The man was carrying a bag. A woman was with him and together they entered a hotel in the heart of Riyadh. The woman lagged behind while the man went to reception, saying,
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. May I help you?”
“We need a room.”
“What kind?”
“One with a double bed please!”
“For how long?”
“Only for a few hours as we have a flight later today.”
“I’m afraid that you’ll have to pay for a full day however short your stay is! These are the rules.”
“It doesn’t matter. We are exhausted. We want to sleep!”
“OK. May I see your identity card?”
“Yes, here you are!”
“Sorry, We need your family ID card please!”
“OK. Here you are!”
The receptionist began to fill in the form while the man looked behind at the woman. He did not speak to her nor she to him.
A porter, carrying the bag, led them to their room on the second floor. When he closed the door behind him, the woman sat on the bed, scrutinizing the dark spots on the bed, the sofa and other places of the room. The man removed his “aqal” and “shumakh,” hanging them on a hook on the wall, Turning to the window, he opened the curtains and looked down at the empty street. The weather in Riyadh was overcast and the sky seemed to threaten rain.
“Here we are alone,” said the man.
“That’s right,” replied the woman.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You look worried.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Don’t worry! Everything is all right. Nothing wrong will happen. Just trust me.”
“Things seem beautiful only when they are dreams but they turn into nightmares when they come true.”
“What do you mean?”
“I should have been satisfied with dreams only!”
“What dreams? Put everything aside and let’s enjoy our time.”
The man approached her and sat on the bed, putting his hands on her shoulders. The woman stood up and walked over to the sofa in the corner of the room.
“Let’s go, please!” the woman said.
“What?”
“I want to go now.”
“Why?”
“I feel nauseated.”
“After all we’ve done, you want us to go!”
“Yes.”
“Did I do anything wrong to you?”
“No. But I am upset. I don’t know why.”
“You don’t have to talk now. Just relax and I’ll order some drinks.”
The man picked up the phone and asked for two cups of tea. They were silent for a while.
When the woman heard a knock at the door, she went furtively into the bathroom. The man opened the door and took the tea from the waiter.
“You can come out now,” said the man. He put her tea in front of her and asked, “How do you feel now?”
“I don’t know.”
“It is natural to feel the way you do. You should overcome it and we should proceed on our way without spoiling our pleasure.”
“You mean your pleasure!”
“I care about you.”
“Do you ?”
“Do you doubt it?”
“I don’t know!”
“I want you to know that I won’t ever do anything to anger you. Just smile and forget about everything for a while.”
“I can’t. The moment it comes into my mind, I can’t free myself of the thoughts.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that we should go now!”
“Everything was all right. What’s changed you?”
“It’s getting late. We should be there now.”
“Believe me! Everything goes according to our plans. It is still early. Why are you so afraid?”
“I am not afraid but I don’t want to do anything now.”
“We aren’t doing anything. We are only acting in response to our basic needs.”
“What needs?”
“The need to be only ourselves without falsehoods or deceptions.”
The woman lowered her head without uttering a word.
“Let’s stop talking now as we have so many things to do,” the man said.
He closed the curtains and turned off the lights. The room seemed very quiet. It had begun to rain and the only sound was of raindrops falling outside.
