Ch 1 - Boys with Abayas

Rifling through the sale rack at Zara, Lina ignored the male voice that spoke in rapid Arabic behind her.
There was a short pause then the voice cleared his throat loud enough for a hushed silence to fall around the women’s section of the store. Something was wrong, Lina’s head snapped up and registered the dozen pairs of eyes that were watching her with curiosity. He spoke again and Lina turned around. Shit.She struggled to keep her features neutral, she would not show them her mounting fear. “Yes?” her own voice came out clear and confident, nothing like her insides that had turned to jelly.“Cover your hair.” The man switched to fluent English.“It is covered,” Lina’s fingers swept over the loose hijab that hung precariously unpinned over her head.The man tutted, “all of it. The front too.” Lina frowned, did these men have nothing better do to than bother female shoppers? She adjusted her scarf so that it fell over her feverish forehead. “Better?” “Much.” He responded and swivelled around taking the two security guards with him.“You okay, na?” Lina’s mum, Zari came running up, her arms full of multi-coloured tops.“Stupid religious police,” she muttered. “How on Earth do you do this thing anyway?” Lina huffed tugging at the ends of her hijab.Zari laughed, “you need pin sweetie. Here, I help, but you should already be expert tying this hijab, no?” “Mum, you canspeak in Urdu you know,” Lina glanced around embarrassed at the broken English her mother was coming out with. “No, I practice hard every day. You help me learn more.” Lina ignored her mom and held out a pin, “Besides, how can I be an expert? We’ve only been here a month, and that’s not enough time to be an expert on anything.”Shaking her head in despair Zari expertly wrapped the hijab into a beautiful knot on the side of her daughter’s head and pinned it in place with a crystal pin in a shade of ruby red.“There. Come now, we move on before shops close for salah time. So if you hungry get moving quickly quickly,” Zari led the way to the cashier and joined the mass of women who didn’t believe in queuing.The wait seemed endless, women pushed left, right and center as they thrust their purchases at the cashier. Lina wondered if they would ever make it to the food court in time, all the shops would shut a few minutes before the call to prayer and she was too hungry to wait another thirty minutes for the prayer to be over so she could eat.It seemed everything had to be timed just right in the city of Riyadh and Lina wasn’t sure she could get used to it. Life in London had seemed so difficult when she was living there, the endless credit card bills, letters from the student loan office, car insurance bills, bills bills and more bills and what astounded her more was that she still lived with her parents – and still got so many bills. At that time, the move to Riyadh was seen as a blessing for them all, her dad had been made redundant the year before and money was tight, when he got offered a professors position at King Saud University, he had jumped at the lucrative package outlined in the contract. Within three months Lina and her mother were on a British Airways plane heading for the dusty city to meet her dad at their new house in Saudi. The novelty had worn off just a few days ago and she had begun to miss the independence her little red Ford had given her, she missed her friends and cousins but most of all she missed her job at the second largest publishing house in London. Sure, her job was mediocre and required her to sort manuscripts out into potential and the not so potential categories, she had to make endless rounds of coffee for her team and sort the incoming post, but who could complain? It gave her an abundance of freedom and a small income too.Swinging her purchases from her fingertips, Lina led her mom up the escalators and into the food court that housed a range of halal options which was almost worth moving to a different continent for. Opting for the spinach, mushroom and chicken pasta Lina entered the family section of the dining area and found a seat next to the large windows overlooking the main road. “I go see if my mix grill ready now, okay?” Zari dropped her bags on the floor.“Okay mum, and please speak in Urdu!” Lina whispered affectionately.“Oh fine then. Will you be okay here?” She asked switching languages.Lina nodded and glanced nervously around the room keeping an eye out for the muttawa,the religious police who walked around en masse scaring residents into obeying the Islamic law. Lina still couldn’t get her head around the emphasis put on segregation of the sexes, she knew Islam required women to be seated separately from men but looking around her now all she could see were men. They sat with their wives and children and were free to stare at other women as and when they pleased. Maybe that’s why all the women have got their faces covered, how can they even eat with that thing wrapped around their mouths? Lina watched a fully covered lady lift her nikab and blindly shove a spoon full of rice under it. Lina could never eat like that, she had to see where the food was going. Averting her eyes she concentrated on her pasta and waited for her mom.***“And this is where the files are kept before the appointments…” droned the little Filipina who was in charge of administration staff.Lina nodded, wishing she would just leave and let her get on with it. It was the second day of her new job at Kingdom Hospital, with nothing else to fill her time Lina had answered an ad on the website designed for expatriates and secured a position as head receptionist for a group of specialist doctors.Her fellow co-workers were fully covered, spending eight hours a day in an abaya and nikab as they dealt with patients, both men and women. Lina glanced down at her own abaya and sighed, was there no escaping the endless waves of fabric that threatened to trip her up almost every day?“Excuse me, we have an appointment to see Doctor Fauzi,” the deeply smooth tones pulled Lina out of her misery.She looked up and silently gasped, forgetting to breathe until he spoke again.“My mother, she has an appointment?” The six foot Adonis gestured to the wheelchair behind him. Lina swallowed and nodded to the abaya clad lady, she found her voice and croaked, “name please?”The man drummed his elegant fingers on the counter as Lina registered their arrival into the system, “take a seat please.”He smiled a crisp white display of teeth, the corners of his mouth rose and deep dimples appeared in both cheeks. Lina clutched the mouse struggling to tear her gaze away.“Where are you from?” he asked.“Uh, L…London,” she stammered taken by surprise.“And you’re working here?” he spread a hand wide indicating his surroundings.It dawned on Lina that to Saudi patients she did look out of place, the nurses were all Filipinas and the receptionists and administration were a mix of Saudi and African nationalities. Expatriates from the western world usually held prominent positions that commanded a higher salary, such as a doctor, teacher or manager.“Um, yes. This was the first job I could find, I’ve only been in Riyadh a month,” she explained not quiet knowing why she felt she owed him an explanation.The lady in the wheelchair spoke suddenly tearing Lina’s gaze away from her son. He nodded at her and turned back, “Sorry, I better wait in the waiting room.”Disappointed, Lina watched as he wheeled her away and disappeared behind the glass partition. Her heart thudded and she inhaled sharply still clutching the mouse. I didn’t get his name! Lina studied the screen again, there was no mention of him on the file – that was expected. There was no address either, just a file number and the mobile number that was no doubt his mother’s. That wouldn’t do her any good, she closed the window down and shuffled a few papers in front of her thinking of an excuse to talk to him again. She watched the clock as it ticked by desperately praying the doctor would send for them and she could escort them into the room.Ten minutes passed and a nurse appeared, “Hannan Al-Jawadi?” she called.“Naam,” his voice sent an electric jolt down Lina’s spine, she dropped the stack of papers she was stapling and watched as he sauntered past wheeling his mother in front of him.Lina couldn’t peel her eyes from his mouth, it was still curved in a sexy smirk that begged for attention. As he passed her station, his lips stretched a touch wider and his liquid eyes met hers teasing and taunting her to follow.