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Chapter Thirty

Elizabeth took a deep breath to calm down and knocked on the door. David opened it and his reaction was as heartwarming as she had hoped it would be. He grinned like a schoolboy, his eyes wide and bright with enthusiasm.

“Princess! What are you doing here?”

Elizabeth laughed and gave him a hug. “Surprise!”

David chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Did you come here from school?”

“Yes. I finished my classes for the day and came to see you instead of going home. Is anyone else here?”

“No. My friend Omar was here, but he just left. My uncle went with Ahmed to help him find a job. Zahra is at school and the others are working…anyway, come in and have a seat. Do you want something to drink? ”

Elizabeth sat down on the sofa. “A glass of water would be nice.”

David fetched a glass of water from the kitchen. She thanked him with a smile as he handed it to her. He sat down on the recliner across from her and they both stared at each other in prolonged hesitation.

Elizabeth spoke out of a desperate need to break the awkward silence, “So, how are you?”

“Good. What about you? How did your classes go?”

“I’m fine. My classes were okay, but I’m glad they’re over for today.”

“This is your second year of law school, right?”

“Yes. Hopefully, I’ll graduate next year and pass the bar exam.”

“Do you still want to be a prosecutor?”

Elizabeth smiled, “You remembered that from last year! Yes, I still want to be a prosecutor…but I’m not so sure about moving on to politics as I was before.”

“Oh, how come?”

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know…I’m not sure if I can make a difference as a politician. I mean, it takes so much money to fund a campaign that most if not all politicians are bought and sold to the highest bidder, you know.”

David smirked, “You’re starting to be a cynic now. Maybe I have been a bad influence on you.”

Elizabeth laughed, “You just have to give yourself credit, don’t you?”

David smiled, “Well, my ego needs feeding and you don’t do that very often.”

“The last thing your ego needs is feeding. I have to do what I can to keep it in check.”

David laughed as Elizabeth smiled at him with great affection. She loved making him laugh. Since he was a troubled man with a difficult past, having the power to bring a bit of joy into his life was something to be treasured.

David leaned forward in his chair, set his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin in his hands, “What are you thinking about?”

Elizabeth giggled, thinking he looked like a little boy anticipating a sweet treat. “Oh, nothing important…I just decided that I like the way I feel when I make you laugh.”

Elizabeth was surprised to find that her answer made David blush. He sat up straight and crossed his arms, but kept his head bent towards the floor. Elizabeth made another unimportant decision. She loved making him blush.

“You’re sitting so far away.”

David raised his head with a start and blushed again. Elizabeth giggled at how adorable he looked. She longed to sit in his lap and kiss him senseless, but feared that a family member of his would walk in on them at the worst possible moment.

David hesitated, “Would you like me to sit next to you?”

“Sure, why not? This is a big sofa so there is plenty of room for both of us.”

David stood up, took a few steps forward, and stopped to gaze at her. Elizabeth smiled to encourage him and he sat next to her so that his thigh brushed against hers. It was Elizabeth’s turn to blush and David’s turn to laugh at her embarrassment.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. “You were playing coy with me!”

David grinned. “Yes and you fell for it, you silly little thing.”

Elizabeth tried to slap his arm, but he caught her hand.

“You’re such a brat…and a violent one too. This isn’t the first time you’ve tried to slap me, because you didn’t get your way” David teased.

Elizabeth tried to slap him with her other hand, but he caught that one too.

“Oh, no you don’t! I’m too quick for you, Princess.”

Elizabeth giggled while making contact with David’s glimmering eyes. She then found herself staring at her hands, which were ensconced in his. She realized she was beginning to grow warm and her pulse quickened. Her situation became more fragile when David began to run his thumb along the lines in the palm of her hand. She looked up to find him focused on his ministrations.

Elizabeth became uncomfortable, fearing things were starting to move too fast and then feeling guilty for being such a wimp. She also could not shake the apprehension that one of David’s siblings would walk into the apartment and ruin the moment. David, however, had remained oblivious to her thoughts and had moved on to stroking her fingers. His touch was so gentle and yet so electric that the tension between them was becoming unbearable. In a bid to maintain her self-control, Elizabeth pulled her hands away from his. David raised his head and frowned at her.

Elizabeth knew she had to distract him before both his and her feelings escalated. “Are you hungry?”

David’s eyebrows shot up in an unmistakable gesture. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, “I didn’t mean it that way. Get your mind out of the gutter!”

David chuckled, “What gutter? I didn’t say anything!”

Elizabeth smirked, “You didn’t have to!”

“Are you going to cook for me today?” David asked with a smug grin.

“Yes, if you want me to.”

“I do. What will you cook?”

Elizabeth stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. “I don’t know. It depends on what you have in the fridge.”

David followed her. “I have no idea what is in there. The kitchen is Sabreen’s territory. I only go there to eat” he answered with a chuckle.

Elizabeth tossed him a smirk. She opened the refrigerator and started digging through it, hoping to find enough ingredients to cook a good meal for David.

“Oh! This is great! You have eggplants and tomatoes. Now all I need is some cheese, garlic, and a little bit of bread crumbs and I can make eggplant parmesan for you.”

“What is that?”

“It’s like lasagna, but it’s made with eggplants. There is no meat or pasta. My aunt has a great recipe that was passed onto her from her mom, who got it her from her mom, who got it from her mom and so on. It is one of my favorite foods. I know the whole recipe by heart, because I love it so much.”

David grinned, “Okay then, stop talking and start cooking!”

Elizabeth laughed, sensing he was only teasing her to cover up his eagerness. She started gathering the necessary ingredients and utensils, but noticed out of the corner of her eye that David was leaving the kitchen.

She turned around to face him, “Where are you going?”

David smiled with mischief gleaming in his eyes, “Don’t worry Princess. I’ll be right back.”

Elizabeth decided to ignore him for the moment and went about doing her work. A few minutes later, David returned to the kitchen holding a camera in his hand and looking ever so smug.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, “Not the camera again! Don’t you ever tire of taking pictures?”

“No. I like having pictures of special moments like this. It helps them stay fresh in my memory.”

Elizabeth pouted, “You always give the sweetest answers to my stupidest questions. You don’t know what that does to me. It’s enough to drive a girl insane!”

David looked confused and did not give her a reply. He held the camera up and Elizabeth obliged him by striking silly poses, making him laugh as he snapped one photograph after another. After running out of poses, she stopped messing around and refocused on her cooking. David stood a few feet away from her, watching her every movement and taking pictures of her as she sliced and drained the eggplant, sliced tomatoes, and then minced garlic cloves.

Elizabeth became so absorbed in frying the eggplants that she failed to notice David move towards her until she heard his voice coming from right behind her.

“That smells good.”

Elizabeth smiled at him, but then turned back to her work.

“Do you have to concentrate so much while you’re cooking?” David asked, sounding rather petulant.

“Yes, because I don’t want oil splattering all over the place while I’m frying these and I don’t want to cut myself with a knife while I’m slicing vegetables.”

She heard David sigh and was disturbed, uncertain what that meant. She started to worry that he might be bored and didn’t know what she could do to help. Fortunately, the eggplants had finished frying and she laid them out onto a plate to let them sit for a few seconds. She paused to think about what she needed to do next.

The next instant, Elizabeth gasped in surprise as she felt David’s hands settle themselves at her waist. He whispered her name and turned her around to face him. He kissed her without hesitation. Elizabeth regained her senses after a few drawn-out moments and backed away from him.

“David, I need to cook!”

David smirked and shook his head, “I think you need a break.”

Elizabeth giggled, “Fine. I’ll stop for one minute.”

“No, five minutes” David answered with a wink and a mischievous grin.

This time, Elizabeth’s eyebrows were the ones to shoot up in an unmistakable manner.

“Oh! Whose mind is in the gutter now?” he exclaimed with a laugh.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and decided to tease him back. “Mine, but that’s only because yours never left the gutter in the first place.”

David laughed, “Okay you beat me. You deserve a ten minute break for that.”

Elizabeth smirked, “Sorry, but I can only spare one minute for a rake like you.”

David grabbed her wrists and pulled her close. “Two minutes.”

“One minute and thirty seconds.”

“Fine” David replied and proceeded to indulge in kisses on her cheek, along her jaw line and down her neck. Elizabeth felt the danger of the situation as his kisses stirred up intense emotions within her, but she was too lost in those sensations to act upon her fears. She, therefore, had no idea whether or not David had adhered to the limit of one minute and thirty seconds.

She intended to kiss him on the lips as soon as he brought his head up, but her plans were foiled when David took a sudden step away from her.

His face was flushed and he looked uncomfortable. “Eh…I think you should go back to cooking now...and I should leave the kitchen…before I get carried away” he ended with a whisper.

