Kumar was waiting for her infront of the car and he
ran to open the passenger seat as he saw her skip walking towards the door.
Jenna did not look her usual self; her steps were short, fast and out of pose.
Their driver of 25 years looked at her with concerned eyes, and she gave him a
quick nanosecond smile as she slid into the backseat. Kumar closed the door
behind her and shook his head in confusion as he made his way to the driver’s
door.
Jenna twisted her body towards the window pulling up
her knees to her chest; she rested her head on the edge of the seat watching
the trees go by as they drove. Her stomach was hurting her and her brain was
giving her a long lecture on her behavior. It wasn’t her style to act the way
she did and she hated herself for playing such a game with a total stranger. She
sighed loudly and Kumar looked at her through the overhead mirror.
“nro7 bait wla maktab?”
“roo7 beit jadi”
“baba 3ood?”
“ee”
“tamam”
The last two places she wanted
to be at were there office or the house, she couldn’t face anyone’s questions
about the meeting. Heck! She couldn’t face her own disappointment. All the
hopes and dreams she had placed on this meeting have blown with the wind. Why
did he have to be such a bully? Why did he act the way he did? Her brain raced
between a thousand questions and her stomach twisted with stress as she thought
further of what happened earlier.
Jenna did do her homework about Khalifa; but nothing
came up of him being a bully. Everyone she asked said nothing but praise and he
was known to be a gentleman with the opposite sex! Why did he treat her in that
manner, or act the way he did was beyond her logic. His words rang in her head and
what drove her crazy was his scent that lingered at the tip of her nose. She shook
her head and sighed loudly looking out of the window. She watched the houses,
shops, trees, lampposts go by her subconscious was still obsessing over what
happened.
“What did he mean by
baby-girl?!”
She started talking to herself
and Kumar knew once again glanced at the overhead mirror; he knew it was
serious and turned the music off giving her the space to vent on her own. He
was used to Jenna discussing a bad event with herself, when she was younger
this was her way of dealing with a crisis. She will vent out to herself in the
car and once shes out she’ll back to her normal self.
“UGH! Jenna stop thinking .. HES
an ASS and you know it!”
She pouted and her shoulders
dropped as she sighed, the minute she looked up she was at her grandfather’s
house. She automatically smiled and sat up straight waiting for them to open
the gate for her. Within minutes Kumar was driving her to the main house and
stopped the car at the entrance.
“Kumar inta fe roo7 beit, ana
agool 7g Akbar yredni beit”
“Jeein..etha inti fe yabi ana
aji sawi telephone”
“mashi..yala bye”
“bye Jeennaa”
She unlocked the door and kicked
it open, running up the three steps before opening the door screaming at the
top of her lungs.
“NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Her grandmother came out of the
tv room with her glasses on the tip of her nose holding the paper in one hand
staring blankly at her. Jenna ran towards her grandmother, threw her Berkin at
the first chair she saw. She wrapped her arms around her grandmother taking her
by surprise, but within seconds her Nanna knew something was wrong.
“whats wrong child”
“I messed up”
“ahh..I was wondering why are
you here and not at the office!”
“the meeting was today”
“THE meeting?”
“yes”
“and”
“I don’t want to talk about it
..I just want to hug you and hide here forever”
Her grandmother giggled at her
granddaughter’s silliness; no matter how old Jenna got shell always remain a
baby.
“have you eaten”
“no”
“well I can hear your stomach
growling”
“whats for breakfast?”
“your grandfather is in the
garden eating”
“I want lucky charms and cold
skimmed milk”
“in the kitchen, off you go”
Jenna took her shoes off placing
them neatly under the chair where her Berkin was, and skipped towards the
kitchen barefoot. She had always loved her grandparent’s house, it was her
happy place. Louisa was in the kitchen making coffee, and the minute Jenna saw
her she back hugged her giggling happily.
