From A Lover To Another 1

2.8

Mohammad Ezra was a busy businessman. During the four hour party, he had arranged business meetings with six other businessmen, his poor assistant standing next to him didn't have a second to enjoy himself, too busy rearranging next weeks business agenda. JJ had befriended a polite Arab man around the same age as himself and they spent the night talking about bitcoin. Something JJ had invested in and was looking to make some progress in the business area himself. He had noticed that the Hadiyeh and most of the other girls who were here during dinner had disappeared off the first floor.

The man that JJ had befriended seemed to have an important call and had gone onto the balcony to escape the chitter-chatter of the party. JJ had found it rude to follow, so instead his eyes scanned for Abbas and saw him walking towards the elevators alone.

"Hey man," JJ fell into step with the slightly older man, "I was wondering if you've seen Hadiyeh?"

"I'm going to join them now," Abbas held the elevator just long enough for JJ to step inside.

"Them?"

"After dinner, the younger generation often find themselves in the game room," Abbas explained as the elevator stopped on the floor JJ and Hadiyeh were staying on. As they stepped out two maids intertwined past them into the elevators holding empty trays. All the doors on the floor were shut beside one which was lit up with conversation.

They halted at the door and Abbas stepped in immediately finding his way towards a group of girls who fluttered their eyelashes and readjusted their hijabs. Abbas wasn't fuckboy, he was still a virgin but he was also known to be a heartbreaker. He much preferred the term play-boy.

JJ found Hadiyeh, Saeedeh and some other people their age around a ginormous pool table playing billiard.

"Hey!" She grinned seeing JJ in the room, handing her cue stick to one of the men standing next to her.

"Hey," He greeted joining her at the table.

"JJ this is Aleema, Adrian, Alex and Areefa." She introduced them and they all shook hands.

"Adrian and Alex are sons of the American ambassador, Aleema and Areefa are daughters of the Saudi ambassador, we've been friends from childhood,"

"What's up, man!" Adrian cheered pulling JJ in for a bro-hug. Hadiyeh never understood the enthusiasm of Americans. So unnecessary.

JJ almost envied the two brothers who looked so similar yet so alike. Green eyes the same shade of grass in the spring, jawlines that could cut and abs that were made of steel.

"We're playing girls against boys and we're outnumbered." Alex grins handing JJ the cue stick that Hadiyeh had given him only a minute before.

"It's literally two against three," Saeedeh calls from next to Adrian, mocktail in one hand and her phone in the other. She never found snooker interesting, she much preferred watching it.

"Just admit that you're trash," Areefa laughs handing her drink to Alex who drinks from it. They were married so drinking from the same cup wasn't a big deal. The two Arab sisters were married to the two American brothers. An unlikely occurrence. But family gatherings were always more fun.

The friend group erupts in laughter. JJ takes the cue stick and takes his shot getting the ball in, the boys cheer for their teammate as the girls roll their eyes playfully.

The night comes to an end, sooner than they had expected. Time passes quickly when you're having fun. Hadiyeh and JJ politely bid goodbye to their guests as they leave.

~~~

The night is too long for JJ's restless mind. His body was itching to get up the nervousness of asking for Mohammad's blessing made him antsy to the point he couldn't sleep, yet his mind was exhausted from today's activities and begged for even an hour of rest. Eventually, his body eased as did his mind and he was consumed by sleep.

The next morning he awoke in an unfamiliar bed. It took a moment for his mind to register that he was no longer at home but lying in the guest bedroom of the Ezra household. He took a look at his phone that was plugged into the charger on his bedside table. 8:15 am. He had enough time to shower and make himself look presentable before going to the kitchen to meet with Hadiyeh's father.

He had changed into his more ordinary clothes, sprayed a bit of Dior Sauvage Cologne, Hadiyeh's favourite and made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. It was massive. A large marble dining table and a cook who paid little attention to anything outside of the kitchen.

Hadiyeh's father was sat at the head of the table sipping on his coffee as he cut the muffin on his plate with a knife reading the newspaper written Arabic, placing the piece in his mouth. Next to him sat Hadiyeh's mother who was drinking her expresso coffee sharing a polite conversation with Abbas over why he isn't married yet. The conversation came to a halt when JJ entered the room.

"Mr Olatunji," Hadiyeh's mother greeted JJ getting up from her seat, "Good morning, enjoy your breakfast, I would stay but there are patients waiting for me," she ushered leaving JJ standing in the kitchen, "Goodbye!"

"Have a good day," JJ replied formally, he wasn't used to speaking formally.

"Oh, would you look at the time!" Abbas checked his watch for emphasis finishing his drink in one large gulp, he pulled his chair out and the closest butler helped him into his suit, "Goodbye!"

Abbas walked briskly past JJ, he moved so swiftly that JJ almost didn't hear the 'good luck' that he whispered brushing past JJ's shoulder.

Now there was only Mohammad and JJ in the room, excluding the maids and butlers of course.

"Here, have a seat," Mohammad offers, the butler takes this as a hint to pull out a chair for JJ and to take his breakfast order.

"A cup of latte, thank you," JJ orders and the butler nods writing it down.

"Hadiyeh has spoken a lot about you, rarely have I heard her talk so fondly about someone," The older man folds the newspaper putting it down on the table, raising a brow.

Now he realised why Hadiyeh was always so well-spoken and confident, not to mention those brows and sharp facial structure must be a direct inheritance from her father, however her eyes and nose was from her mother.

Written: 18/08/2021

Published: 26/08/2021