Elizabeth was too worried that he might be regretting his actions to feel disappointed. She gave him a small smile, nodded her head, and returned to work. David left the kitchen. Elizabeth prepared the eggplant parmesan and then timed the oven for thirty minutes. When finished with her work, she left the kitchen and sought out David. He wasn't in the living room as she had expected. She did not feel comfortable walking about his apartment without his knowledge and, therefore sat down on the couch, hoping that he would return soon.

She sat there in utter silence for several minutes until she lost her patience. She stood up and walked down the hallway, hoping to find David in one of the other rooms. One of the doors had been left open and Elizabeth looked inside, finding nothing but an empty bedroom. She started to turn back towards the hallway, but she spotted an interesting painting out of the corner of her eye. She stepped towards the artwork for a closer inspection.

It depicted a building so dilapidated that it was almost unrecognizable. Only the presence of a sign labeled Pharmacia gave Elizabeth an idea of what the structure used to be. The pharmacy was in such a terrible state with smoke billowing from within and an ominous lack of employees and customers that Elizabeth guessed it must have been under siege. Large segments of the walls had crashed down, destroying quite a few shelves of medicine. The glass windows in the front were shattered; bullet holes were decked all over the place and the floor inside and outside the pharmacy was tainted by puddles of blood.

Elizabeth was struck with horror at the scene. She wondered what could have inspired Ali to paint such a bizarre picture. Her silent questions were interrupted by a sharp gasp coming from behind her. She turned around to find David staring at the painting in what could only be interpreted as utter astonishment.

David put a hand over his mouth and his eyes started to become teary. Elizabeth could not bear to see him in pain and placed a comforting hand on his arm. David cleared his throat and turned away. Elizabeth followed him out of the bedroom. He sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. Elizabeth wanted to sit down next to him, but she realized he might prefer to be alone for a while and walked away. Much to her surprise, she heard David call her name.

“Elizabeth, don’t go.”

Elizabeth sat down next to him and put her arms around his neck. He responded by placing his arms around her and leaning his head against her shoulder. Elizabeth was touched by his need to be with her. She hoped she could help make him feel better, but she saw no need to push for answers. Instead, she held him in her arms, brushing his hair with her fingers and waiting for him to speak.

“I can’t believe he painted that” David whispered into Elizabeth’s shoulder.

Elizabeth heard him, but could not find an appropriate response. David clutched her shoulders. Elizabeth felt a groundswell of sympathy for him and kissed his cheek, intending to comfort him but finding that it brought her a bit of consolation as well. Her ease did not last long, however. The disturbing possibility that David might be having another panic attack occurred to her and she could no longer remain silent.

“David, are you having another panic attack?”

David looked up at her with a confused frown. “No…how did you know about that?”

Elizabeth flushed, scolding herself for blurting that out and making it so easy for him to realize she had eavesdropped on him earlier. She struggled to come up with the least suspicious answer.

“I guessed that’s what happened to you in the car…based on what I saw of your symptoms.”

“Oh…I didn’t realize it was that obvious” he replied with a dejected look.

Elizabeth couldn’t bear lying to him anymore. He looked so grieved and so bewildered that she felt the injustice of taking advantage of his trust in such a way.

“I’m sorry…it wasn’t that obvious. I thought you were having a heart attack or something like that. I really didn’t know what happened to you in the car until I heard your conversation with Omar today…I came here much earlier than you think I did. I wanted to surprise you, but I wanted to see if anyone else was with you first so I listened in before I knocked on the door. I heard you talking with Omar and I meant to leave, but what you said was so interesting and you never talk about these things with me, so I had no other way of finding this out, so I eavesdropped. I know it was wrong and I’m sorry and I’ll understand if you’re furious with me, but I was only trying to know you better.”

After deliberating for many minutes, David sighed. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

“Really?”

David nodded, leaned his head back on her shoulder, and pulled her closer to him. “Yes. I have a few less things to explain now.”

Elizabeth waited for him to continue and her patience was rewarded by his next statement.

“Ahmed based that painting on a photograph I had taken a long time ago…I haven’t seen that picture in years and I thought I had lost it. I have no idea how Ahmed got a hold of it…He must have painted that recently, because I haven’t seen it before.”

“So is his painting exactly the same as your photograph?”

“No…he didn’t include the dead bodies…there were so many of them that day…too many to count, but there were only two bodies that I bothered to keep track of… those of my parents.”

Elizabeth was overcome with shock and sadness. Her mind recalled the image of the blood on the floor and her gut wrenched as she realized some of that blood had belonged to David’s mother and father.

“That was the day they died? I remember you told me once that they were killed during your country’s civil war… were you there with them?”

“They were gunned down, while waiting in line to buy antibiotics for my baby sister. I was not there at the time, but the pharmacy was only a couple of blocks away from home, so I heard everything. I went down there, after the shelling was over, to see what had happened and to take pictures. I never thought I would see my parents lying there with the rest of the dead.”

David answered while staring straight across from him. Elizabeth observed him and sensed he was on the verge of breaking down. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were steel, yet Elizabeth thought she could detect a few tears welling up and threatening to let loose. Her heart broke at the sight of him in such intense pain. She didn’t have David’s strength and she lacked his fierce need to hide his emotions and, therefore, allowed her tears to fall down her cheeks.

“Oh David, that is awful. I’m so sorry.”

She touched his shoulder, wishing she could give him solace, but knowing it was unlikely. How could she help a man who had lost everything in the most tragic of circumstances? How could she even begin to understand everything he must have endured? Who was she to even dare to try? Her tears continued to flow as she dwelled on her utter uselessness.

David turned towards her, gazed into her reddened eyes, and hugged her. Burying his head into her shoulder, he started to sob. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him, running her hands up and down his back to soothe him as much as she could as his body heaved with emotion.

Elizabeth remained in that position as David wept for several minutes. Though saddened by his grief, Elizabeth found comfort in the fact that he had come to trust her well enough to break down his reserve and lay out his raw emotions in her presence. She also felt glad to be the one to comfort David at the height of his sorrow. Unfortunately, the bond between her and David broke apart by the ringing of the oven’s timer.

“Oh! The eggplant parmesan is ready…do you feel better now?”

David lifted his head up and nodded. Elizabeth smiled, “Why don’t you go wash up and I’ll get our meal ready, okay?”

“Okay.”

David did not take long to join Elizabeth in the kitchen. He came in looking neat and calm, but his eyes were still solemn. He hesitated to take a seat and offered no response when Elizabeth smiled at him. Elizabeth set the eggplant parmesan on the table and took a seat. David refused to look at her, however, and sat still as she placed a generous slice of the homemade meal on his plate.

“I hope you haven’t lost your appetite.”

David glanced at her with a grim gaze. “I’m sorry for blubbering like a baby. I haven’t cried like that since I was six years old and I promise you it won’t happen again.”

Elizabeth was caught off guard, “You never cried over the loss of your parents?”

David shook his head, “Men are not supposed to cry. My father had a lot of terrible things happen to him, but he never cried. None of my uncles ever cried….they never got scared either. Men should not be scared of anything…yet I freaked out over nothing before and cried like a hopeless idiot just now.”

Elizabeth leaned towards him and held his face with her hands, “You’re not a hopeless idiot. There is no shame in crying. It releases your grief. There is no shame in being scared either. Of course you’re going to be terrified of dying, if you grew up with death and destruction all around you. You don’t need to apologize to me. I hope you never hesitate to cry on my shoulder. You can’t keep everything bottled up inside you forever. That will only make you feel worse.”

David refused to look at her, but she heard him sigh and chose to interpret that as a good sign. She let go of him and urged him to eat. He took her advice and stuffed himself with the eggplant parmesan.

“Wow, this is delicious” he said after wolfing the slice down. Elizabeth giggled, happy to see he hadn’t lost his appetite after all.

“Can I have more?”

“Yes of course” she replied and placed another large slice on his plate. He finished it up and thanked her with the sweetest smile she had ever seen.

“I’m glad you decided to surprise me today.”

Elizabeth grinned, “So am I.”

“You and your family are coming to my brother’s wedding right?”

Elizabeth frowned. “Yes. My family didn’t want to go at first. They insisted they didn’t know you well enough to come to the wedding, but I convinced them to come. Jennifer is the only one who is willing to attend the ceremony, though. The others will only come to the reception. I hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s okay…actually, I’ve been thinking about this and even though I would love for you to see the ceremony, I think it would be best if you and your sister only come to the reception…the ceremony will be Islamic so the men will be with the groom and the women will be with the bride. The men and women stay separated until the bride signs a contract that she is willing to marry the groom so if you and Jennifer were to come, you would be with the women in my family and you don’t know any of them except for my sisters, my aunt, and Maryam and they will be too busy to talk to you most of the time…I don’t want you to come and then feel left out. The women will gossip too and I don’t want you to have to put up with that.”

“Oh, okay. I guess I’ll just come to the reception, then.”

