Chapter 5: The funny set-up

Wist

What do I want from that tall, handsome guy, with good shape.

That big sicko.

Hard to get.

Cold-hearted guy?

Wow! Amazing description to you… Prouker?

He started talking to me like he is impressed after I got in engineering University in a way I didn't get. Sometimes he was nice to my mom, helpful whenever we needed it and other times he went away from wherever he saw her walking toward like he was ignoring her or something.

It was Ramadan and the atmosphere was amazing as always, decoration everywhere, holy music, people smiling, streets locked and decorated.

Tables were everywhere and women and men cutting vegetables and meat and laughing together without knowing each other, just preparing meals for poor people and telling funny stories of their lives and jokes. Their children were around them playing with others, socialising more and having more friends.

Walking in the streets hearing troupes playing music and singing amazing songs, fasting and feeling what the poor suffer for life time while you experience it in few hours that pass like flash because of all the joyful acts you do, even preparing meals with your family and talking and laughing while doing it, while learning all those Egyptian recipes like Ful Medammes, falafel, koshari, shawarma, Macaroni Béchamel, molokhia, fattah, roz bel laban, umm Ali, konafa, sahlab and others that you couldn't master at first but managed to finally accomplish it with success after laughing with your mom about who could ever get married to me if I didn't know all those recipes that are like our Egyptian culture, heritage, and patrimony.

I believe that the Egyptians are one of the greatest folks ever with their kindness, how United they are and how funny they are, and when it gets to true love, they are the best because, they know what love is.

I loved this time of the year, this peacefulness, staying up all night till fajr talking to my sisters about silly things since we were young after 12 A.M. We would become hilarious and hallucinating all the time, remembering parts of movies of Egyptian comedians like Ahmed Helmy or Mohamed Heneidy in some movies, then praying, reading Quran, feeling calm and going to sleep smiling. Even if I was a diabetes patient and wasn't supposed to fast, I loved it and tried a lot of days without being asked to do it; I enjoyed it and would stop in any sugar level disorder.

One of the best things I loved was the visit of fatar, having your family around you then having a girls' sleepover after it and you know what happens next...

One day, My mom invited our neighbours: the dad, the mom and the 2 brothers for fatar, we had to finish it quickly; we did mahshi, pamia (ladyfingers), molokhia, kebab, roasted chicken. So all was ready! The bell rang before maghrib with an hour.

Here the older one with his smirk, pride, disdain, and oddity he entered wearing a plain white shirt and Jean shorts.

About the shorts I wanted to know why do a lot of boys go out in the coldest days of winter wearing sweatshirts and warming stuff like that and Wear shorts... Is it cold or hot? I really don't get it? Is it a way to attract girls? If that is so, it doesn't work, It makes you look to her a bizarre guy, not cool.

I have never seen him that close before but, he had blue eyes or green eyes maybe even grey, I never wanted to look at them feeling afraid of his unrevealed personality the heart breaker one and I also didn’t want to look at him and be caught as I am not a freak and I feel it is a little intimate that I feel embarrassed to look so, I just look else where!

After him was his brother with a total Egyptian look; brown eyes, a thin beard, with cute smile and a look to me that I didn't get. He was quiet and was always looking at me that I felt weird; I wasn't the one talking, and it was actually my mom and his too.

"I am happy to be here with you and your beautiful daughters and their cute little brother. That is totally lovely that our children get to meet and get to know each other and thank you for inviting us to your house, the smell of the food is amazing. I hope the girls helped you and hope they would be good cooks like their mother. "

Here it goes an Egyptian mother trying to set people up together and of course checking on everything like good cook, then funny, then kind, thoughtful, caring for everybody's feelings to be sure that one of her sons is in good hands, but I don't know what is she planning for. Does she think about setting me up? Or Intellia?

So, Prouker talked to Intellia and I saw how uncomfortable she was and how she wasn't into him. Intellia wasn't the kind of person that is set up with someone. She was smart and so sensitive, she truly wanted true love, and I hope she would find it after all.

That's when Loncent talked

"So we are set up together me and you by my mom huh, so old fashioned right? "

"Tell me about it "

"So let's enjoy it !

What do you like to do to break this silence and this boredom? "

"Tell me about you, l know nothing about you and I have never talked to you before. "

"Well, I feel talking about myself is a girly stuff, guys tell it to girls to impress them like they actually care so much about them, about hearing them . That's basically rule number one about making a girl like you. "

"So you're saying you are honest and funny huh... Am I right? Is that the new way of yours to make a girl fall for you? "

I liked how he criticised all what boys do to appeal girls, like he was mocking all those stereotypes said by people so, I laughed. I really liked it but, everyone turned even Prouker did and suddenly I saw this anger look, like he was going to explode but, why?

"What is happening? " I asked Loncent and signaling to Loncent for Prouker’s look.

"Want to know? I think my brother wants to be my place; talking to you but I guess he didn't have a chance. Lucky me !" He said with a wink.

He smiled and I knew deep down he really likes me, don't ask but I really get people but I never erased from my mind that he could try and be more atypical so that I would like him. Told you I never trust people.

We stayed in total silence till maghrib and we ate, they thanked for the meal and stayed a while listening to our mom mocking us and how she sees us always vulnerable and irresponsible but, she actually wouldn't find any girls like us.

Let me straight things up, what I felt for Prouker was weird. I mean when I hear his voice calling the concierge, I just froze. Like the whole world stopped for a moment, but I was afraid of his charm, because he was bipolar. But there was this weird way that he uses to treat me, I didn't know what his pretty evil mind was thinking.....

But what happened tonight, the way he looked at me, the harsh way that he used to scold his brother while they were going to there apartment. Does he like me?

Don't fool yourself, even if he does, he doesn't deserve you. No one is going to love you the way you deserve it. You're so pure.

I could stay years with someone just happy to be with him, to stay by his side, help him whenever he needs, to laugh on every sarcastic thing he would say, to see his face looking at me pleasantly like that would be eternity.