Evenings, Nights, and Sushis

I was busy calling all my contacts trying my best to find a job for Sara, but finding a job in Dubai was no longer easy. To add to that she just had an HND diploma and two years of working experience in the hotel industry back home. Dubai  is flooded with highly educated people with years of experience. It was a challenge to get her a job but I was optimistic that something would show up soon.

Sara was getting anxious as her visit visa was about to expire meaning that she would have to leave the country. I knew I had to find her a job soon as I could not imagine living without her.We started going out together every evening and I knew she was my soul mate.  

The following day a friend called me and said there was an advertisement for a job in the Monarch Hotel , the new hotel on Sheikh Zayed road. As soon as my phone call with my friend ended I made sure to call Sara and told her to rush there with her C.V. A few hours later she called me to tell me that she got a job as a receptionist but was disappointed with the pay package. However, I encouraged her to take the job as it would give her an opportunity to stay in the country and something better may eventually turn up. Even though rents had come down, with her salary it would have been difficult to have live comfortably so it was a great relief to find out that she had been given shared accommodation.

Our relationship was getting stronger, we met everyday and went to the movies , dinner,  sheesha, ,shopping, and the likes. We were inseparable , I made sure to call her every morning to wake her up, "7abeebti, you will be late for work, get up!", I tell her in the mornings.  Uyuni is what I call her , I tell her that she has the sweetest voice and that I rather listen to her voice than go to work. She giggles and blows kisses through the phone , I get up and make her promise that she will kiss me when we meet later on.

One night we were having dinner at a sushi restaurant, six months into our relationship, When I propose to Sara. She was surprised,  I'm assuming it was because she thought I would not marry her , after all I was a local and it was expected that I would marry a local girl, maybe one chosen by my family. I told her that she is the only one I wanted to share my life with and we decided to talk to our parents.

I waited for a good opportunity to bring it up to my mother. I knew it would not be easy and that she  would not be happy as she believed that I should marry a local girl and if I were to venture out of the UAE then at least  I should pick a girl from a GCC country. She believed that it was important, first and foremost to marry a muslim girl, who was educated , and came from the same cultural background as there would be less problems in the marriage.

I come home one day and saw that my mother was in a good mood and told her that I needed to talk to her. She looked up at me and said " Na3am 7abeebi Saeed, what do you have to say today?".
I was nervous but I knew it was best to get it out now.
''Well mama , you are always after me to get married , I have finally found the girl I want to marry'', I say to her.
She was excited, ''Who is this girl? from which family?" , She starts to bombard me with questions.
This is it, I think, wondering how to continue.
I tell her that she is not a local girl but is still an arab. I was talking quite fast as I was quite nervous.
My heart started to beat faster as I continued. I did not like to annoy my mother, I loved her a lot and this was not going to be easy for either one of us. I explain to her that I met Sara a few months ago and that she is a beautiful girl, has a lovely character, quite charming and everything one would what in a wife.

My mother was shocked, "over my dead body ,if you are to stay single for the rest of your life then let it be, I will not accept this girl "she said to me. She explained to me that the girl is not from this area so there will be differences in culture and in background , that she is not educated , as to my mother an educated person is one who at least has their bachelor degree , and that we would not have similar thoughts and values because of this.
She was really upset with me and started crying. I did not know what to do, it was really painful to see  my mother in this state. I decided not to argue with my her and to go back to her with this at another time.  I then wondered how my father would react to this news as he is very set in his ways and very old fashioned so this would shock him even more.

The next day I decided not to bring up the subject with my mother . I thought it best to let her cool down as I did not want to trigger her blood pressure and for a while I thought my mother had forgotten about my intentions of marrying Sara. However , my mother was busy calling my aunties and her friends to try and look for a suitable wife for me.
My favourite aunt Fatma calls me for lunch at her farm on friday. I could not decline her invitation but this meant that my boating trip with Sara had to be cancelled and just like a dutiful nephew I go to my aunt's farm on friday and low and behold the place was full with people. I went to salim the men first and then went to look for my aunt. She was sitting in her favourite reclining chair and welcomed me warmly. I sat down with her for a while and she introduced me to one of her friend's daughter.

Elyaziya was unusually tall maybe six foot, very pretty, with a deep dimple on her right check . She studied law and was working for an oil company in Abu Dhabi. As soon as she left my aunt called me back over to her and asked what I thought of her. Isn't she gorgeous? Would you like to marry her? She asks me.

It immediately clicked that the purpose of this lunch was for me to meet Elyaziya.  My mother was busy scheming, she wouldn't let go of her idea of getting me married off to who she wanted. I thanked my aunt but told her that I already had someone in mind and anyways Elyaziya was too tall for my liking. My mother and aunt did not stop there, they made lunches, dinners, tea parties all with one intention, that of finding me a bride. I was not interested in any of them as my heart lay with Sara. I gave all kinds of excuses for not liking the girls they showed me telling them stuff like one looked too much like her brother, she didn't look down to earth, she wasn't pretty enough. I was hoping that they would tire out of their game soon enough...

The Beginning

I made my way to Buddha Bar Lounge in Dubai to enjoy a nice dinner and to chill with a few friends of mine. I was enjoying the music when I looked across the table and made eye contact with this beautiful woman.She had  round hazel eyes,shoulder length brown hair ,and fair complexion. She wore a red top with jeans, and was carrying a red Channel handbag.She was sitting alone , for a second I wanted to get up and join her but I thought it was best not not rush it.Our eyes met again and this time she had a slight smile on her lips. She looked away after a minute or two and for a while even though I kept a look out for her I could not find her in the crowd.

