Welcome on board FZ 8168. This is Captain Lucas speaking and I have some information about our flight. Our flight time today will be 6 hours and 30 minutes and our estimated time of arrival in Dubai international airport is 8AM local time.
I really didn't want to go but here I'm in an airplane on my way to Dubai.
Who forced me to go?
My mother.
Why?
To find a future husband.
No i'm just kidding. I'm going there to visite my cousin.
She's lived there her whole life but still keeps on complaining about the heat. So how is a girl that hates summers in Belgium let alone in Dubai going to survive this? And on top of that I wear *the jilbab. So I'll ask my question again. How am I going to survive in *the sahara? Let's not forget that I sweat a LOT too. I'm talking about fifty year old dad on a treadmill with a white towel around his neck sweat.
Anyway I have 6 hours and 30 minutes to kill and it's actually cold in this airplane.
You don't hear me complaining. I'll enjoy every minute of this cold until the hellfire heat begins.
Five days later...
It's been five days here and I actually quite like it.
By that I mean I like one cafe at a Dubai mall.
The cafe is very flowery, it's like you're in a garden with a few seats here and there.
Next to the seats are small tables and that's a hassle. You have to break your back each time to put your coffee down on the table.
I should have a word with the owner.
Anyway I've been squatting this coffee shop ever since my cousin took me to this mall. She had to go to the Cartier store to get her Cartier bracelet fit her wrist perfectly. The price of that was astonishing but I didn't judge her, well at least not in front of her face or anyone's face for that matter. I kept my judgmental thoughts to myself like a good Muslim.
You see I'm actually trying to follow my beautiful religion right. If you don't have anything nice to say just shut up.
I'm sitting at the far end of the coffee shop, sipping on some black coffee and reading a book from Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma'il Al-Bukhari.
Al-bukhari is a great man that did an amazing job at putting all the *hadiths in one single book. I got distracted, where was I? Yes the coffee shop.
Ever since I walked into this place today i can feel someone watching me. I've tried to ignore it, but as the saying goes "curiosity kills the cat".
And oh boy did it kill me, 9 times to be exact. You get it? Because a cat has nine lives?
Anyway, where was I? Yes the coffee shop...
As I finally decide to acknowledge the person that watched my every move for the past 2 hours.
I notice it's a man.
And that ladies and gentlemen is a motive for me, Sahar, to kill a person.
See in Islam you're not supposed to look at the opposite sex. One glance is okay but what this man is doing is more than a glance.
Thank god my face is the only thing he can see.
Anything else is off limits because of my *jilbab. I do love my religion, i get to choose what people can see of me, in this case my face.
And boy is he looking at it.
The man doesn't look old, maybe in his mid twenties and I do have to admit he's very attractive.
He looks like those Saudi influencers you see on Instagram next to a big white Bentley, of course the Bentley isn't a flashy colour.
Otherwise the viewers attention would be on the car and not on the influencers face.
Who am I kidding?
With a face like that even a flashy coloured Bentley can not pull your eyes away from him. But I did, with every fiber in my body, I managed to look away. 'Be a good Muslim sahar' that's the phrase I keep repeating to myself in times of need.
I'm very uncomfortable now, he didn't look away when I caught him staring. That means he wanted me to notice him. He probably thinks he's flattering me by giving me his precious attention but the only feeling he'll get from me is disgust.
I stand up from my seat and go to the counter to pay for my coffee. I'm welcomed by souheila, a nice worker at this cafe I met the first day I walked in here.
As I'm lifting my arm to pay with my credit card. I suddenly feel a hand on my arm stopping me from completing my action.
Lifting my eyes up and seeing that it's not a woman touching me I pull my arm immediately away from his grasp.
Me: "please tell me you thought I was your mother to put your hands on me."
He doesn't say anything for a while only smiling at souheila. I was so astonished by the hand on my arm and his dumb facial expression that I didn't see the stranger pay for my coffee.
?: "My mother wouldn't even dare to pay infront of me miss.
I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to touch you but I couldn't let you pay so I had to stop you."
That arrogant glint in his eyes is really pissing me off. Can we murder someone if we wish it badly enough?
Me: "well let's hope you can stop yourself from entering the gates of *jahanam like you stopped me from paying."
I know, I know it was rude of me to say that. Who am i to judge if someone is going to hell or paradise? But i was so mad at him for touching me that I couldn't keep my mouth shut.
I did love how fast I got his facial expressions to go from arrogance to shock.
He probably thought I was going to let it slide since he paid for my coffee.
?: "I shouldn't have miss. I'm deeply sorry to have overstepped your boundaries. Could I perhaps put a name to the person I'm saying sorry to? You know, to make my apology sound more believable."
I actually snorted, I can't believe this man. First you stare into my soul, then you touch my arm and now you have the audacity to flirt with me.
This is where I have to set boundaries, looking through my wallet all I see are euro bills. That'll do i guess.
I place the 10 euro bill on the counter
Me: "this is me repaying you for the coffee. I don't have any dirhams on me so take this and try to not touch woman who are not your wife or your mother."
As I walk out of the cafe, I can feel him following me.
?:"Miss, i really didn't mean to offend you. I just think a beautiful woman like you shouldn't pay for anything even if it's just a coffee."
I turn around and look at his face. Seeing he caught my attention he flashes me a perfect smirk. Has he practiced that in front of his mirror?
Me:"Look sir, I'm not supposed to talk to you without my *mahram present. So I'll make sure I don't stutter."
"I don't do relationships because they are *haram and i would never want to get married to you."
Oh man do I love seeing that arrogant glint in his eyes disappear.
Who's smiling now huh?
?:"You sure know how to hurt a man's feelings I tell you that. Could I at least know your name?"
Me: "why? Do you think my heart will flutter if I hear my name out of your mouth?"
?: "No, but my heart will when I finally know to who I owe my first rejection to."
A loud sign leaves my body making some people in the mall turn their heads towards us. Not wanting to make a scene, I leave...
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* jilbab= a full-length outer garment, covering the whole body and the head, worn in public by some Muslim women.
*Sahara= desert
*hadiths= a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which, with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran.
*jahanam= hellfire
*mahram= a person with whom marriage is prohibited because of their close blood relationship, because of radaa'ah (breastfeeding), or because of being related by marriage.
*haram= forbidden in Islam
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Salam aleykoum
I Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my book. This is the first time I'm every writing publicly, so I hope you like it.
Also English isn't my first language and not even my second and not even my third.
So if there are any grammar mistakes just let me know and I'll gladly correct it.
