Musings of Lost Souls: Warda

She was driving back home after a long day at work. It was humid but cooler than it was in the morning. She smiled as she noticed the moon in a pale yellow tone centering the clear indigo sky. Sighing countless of times, she felt the stress leave her body and evaporate to thin air. The scenery wasn’t the only thing that uplifted her entire mood; Arabic poetry was filling her ears as she felt goose bumps forming on her arms. It was a different kind of feeling, something that made her recall what was important to her. She now understood the reason why Arabs are addicted to this form of literature; pure, sincere and yet filled with passion and unleashes a unique form of sentiments that she never knew existed. It was the perfect mix of words, view and mood that got her all relaxed and content.  She turned the knob to her left, allowing the volume to increase and surround her just exactly like those words recited by the famous poet were. She felt herself blush as she imagined him reciting those sensual and playful verses to her. She grinned wider as her tummy tumbled inside of her when she remembered that tomorrow was the day he’ll be back home. Taking in a deep breath to calm her anticipation,  she pulled over to the side of the road and was determined to end her nervousness buried deep inside her once and for all.

Calling The Love of My Life...

She heard his voice and couldn't help but squeal from her excitement

'7abibiiiiiiii I miss you' she said as she let go of the steering wheel.

He couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. He felt his heart growing mushier and softer ever since she entered his life ‘I miss you too sweetheart’ he replied back in a soft voice that resembled a whisper.

‘Only one day left' she giggled as she pushed her driver's seat to the back and had it recline to sit comfortably while talking to him; the one who stole her heart for keeps.

‘So excited for tomorrow?’ He asked as he lay on his tiny bed, relaxing to the tone of her soothing voice.

'I'm actually scared  and nervous also' she confessed as the swish swoosh sounds continued of cars and vehicles passing her by, and kept on wondering what his reply was going to be.

'I am as well a bit' he said as he stretched his body over the tiny bed. He looked tired after a long day at the oil rig. Wearing his blue coveralls as he got comfy on the fluffy mattress, he placed his right foot over the left and folded his hands behind his head without pulling out the earphone set from his ears.

It was the first time they would meet after three months of being away from each other. Fahar’s work was a tiring job that required tough labor from his side as a well engineer. His job required him to stay behind since his colleague quit the job for a better opportunity. But he was coming home the next day finally; his substitute showed up today which meant that he was free to visit home and see her face which he longed for. He still remembered how he added her on MSN, back in their college days, after catching a glimpse of her email address when she was using one of the computer labs that he coincidentally was in.

'Do you remember the first phone call?' she asked him as if she was reading his mind. 'How can I forget'  he said as they began remembering the old times ‘It was literally the longest phone call I ever had’ he laughed as they reminisced on cherished memories. 

…3 YEARS AGO…

'Can I hear your voice?' He must have typed that phrase reatedly only to use the backspace to erase it. But this time it was different, he pressed the Enter key instead. He asked her the question with eagerness to know what she would reply back. 

The MSN chat window popped up in front of her computer screen with the question she was dreading. They have exchanged phone numbers but have never used it but only for casual Blessed Friday text messages from time to time; the typical Arabic way of flirting and dating.

Her heart was beating fast unable to respond as fast as she hoped.

' Hey I'm sorry. I respect if you just want to remain friends here. So just forget I said that okay?' He typed quickly realizing that maybe what he just did was a mistake.

'But I want to know how you sound like as well' she typed back ten minutes later, in the most straight forward manner she knew how.

With happiness filling his being he responded with ‘Warda, so can I call you at 10 tonight?'

'Make it 9 ;-)' she replied back and began counting hte minutes for 9pm to strike on her watch.

…9 PM, 3 YEARS AGO…

Incoming Call 9900****

His hands were trembling as he gathered the courage to talk to her while waiting for her to pick up the phone.

‘Allo?’ she said in the most attractive voice she could pull off.

‘Ahleen’ he said as she heard his smile from the greeting.

‘Hala’ she said back while moving back and forth from apprehension and expectation.

‘Hi’ he said it before he had the chance to change to a proper sentence.

…HOURS LATER…

‘Hahaha that is the funniest thing I have ever heard’ she giggled and laughed hard at his funny encounters.

‘So what was the most embarrassing moment you went through as a freshman?‘ he asked wanting to know more about her.

‘Oh you don’t even want me to start’ she shook her head as she relaxed on her bed enjoying the conversation she was having with him.

That phone call was the one they have tried to challenge ever since. They stayed up till sunrise talking for hours about anything and everything until they both fell asleep with their phones glued to their ears. It was the beginning of what was something surreal to both of them; the beginning of something called love