I stood in the middle of the gallery glancing quickly from one
corner to the other; I wanted to make sure everything was in place and
looking perfect. I rubbed my palms together taking in a deep breath trying to
calm myself down; it’s our first exhibition of local artists and A LOT of media
have been invited. My eyes glanced towards Marwah and Layla who were briefing
the waiters; I tried my best to distract myself and calm my racing heart. I
walked into my office to make sure my lipstick is in place, and change into my
heels. The real reason was, I wanted to check my blackberry for any
messages from Sami. It has been 3 weeks of pure bliss; it felt like I was
hovering over ground. Floating in mid air! I had no messages from him, so I
decided il send him something.
-PING!!!-
-PING!!!-
-PING!!!-
Sam: you know I hate pings!
Miso: are you coming?
Sam: how many times do you have to remind me, yes I am
sweetheart..im coming!
Miso: good, come early please.
Sam: are you okay?
Miso: yes..why?
Sam: your acting weird
Miso: im nervous..media remember!
Sam: youll be fine! Let me finish changing..
Miso: look good! Youll meet my parents!
Sam: when have a ever disappointed you fashionwise?
Miso: never, bes im just saying
Sam: go drink water, you are losing it!
Miso: okay. Yala. Bye!
Sam: loool..love you my crazy girl!
I smiled at my phone and sighed loudly, a sigh of love and
affection. My brain could not comprehend how much love I had for him nor how
fast things developed between us. I sat on my chair and pulled out my louboutin pumps
from their bag under my desk. I slipped my Gina slippers off, placing them
neatly under the table and wore my heels.
I stood up smoothing my dress down, and walked to the bathroom to fix my
makeup.
Marwah: “Misooooooooooooooooo kamalti?”
Hams: “yes, im fixing my makeup now”
Marwah: “I need lipstick”
Hams: “my bag”
Marwah: “thaaaaaaaank you! Yalla! Get ready its 7 soon”
Hams: “shutup! Im already freaked out!”
Marwah: “loooooooool! Relax woman!”
I inhaled deeply and ignored her, making my way towards the
bathroom. Pushing the door open, I closed it behind me and stood with my back to the wall. i took another couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves and made my way to the sink. i stood at the mirror staring at the reflection in front of me; giving myself a mental pep talk ! I quickly shock my head, pulled out my make up back to refresh my lipstick. I decided to apply more bronzer and another coat of mascara;
fluffed my hair before taking another long breath and a good look at myself before I leave.
As I pulled the door open, I heard familiar voices from the main gallery. I
smiled automatically as I recognized who it was and headed toward the voices.
Mariam: “here is the star!”
Hams: “ay star ya mama, intu el stars!”
Latifa: “Hams the gallery rocks walla, I love the layout..mashkora
wayed!”
Hams: “glad you liked it..inshallah everyone enjoys their night”
Saeed: “walla wayed 7lo el mkan..wayed ‘3eir 3an sboo3 eli 6af”
Hams: “hehehehehee..inshallah good ‘3eir?”
Saeed: “la el7amdillah more than good”
Hams: “7amdillah, do you have any last minute
changes..adjustments..you wanna change anything?”
Mariam: “la sweety..kilshay okay”
Latifa: “same on my side”
Saeed: “ana ba3ad”
Hams: “Rashid and Meera wein?”
Latifa: “the twins are on their way”
Hams: “good..im glad you guys are early..taboon tshrebon shay?”
Mariam: “naaaah were cool..hams..my grandparents are coming..is it
possible to have some chairs in the main gallery”
Hams: “min 3yoni..el7een il inform the caterers”
Mariam: “mashkoora love!! Im so excited!!”
Hams: “ana im scared”
Latifa: “HA?! Sh7aga scared”
Hams: “madri im freaked out..hopefully once everyone is here il
calm down”
Mariam: “don’t worry all will be beyond perfect”
Hams: “inshallah”
The gallery’s door opened and a delivery man walked in carrying
the biggest hand bouquet; I smiled at how beautiful it was and walked toward the
back area to inform the caterers to place chairs in the main gallery. I assumed the bouquet is for one of the artists but soon Layla
walked in behind me carrying it, smiling widely at me.
Layla: “yaaaaaaaaaa 3ami yet.hanaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
Hams: “heheheee..ee walla mashallah beautiful bouquet..neyaaaaaaaaaalooo!”
Layla: “asdek neyaleeeeek heheheheheee”
Hams: “ha?!!”
