Girls of Riyadh

After the seatbelt light went out, Sadeem headed—as she always did on any international flight—to the WC to put on her abaya. She could not bear putting this task off until just before the plane landed in the kingdom, when the women were all lined up, and so were the men, down the aisle, waiting to get into the toilets to put on their official garb. The women would put on their long abayas, head coverings and face veils, while the men stripped off their suits and ties, including the belts that they always tightened under their bellies so that one could see how rippling-full of flesh and fat and curds and whey they were, to return to the white thobes that concealed their mealtime sins and the red shimaghs that covered their bald pates.

As she made her way back to her seat, she caught sight of a man who, it seemed to her, was smiling at her from a distance. She squinted and frowned to make out his features more clearly. How much easier it would be if she were able to put in her corrective contact lenses herself instead of depending on the eye specialist at the shop to put them in for her! When she reached her seat, though, only four steps separated her from that young man’s row. She saw who it was! A gasp escaped her, louder than it should have been, loud enough to embarrass her. It revealed her enthusiasm, which of course would have been hard to explain in public.

“Firas!”

She went the rest of the way to him. He rose, welcoming her with obvious delight and then asking her to sit in the seat next to his, which fate had decreed would be empty.

“How are you, Sadeem? What a wonderful coincidence!”

“God sweeten your days! Wallah, seriously, a lovely coincidence. I never imagined I would see you after that day in the bookstore.”

“And you know what? I was on the waiting list for this flight. I mean, I wasn’t sure that I would even be traveling tonight! A God-given grace! But then, thank goodness you got up to go put on your abaya, or I never would have seen you!”

“It’s strange, isn’t it?! And look at you! You’ve got your thobe on before you even get on the airplane.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t like to change my clothes on the airplane. Makes me feel like I’m schizoid. As if I’m Dr. Jekyll about to change into Mr. Hyde.”

“Ha ha! It’s pretty impressive that you recognized me even though I was in my abaya and hair cover.”

“As a matter of fact, you happen to look terribly cute in your abaya.”

Was this man serious? Was his taste really that appalling or did he think she was so hideous that he preferred it when she was covered and wrapped in her abaya to spare him the sight?

“Oh, thank you. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. By the way, I still have your umbrella and raincoat, you know!”

“Of course. I gave them to you to keep.”

“I hope you didn’t get sick that day because of me.”

“No, Alhamdu lillah, thank God. When you live in London, you get used to leaving your umbrella and raincoat in the car because the weather changes all the time. Anyway, on that day I got right into my car and went straight home. I was more worried about you getting sick from walking in that bad weather.”

“No, nothing, Alhamdu lillah. And it’s all because of your umbrella and raincoat; now I don’t go anywhere without them!”

“Enjoy them!”

“Thanks. By the way,” Sadeem asked hesitantly, “are you staying in Riyadh this time or planning to return to London?”

“Wallah, I still haven’t made up my mind, but until things get a little clearer my time will be divided between Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar. It makes a certain sense, since Riyadh is the official capital and Jeddah is the unofficial capital and Khobar is the family’s capital.”

“You’re from Khobar?”

“Yup. I mean, originally we are from Najd, but we settled in the eastern region a very long time ago. You know how they say there are no native citizens in the eastern province. Most of us come originally from Najd.”

“Isn’t it tiring to do that, move around so much? Aren’t you kind of beyond that, so much coming and going every week?”

Firas laughed. “It’s nothing. My chauffeur buys the plane tickets for me, I have clothes in both places and even the little things, like toothbrushes, one in each house. At least after all this practice, I won’t have any problems juggling two or even three wives.”

“Ha ha, very funny! So the real you is wicked after all, eh? What’s your birthday?”

“Why? Are you planning to buy me a present? You can bring it by anytime!”

“Now, why would I bring you a present? You’re too old for that kind of stuff. Leave that to the youngsters like me!”

“Thirty-five isn’t so old.”

“If you say so. So, tell me, what’s your star sign?”

“You know about that stuff?”

“No, not much, but one of my friends is an expert, and she got me into the habit of asking everyone I meet.”

“I’m a Capricorn. But I don’t believe in those kinds of things. As you said, I’m too old for that, right?”