Ch 9 - Boys with Abayas

The fuzzy warmth still lingered deep within Lina’s belly. She stretched as a slow smile spread across her lips bringing back welcoming memories of the evening before.
The urgency of his lips against hers, the smoothness of his confident hands that mastered their way around her body and the hot ragged breath at the base of her neck, edging lower and lower…a pleasant shudder fizzed through her soft body bringing a low moan to escape her lips. She wanted him, she wanted him right now, the same way as he had taken her only a few hours ago. Heated visions of Ahmed’s naked silhouette above her, thrusting into her, floated behind closed eyelids. She could see his questioning eyes bore into hers silently asking if she was okay, silently begging her not to stop him, but most of all she could still feel the sharp pinching pain that turned instantaneously pleasant when he first pushed into her.Lina panted at the vivid re-run. Her eyes widening in the early morning sunshine that filtered through her parted curtains, I’m not a virgin! Holy shit, I’m not a virgin! Her hands swept across her flat stomach that burned with memories of fulfillment and content, but that didn’t camouflage the throbbing soreness that now registered further below. She sat up and tested her strength at sitting down completely. Satisfied that the sore spot was superficial, she rose and headed for the tall mirror that hung against a wall. She had come home late last night, thankfully her mother had been asleep and she had been able to sneak into the shower to clean up. Her dried hair now stuck up at odd angles and her eye makeup lingered stubbornly under her lashes. She hadn’t bothered with her cleansing routine, instead choosing to flop onto her bed and let the warm afterglow carry her into a blissful sleep. But now in the cold light of day, she could see the remnants of the night before, maybe she should have taken the time to remove her makeup, only then would she see the luminescent glow that flushed underneath. Lina turned to her side, her body looked no different. She peered closer and could see a faint hint of knowing in her eyes, but other than that, there was no significant change that came with crossing the border into womanhood. Mildly disappointed, Lina dressed quickly and skipped into the kitchen for some breakfast.“Good morning. Wow, you are happy, no?” Zari peered over the rim on her teacup at her daughter.“Hmm,” Lina didn’t trust herself to speak.“What time you come home?” “Oh, um I’m not sure. Ten I think.” Lina hoped she sounded convincing.“I went to bed at eleven,” Zari snapped in Urdu.“Uh, it must have been just after you went to bed. Anyway, what do you have planned for today?” Lina distracted her mother from further interrogation.It worked. “I need to buy a birthday present for Emma, so I was thinking of popping into Sahara Mall.”Emma was Dad’s colleague’s wife who lived nearby and kept Mum company when she needed a friend.“Great. Can I come?”“You have work, na?” “Yes, but I can meet you after work.”Lina was looking forward to a shopping trip, she wanted to scout out some sexy lingerie that would blow Ahmed’s mind. Thankfully it had been dark in the car last night and her plain cotton underwear went unnoticed, but she wanted to be prepared just in case they ended up back in the garage next time.With the details arranged, Lina headed out to meet her waiting taxi that would whisk her away to work. The day wasn’t too bad, the endless stream of patients kept her busy enough not to watch the clock, but she couldn’t help checking her phone every few minutes wishing for it to beep with a sweetly worded text, telling her how much he enjoyed the night before. But at four o’clock, her phone still hadn’t buzzed, Lina played with the idea of calling him, just to say hello, but something told her not to appear desperate. The last thing she wanted now was to scare him off. After all, they were a couple now and she had to give her boyfriend some space. Pushing the idea away, Lina found herself in the car park waiting for her late taxi. She cast a keen eye around for the Mercedes, hoping he would surprise her, but he didn’t. Instead a taxi careened wildly around the corner and bumped over the speed bumps at the entrance of the car park and abruptly braked in front of her. Casting one last furtive glance around, Lina slid into the musty back and cracked open the window. It amazed her how quickly she had opened her heart to this one boy who she only met a few short weeks ago, and now here she was obsessing about him, thinking about what he was doing at that very moment, or thinking about running into him unexpectantly. She longed to see him and throughout the ten minute drive to the mall, she studied the interior of every passing Mercedes wishing he would be behind the wheel. They taxi pulled up outside the mall and Lina jumped out taking the time to wrap her scarf protectively around her head. She didn’t want to give the religious police any ammunition to use against her. “Lina, here. Here!” Lina swished through the sliding glass doors and found her mother perched on the steel bench at the entrance to the mall. “Hi. Have you been waiting long?”