David smiled, “Don’t worry. The reception will be fun, trust me. I know you will enjoy it and I think your family will like it too.”

“I’m looking forward to it…David?”

“Yes.”

Elizabeth could no longer resist expressing the questions burning within her, “Will you tell me what Omar meant by you being in exile?”

David frowned, “He was exaggerating. It’s not really exile. My pictures were generating a lot of controversy. I had gained an unfair reputation and people were spreading rumors about me. I decided to leave the country and keep a lower profile for a while, mostly for my family’s sake. I didn’t want them to get hurt.”

“What was your reputation? Why did your work cause controversy?”

David frowned, “Can we talk about this later? I don’t want to keep re-living what happened in the past right now.”

“Oh, okay…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

“It’s all right. Don’t worry about it.”

Elizabeth glanced at her watch and found that it was late in the afternoon. She realized his siblings would be coming home soon and that her parents would expect her to be home as well. Though hesitant to leave, she stood up from her chair.

“You’re going to leave now?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, I think it’s time to go.”

David followed her to the door and kissed her farewell. Before she turned away, he held her chin in his hands and whispered,

“Inti hayati.”

Though she didn’t know the exact meaning of the words, she guessed from his gaze that it was something too personal for him to translate. She figured he would tell her his feelings in English when he felt ready, and so let the matter drop. She smiled, kissed him on the cheek, and reminded him that she would give him a call and visit again when she had time.

Inti hayati- You are my life.

Chapter Thirty One

Elizabeth came home to find her mother bustling about the kitchen while everyone else sat in the living room. Jennifer had come to visit and she hurried to give Elizabeth a hug as soon as Elizabeth walked in.

“Liz, sweetie, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. We have a lot to catch up on tonight.”

Elizabeth smiled and was about to reply, but her mother announced that dinner was ready. Once everyone was seated and all of the plates were filled with food, Mrs. Benton addressed her second eldest daughter with tremendous enthusiasm.

“Oh, Liz, I have so much to tell you! I talked to Sheila and she dug up the most shocking dirt on George Wickman. You were right about him, but there’s so much more than what you told me. I think even you will be amazed! He isn’t just a drug addict and a womanizer, but he’s broke and corrupt too! He squandered his fortune on cocaine, alcohol, and gambling. He’s living off of the money his agent gives him and this is the most shocking thing of all! Sheila mentioned that she had always been curious about why George seemed so determined to give Richard’s friend a bad name, so she did some heavy-duty investigating and it turns out that David and his co-worker had been working on a report about the links between illegal arms-trafficking, terrorists, and politicians in the Middle East. The biggest target of their investigation was a man named Ramsi Yusuf, the older brother of George Wickman’s agent. It turns out that he had been a major player in the smuggling of weapons from Syria into Lebanon and after David’s report about him was published in an Arabic newspaper, he ended up leaving the Middle East in order to avoid being arrested.”

Elizabeth’s jaw fell in astonishment, “Wow! Is Sheila going to publish all of that?”

Mrs. Benton’s eyes gleamed, “Oh yes, everything except for the details about the weapons smuggling, which is now classified information. You see, when Sheila found out about David’s report, the first thing she did was alert the police. The police raided Ramsi’s home and found that he hadn’t stopped the illegal arms deals after coming to the U.S and his sister and George Wickman were working with him. So Wickman, his agent, and his agent’s brother are now under investigation by the C.I.A. ….Oh, my darling, Liz, I’m so glad you warned me about that horrible man! Dear Leah had been so fond of him, I can’t imagine what might have happened if you hadn’t interfered!”

Elizabeth’s gaze turned towards her youngest sister, who looked more solemn and self-conscious than Elizabeth had ever seen her. She then glanced at her mother, staring into her eyes with determination.

“You shouldn’t thank me, mom. You should thank David. He told me about Wickman’s drug addiction. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have known anything about that.”

Mrs. Benton fell silent, but her husband spoke up in her stead. He cleared his throat, “Well then, from what Jennifer tells me, it seems that we owe your David more than one thank you.”

Elizabeth’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Jennifer smiled, “I know the truth, Liz. You don’t have to hide it from me anymore. Chad confessed he was so terrified I would reject him that he didn’t have the courage to propose to me until David knocked some sense into him.”

Elizabeth blushed, not quite knowing how to behave now that these secrets were thrust out in the open. Mrs. Benton appeared thoughtful, Jennifer looked pleased, Mr. Benton seemed satisfied, and the younger girls looked morose. After dinner, Jennifer followed Elizabeth up the stairs and joined her in her bedroom.

Elizabeth gave her a sheepish smile, “So I guess you’ve heard about me and David from mom and dad.”

“Yes and I’m very annoyed with you. You didn’t tell me anything! I know mom gave you a hard time. You should have talked to me. I would have been there for you.”

Elizabeth blushed and lowered her head, “I was afraid you would side with mom and dad. I thought you might argue that we are too different and that I should break it off before it got too serious.”

Jennifer frowned, “I wouldn’t have said that. I like David very much. I thought you knew that.”

“I knew you liked him, but I wasn’t sure if you would support the idea of me being with him.”

Jennifer squeezed her sister’s hand, “Liz, sweetheart, I trust your judgment. I know you wouldn’t pursue this relationship if you didn’t have very strong feelings for David. I hope you see now that I will support you all the way.”

Elizabeth beamed at Jennifer, “Thank you. I do have very strong feelings for him. In fact, I think I’m in love with him!”

“Oh! That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you!” Jennifer gave her a fervent hug, which brought a warm sense of comfort to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s mother and father did not argue with her for the next few days. Elizabeth chose to be optimistic and take this as a sign that they were beginning to accept her relationship with David. Unfortunately, she was not able to allow her relationship to develop further. She had called David and offered to visit him again after her classes, but he told her he did not have spare time to spend with her. He would have several family members visiting him in the next few days and everyone was consumed with preparations for his brother’s wedding. Thus, Elizabeth realized she had to wait until the wedding to see David again.

The day of the wedding came and the Bentons fell into a mad rush of preparations. Elizabeth was overcome with anxiety. She wanted everything to be perfect and yet feared that her family would behave as they always did and, thus, cause a disaster at the reception. She admonished everyone to think before they speak and insisted that Leah and Katie pick something appropriate to wear. She struggled to ignore Leah’s whining that the wedding would be boring and ignored her declarations that she did not want to go. She also had to deal with Marianne’s persistent lecturing on the importance of Christianity and the danger of going to hell if she did not adhere to the Bible. Elizabeth begged her mother to be as polite to David and his family as possible and she asked her father to try to get to know David instead of hiding away in a corner and mocking everyone as he was accustomed to do at parties.

Samantha called early in the afternoon while Elizabeth and her sisters were arguing over what to wear. Samantha told Elizabeth that Richard had warned that the wedding would start much later than the time stated on the invitation. She and Richard were planning to arrive at seven p.m. rather than six p.m. Elizabeth was confused, thinking that an hour after the stated time should be too late and worrying that arriving that late would make her family look bad. Samantha, however, explained that Richard knew for a fact that David and his family never started parties on time. Elizabeth informed everyone else of this information and it was decided that they would leave later than they had planned. This was welcomed by the others since they had yet to decide upon what to wear.

Jennifer was the first to finish dressing. She wore a long, dark blue satin dress that matched well with her dark hair and blue eyes. Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel a slight envy as she observed her sister’s stunning beauty. Jennifer smiled at her, seeming to sense Elizabeth’s discomfort.

She squeezed Elizabeth’s shoulders, “Relax Liz. Everything will go well and you will look gorgeous by the time I’m finished with you” she ended with a cheeky grin.

A few hours later, Elizabeth glanced at her reflection in the mirror and was amazed by the final product. She looked much more beautiful than usual. She wore an elegant sleeveless lavender gown that showed off her slender figure while still leaving everything to the imagination. She had left her long hair down, allowing her curls to bounce around as much as they pleased while a pair of silver earrings hung from her ears and a matching silver necklace adorned her neck.

Jennifer’s smug smile as she watched her sister stare at the mirror in astonishment resembled that of a chubby cat that had just swallowed a handful of canaries. Mrs. Benton walked in a moment later and became so overwhelmed with pride at the sight of her two beautiful daughters that she hugged them both.

“Oh, my darlings! My precious darlings! You both look to die for! Your boyfriends won’t be able to stop staring at you.”

She then hurried them down the stairs and into the car. When they arrived at the large reception hall, Elizabeth was relieved to find that Richard had been right. Hundreds of tables covered with food and decorated with roses stood before them, but only about two thirds of the tables were occupied by guests despite the fact that it was seven p.m.

Mr. Benton found his family’s name on one of the cards and guided them towards their assigned table, which was located at the upper right corner of the hall. Elizabeth was disappointed by how far she and her family were placed from the table intended for the bridal party, but consoled herself with the hope that David would seek her out and find her no matter where she sat. Elizabeth’s thoughts intensified in optimism by the sight of Omar approaching their table soon afterwards.