“youll always be the baby girl
you are”
Louisa words rang in her head
reminding her of what Khalifa said to her, she let got of Lou and pulled
herself onto the counter next to her swinging her legs in the air.
“Lou what do you mean by that?”
“by what sweetheart?”
“by ill always be a babygirl?”
“you have a depth of innocence
about you that you don’t see”
“mafehmt”
“oh Jenna! Stop bothering me and
let me prepare the coffee for your grandparents”
“no no no no tell me please
please”
“see baby girl … ta3ali inti
leish hena?”
“I had a horrible meeting .. I
came to hide”
“just like the old days after
your exams”
“yup!”
“lucky charms and milk??”
“il do it, finish the coffee”
She walked toward the fridge to grab the milk and
Louisa placed a bowl and the lucky charms on the kitchen island. Pouring the
lucky charms in the bowl and the milk in a glass; she grinned widely at Louisa and walked out back to her grandparents. Jenna pushed the slide
door and walked towards her grandfather kissing his head from behind.
“hala baba Ali”
“hala hala bnayti Jenna ..
ashoof elyoum 3endna?”
“ee wlaht 3alekm”
“welaaahti ow matabeen treden
betkm??!”
“both!”
Nanna: “have you eaten Jen?”
Baba A: “ya mara ka Akelha f
edha!”
Jenna placed her things on the table and pulled the chair giggling
at her grandparents quarrel. She sat opposite her grandmother next to her
grandfather pulling one leg under her.
Nanna: “so talk to us”
Jenna: “Nan..please”
Baba A: “esh eli 9ar ..was it
that bad?”
She was to embarrassed to
remember it herself, yet tell her grandparents about it! But she knew what the
right thing was.
Jenna: “Baba t3ref 3aylat Al-X?”
Baba A: “a3ref jadhm..leish?”
Jenna: “lena el shareka eli 6elbat
akteb el muqabala wl maqal 7aghm”
Baba A: “weld mnu fehm shfti?”
Jenna: “ma3arf lakin isma Khalifa”
Baba A: “6weel?”
Jenna: “YES! Very tall and
rude!!”
Her grandfather started
chuckling and her grandmother dropped the newspaper to stare at her. Jenna bit
her tongue and knew very well Nanna hated her talking badly about people.
Jenna: “I swear Nanna he was
rude .. im not saying anything bad ..im stating FACTS!!”
Nanna: “Jenna even if he was,
you don’t go on repeating it ..now your being rude!”
Baba A: “wala ya janjoon
jananteena ma3ach … esh sawa?”
Jenna: “sakheeeeeeeeeeeef wa7id”
Baba A: “esh sawa?!”
Nanna: “Ali, seems this boy
really got your granddaughter mad!”
Jenna: “he bullied me and teased
me and cornered me and pushed me around and was very very very rude!”
Baba A: “’3areba”
Jenna: “esh el ‘3areeb baba???? agolak kan 7aqeeer ma3ay tgoli '3areeba??”
Baba A: “la ya bnayti bes hu dom yeji majlis jada w mu2adab
w 5alooq el walad .. laykon m’3al6a bil asami???”
Jenna : “Jadi ... ana mt2akda enu isma
Khalifa!!”
Baba A: “ana shayfah elbar7a ..
9ala ma3a jada el 3esha o ra7aw el majlis”
Jenna: “keef shft.hm???”
Baba A: “ya benti bet.hm nehayat
el share3”
Jenna :” SAKIN F SHARE3NA?!!”
Baba A: “eee .. el beit el lona
abyath o ramadi .. eli majlesa 3al share3 .. 3rafti??”
Jenna’s heart sunk knowing that
she might bump into him if she visited her grandparents; the last thing she
wanted was bump into Khalifa the bully! Her Iphone buzzed on the ceramic table
and she pulled it thinking its an email only to notice it’s a twitter
notification.
- KhalifaALX is now following
you!-
Her heart sank to her stomach like the titanic, and once
again this guy got her tongue, brain and logic tied!!
