Watch Out!

The black mole

“ Sophie! Choose one topic, hurry up. You have to submit the title today, for your project.”  Sir James handed over the list to her.

She was late! Few topics were left. She could not propose a topic, since department would help her with travel expenses and it was only for reserved fields. She skimped through the list and stopped at the ‘’Mittani Empire”.

“There sir! I choose this”. She circled the row.

“ You sure?” Sir raised an ‘almost’ quizzical eyebrow.

“Yes sir! I always wanted to study the early Mesopotamian Civilization! This is my chance, and I won’t miss it!”

“ Well! I won’t recommend it. No body chose any war waged country. I mean, it is much better now, but sleeper cells of extremist are still there! But it’s your choice anyway”.

She had a little hard time convincing Aunt Becky, but she did it. She was hopeful to find her internship in the mentorship of Sir Henry Jones, recumbent in the Levant’s archeological discovery department. Finally. She packed her stuffed and was on her way via Turkey to her destination.

Her destination was once part of the ancient Mittani empire, which encompassed much of modern-day Iraq and Syria from the 15th century to the 14th century B.C. The incredible ruins of this civilization in Iraqi Kurdistan emerged from the  receding waters of the Tigris River. The site was recently discovered in 2018 by a German archeologist.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was late in the evening when she reached her hotel. She got a single room with a closet area. The rooms next to her row were all 2 room suites. She was exhausted and hungry. Also worried whether local cuisines and food would suit her or she has to find an alternative. She unpacked her stuff and got what she needed for the night. She took her clothes and entered the bathroom , hoping to get a warm bath. Suddenly the power went off. It was pitch black. She tried to find her phone but remembered it was dead and required charging. She stared at the darkness while praying for power to come back, when the ‘the nun’ movie’s scene flashed in her mind. For no apparent reason! After 30 sec she was outside the room calling for help.

A flash of light came from the next door.

“ What happened? You alright, Miss?” Someone was standing in there ,shedding torch light onto her.

” Power! It is gone!” she tried to hide her fear from  a stranger.

“Yes! I can see that!…it happens sometimes. Now it would take some time till someone figures out that damned generator’s function.”

“ ohh! What if they couldn’t? my phone’s dead!”

“oh don’t be so pessimistic! They sure will! You are the new one who moved in,right?”

“yes!”

“I see you are in no need of help, so Good Night!” he was about to shut the door.

“No wait ! stop! Umpp… it seems you are the only one out and it’s too dark in my room.  So can I join you?” She blurted out.

“Excuse me?? “, the man balked out at her request ” I do not have a penny, find someone loaded!”.

“ Whatt? what do you mean?”, she turned red at his insinuation” You uncouth, arrogant, ignorant Arab…..how dare you call me a hooker!…”

” wo wo calm down! I didn’t call you one.  A girl like you, surely wouldn’t need to knock on people’s door to sell her services” He chuckled and closed the door.

Power came back. She stood there with a red face while cursing her churlish neighbor .

“These primitive men and their mentality! Hunh!” She locked her door.

She was late, very late. She could not get up early and now the room was a mess to find anything. She grabbed her docs and file, and bolted out of the room. At stairs, she suddenly halted and remembered her phone was not with her. She turned at once, but could not move and felt a sharp pain in her nose and head.

She bumped into someone’s chest who was not expecting her sharp turn.

“ Ahh!” She sobbed while holding her nose.

“Are you still asleep, Miss?” the angry man asked.

“what? Is it my fault? Is this big pair of eyes of yours…  just for decoration, huh? ..But anyway, apology accepted!”

“ Did I say I am sorry? Oh I see, you are that girl from last night?” he smiled at the end and got down to help her pick her documents from the floor. Now, she looked up and saw the man’s face.

He was probably in his mid twenties and had mixture of Euro-Eastern features, with dark brown hair. The man had some dangerously killer looks, and there was something about his face that made 2nd look at him irresistible. There was a hint of arrogance, amusement and a child-like curiosity in his deep honey colored eyes, under luxuriant eye-lashes.

“Now, that is what we call an awkward stare! And we Arabs get offended when strangers stare at us, like that!“ He pointed his finger towards her eyes, with an amusing smile on his face. Sophie didn’t blink nor moved an inch.

“Oh! Pardon the omission, Miss: We uncouth, arrogant, and ignorant Arabs! By the way, How am I supposed to explain this to my girlfriend?” He pointed toward the stain of her lip gloss on his shirt’s front and did his best not to laugh.