He grinned and shook Elizabeth’s hand, “Hey! I’m glad to see you here. Is this your family?” he asked as he looked at the others.

Elizabeth nodded and introduced him to everyone. He shook each of their hands and welcomed them to the wedding reception. He then greeted Richard and Chad, who shook his hand with enthusiasm, declaring that it had been too long since they had last seen him.

Omar grinned, “Yeah, I know. It’s great to see you guys again. I’m glad to see I get to share a table with you. Have a seat, everyone. The appetizers are ready so feel free to start eating. The newlyweds should be arriving soon” he declared as he sat down. The others took Omar’s advice and sat down as well.

“How did the ceremony go?” Chad asked with a wide grin.

Omar chuckled, “Great! Sa’id and Maryam make a cute couple. We’re going to have a lot of fun today. Everyone’s ecstatic to be here.”

“This is a big hall. There are so many tables. I can’t imagine all of them will be full” Mrs. Benton commented.

“Believe it or not, this place is going to be packed within half an hour or so. David has a huge family and his relatives from Lebanon and other countries will all be here. It should add up to about 6oo guests all together” Omar clarified.

The Bentons looked at him in awe. Elizabeth felt her heart begin to pound faster as she wondered how David will treat her in the presence of his family and how his relatives would react to seeing her and her family there.

Fortunately, Omar interrupted her anxious thoughts, “Elizabeth, have you had these appetizers before?”

Elizabeth glanced at the table and recognized the dishes as those that had been served at Maryam’s house during the summer of last year. She smiled at the memory of the guessing game she had played with David during their dinner together that day. She snapped herself out her daydream, however, in order to give Omar a reply.

“Yes, Jen and I have tried these before, but I think the rest of my family is only familiar with hummus.”

Omar then gave a brief explanation of the various appetizers for Elizabeth’s parents and sisters.

After Omar finished his explanations, Richard announced, “All right then. Let’s eat!”

Elizabeth hesitated, “Are you sure it’s okay if we start eating now?”

“Yes of course. These are just appetizers so we can eat whenever we like” Omar replied.

As she ate, Elizabeth noticed musicians come onto the stage and begin to tune their instruments. About half an hour later, after Elizabeth and her family had finished stuffing themselves with the delicious food, a man came onto the stage and announced the imminent arrival of the newlyweds and their family.

As they entered the hall, the band started playing and everyone stood up. Several people surrounded the dance floor, clapping their hands to the music as the singer began to sing.
Maryam’s parents were the first of the bridal party to enter the hall, clapping and dancing as the enthusiastic crowd greeted them with shouts of ay ay ay ay ay and mabruk . They were followed by the groomsmen, who were Nasser, Ali, and Maryam’s brother, Joseph and the bridesmaids, who were Sabreen, Zahra, and another young woman who Elizabeth did not recognize.

Elizabeth held her breath as the speaker announced the arrival of the best man, who she knew would be David. He walked into the hall wearing a well-fitting tuxedo and a heartfelt smile. The sight of him took her breath away. She could focus on nothing else and so paid little attention to the entrance of the maid of honor. The bride and groom soon followed and the crowd erupted into cheers. It was time to dance and celebrate.

Allah Allah ya baba
Wa salam aleek ya bab
Allah Allah ya baba
Wa salam aleek ya bab
Sidi mansour ya baba
Wenjeek enzour ya baba…

Though she was caught off guard by the deafening volume of noise, Elizabeth laughed and enjoyed herself. Her family members, however, were not as successful in hiding their astonishment. Marianne plugged her ears while Mrs. Benton stood with her jaw hanging towards the floor, and Mr. Benton watched the proceedings with a confused frown. Leah and Katie stared at the crowd with wide eyes while even Jennifer looked less serene than usual. Luckily, Omar approached Elizabeth and held out his hand.

“Let’s go near the dance floor. You can’t see anything from here” he yelled as he took Elizabeth towards the center of the hall.

Her parents and sisters followed and they all joined the large group of people standing in a circle around the bride and groom as they danced their first dance. Elizabeth searched for and spotted David, dancing near Maryam’s brother. The two of them approached the newlyweds from behind. Much to Elizabeth’s surprise, David lifted his brother up on his shoulders while Joseph did the same for his sister. The newlyweds laughed and continued to wave their arms as though they were dancing while everyone clapped, shouted, and sang along in celebration.

Allah Allah ya baba
Wa salam aleek ya bab
Allah Allah ya baba
Wa salam aleek ya bab
Sidi mansour ya baba
Wenjeek enzour ya baba…

Elizabeth was amazed at David’s ability to sing along and dance while carrying his heavy brother on his shoulders. She enjoyed the moment so much that she clapped along with everyone else. However, her concentration on the newlywed couple began to fade after a few minutes. Though she knew she was being self-absorbed, she couldn’t stop herself from hoping that David would see her and acknowledge her in some way. She wished she could share his joy with him, but she realized it wasn’t possible for him to spot her amongst the crowd. If she wanted his attention, then she would have to be patient and wait.

allah allah ya baba
wa salam ‘aleek ya bab
allah allah ya baba
wa salam ‘aleek ya bab
seedi mansour ya baba
wenjeek enzour ya baba

hey hey hey

ash-had bellah ya baba
ma’shegt sewaah ya baba
ash-had bellah
ma’shegt sewaah ya baba
seedi mansoour ya baba
wenjeek enzour ya baba

allah allah ya baba
we salam ‘aleek ya baba
allah allah ya baba
we salam aleek ya baba
sidi mansour ya baba
wenjeek enzour ya baba

hey hey hey

we ka’eel el ‘een ya baba
’elw el khadeen ya baba

The song ended and Elizabeth started to move forward, thinking that David might be able to see her now that the dance seemed to be over. She soon realized that she couldn’t have been more wrong. At that moment, two men holding what appeared to be drums maneuvered their way through the crowd and onto the stage. The band began to play another song along with the drummers. Elizabeth stood near enough to David to hear him yell, “Yalla, debki!”

She then saw Nasser, who had been videotaping the newlyweds’ dance, hand the video camera to his uncle Hamid and sprint towards David. Nasser took his older brother’s hand while Omar moved away from Elizabeth and towards his co-worker. Joseph, Omar and several other men that Elizabeth did not recognize lined up next to each other, also holding each other’s hands. David took out a red handkerchief and started twirling it in the air with his right hand while he led the others in what appeared to be a traditional dance based on specific footsteps. The men danced in a circle around the bride and groom who occupied themselves by watching their relatives and friends dance while cheering them on by clapping along to the music. A large crowd of people continued to stand in a circle around the dancers, clapping and shouting to their heart’s delight.

Elizabeth’s eyes moved about the room as she observed the various reactions to the dance. An involuntary glance showed Leah staring at the dancers with a greedy gleam in her eye. She turned towards Katie and shouted,

“Oh my God! There are so many hot guys here!”

“I know!” Katie squealed her response.

“I can’t wait to start dancing!”

“Me neither!”

Leah then turned towards Elizabeth and gave her a knowing look, “Liz, I’m so jealous! Your boyfriend is the hottest guy here. He has the best moves too. You think you can let me borrow him for just one dance? I promise, I’ll be on my best behavior…I hope he’ll forgive me for supporting that loser, George Wickman.”

Elizabeth wished she could disappear and sank into her seat as the thought of Leah and Katie humiliating her overwhelmed her. She soon realized that Leah was gazing at her expectantly and frowned.

“No, you can’t borrow him for a dance. In fact, I don’t think you should bother dancing, because you don’t know how to dance to this kind of music. We are all out of our league here.”

Leah rolled her eyes, “Oh please. You might be out of your league, Liz, but I’m not. I can dance just as well as the other girls here and I’ll prove it when the next song comes on.”

Elizabeth knew she had to ignore her sisters and find something to distract her from her strong sense of dread. She turned her eyes back towards the dance floor to find David leading the men into a dance that was similar to the previous one, but faster and involving kicks and hops interspersed with more intricate steps. Elizabeth admired David’s fancy footwork, deciding that the skillfulness of his dancing and the undeniable joy displayed across his strong, masculine features made him more attractive than ever before. Elizabeth realized, however, that she wasn’t the only one to think so. When the dance ended and the band moved on to a new song, the maid of honor and several other women swarmed towards David.

David looked a little tired and he had started to move away from the dance floor, but the maid of honor whispered into his ear, causing him to follow her back to the dance floor. As she watched him start dancing with the maid of honor, Elizabeth felt herself growing worried yet again. The dance floor was packed, so the maid of honor had an excuse to dance close to David in a provocative manner.

