Amira (12 page)

The
music in the background had stopped, and there was only a dead silence.  She
sat for a moment wondering if Maggie only turned off the music, but then she
heard a faint static hiss followed by a beep that told her that Maggie had
ended the call. 

Serena
sat there in a daze, not knowing if she should call her back or let her cool
off for a while. Maggie was usually so easy going, and she hadn’t expected her
to react this way at all, but she also hadn’t realized that Maggie had feelings
for Shane.  She felt so much shame and embarrassment, and all she wanted to do
was be in Hani's arms.  When she was in his arms, nothing else mattered, and
she needed so badly to be with him right then. 

She
didn't know how she would explain what happened between her and Maggie and not
damage Hani’s opinion of her.  Even if he knew she was not pure and innocent,
he saw only the sweetness in her and Serena didn’t want anything to jeopardize
their relationship.  Things happened quickly between them that first day in the
hotel suite, so Hani knew that she had been with other men, but Serena didn't
want him to think she was a tramp or to think any less of her at all.  She
didn't want anything to change, and she began to cry as she felt everything in
her world fall apart.

She
grabbed her keys and took off, driving to Hani's suite at the Fairchild.  Even
if he was still at the office and she couldn't be with him, she needed to be
near his things.  She wanted to seek refuge in his bed where they made love so
many times; she wanted to bury her face in clothes that he had worn, just so
she could have his scent near her.   She knew he had a meeting that afternoon
with an important client, so she didn't want to call or text him to interrupt
business, but with him was the only place where anything made sense.

She
pulled into a parking space, not caring if she was crooked or straight or half
way over the line, and since it was mid-afternoon, the lot was full and she had
to park far from the front door.  She ran as fast as she could across the
parking lot, cut across the grass, and threw herself full force into the glass
door and into the lobby, where she leaned against the wall for a moment to
catch her breath and try to stop her body from shaking.  The girl at the front
desk looked up startled and asked Serena if she was ok.  She asked if she
needed to use the courtesy phone, but Serena didn’t answer her and hurried to
the elevator, which was closing just as she got there.  She stuck her hand
between the closing doors, and they started to slide back open only to
immediately snap closed. 

Serena
slammed her hand on the button again and anxiously waited for the next
elevator.  She pushed past a couple of men in business suits who were stepping
out and entered the elevator, pushing the button for Hani’s floor five times as
if it would make it move faster.  Her heart was pounding, and it felt like the
longest elevator ride in history, and she wondered if it would ever reach suite
level.  The elevator was empty, so all she could hear was the buzz of the
fluorescent light above her and the hum of the elevator ascending.

She
finally reached Hani's floor and darted out of as soon as the doors started to
open and ran down the hall.  She turned the corner to go to his suite and saw a
pile of luggage in the hallway.  She was confused but was in too much of a
hurry to care and thought they must belong to the next suite down, so she
pulled out the key card that Hani had given her and let herself in as she did
many times before when she met him after class.

“Hani...Hani.....baby? 
Are you here?”  Serena called as she entered the room but was met with
silence.  She hoped on the off chance that his meeting had been cancelled and
he would be home.

She
dropped her keys on the side table and kicked off her shoes.  She threw herself
onto the sofa with a heavy sigh and let herself sink into the overstuffed
cushions.  She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply a few times, letting it
out slowly, trying to calm herself.  She sat quietly for a minute until she
heard a woman's voice.

“Hello? 
Is someone there?” the woman's voice called from inside the bedroom. 

Serena
thought a housekeeper must be in fixing the bed that they had left a mess that
morning and felt like her privacy had been invaded, but she guessed that was
her job, to let herself in and do what she had to do. She opened her eyes and
turned, expecting to see someone in a hotel uniform standing there in the
suite.

Instead,
she opened her eyes to see an attractive woman with large dark eyes and olive
skin, dressed in an ornately embroidered aubergine abaya that nearly reached
the floor.  Her paisley hijab was wrapped tightly, covering her hair and
draping over her shoulders in the same rich tone as her clothing, and the gold
in the scarf coordinated with the several gold bracelets and rings that she
wore.  She was shocked not only by the unexpected appearance of this strange
woman but also struck by her beauty and style as she stood in front of her. 

Neither
of them spoke, and Serena guessed that she had taken the woman by surprise as
much as she did her.  She slowly rose with her mind racing to assess the
situation:
Who was this woman? Was she supposed to be there?  Did she break
in?
  Serena was holding her cell phone and wondered if she should call
hotel security to report an intruder.  The woman simply stood quietly, her eyes
boring into Serena and probably wondering the same things that she was.

“Is...Is
Hani here?”  Serena finally asked.

With
her face peering out from the hijab, the woman appeared timid with her wide
dark eyes, but her tone when she spoke erased any notion Serena had that she
might be calm and reasonable.

“No...He...Who
are you?” the woman demanded. 

The
clock on the side table ticked away the seconds of silence.  Serena couldn’t
think of any possible reason for a strange woman to be there and couldn’t put
together a coherent thought in her head to speak.

“My
name is Rouba." the woman announced.  "I am Hani's wife...I've just
arrived from Saudi Arabia.”         

Serena
felt the blood rush from her face, leaving her pale and weak.  All of the air
had escaped from her lungs, and she felt dizzy.  Her mouth opened repeatedly
and nothing came out.  Her mind reeled with a million thoughts but at the same
time went totally blank.

“And
you are?” Rouba asked firmly.  “Ma'am?  Do you speak English?  Are you
housekeeping?  We could use some fresh towels, and the bed linens --” 

“No...I'm
not housekeeping.” Serena finally managed to say.

“Then
who are you?” she demanded more firmly than before, becoming increasingly angry
and stepping closer to Serena. 

Her
dark eyes flashed, and she fussed anxiously with the bracelets that wrapped
around her covered wrists.  She was acting like Serena was the intruder here,
when, in fact, she was the one invading what had become she and Hani’s home
together.  Serena swallowed dryly and finally spoke.

“My
name is Serena...I am Hani's girlfriend.”