A New Beginning - Round Six

"T gave me your number - why r u so shocked" he said. She took the phone away from her ear and checked the number. She wasnt mistaken. It WAS a Omani number.

"How come your calling from a Omani number" she asked him already having random thoughts in her head.

"I told you last night - Im working and living in Muscat now. I suspected you werent paying attention to me"

"Sami come on - I heard everything you said but Im 100% sure you didnt tell me". She didnt want to admit that she had in fact tuned out quite a few times during their conversation but if he said anything about living and working in Oman she would have paid attention. This was almost as bad as him being Omani. At least if it was a Omani guy, he might have been discreet about her since it was a 2 way street. But since he wasnt Omani, then he could talk all he wants cos he wouldnt really care about his reputation.

She hated the life she leads. She hated needing to leave town to go out in peace and have a goo time. Her parents were relatively open minded but society restricted her. She often felt claustrophobic and therefore ended up just staying home most weekends cos she didnt feel like sneaking around and panicking everytime she sees a family member or someone who knows the family. She came from a well known and respected family so the pressure was even more.

She wrapped up the conversation by making some random excuse like being in the sun too long and needing to go for a shower and stuff like that and agreed to meet in the lobby in half an hour. She picked up her stuff and signalled to Jooja that she is going back to the room.

45 minutes, the girls were both still getting ready and by now Meems had already updated Jooja on the situation.

"Ya binti mara7 itshoofeeh 7ata fee 3ooman - 9a7?"

"Jooj he has my number!!! oo lama ita9alt fi T anaz3eh laish ya36eeh raqami chan ygool ineh howa ma 3a6ah il raqam lakin Sami kan masik telefone T oo y7oos feeh. Jooj he took my number by '3a9ib"

"6ayib zat is cuuute"

"No Jooj its NOT cute - its freaky - and now hes waiting for us in the lobby - he texted ten minutes ago - thank god im leaving in the morning"

"Dont woorry - Faisal is meeting us in ze mall with his friend so you will not be alone wiz 'im"

An hour later they had just finished their lunch and decided to start walking around in the mall. Sami was trying very hard to start a conversation with her but Jooja seemed to be an excellent intervener. Meems felt guilty since Jooja had to head to the airport around midnight and she had not spent much quality time with Faisal. Additionally she was beginning to panic because she was staying alone tonight in the hotel and he knew that. When the boys stopped to check out the latest PS3 accessories and games, the girls grabbed the opportunity and wandered off on their own to do a little shopping. During the two hours the girls had on their own, they managed to catch up on each other's news. Jooj told Meems about Faisal and how she met and how he was ready to get married but she wasnt willing to get married until she gets a more stable job that does not require constant travelling. Meems filled Jooj in on the "cheating asshole" and the gruesome details. Nevertheless, both girls did some serious damage to their credit cards during these couple of hours.

Meems saw T and Faisal sitting in a cafe and went over to join them, "hey T, when did u get here?"

"Just got here - listen im sorry about Sami - didnt think he would be stealing numbers off my phone but i will have a talk with him" T was honestly apologetic. This is something she really admired about him. He always apologized for the actions of the male species in general. It actually made her laugh.

"Dude its fine - hes just freaking me out a little cos he lives in Muscat"

Suddenly T started smiling and winked at her "look at them two lovebirds" and she turned around to see Jooja and Faisal's heads close to each other while she was showing him her shopping and he was gently massaging her shoulder with his thumb. "anyways its good u guys came cos were thinking of going to see a movie in a bit."

Meems was tired and she had a headache plus she still needed to do some shopping for some stuff people from Muscat had asked her for. So she excused herself and agreed to meet T later on. She said her goodbyes to Jooja and Faisal and was glad Sami was not there. She wandered off again and continued her shopping. She was never the kind of person that would do things on her own but in Dubai everything goes. Much later when she realised she couldnt possibly carry another shopping bag she headed to the Kempinsky to pick up her car from the valet service. Albert the friendly conceirge quickly came over to take her ticket and keep her shopping while she walked outside to have a cigerette. He saw her before she saw him.

" Hey, I thought u were gone already." oh shit - how is she going to get out of this one. They are both staying in the same hotel and since he was obviously waiting for a cab, she couldnt not offer to take him. They were a big group on the way there so he was in the other car but now she couldnt avoid it.

"No Im just heading to the hotel, you wanna jump in with me or you going somewhere else?"

"I was thinking of going to meet a friend but i guess i will just head back to the hotel with you"

Oh god - what is it with men!!! They manage to translate everything into an invitation. She was more than happy to tell him that he should go meet his friend but she didnt wanna be rude. She tried to busy herself looking for a lighter in her bag when he suddenly comes up with a lighter and offers her the flame. Now usually with girls, if they were interested in the guy, this move would have really sexy and would have managed to get a few eye bats here and there. But with someone who was freaking her out, she just had an internal "oh god" sigh.

The 20 minute ride to Atlantis took ten minutes with blasted music to avoid conversation. He was quiet as well so she hoped that he got that she was uncomfortable with him. When they arrived at the hotel, he offered to help her carry her shopping to the room but she insisted that she didnt need any help. She didnt want him knowing her room number as well cos as it is, he was really freaking her out with how sticky he was. As she walked into her room, she felt her handbag vibrate. She dropped everything on the floor and threw herself on the bed. She took her phone out and saw that it had been quite active since the afternoon. It was only ten oclock in the evening but she was too tired to return phone calls. She started reading through the messages and saw the Sami had sent her quite a few messages throughout the day. Now it clicked why he was so quiet. Some of the texts he sent were while they were in the mall and asking to meet and things like that. And the last text was received a few minutes ago asking her if she had dinner.

"Hey Im really sorry I just saw all your texts - I havent eaten but Im too tired to eat" SMS DELIVERED

BEEEEP "Can I tempt you with a room service burger and a movie?"

"That sounds nice but Im honestly really tired and just getting ready for bed" SMS DELIVERED

BEEEEP "So when you heading back to Muscat"

"Tomorrow morning Im hitting the road" as she sent this message she regretted it. She hoped he wouldnt invite himself for the road trip with her. SMS DELIVERED

BEEEEEP "Do you mind if I call you when I get to Muscat?"