Elizabeth started to feel a slight pang of jealousy as she witnessed beautiful women seeking her boyfriend’s attention and being rewarded for their efforts. She then stopped herself from getting carried away with envy by forcing herself to be rational. She remembered that she was the only woman to have ever seen David cry and, thus, must have been far more special to him than the women surrounding him now. It did not signify how beautiful those women were and how well they danced, because David’s trust and perhaps his heart as well belonged only to her. Elizabeth’s positive reflections and her good mood took a sharp downturn when she once again heard Leah’s squeals.

“Oh my God, that is so sexy! I want to dance like that!” Leah exclaimed as she watched the maid of honor lean her body all the way back as though she was playing limbo while still shaking her hips to the music.

Leah and Katie approached the dance floor and started bumping and grinding, trying to be sexy and imitate the Arabic style of dancing, but failing miserably. Their movements were over the top and out of sync with the music. Elizabeth turned crimson as she watched her sisters make utter fools of their selves. She pointed the disaster out to Jennifer who frowned at her sisters’ shameless behavior. Elizabeth stood up and stomped towards them with Jennifer trailing behind her. She intended to force her sisters to end their ridiculous behavior before her entire family was laughed at and tossed out of the reception.

Fortunately, relief came from an unexpected source. David’s sister, Sabreen, approached the girls before Elizabeth had the chance to make her move. Sabreen offered to teach them to dance, pointing out that their current style of dancing was more fitting for hip hop rather than Arabic music. The girls provided their assent with great eagerness and Sabreen encouraged Elizabeth and Jennifer to join her and their sisters outside for a brief dancing lesson. It was much quieter outside, but the music was loud enough that they could still hear it and dance to it. Sabreen started the lesson after Elizabeth introduced her to her younger sisters.

“The most important thing is that you relax and don’t try too hard, okay. Listen to the music and let the rhythm guide you. It’s actually pretty easy once you stop thinking about it and let loose. The first and easiest dance you can do is to move from side to side, stepping on you right foot and then your left while you move your arms from side to side and occasionally twirl your hands. You can vary it by taking a few steps forward and then a few steps back. You can make a turn too, if you like. That’s really all you have to do.”

She encouraged the girls to dance with her. Elizabeth hesitated, but Sabreen smiled at her and urged her not to be shy.

“Okay. This is nice, but I want to learn the sexy stuff. How do you all shake your hips like that?” Leah demanded.

Sabreen smiled, “Don’t worry, I will show you that too. Just follow me and listen for a good part, okay…Now, put your right foot out and step up on your toes like this. Then, lift your thigh up a little, thrust your right hip out, and then bring it back in. Then repeat those steps over and over again while you follow the beat. Go Up, out, in, up, out, in, again, up, out, in…While you do that, shake your shoulders a little bit, just like this.”

Elizabeth felt herself becoming more comfortable as she continued to watch Sabreen and follow her instructions. Leah, however, was not quite satisfied.

“What about when you lean all the way back like one of those belly-dancers? Can you teach me that?”

Sabreen shook her head, “I’m sorry, but that takes a lot of practice. I don’t recommend that you try that yet. Anyway, are you all ready to go back in and dance now?”

Leah and Katie shouted yes. Jennifer and Elizabeth only nodded. Elizabeth felt nervous as she followed Sabreen to the dance floor. Sabreen joined her sister Zahra, taking a moment to introduce her to Leah and Katie and then encouraging them to dance with each other. Elizabeth chose to dance in a simpler manner, stepping right and left, and then forward and back. Leah and Katie were more daring, but they managed to pull it off with Sabreen’s help. When the song finally ended, Elizabeth was surprised to find that she felt disappointed. She had enjoyed dancing with David’s sisters as well as her own sisters more than she thought she would. Though Elizabeth kept her feelings to herself, Leah was not as restrained.

“Oh no! It’s over all ready? I wanted to dance more!”

Sabreen giggled, “Don’t worry. There will be more dancing later. We’re just taking a break now so that the newlyweds can eat.”

Elizabeth was just as relieved to hear that as her sister and she found herself feeling grateful for Leah’s exuberance for once. She and her sisters bid Sabreen a temporary farewell, thanking her for teaching them to dance, and then walked back towards their table where they were greeted by a beaming Mrs. Benton and her smirking husband.

*The song used in this chapter was “Sidi Mansour” by Saber el Robai. You can find it on musicoflebanon.com. I also recommend listening to Dehkat al Donia by Fadl Shaker while reading this chapter. It’s also at musicoflebanon.com

**Debki is a traditional Arabic dance that is thought to have originated in Lebanon, but is also performed in Syria, Jordan, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Videos of debke and other styles of Arabic dancing can be found on youtube.

Chapter Thirty Two

“Oh Leah darling, you and your sisters looked so cute dancing like that!” Mrs. Benton shouted. Leah gave her a smug smile in response, while her sisters remained silent as well.

Elizabeth sat down and searched for David. She found him walking towards the table he was to share with his brother. She was pleased to discover her view of him was unobstructed, but he could not see her because the vase of roses on the table in front of hers blocked his view.

The bride, the groom, and the maid of honor sat down and began eating the appetizers. David, however, did not touch his food, choosing to light up a cigarette instead. While the other three ate and chatted with each other, David remained silent. He seemed too preoccupied to eat and talk. His eyes roamed about the room, but he frowned after failing to find the object of his search. His brother seemed to notice that he wasn’t eating and filled his plate with food. David smiled at Sa’id and started eating, apparently shrugging off his disappointment.

Elizabeth had been too absorbed in watching David to attend to the conversations occurring around her, but she managed to draw her eyes away from him after he started eating. She found her mother was urging her sisters to eat an appetizer that had been served while they were dancing. It was a falafel, which Elizabeth had heard of before, but had never tasted. She tried it in order to appease her mother and found that it was quite delicious.

She soon grew bored of her mother’s conversation and searched the rest of the table for amusement. Jennifer chatted with Chad while Richard and Samantha exchanged whispers. Omar had walked off to another part of the room. Leah and Katie were arguing over who was the better dancer while her father drank his soda and listened to the argument with a smirk on his face. Marianne was, therefore, left with the arduous task of humoring her mother.

Elizabeth’s eyes wandered back towards David. He was laughing at something his brother had said. A moment later, Nasser approached his brothers’ table with a video camera. The bride and groom smiled and waved to the camera, but David seemed less eager to be caught on tape. He covered his face with his hands. Sa’id laughed and nudged David’s shoulder. David put his hand down and smiled. Sa’id moved closer to him, putting one arm around David’s shoulder and the other one around Maryam’s shoulder. The maid of honor moved closer to Maryam and put her arm around her shoulder as well. Nasser set the video camera down and took a photograph of the four of them.

By the time the bride and groom had finished taking pictures, the live band had left the stage and was replaced with a disc jockey. When the music started up again, Sa’id and Maryam returned to the dance floor, with their best man and maid of honor following after them. Leah and Katie jumped up and sprinted to the dance floor as well. Elizabeth giggled at their enthusiasm. She smiled at Jennifer and gestured for her to join their sisters.
Elizabeth danced with ease and eagerness, allowing the music to guide her and feeling more assured of herself. She watched her sisters while she danced and couldn’t help but laugh at some of their antics. They were very into the song and performed the moves that David’s sister had thought them with much flourish.
“Hey Liz, look at me! I can shake my hips like Shakira!” Leah shouted, causing Elizabeth to fall into a fit of giggles.
“Leah, you are shameless!” Jennifer teased.
“Why isn’t Chad dancing with you?” Katie asked.
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders, “He claims to be terrible at dancing to Arabic music.”
Elizabeth spotted Sabreen and Zahra dancing nearby. She gestured for her sisters to move towards them. David’s sisters greeted them and expressed their pleasure at seeing them enjoying the dancing.
Zahra smiled, “You girls are fast learners!”
“Thanks!” Katie replied.
A few moments later, Nasser approached the girls with the video camera in his hand. Elizabeth decided to ignore the fact that she was being filmed and kept dancing. Leah and Katie mugged for the camera, but Zahra’s reaction was the exact opposite. She turned crimson and attempted to move away. Nasser laughed and focused the camera on his younger sister in defiance.
“Come on Zahra! Don’t be shy. Keep dancing!”
Zahra shook her head, still blushing and putting her hands over her face. Sabreen seemed annoyed with Nasser’s insensitivity and interfered.
“Nasser, stop it.”
“What? I’m just teasing!”
Sabreen responded with a warning look. Nasser sighed and turned the camera off. He then turned towards Elizabeth as though he had just noticed her.
“Hey Liz, there you are! I think my brother has been looking for you… what’s your table number?”
“Twenty four” Elizabeth shouted.
Nasser frowned, “You’re all the way over there?” he asked as he pointed toward the upper right corner of the hall. Elizabeth nodded.
“No wonder Khalil couldn’t find you!” he answered with a laugh.
“Nas, are you going to dance with us?” Sabreen asked.
Nasser shook his head, “No, I have to get back to filming. I’ll see you girls later” he replied and walked away.
When the song ended, Elizabeth was disappointed to learn that David’s sisters did not intend to continue dancing. Sabreen explained that she and Zahra wanted to spend some time chatting with her cousins, many of whom she had not seen in years for they lived in Europe. Elizabeth understood and smiled, but she was not as eager to continue dancing. She still felt a little embarrassed about Leah’s and Katie’s forwardness and worried that dancing next to them without the presence of David’s sisters would make her look bad. She told Jennifer she wanted to take a break. Jennifer smiled and followed her back to their table.
Elizabeth sat down and once again searched the room for David. It did not take long for her to spot him. He was standing near his table with yet another cigarette held between his fingers and looking around the room with a frown on his handsome face. He took a few steps forward, continuing to glance at each table with searching eyes. A few women tried to beseech him to dance, but he shook his head and kept walking. Realizing that he was moving in her direction, Elizabeth grew nervous. She lowered her head for a moment, but lifted it again upon hearing her mother call her name.
"Liz, dear, can you pass me the coke please?"