Sophie blushed, compiled the files and rushed towards her room, stopped at the door, looked back and found him still there looking at her.” Sorry!” she said and closed the door. She seemed out of breath and sat on the bed. She had always avoided handsome boys , believing that she is not good enough for them. Beautiful people made her uncomfortable and she felt an imaginable scorn in their eyes for her. But this was not that. She even didn’t look at him that long, because she froze at the sight of his cheek.

A black mole, close to his pink lips, scared her beyond limits. If this was a coincidence, then a very strange, uncomfortable coincidence.

She finally managed to get an internship for her. She was enjoying her work at the field, though it was quite exhausting. Her scholarship was not suppose to cover a long stay, but Aunt Beckie had assured her of coverage of all her expenses ,in case she decides to stay for her internship. Meanwhile, she didn’t encounter her strange neighbor also.

It was weekend and she decided to visit the city’s historical sites. The ancient bazaars and ruins of palaces built by Abbasids Dynasty mesmorized her. She didn’t notice the time nor weather. It only , when it started raining that she decided to stop. She got into a nearby restaurant and ordered coffee. She was determined to visit this place more often. There was so much here to interest her.

 She was lost in her thoughts when the waiter brought her coffee. She was startled when looked at the waiter. It was hard not to notice this man, that uncouth Arab! He smiled and greeted her quite professionally.

“you work here?” she asked.

“ yes! Just a shift after my classes.”

“ But what….?” He interrupted her and said” wait! I’ll get back to you after my orders.” And went off.

It was when she finished her coffee that he came back and sat next to her, without asking for her permission. But, perhaps he got the idea from the look on her face.

“ Why?  Isn’t it what you expect of an arrogant, ignorant man? He smiled.

“ Well, actually yes!”. She was herself surprised that she didn’t mind his bossy-c*m-friendly behavior.

The restaurant’s door was closed and they could hear the gushing winds outside. It was Supper time and everyone was enjoying the weather.

“So what brought you here? The ruins?” he asked.

“ Oh! Don’t call them ruins they are remnants of your civilization , or human civilization . You don’t seem to value them much?”

“ Ah No! I don’t. I just value the living, if I do at all. So that’s what brought you here, I guess. You are a student, right?”

“ yes I am! I am here at a field project, final project. And now I am thinking to continue my research on this place. Aunt Beckie wants me to earn a doctorate!”

“Aunt Beckie? And what about your parents?”he asked casually .

“Ummp, that are not. I mean I haven’t seen them for quite sometime, they are divorced and perhaps have started a new life, with no room for me in it. Ohh! Why I am sharing my personal life with a stranger?”

“ Stranger? That’s strange! We are neighbors and.. and ..we have talked twice and I just served you  coffee and now we are on a lovely evening discussing life , right?” He leaned a little forward.

“ huh good one! But I don’t know you or anything about you, and that makes you a stranger. Oh my God! We don’t even know each other’s name!“

“ Adeem! and you?” he asked softly .

“ Sophie !”

“ that’s a pretty name ,short and pretty, just like you!”

“ I am not short!” she looked offended.

“ But you are pretty, right?”he smiled.

She blushed and felt warmth on her cheeks and ears. He noticed that, smiled, and averted his gaze from her.

Then they talked about trivial usual stuff: weather update, possible transport strike and he also told her about famous sites that she should visit. Sophie had never enjoyed anyone’s company this much. He was smart, handsome, and respectful. But at the same time, he seemed arrogant and proud, and to her he seemed fully conscious of his unusual gifts. Despite of all this, she wanted to befriend him, anything more than friendship, would be too much to expect from that kind heartthrob.

His shift was over. He told her that his biological father was from America  and mother was from Iraq . Now, her mother is married into an influential Iraqi family and he does not live with them. He was pursuing post-grad studies in Math’s major and was bearing all his educational expenses on his own. He worked here for the evening shift.

“And what about your girlfriend?” she asked.

“Girlfriend? Which one?, he laughed “This is not Europe, we don’t have such luxuries! Why would you ask?”

“ never mind. I should be going now.” She looked at her phone.

“ Wait!  if you are going to hotel then I can give you a ride. I would be dropping some packages to a place ,in van and then would go back to hotel. You can save some money because I won’t charge you!”he offered.

“ ok! That would suit me!” Both got up. When they reached the door, the counter boy shouted : “Hassan” and Adeem looked back and said something, then he approached the counter-boy and gave him a page pr something, came back and opened door for her.

“Hayssan? Huh? Hayssan?” she lifted her eyebrow.

“ oh! My bad! That’s my ..ump…another name, come on! We all have more than one names”. He could not get why she seemed angry.

“ No! we don’t ! Hayssan!  We don’t !” she shook her head in assertion .

“Look you just gave me another one! It’s Hassan not Hayssan! Come on! Get into the van, Woman!”