Layla: “shuuu haaa..min 2al ha seme3 mtl mat2olu..”
Hams: “lameeen el bouquet?”
Layla: “la 2elek ya 7ilwe..meein ‘3ayr el ward yestahel ward”
Hams: “ohhh you guys got me flowers??”
Layla: “manu mina e7na..min 7ada taaaaaaani…”
Hams: “someone sent ME flowers?!!”
Layla: “eee..lakan..shu eshbek ma9doma”
Hams: “fe card?”
Layla: “6ab3an fee card..”
Hams: “ashoof”
Layla: “looooool..ana badi efham lashu masdooomeeh??!”
I ignored her comment and pulled the white envelop placed in the
center of the bouquet; I carefully opened it glancing at Layla who looked at me lovingly. I grinned
widely as my eyes darted between the words, overwhelmed.
- I know how stressed you have been, and I know how nervous you
must be today but always know im proud of you no matter what the outcome of
tonight is. I’m positive it’s a success! Love you always and forever, Sami
-
“did you love them?”
I quickly turned towards the voice and smiled widely at him. He
looked as handsome as ever in a navy blue blazer, white shirt and jeans. I took
quick steps towards him and hugged him tightly. I couldn’t express how thankful
I was for him, for everything but mainly his support.
“thank you”
“wlaw..kam baby girl 3ndi??”
“w7da”
“w ma5tha el 3gl wl galb”
“7abebe”
I pulled away and he looked at me from head to toe admiring me; I
couldn’t help but blush and look away. He chuckled lightly as he grabbed my
hand dragging me towards the main gallery, but before we walked away he turned
to Layla.
“7e6i 3al reception desk Layla please”
“mu teeeeeeeekram 3einak int wyaha”
“haha..teslameen layla”
We walked towards the gallery, but I let go before I walked in not
wanting to set suspicions. He chuckled placing his hand behind my back ushering
me into the main gallery. I was blown off by how busy the place got in so
little time, some of my cousins have arrive, my parents, my grandparents and
the artists families.
Mama: “Hamsi..el makan yjanen”
Hams: “thank you mama..when did you arrive? mashftkm”
Mama: “tawna..your dad was late!”
Baba: “I wasn’t..kan 3ndi telephone 5ala9ta o jeet”
Mama: “eee eee…so proud of you mama”
Baba: “mashallah 3aleech 7abebti..fa5oren feech dayman”
Hams: “thaaaaaaaaaank you”
I hugged and kissed both of them, and took them around introducing
them to the artists. I could see the pride in their eyes everytime someone complimented
them for raising me the way they did. Mama was beyond happy and proud for
everything that was said about me. I smiled warmly as I watched how they interacted with everyone, but my eyes were longing for someone else. I secretly
glanced his way whenever I managed, and everytime my eyes caught his. He would wink every
now and then; and I look away shyly.
Sami’s perspective:
It was the first time I actually see her with her parents; I
assumed she looked like her mother but it was actually weird. She looked
like both her parents, which was unusual. I watched her quietly as I stood
among our friends; they spoke but I watched. She walked around the gallery
introducing her parents to different people, smiling widely. You couldn’t help
but smile when she smile; her smile immediately lightened up anyone’s face.
When she told me shes very close to her parents, I didn’t understand how close
until today. Something about seeing them made
me realize how much I wanted to be a part of that.
Hanan: “Sami!”
Sami: “huh?!”
Hanan: “we are talking to you!”
Sami: “oh sorry..what were you saying?”
Hanan: “ba3aaaaaaaaaaad!?! Weeein balak?”
Sami: “lool sorry sera7t b shay”
Hanan: “ya 3aaaaami eli ma5eth 3aqlek yet.hanaba”
Sami: “haha..yet.hana min kan ykoon”
I couldn’t help but smile as her face popped in my head, and I
turned my face towards were she was but she was gone. My eyes darted all over
the place to look for her, until I found her in the far corner tapping at a
microphone she held. I chuckled quietly knowing what’s coming next; I heard
her speech a thousand times in the past week as she rehearsed it over and over
again for me. We all heard the shreek of the speakers, and everyone turned
towards Hams who was standing with a crunched face.
Hams: “ana asfa! Sorry..Im sorry...oh..okay..That wasn’t part of my speech!”
The crowd giggled at her comment and I smiled warmly winking at
her. She smiled back at me, taking a deep breath in to calm her nerves. I
mouthed “good luck..you can do it” for her and she blinked three times at me.