Elizabeth gave her the coca-cola bottle. As she glanced at her mother, she noticed David standing a few feet behind her. His eyes made contact with hers, causing her to blush. He was not as embarrassed, however. He smiled at her and walked towards her table, but before he reached it a short middle-aged woman wearing a headscarf grabbed his attention. They stood near enough to her table that Elizabeth could see David's facial expressions and hear his conversation. She could not understand him, however, because he spoke in Arabic.

He spoke to the woman for a few moments, and then bid her farewell with a quick kiss on the cheek. Elizabeth watched his interactions with a smile. He was so sweet and polite. When she thought he could not be anymore adorable, he always managed to prove her wrong. Elizabeth had become swept up in her thoughts, and therefore, did not notice David standing before her table until after Richard greeted him.

"Eh ya ahleen. Chad and I started to think that you forgot us." Richard yelled. *

David chuckled, "Hey guys. How's it going?"

The men stood up and shook hands with David, congratulating him for getting his brother married and teasing him about when his turn would come. David blushed and changed the subject by greeting the Benton family.

“How are you? How did you all like the food?”

"Oh! It was so delicious. I can’t believe those were only appetizers. I can’t wait to try the main course!" Mrs. Benton enthused, causing David to grin.

“You’re not tired from all that dancing?” Jennifer asked.

David smirked, “Of course not. The party’s just getting started.”

Chad turned to his fiancé, “These guys will party all night, dear. Won’t you Dave?”

David laughed, “Yeah, I’m not getting any sleep tonight!”

Elizabeth noticed David had stepped closer to her while he spoke with the others. She tried not to look too embarrassed as he stood before her and greeted him with a smile.

“Hi David. Congratulations!”

David stared at her for a moment, “Thank you. Are you having a good time?”

Elizabeth nodded. David took a step towards her and leaned into her ear, “You look beautiful” he whispered. Elizabeth lowered her eyes and flushed with both embarrassment and excitement. When she summoned enough courage to raise her eyes, she found that David was staring at her. She looked away and saw that her dad seemed to be preparing to talk to David. He cleared his throat, but before Mr. Benton could express his thoughts David took Elizabeth’s hand.

“Dance with me” he said as he pulled her towards the dance floor. Elizabeth had no choice, but to obey him. She was caught off guard by his willingness to single her out in so obvious a manner while amongst his relatives. She was also a little annoyed at his arrogance, but he looked so happy and excited when a new song came on that she didn’t have the heart to argue with him. The song must have been a popular one, for the dance floor became extra crowded and Elizabeth saw people who had not participated yet getting up to dance as soon as this new song started.

Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, you are the glow in my eyes
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination
A’ashek bakali sneen wala ghayrak bibali
I adored you for years. No one else is in my mind

Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, you are the glow in my eyes
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination
A’ashek bakali sneen wala ghayrak bibali
I adored you for years. No one else is in my mind

David sang along with the music as he danced with her. He then grinned and leaned towards her, “I can’t sing to save my life, but I don’t care, because I’m so happy for my brother” he explained into her ear.

Despite his self-deprecation, Elizabeth found herself captured by his voice and the enthusiastic manner of his singing. His bright, heartfelt smiles infused his handsome face and enhanced the beauty of his hazel eyes, making it impossible for Elizabeth to take her eyes off of him. Though she was surrounded by other dancers who also sang the song, David’s voice stood out for her and he alone held a tight grip on her attention. He stared at her in return, seeming both surprised and pleased by her ability to dance to Arabic music.

Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, you are the glow in my eyes
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination.
A’ashek bakali sneen wala ghayrak bibali
I adored you for years. No one else is in my mind

Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, you are the glow in my eyes
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination
A’ashek bakali sneen wala ghayrak bibali
I adored you for years. No one else is in my mind

Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain, aah
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eyes
Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eyes

Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain, aah
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eyes
Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eyes
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination

Elizabeth had lost herself in the music, enjoying the sultry vibe of the song. However, she longed to know the meaning of the words, especially since David was singing them to her.

“I wish I could understand the lyrics.”

“Habibi ya nour al ain means my darling, you are the glow in my eyes” David answered with an earnest gaze. Elizabeth was too embarrassed to offer anything other than a sigh and a blush in response.

Agmal a’ouyoun filkone ana shiftaha ...
The most beautiful eyes I ever saw in this universe
Allah a’alake allah a’la sihraha
God be with you ... what magic eyes
Agmal a’ouyoun filkone ana shiftaha ...
The most beautiful eyes I ever saw in this universe
Allah a’alake allah a’la sihraha
God be with you ... what magic eyes

A’oyonak maa’aya ...
Your eyes are with me ...
A’oyonak kifaya ...
That is enough ...
A’oyonak maa’aya ...
Your eyes are with me ...
A’oyonak kifaya ...
That is enough ...
Tinawar layali
They light the nights.

Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain,
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye
Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination

Habibi ya nour al ain
My darling, you are the glow in my eyes
Ya sakin khayali
You live in my imagination.
A’ashek bakali sneen wala ghayrak bibali
I adored you for years. No one else is in my mind

David grinned with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He grabbed her arms, pulled her closer and, with his eyes fixed upon her, twirled her around. Elizabeth stared up at him with widened eyes and giggled at his smug expression. She knew his relatives were gawking at the two of them, but she didn’t care. She also noticed Nasser was videotaping her dance with David, but she ignored him and his camera. She was too delighted by the sensation of David’s touch, too excited by his nearness, and too intoxicated by the appealing scent of his cologne to worry about his family’s opinions. She was lost in the beauty of the moment, and gazed at him with transparent affection. He must have been lost as well, because he laughed and twirled her again. When the next verse began, David released her from his grasp, but he stayed close to her and resumed his serenading.

Kalbak nadani wkal bithibini
Your heart called me and told me you love me
Allah a’alake allah
God be with you
Tamentini
You reassured me.
Kalbak nadani wkal bithibini
Your heart called me and told me you love me
Allah a’alake allah
God be with you
Tamentini
You reassured me.

Maa’ak elbidaya ...
You have the beginning ...
Wkoul elhikaya ...
And all the story ...
Maa’ak elbidaya ...
You have the beginning ...
Wkoul elhikaya ...
And all the story ...
Maa’ak lilnihaya
I will be with you to the end.

Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain, Aah
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye
Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour al ain, aah
My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye
Aah ... Habibi ... Habibi ... aah ah ...
my darling ... my darling ...

Elizabeth’s heart sunk a little after the song ended. She felt awkward, noticing many prying eyes were upon her. David stepped back from her and she gained the irrational fear he would drift away. David glanced around the room and frowned.

He took Elizabeth’s hand and drew her towards him. “Do you want to go outside?”

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, delighted to see her fears vanquished and excited about the chance to be with him in a more private setting. He led her out the hall and around the building, to the parking lot in the back. Elizabeth swept her eyes across the lot and confirmed that it was secluded.

David wasted no time in achieving his desire. He kissed her with a heartfelt passion she had never received before. Somehow, Elizabeth ended up leaning against the wall of the building while David traced soft kisses along her face and down her neck. He stopped his ministrations after a while and leaned his arms against the wall. Elizabeth saw he was just as flushed and short of breath as she.

He gazed into her eyes and whispered, “I missed you, Princess.”

Elizabeth smiled, “I missed you too.”

“I wish Maryam’s mom hadn’t assigned your family to that corner. I hope you don’t mind being there. She didn’t mean any offense, she just figured since you weren’t family, it made sense to put you all there. It took me forever to find you.”

“That’s okay. I’m not offended and my family wasn’t offended either. Besides, you did manage to find me in the end” she replied with a sweet smile.

“You look stunning tonight. Did I tell you that yet?”

Elizabeth giggled, “Yes you did, but I don’t mind hearing you say it again.”

