished moving to our house and that he is inviting me for a lunch in a restaurant to celebrate the occasion.
_"this can't be your idea.. Who suggested it?" I asked
_" Badro, but it's me who's paying anyways" he answered.
I could hear the different tone in his voice in that call, and that harsh way he pronounced the words and the lack of warmth. You see.. Rayan was never good in hiding things, and the algerian dialict it self is so honest that you can know the feelings of the person talking to you. But sometimes we just choose to ignore the obvious.
_" who are you inviting?" I asked 
_"a couple of people" he said from the other side.. "I'm inviting all my friends " 
_"as if you have so many of them, you only have five" i sarcastically commented.
_" my circle of people sure isn't as wide as yours but i have more poeple around me than you think, my life doesn't circle around you Nadia" 
That wasn't fair of him to say.. No matter what was his reasons.. He had no right to treat me that way again.
He was turning sorer day by day.. I could feel that. 
I could see how his words were getting fewer every time we spoke on the phone. And I could feel how different he suddenly turned the day i went to that restaurent with Yassmine, it was such a hot morning of July when he held that lunch for us and yet i chose a thick dress to wear just to look beautiful in his eyes, i had to van my face all the way from my house to the restaurant not to turn awkwardly red and sweat. And i had to carry a basket of cookies which i made as a present above all that, when i met Yassmine few blocks away from the restaurant i was in such a mess that she couldn't stop laughing at my sight for so long, doing all that effort i expected a great welcoming but all i got was a dry smile and a hush: 
_" you come inside" 
And Rayan looked at Yassmine when he said that at the front door of the restaurant, Not even at me.
Imad and Badro were already there when we arrived, Along with two other men .. And a girl.
As a woman the first idea that came to my mind was to compare us both on the scale of beauty, and it's like this, I already decided that there can't be but war between me and her the moment my eyes caught her looking at Rayan when he walked in, and the first thing you do with an enemy is evaluate him and see if you're entering a lost battle from the start.
On the scale of beauty i shall defeated say i was on the losing side, she was beautiful and i will not elaborate in this matter.. 
All i had to my favor was the long past and great love i expected from Rayan, other than that i had nothing to compete with.
But i started to question even this when i remembered that it was actually the first time Rayan ever brought a girl, my heart hurt so much observing his back walking away from me towards her..
_" we meet again!" One of the two men i didn't know suddenly shouted in my face jumping excitedly in front of me blocking Rayan from my sight.
I gave him an attentive look trying to remember our possible first encounter but my memory was blank and i didn't have the heart to put more effort to recognize him, all that filled my mind was the man in the black shirt even in summer and all i felt was insecurity and confusion. 
That man didn't seem to be aware of my situation, he enthusiastically carried on his introductions: 
_" well i didn't get the chance to properly introduce my self before because your fiance never allowed me to .. I'm walid__" 
He didn't even finish talking when Rayan coldly interrupted: 
_" i'm not her fiance yet" 
I felt like someone threw a bucketful of icy water on me.. And then hot water following, it felt like that..
All eyes turned to look at me for a moment with mixed feelings, while all i did was to look at Rayan taking his seat beside that girl leaving me stuck between ice and fire wondering: Why did he say that? Why is he acting like that?
If i knew the answer to this back then i would have emptied the basket of the stupid cookies i made on him and i would have walked out of there, but i didn't .. So i stayed.
_" i'm Nadia.. I suppose you're a friend of Ratan's" i said trying to put my most cheerful smile in that.
Trying to ignore everything..
Trying not to look at the truth that was slapping my face.. And that is: love can never survive without trust.