Journal of a Single Gal in Q8 - Episode Four

From last episode

"The next morning as she parked outside Starbuck's at the Palms, she suddenly realized that she'd been followed. She was so lost in thought throughout the whole drive that she hadn't even realized till now. She looked up in her rear view mirror and saw him get out of his car and head straight towards her.."

As she watched him approach, she noticed that he was carrying what looked like a business card. She guessed he was about to give her his number and looked very nervous about it. She liked that.

The last time she got followed by a stranger, the experience was a disaster. The man had the audacity to park right outside her home and demand she give him her number. She was so nervous that someone from the house would come out and cause a scene. She hated causing disruption to the household and getting her parents nervous every time she had to go out was the last thing she needed. She acted on impulse and quickly gave him the number then rushed to the house.

Two hours later he'd called and tried to sound less aggressive than when she'd first encountered him. In a low whisper he said hello and asked her how she was. She looked up to the ceiling and rolled her eyes. He spoke to her as though they were lovers for hundred years. She couldn't stand how fake he was and spoke back in a loud voice so that he'd stop the whispering.

Within the first five minutes, he spoke about how he had two houses, a number of cars outside his home and that he was well to do. The whole conversation was making her sick. She could feel the bile rising in her stomach as she slowly began to lose her patience. Ironic how for a country that survived on mere pearl diving, how did it end up becoming so superficial!

As she listened, she began to doodle on her notepad next to her phone, she was feeling rather bitter which brought out the creativity in her..

Here's a story I never have told
I was hoping to keep it till I grow old

I live in a country where oil is free
Where money falls right off the tree

There's a lot of secrets that I can tell
But people pretend that all is well

A child gets a car when he turns three
Just for sitting on his mother's knee

They give him everything he wishes for
Even before the age of four

And now he's eighteen and bored with his life
So he wakes in the morning and buys a wife

He thinks money can buy happiness
But all you get is loneliness

Now there's a rich woman that I knew of
Who wanted to buy some real love

The only guy that she could find
Was some poor man who was left behind

But when he couldn't buy her a Rolls Royce
She went insane and got a divorce

And here's a story of friend a of mine
Who wanted the wrong guy at the wrong time

Some religious reason they did say
"You marry him, there was no way"

So they forced her in another marriage
And now she has baby in the carriage

But she saw her lover almost everyday
Till she got caught and had to pay

In the small society that I live in
Rumours get around like a spin

The boys screw the girls at some challet
Promising them marriage the very next day

But when the girl calls to ask where he's been
He's off at his wedding at the Holiday Inn

The girl's future has been abused
They all want virgins, not one that's been used

So all you people who think you're so cool
You should know by now that God's no fool

For when it's dooms day and you're at the gate
You better start praying before it's too late..

As she read what she had written she wondered if she should stop listening to all the sad stories her girlfriends would tell her or at least not take them too much to heart. It was causing her to lose her optimism.

Finally, she realized that he'd stopped talking so decided to let him in on the fact that she didn't care much for material things and then asked him if he spoke English.

"I studied in Oxford" he said arrogantly. She knew that he was lying and was actually making fun. The fact that she didn't care for material things didn't seem to give her one ounce of credit on the contrary, he made it sound that it was too a ridiculous thing to believe. The fact that education was more important to her seemed to be quite silly to him.

He demanded that she speak to him in English. She thought that was funny. He was actually testing her! She guessed his ego was being insulted. How could two houses mean nothing to her! She wanted to end the conversation and was now trying to find the right approach to do just that without causing any ill feelings.

She began to speak to him in English and waited for his reply. He began to make fun of her and saying that she was speaking too fast. Tolerating him for one more second was going to be impossible so she told him "I'm sorry but I really don't think you're my type and I have to go" as she waited for his reaction. She had a feeling that it was about to get ugly.

"Not you're style!" he said sarcastically. "I told you that I have two houses and if you didn't like my sports BMW, I can afford a hundred more of these so what is it that you don't like. You can't even speak proper Arabic. It's broken Arabic!" his ugly side was definitely coming out and he was hitting it where it hurts.

It wasn't that she spoke broken Arabic, it was just that whenever she spoke to those that didn't speak English, she'd have a hard time not putting in words of English. She blamed foreign schools for that and with everybody around her speaking English, it was harder to not switch.

She finally told him that she had to go. The more he spoke, the more he sounded like a jerk.

"Can I tell you something but you won't get upset." He asked. "Sure" she answered. She should've known what was about to come.

His words were to ring in her ear for quite a while. "k$$ U#&$H."

He'd used the most foul language that only the dirtiest of scum's would use. Something related to her mother. It was a swear word that she never dared use and whenever she heard it, it always disgusted her.

She stood with her mouth wide open staring at the telephone with the dead line and the first thing she said to herself was "serves you right, my dear!" She should've known better than to have spent a moment talking to him. She had only done that so that no one would accuse her of being judgmental. She should've stuck to her first instinct that never failed her. He was scum.

A week later when her mobile rang and she recognized his number, she couldn't help but laugh. She was pretty sure that he'd said that to her on the hopes that she would call him back and give him a peace of her mind. The conversation was then somehow to turn into a passionate relationship after all the swear words were said. It was really pathetic. She knew most other girls would've called back and done just that but she definitely knew better. The last thing she was going to do was bother with the likes of him even if he'd used such foul language! Who cares, they were just words she told herself and she didn't want to waste her energy listening to another ugly conversation.

Now that she was parked outside Palms and this new person was approaching her, she could still feel the unease of the whole situation. She wished her last experience hadn't affected her so much.

In reality, she never could accept this procedure but they would often tell her "how else could you meet people". In her mind, if a relationship was to develop and they were one day to have kids, she often wondered what she would tell her kids "Yes, honey, Mommy was picked up by your Daddy on the streets!" it was not the best role model to play for her kids to say the least!

She noticed he was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt as he finally reached her car and began to speak.

"I'm really sorry to bother you but if you need anything this is my card and again, sorry to bother you" his embarrassment was clearly showing.

She suddenly felt so sorry for him and didn't want to embarrass him anymore and so she took the card from his hands, smiled to him and told him that it was ok.

He rushed back to his car and drove off. She grabbed her gym bag and headed to the beach. She walked quickly. She didn't feel like seeing anybody that she knew. It was a Friday and she just wanted to be alone.

As she settled under her umbrella at the beach, she greeted the sea, "my best friend" she thought to herself. Looking at her bag she noticed the card. Should I call, should I not call, random thoughts kept running through her head. There was only one thing to do that would be able to distract her. She picked up the latest issue of Cosmopolitan from her bag and began to flip through the pages.

Sooner or later she will have to answer herself of whether she was to call or not but for now, Cosmopolitan was keeping her happy.

To be continued....