David grinned and kissed her forehead. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her neck and nuzzled it with his nose, and then whispered that she was the most beautiful woman at the reception. Elizabeth sighed and responded by placing her hands on his head and playing with his dark wavy hair. He pulled back a moment later and frowned.

“We should go back inside now. People will notice my absence, and someone will come out here to look for me.”

Elizabeth pouted, “Okay, but can I have another kiss first?”

David laughed. “Sure, but remember you asked for it” he replied with a sly grin. He kissed the tip of her nose; taking her by surprise and making her giggle like a little girl.

He smiled and held out his hand to her. She took it and they walked back inside. Elizabeth saw that dinner had been served and thought she and David would have to go their separate ways again. David, however, did not let go of her hand as she had expected. Instead, he led her towards the dance floor, where a significant crowd of people were still dancing. Elizabeth was surprised but not at all displeased by this turn of events.
Ma feesh haga tiggi kidah, Ihda habibi kida, wirjaa' zayyi zamaan.
Ya ibni ismaa'ni, ha itdalaa'ni, takhod a'aini Kaman.
There is no thing that comes this way. Be quiet my darling and return to the way you used to be in the old days. Oh my son hear me. You will coddle me, and take my eye too.
Ma feesh haga tiggi kidah, Ihda habibi kida, wirjaa' zayyi zamaan.
Ya ibni ismaa'ni, ha itdalaa'ni, takhod a'aini Kaman.
Habibi araab bossi, iw bossi, boss. Zaa'laan, iza'al. Iza'al nossi noss. Lahsan ha iba'aid, Aba'aid Aah we noss we ahsib inta akeid khasraan.
My darling get close look and look, look. You are mad, get mad. Get mad half, half. It is better otherwise I will be far away, yes be far away and a half and consider you for sure a loser.
Habibi araab bossi, iw bossi, boss. Zaa'laan, iza'al. Iza'al nossi noss. Lahsan ha iba'aid, Aba'aid Aah we noss we ahsib inta akeid khasraan.
David let her hand go and started dancing as soon as he made it to the middle of the dance floor. Elizabeth knew their presence had stirred a commotion, causing several people to pause and watch her and David rather than continue dancing. She also spotted Ali for the first time that evening. He and Sabreen stood next to each other, gazing at their oldest brother with frowns on their faces and exchanging whispers. Zahra stood near them, looking at her brother with a smile that expressed both affection and wonder. Nasser was on the other side of the room, going from table to table with his video camera in tow. Elizabeth was disappointed she couldn’t find David’s uncle, since she had hoped to find comfort in his smile of approval.

Elizabeth glanced back at David and was relieved to find him inattentive to anything but her. She figured he must be well aware his actions would trigger gossip and disapproval within his family. If he didn’t mind the stares and rumors, then she had no reason to worry. She, therefore, stopped thinking upon that subject and danced to her heart’s content.

After the song ended, Elizabeth told David that she was hungry. He nodded and said he would see her again after dinner. She approached her table with a nervous frown, wondering what her parents would say about her interactions with David. To her surprise, her mother greeted her with a warm smile.

“Liz, dear, you must be starving. The kebabs are delicious. There are three types of grilled meat: ground beef, steak, and chicken. They are all wonderful and you must try all three. Here, darling, let me fill your plate” she said as she took her plate and filled it with a large spoonful of rice and three skewers of kebab.

Elizabeth thanked her mother, realizing she really was starving and ate with speed and enthusiasm. Jennifer complemented her on her dancing, declaring with a knowing smile that she and David looked very happy together. Elizabeth blushed and changed the subject by asking after Leah and Katie. Her mother answered that they had eaten dinner all ready and had gone back to dancing.

When Elizabeth looked up from her food, she noticed her father eyeing her with a serious demeanor. She became uncomfortable and shifted her gaze towards the front of the room. She saw David eating and chatting with the smiling groom. After dinner, the newlyweds stood up and starting walking from table to table, greeting each of the attendants and receiving their congratulations. They reached Elizabeth’s table a few minutes later and greeted everyone with a smile.

They approached Richard and Samantha first, accepting their congratulations and chatting with them for a few moments. They went down the line, talking to Omar, then Chad and Jennifer, and then standing before Elizabeth’s father.

Mr. Benton stood up and shook the groom’s hand, giving him and his bride a polite congratulation. Sa’id and Maryam responded with graciousness. Mrs. Benton also congratulated them, handing them an envelope containing money as their gift and complementing them on the excellent catering. Maryam thanked her and Sa’id mentioned how glad he was to find that Mrs. Benton and her family were enjoying themselves.

When Sa’id approached Elizabeth, she smiled and gave him a hug. He broke into a wide grin, thanking her, apologizing for having been too busy to spend time with her, and then adding his wish that he would be able to make up for that lost time in the near future. Elizabeth blushed, understanding his hint and feeling a bit annoyed at David for his obviousness. She pushed those thoughts aside, however, and addressed Maryam. She hugged her as well and told her she was lucky to be married to such a nice guy. Maryam smiled, thanking her for the complement and assuring her she was very appreciative of her good fortune. The bride and groom then moved on to the next table and Elizabeth resumed eating.

David kept his promise to go to her after dinner and they spent the next hour dancing. During a short break taken to eat the wedding cake, Jennifer approached Elizabeth with the bad news that their family was ready to leave. Elizabeth pouted, unwilling to separate from David, but knowing that it was quite late and her family was tired. She nodded and followed her sister towards their table. She grabbed her purse and jacket and walked towards the exit, but the sudden presence of a hand on her arm stopped her from leaving.

She turned around to find David frowning at her. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes, I have to go. My parents are tired and we have a long drive ahead of us…I had a wonderful time.”

David pouted, “You can’t go yet. It’s only one o’clock!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have a choice. My family wants to leave.”

“So let them leave. You can stay behind. I’ll drive you home.”

“Are you sure you can do that? What about your siblings?”

“They can carpool with each other. It’s no problem. Trust me.”

Elizabeth gazed at him for a moment. He looked so unhappy at the prospect of seeing her leave that she couldn’t refuse him. She glanced back at her family, who were waiting for her impatiently.

She walked towards her father, “Dad, you can go, but I want to stay longer. David has offered to drive me home. I hope you don’t mind.”

Mr. Benton frowned and scrutinized David. His wife, however, was less resistant to the idea. She smiled at Elizabeth and declared, “Well, of course you can stay, my dear. I’m sure your father doesn’t mind at all, do you Max?”

Mr. Benton knew he had been defeated and submitted to his wife’s machinations. Mrs. Benton had never been one to deny her daughters of such an advantageous opportunity, when a potential marriage was on the line. Her previous reservations against her second daughter’s boyfriend now appeared to have been forgotten.

Elizabeth blushed as she heard her mother exclaim to her husband as they walked across the lobby, “Such a charming young man! So tall and so handsome! And so important too! Sheila says he’s a famous photographer in the Middle East. Yes, Maxwell, I think Lizzy is doing very well for herself. I’m sure the religion thing won’t be a problem. I know a devout Muslim would never dance like that. They said so on t.v.”

She turned towards David, who was gazing at her with a wry smile. “I’m starting to like your mother a lot more. She has the right idea” he said with a laugh.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his teasing and followed him out of the lobby and back inside the hall. She danced with him until they were both very tired. He joined her at her table and they chatted about various subjects. He gave her a full and detailed account of the marriage ceremony. She told him about his sister’s impromptu dance lesson, which seemed to surprise him more than Elizabeth had expected.

David took her around the room and introduced her to many of his relatives. Surprisingly, all of them were polite and a few cousins greeted her with warmth. It appeared David held enough sway over his family members that none of them dared to be rude to her in his presence, but she knew many of them snickered about her behind his back. She continued to earn stares and even a few glares throughout the night, but she refused to allow that to bother her. She sensed David was not oblivious to the situation, but he persisted in pretending to be ignorant.

Elizabeth was, therefore, pleased to have the opportunity to speak alone with Zahra for a few moments. David had gone outside to smoke and chat with his male cousins, leaving Elizabeth and Zahra to talk to each other. Elizabeth found Zahra to be a very shy, yet very sweet girl. She spoke of her siblings with great affection, but it was clear she held a special regard for David.

She explained how she and Nasser had looked up to David as a father, rather than an older brother, when they were little. Zahra and Nasser were still babies when their mother and father passed away, so David was the only parent they had while growing up. This discussion made it clear to Elizabeth that both Zahra and Nasser held their oldest brother in such high esteem that they thought him invincible and unable to err in judgment. This revelation gave Elizabeth much needed comfort, for she realized Nasser and Zahra approved of her, because they knew David cared for her and David was never wrong. It was good to know she had some support within his immediate family for she sensed Ali was still dead-set against the match and Sabreen appeared to have some reservations as well, despite her friendliness earlier.