“Hai, no. Only five minute.” Zari waved Lina’s concerned gaze away.“So what are those two shopping bags tucked behind your legs? By the looks of things Mum, you’ve been here a long time.” Zari blushed, “oh those! Uh ok. I came early, so I buy beautiful clothes.” She leaned down and rummaged through a sleek black plastic bag and extracted a black tunic.Lina nodded in approval.“What did you buy Emma?”“Nothing yet. Will you help?” Zari looked lost and together they ventured off down the wide aisle to the main part of the mall.Eventually they stumbled into Paris Gallery and selected a steel watch with crystal diamantes embedded on the round black face in position of where the numbers would go. While the watch was being gift wrapped, Lina wandered out of the store and into La Senza for a quick look around. She knew she didn’t have much time to make a purchase as Zari would wonder why her young daughter was so interested in lacy underwear all of a sudden. Not finding anything, she exited the store and bumped into Zari who waited outside.“Hungry?” she asked.Lina nodded, she hadn’t eaten much since that morning and linking arms with her mother, they headed for the food court at the other end of the mall. Lina let her eyes wander over the inviting window displays, there was a sale on at Aldo but Lina didn’t bother to go in. Expensive bags glistened under bright lights at DKNY, but that didn’t tempt Lina to take a peek inside. A French underwear store beamed up ahead and Lina gave up trying to read the name of it. Maybe I can find some lingerie in there? She peeked past the silk nighties in the window and felt her knees buckle.“Hai hai. Are you okay?” Zari asked in Urdu.Lina swallowed. Turning her head again she looked hard into the window, just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. “Hmm, just tripped that’s all.” She straightened up and forced a normal smile, “Mum, I just want to look in H & M. How about I meet you upstairs? Can you order me a shawarma? Chicken would be fine.”“Ok, just come quick.” Zari swung her bags and stepped onto the escalator. Making sure her Mum was a safe distance away, Lina stepped closer to the store window and focused on the beautiful lady whose eyes shone excitedly from under her nikab. Lina could tell she was beautiful, her abaya hugged her svelte figure and her made up eyes glinted through the gap highlighting her immaculate eyebrows.But it wasn’t her elegance that caught Lina’s attention. It was the man that had his hand wrapped protectively around her manicured one. That same hand had been wrapped around Lina the evening before. Ahmed’s hand. Lina stared spellbound at the two who drifted from rack to rack admiring various bras and panties. Something snapped inside Lina and she knew she had to get close, she had to see what this other woman had that she didn’t. She lifted the edge of her hijab and draped it over her face, concealing her features to give a safe advantage from being seen. At least the Saudi system gave women the chance to be invisible so she might as well make good use of it.Taking a deep breath, Lina strode purposefully inside and pretended to browse the plunge line displayed near them. She could hear them speak softly in Arabic, and for the thousandth time she wished she could speak the same language, she wanted to know what made the other woman giggle so delicately.Lina’s heart crippled with jealousy as she watched Ahmed stroke the small of his companions back. She wanted to rip his hand off, she wanted to ask why he led her on, why he made her feel like she was someone special and most of all she wanted to know why he made love to her. Was she just another notch on his pristine car? Did he use her? Lina’s mind swam. Her eyes moistened as feelings of cheapness and humiliation filled her. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let him carry on when I didn’t even know him that well? Lina turned to face the couple full on, she was about to rip her scarf off and scream abuse at him, she wanted to warn the other girl not to make the same mistake she had done, but something stopped her. She looked down and let out a soft wail of anguish.Swinging from the woman’s hand was a brand new Mamas and Papas carrier bag.