“Im sorry to speak in English, but a lot of our guests are non
Arabic speakers. First, I would like to welcome you all to our first local
artists exhibition..Your support and presence is much appreciated by all of
us..Especially me..It has been a dream of mine to encourage young emerging
artists..especially local ones..and supporting their journey by publicly
exhibiting their work..I would like this opportunity to announce our new
project Qafela..Qafela means a number of people or animals that follow each
other throughout a similar path..and that’s exactly what the exhibitions are
going to be about..this is the first exhibition of a number of exhibitions that
will introduce new emerging artists in expressive art media..we will touch on
the different media types used by the new artists..like you see today..we have
four different forms of expression..we have dimensional
art..photography..abstract art and two medium art…I don’t want to say much
about this project as I want you all to self discover it but before I end my speech
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents for all their support
and their ongoing strong confidence in my capabilities..I wouldn’t of have done
it with you..Mariam, Latifa, Saeed, Rashid & Meera…thank you for gambling
on a project that has never seen light..we have done it! Finally, I would love
to thank my partner and staff for all the hard work they’ve put into making
this dream a reality..once again thank you all for coming and I hope you have a
great evening”
Everyone clapped for her, especially me; I grinned with pride as I
watched her walk towards her family. Hanan and Noor were discussing Hams’s
speech and I was getting ready to say something my blackberry buzzed. I pulled
out my blackberry from my pocket to see a BBM notification.
Miso: I couldn’t publically thank you, but the biggest thank you
goes to you for supporting me at the hardest time. I wouldn’t of have managed
to do it without you :* come over I want to introduce you to my parents.
I looked up from my phone and turned towards her, only to notice
her motioning for me to come. I gave her a scolding look to tell her off, but
she insisted and I know how stubborn she gets. I excused myself and I walked
towards her; she held my gaze until I reached them and stood 3 feets away from
her.
“mar7aba”
All three of them turned towards me smilingly; Hams was grinning
ear to ear. Her mother gave me a warm motherly smile that showed she knew about
me. Her father smiled politely waiting to know who I was. you couldnt help to notice more or less they all have the same smile! I didn’t want to meet
them at such a situation but when Hams decides nothing or no one can tell her
off.
Hams: “Mama..Baba…meet Sami Al-X”
Um Hams: “hala feek sami..tsharafna”
I extended my hand towards her mother and she took it while
smiling warmly. I then shock her father’s hand which was already extended
towards me. I shock it firmly yet politly and I got an appreciative welcoming
smile in return.
Ubo Hams: “tsharafna ya wildi”
Sami: “el sharaf lee 3ami”
Um Hams: “3asak mstanes?”
Sami: “el7amdillah …mabrook 3aleekm naja7 Hams..5eir marabetu”
Um Hams: “teslam”
Ubo Hams: “teslam ya sami..inshallah allah ywafeg el jamee3”
Sami: “ameeen”
Just as I completed my sentence a photographer stood infront of us
asking us to pose for a picture, as much as I hated my picture to be taken as
much as I didn’t mind it this time. I stood by her father and we leaned in
smiling warmly at the photographer.
Photographer: “PERFECT!”
Hams: “thank you tariq”
Tariq: “walaw hams..beautiful picture..allah y5aleekn la
ba3d..lab2een!”
Hams: “ha?!!”
I chuckled at her reaction, shes so innocent at times she doesn’t get
what people hint at. I decided not to say anything and wait for the
photographer to shock her.
Tariq: “ manun ahlek o hayda zawjek?”
Hams: “haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
At this point both her parents and I were giggling loudly at her reaction;
she turned towards us looking dumbfounded by the question that was asked. Her cheeks
were a bright red and her eyes wide open with surprise.
Sami: “la mani b zojha..”
Tariq: “ah! Kteeeer asif..pardon”
He walked away feeling the embarrassment he caused her; I glanced
towards her wanting to give her a hug but held myself at her parents presence. Her
father’s mobile rang and he walked away from us to take the call. my eyes followed her father until he stopped then i turned towards her mother and her. Her mother side
hugged her and was giggling warmly at the incident.
Um hams: “shfeeech 5alaa9”
Hams: “mama fashla walla with baba there!!”
Um hams: “magal shay..he just foresaw the future!!”
Hams: “maaaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
Um hams: “shakooooo mama..arent you two serious?!”
Just as I was about to reply, we heard..
“hatha huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?!”
I glanced towards Hams to see a look of death, anger and shock on
her face!
