Ch 3 - Boys with Abayas

She knew they had to stop, any of the staff could walk in to retrieve patient files. Just when the thought entered her mind, the door gave a hefty push from the other side.
Lina’s mouth froze, he felt it too and paused lowering her to the ground. The door was shoved again and Lina’s heart jumped. She knew this was it, she would get caught, fined and possibly deported. Her eyes widened in the darkness and she waited for the door to press into her back once more.“Why is this door locked?” the shrill voice shoved the door harder.“Ssh,” he whispered leaning heavily against the door.Lina nodded, she knew he couldn’t see her but the response was automatic. There were a few more attempts by whoever was on the other side before footsteps faded down the hallway.“Quick, she’s gone to get help. We have to get out of here,” Lina clutched his thobe in desperation.His stance shifted and the pressure lifted from the door, Lina straightened up and turned around feeling for the door handle. Cracking the door open an inch Lina peered through it, the corridor was clear. She pulled the door wider and the automatic lights flickered to life illuminating both their flushed faces.Not waiting for him to follow, Lina slipped through the door and into the adjacent fire exit where a set of stairs led to the floors above them. There was no way out into the car park from here unless she went through the double doors that were fitted with a shrieking alarm. That would draw too much attention, so she took the stairs, running up to the first level in hope that he would follow. He didn’t and Lina craned her head over the banister to see where he had gone. She drew her eyebrows together figuring whether he had opted to stay in the filing room or if he had the guts to simply walk along the ground floor corridor and out the exit. Lost in thought she wandered into the reception area on the first floor and pressed the button for the lift down. Out in the bright sunshine of the car park, she scanned the area for her driver’s familiar car but when she didn’t see him she remembered their altercation that morning. There was no chance he would be coming to collect her now especially after she had hung up on him. Pocketing her phone Lina marched further into the blazing sun, she had to hail a passing taxi that would take her home.***“Dalya called, she want you to phone back,” Zari announced as Lina set her bag down.Dalya was Lina’s only friend in Riyadh, their dad’s worked together at the same University and they had met a few times to go shopping. Nodding, Lina headed to her bedroom to make the call.“You won’t believe where we’re going tomorrow,” Dalya launched as soon as she answered.“Dunno, where?” Lina failed to match her enthusiasm.“There’s a party! They’ll be music and dancing…”Lina switched off as she juggled the phone and the removal of her abaya. The last thing she wanted was a party, she had to sort out her feelings for this stranger and she had to find out what she was letting herself in for. As Dalya wheedled out a promise to attend, Lina hung up hating the pressure of trying to fit in.***Wednesday was a busy day at the hospital as patients were keen to be seen before the weekend started. Dalya had already called twice to remind her of the impending launch party that would kick start the career of a budding new designer at her own villa not far from where they lived. Lina could only manage to do the bare minimum at work, her attention was focused on the stream of people flowing through the hospital. Surely he would come back to solidify what they started yesterday, wouldn’t he? Her shift ended and Lina walked to the filing room in hope that he would be there waiting for her, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t in the car park either when she let her eyes search for him. Where was he? She bit her lip disappointed. There was an acute pain in her chest and Lina knew her heart was breaking, she needed to see him but he mustn’t have felt the same way as he would have given her his number or at least bothered to show up today.Lina stood at the edge of the car park waiting for a taxi. Within minutes a sleek black Mercedes pulled up and the tinted window rolled down to reveal him. A huge smile spread over her face, her eyes glinted as she took in his blue jeans and white t-shirt. He looked even better in casual street clothes than what he usually wore.“Need a ride?” his voice was coloured with innuendo as he raised one eyebrow.“Yes please!” Lina giggled not caring what he made of her response. She opened the door and slid into the cool interior.The car smelt of fresh leather mingled with petrol fumes, it was heady mixture that added to the intoxicating presence of him. Lina’s heart beat accelerated, she had no idea what her parents would do if the religious police carted her off home but the consequences were pushed far away as he reached over and took her warm hand in his.“I missed you,” he brought her fingers up to his lips.“I missed you too. And I don’t even know your name.” Lina licked her top lip savoring his touch on her sensitive skin.“Ahmed, my name’s Ahmed. What’s yours?”“Lina.”“Hmm. Suits you perfectly. I have to ask, but aren’t you worried I could be a killer? Or even a rapist?” he looked at her seriously. For a millisecond her breath seized. Was he a killer and rapist? Were her feelings wrong about him? She let herself sink deeper into his liquid eyes, no, he wasn’t any of those things. Her instincts couldn’t be that wrong. “You’re not. I just know,” she whispered.He grinned and let go off her hand. Pulling away he joined the queue at the traffic lights. “Are you hungry?” he asked glancing sideways at her.“Yes, but I can’t stay out. I need to get home. I have to get ready for a party.”“Party? Where is it?”“It’s in a villa in Al Noor compound. My friend knows exactly.” She began to tell him how she really didn’t want to go but there was no way to let her friend down especially as she was a new friend. He dropped her a few houses away from her own and handed over a little business card with his name and number on it. “Call me,” he leant over and kissed her cheek.Oh she was sure she’d call. She finally had his name and number.
***Lina yawned, she had been at the party an hour and was seriously bored. She should have expected it would be an all-female affair, there were ladies of all ages crammed into the small front garden that introduced the colossal villa behind them. Some ladies wore cocktail dresses, others just wore jeweled abayas whilst the ones that had just arrived were fully veiled in nikabs as they surreptitiously assessed the scene before them behind a veil of fabric. Soft Arabic music exuded from hidden speakers at a comfortable level that enabled a conversation to be carried out without having the need to shout and waitresses with trays of drinks wove in between mingling guests.Lina was on her third fruit juice drink when Dalya wandered off to talk to some well-known fashion designer, and she was left to eavesdrop on conversations that she didn’t understand. Everyone seemed to know everyone else and they all chatted in Arabic looking as though they were having a fabulous time. Her eyes trailed in the direction of the main gate, she could make a run for it and apologize to Dalya via text saying she wasn’t feeling well. Something had just caught her eye interrupting her plan of escape. Three tall figures had just entered the enclosed space and stood awkwardly to one side. They each wore a nikab and long gloves on their hands, no skin was visible and even the nikab was designed with a bare minimum slit that allowed two glittering irises to peek out, their outwear wasn’t what made them stand out as most conservative ladies dressed that way. What made them peculiar was the way they made no move to remove their coverings but instead they huddled near a palm tree talking amongst themselves.With nothing better to do, Lina walked closer. There was definitely something odd about the trio, she watched as they waved away a waitress, what Saudi woman waves away a tray full of free drinks? As she approached she could now see that these ladies were much taller than most around them, they were a lot broader too. Was that what was so odd about them? The one closest to her turned in her direction, she thumped the lady next to her with the back of one gloved hand in a manly gesture. The trio turned to watch Lina as she froze mid step a few meters away. The hair on Lina’s scalp prickled, these were no women. She had enough experience to know what was masculine and what was feminine. She looked down at their shoes, but that didn’t help, they were covered with the hem line of the plain abaya. A tingle rushed down her spine as she made eye contact with one of them, there was a single flick of a wrist that was asking her to come closer.Inhaling sharply Lina stepped forward until she was inches away. Then he spoke, “hey baby.