On my way out  I saw her again, I couldn't believe my luck when I saw sitting with a few colleagues of mine from work. When they saw me, they called me over to their table and I went to say hi. We chatted for a bit catching up with what was new before they introduced me to the beautiful girl I saw earlier.She gave me a big smile and I felt my heart melt.

It seems that she had just arrived in Dubai and was looking for a job. I thought this was my chance so I gave her my business card and told her to call me and I would try my best to find her a job. The job market in Dubai was getting more difficult as a lot of projects were on hold. A couple of years back Dubai was a city of great opportunities any Tom ,Dick ,or Harry who lands here would have gotten a job. Once one foreigner gets a job he or she will get wasta for his friend or family member, they come here on a visit visa and boom get a job with a fat cheque and then nobody wants to leave.

Dubai is a great city, best malls in the world,  great choice of high class dining whatever your appetite desires you will find it in this cosmopolitan city. If you are a Sushi addict you will find the best here maybe even better than Japan, if you are craving for Chinese, Lebanese, Vietnamese etc it is all available everything depends on your budget. The nightlife is on par if not better.

Sara, I will name the beautiful lady as I cannot reveal her real name, called me the next day and wanted to visit me in my office so she could bring in her resume and discuss with me the kind of job she would like. I was over the moon with excitement. I could not concentrate at work as I could not wait for her to get here.  After a few hours,  she was escorted to my office by the security guy. I get up and shake hands with her, she has this beautiful smile on her face revealing white perfect teeth. Her eyes look lighter today, it could have been because of the way the lights were reflected in my office. I ask her to sit down and offer her a choice of tea or coffee.

When we start chatting,  she had this sweet voice and laughed quite often, she was definitely a very charming lady. Yet again I remind myself to take my time with her, however, the other half of me wants to hold her tight and seal her lips with mine.
She gives me her resume and she says that she will like to work in tourism or hotel management. I promise her that I will do my best to get her a job and I invited her for dinner at Nobu at the Atlantis hotel.


We met at 8pm, I wore my green and white stripped Ralph Lauren t-shirt with my black trousers. I sprayed myself with my favourite perfume, YSL, got my keys for the Maserati and left the house. I was living with my parents and siblings who consisted of two sisters and two brothers in a big villa in Al Barsha. Being the eldest I was supposed to be the role model for my siblings. So far I have met the expectations of my parents and have graduated with a B,A, and M.A. from the States, got a very good position in a government organization with an excellent pay and very good prospects in my job. At the same time I was helping my father with his business as I was his right hand and he expected me to do my part. My mum is a beautiful, educated woman but is very traditional and conservative. Quite unexpected for someone who was educated abroad. She was very strict with me when I was growing up but I guess age has caught up with her and she is a lot more lenient with my younger brothers and sisters.

I reached the restaurant fifteen minutes late, I cursed myself for being late I should have taken into account Dubai's traffic, a lot may say it has gotten better after the crisis but to me it is still the same. People may have left but I am certain that the same number of people have made their way to Dubai. Nonetheless it is what keeps the city busy and exciting.

Once I walked into the restaurant, it was a great relief to see that she had not arrived. I got a table in a quiet corner  and a few minutes later she walked in with a big smile, I got up to greet her and showed her our table. We chatted about everything under the sun, she told me that she comes from a big family and that she was the third in line. Her father is retired and though they are not rich they are comfortable. However, she came here to work to help her father and maybe get enough money to buy her parents a flat in her home country. I thought that she was a very kind woman who was very concerned about her parents and I was really impressed. After all I had great respect for my parents  and to me family is very important and they always come first.We had a lovely evening and I realized that I was falling for Sara, she was everything that I wanted in a woman.

September 23

I was at the office even though I knew it was a hot spot. Security had already come by to tell me that the CID was here yesterday looking for me. They had asked security what car I drove and lucky for me security had told them they didn't know.

I had to just finish a few things off and had stopped for a moment to take a look outside my window when I noticed a few white Nissan patrols with dark tinted windows. A guy came in asking if I was Saeed Al- X and when I told him I was, he was nice enough to tell me that the CID was here looking for me and that I had better run.

I tried making a few phone calls to a few friends of mine thinking that I could hitch a ride with them on their way out instead of getting into my car but none were around.

I decided I had to move and started making my way to my car. Once I got in the car,  I decided to head to the other gate but what I didn't know was that there were a few CID cars there waiting. Once the gate opened they flashed me with their headlights and I knew it was now or never.

I didn't even stop. I did the opposite. I floored the car. I knew I only had a few minutes to get away, I needed to ditch the car within 10 minutes. They drove after me. Two, Three cars coming at me from different directions. All I knew was that I couldn't let them catch me. Not now...

For a minute I thought the Maserati was not moving but I realized that I was driving at 290 km/h and I had lost the CIDs. Wow! What a relief. I parked the car in a public car park and called my Egyptian PRO to come pick me up telling him it was an emergency and when I call him back in five minutes he is still at the office drinking tea. Another five minutes pass and he calls asking me what road to use. I tell him to forget it and call numerous people until I find a friend to collect me. When he comes to pick me up, he still has no clue what is happening, I hop into the car and lower the seat and tell him to go. I decided not to go back to the city that night and went to spend a night at a friend's house.

The next day I call my boss to ask for an emergency leave. I decided it was best not to go to wok for a while until things cool down. The following weeks I lived like a fugitive, watching my back,suspicious of every tinted car on the road. How did it come down to this that I had to live like this in my own country?