Elizabeth’s thoughts were interrupted when David asked her to dance once again. The reception went on until the early hours of the morning. With the exceptions of Elizabeth and Maryam, David and his siblings were the only attendants remaining by the end. At five o’clock in the morning, Sabreen announced she was leaving with Ali, Nasser, and Zahra. The four siblings gave their newly married brother fierce hugs, wishing him well, and declaring they would miss him. It was a touching moment and both Sabreen and Zahra had tears in their eyes as they bid Sa’id farewell.

David and Elizabeth stayed with Sa’id and Maryam for a few minutes longer. Despite his brother’s insistence that he was tired and they should call it a night, David appeared quite unwilling to let him go. Elizabeth said goodbye first, hugging the newlyweds and wishing them happiness. David stood away from them and watched on with a somber expression. Sa’id approached his brother to say goodbye, but David remained solemn.

Sa’id looked confused and held his arm out to shake his brother’s hand. David, however, took his hand and pulled him into a fervent hug. He then embraced Maryam, kissing her on the cheek and admonishing her to be good to his brother.

Elizabeth and David walked to his car and drove to Elizabeth’s house in silence. Elizabeth was too tired to engage in conversation and David seemed to be in a reflective mood. When she arrived home, David left the car and followed Elizabeth to her door.

Elizabeth smiled, “I had an amazing time tonight. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome and thank you for coming…I had a great time too.”

Elizabeth could not come up with anything else to say. She, therefore, stared at him in silence. The sun had started to rise and the night was turning into a beautiful morning, creating the perfect background for David’s handsome figure. He became even more striking in the light of the early morning. The sun’s gentle rays brightened his dark hair and highlighted the green hue in his hazel eyes. He stood before her, tall and proud, wearing an earnest gaze that touched her heart. As she studied him, she realized she could not bear the thought of a future without him. She knew now what she had to do. She stepped up on her toes, held his chin in her hand, and kissed him. He closed his eyes and responded with passion. She pulled away from him after a while and found that his eyes were still closed, his face was flushed, and his breathing was slow and labored. He looked so vulnerable and so sweet that Elizabeth could not repress her feelings anymore.

“I love you, habibi” she blurted.

His reaction was endearing. He blinked, started, dropped his jaw, then shut it, then dropped his jaw again then put his hand over his mouth and blinked again.

“Eh…could you say that again…I can’t trust my own ears.”

Elizabeth giggled, “I said I love you, habibi.”

He stared at her in apparent disbelief and then began to roam his eyes across her face, as though he was searching for proof of her honesty. She grew uncomfortable under his intense gaze and attempted to lighten the atmosphere.

“How did that song go? Habibi…something, then something else…”

David grinned, “Habibi ya nour el ain.”

Elizabeth gave him a brief kiss, “Habibi, habibi, habibi ya nour al ain” she sang with a smile.

David bit his lip and lowered his head for a moment. He then looked up at her and broke into a grin that could only be described as violently delighted.

“Habibit albi” he said as he lifted her up and spun around, laughing with her as she giggled in surprise. He put her down and proceeded to plant kisses all over her face and neck. He then planted a fervent kiss on her lips. **

Elizabeth was saddened when he finally pulled away from her. Her disappointment soon turned into confusion, however, when he asked her a question that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Elizabeth, do you remember that scrap of paper I dropped in Beirut? Do you still have it?”

“Yes I do. It’s in my bedroom… will you tell me what it says? I remember you mentioned the words were the lyrics of a song.”

David smiled, “Yes, they are the lyrics of a song called Habbaitak Bissayf by Fairuz…I have known that song my whole life. My mother used to sing it when I was a child and it always made me sad. It is a bitter song about a girl who waits for her lover who had promised her that he would come back, but he never does and she withers away in heartbreak…I heard this song on the radio one day while you were in Beirut and all of a sudden it didn’t feel so depressing to me anymore. As I listened to the chorus, it struck me that the lyrics were a perfect description of how I feel about you. I wrote the words down and I wanted to say them to you in Beirut, hoping that you would give me another chance if you knew how I felt, but…but then…”

“But then you got Ali’s letter and had to leave.”

David sighed, “Yes and after that I did not want to share this with you anymore, because I…I was worried that…”

“You thought I was angry at you. You thought I would blame you for what happened to your brother. You told me that over the phone.”

“Yes, you’re right…you have a good memory.”

“Are you ready to share now?”

David smiled, held her hands, and gazed into her eyes. “Elizabeth, I have loved you in summertime, I have loved you in winter, I awaited you in summertime, I awaited you in winter, your eyes are summer, my eyes are winter, and our rendezvous my love is beyond summer and beyond winter.” ***

Elizabeth’s throat tightened into a knot and tears welled in her eyes as he spoke. She had never heard anything so beautiful in her life. Her emotions overwhelmed her so much that she felt dizzy and weak. Fearing she was about to faint, she realized she needed David to hold her. She released her hands from his grip and wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest. He enfolded her in his arms as she let her tears flow for several minutes. When at last she had recollected herself, Elizabeth drew herself out of David’s arms.

“I love you so much” she whispered. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she told him she would call him soon and bid him a good night.

*Ya ahleen- a sarcastic way of saying hello.

**Habibit albi- my love

***These lyrics were written in Arabic by the Rahbani brothers.
****The first song used in this chapter was “Nour El Ain” by Amr Diab. The second song was “Ah Wa Noss” by Nancy Ajram. I also recommend “Allah Aleik Ya Sidi” by Ehab Toufic.

Chapter Thirty Three

Elizabeth failed to realize how exhausted she was until she flopped onto her bed and felt every single one of her muscles aching. She had danced too much and the effect of physical exertion throughout the night followed by the attainment of exquisite bliss in the early morning proved to be more potent than she could have known. She fell fast asleep as soon as she shut her eyes.

Elizabeth later awoke with a rush of giddy joy as her mind recalled the events of the early morning. Overcome with an intense excitement she had never felt before, she found herself feeling silly enough to hug her pillow. Before she had the chance to embarrass herself further, however, she heard her mother’s voice coming from downstairs. She hopped off her bed and walked towards the stairs wondering what her mother was up to and deciding to stop by the kitchen to have lunch, since it was all ready too late for breakfast. As she entered the kitchen, Elizabeth was greeted by the sight of a large bouquet of beautiful lavender roses resting on the kitchen table. Her mother beamed at her and explained,

“Good afternoon, dear. These roses are for you, you know! Aren’t they just the loveliest flowers you’ve ever seen?” Mrs. Benton asked with a knowing wink.

Elizabeth blushed and nodded at her mother, who continued to wear a most triumphant grin. Elizabeth moved forward with great anticipation and read the card accompanying the bouquet with eagerness.

She dismissed her growling stomach and sprinted from the kitchen and back up to her bedroom with blushing cheeks and a wide grin. She picked up her cell phone and called David right away.

“Hi Princess.”

Elizabeth giggled, “Thank you so much for the roses! They are beautiful. How on Earth did you know lavender was my favorite color?”

“I guessed…at your birthday party last year, everything was decorated with lavender, so I figured you must like that color…Anyway, I want to take you out to dinner tonight.”

Elizabeth grinned, “Okay. Where and when?”

“I don’t know where…you know Los Angeles better than I do, so maybe you should decide. I want to go somewhere nice though. Not some stupid diner that serves hamburgers and fries and other junk like that.”

Elizabeth laughed at David’s fastidiousness, “But I like diners! I’d much rather go to a hole in the wall that serves comfort food than have dinner at one of those over-expensive, fancy restaurants where you have to get all dressed up and everyone from the customers to the head chef to even the waiters are full of themselves.”

David laughed, “Oh, but there has to be something in the middle. Somewhere that’s nice and has good food, but is not too pretentious. Do you know any restaurants like that?”

“Well, I can’t think of one off the top of my head, but I’ll figure something out and give you the directions tonight. What time do you want to meet?”

“Eight p.m. would be good if that’s okay with you.”

“Sounds great! I’ll see you tonight…habibi,” she ended with a giggle.

“See you soon, Princess,” David responded with a slight chuckle.

That evening, David made his arrival known with a knock on the door right at eight o’clock. Elizabeth greeted him with an enthusiastic smile and a passionate kiss, causing him to blush ever so slightly. She let him know that she had a nice seafood restaurant that had long been a favorite of hers in mind for their dinner and David agreed to her request with a delighted smile.

Elizabeth found herself feeling nervous as she sat down in David’s car. After opening her heart to him only a few hours earlier, she thought it difficult to determine what more to say. David must have felt uneasy as well for he drove the entire way to the restaurant without saying a word. He did give her a most heartwarming smile on occasion, however, proving to Elizabeth that he was not at all displeased with her company. After reaching the restaurant and sitting down at their table, David was finally able to break the silence.

“This is nice. Thank you for suggesting it.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you are not disappointed.”

He went on to ask her what particular dish was good there, causing Elizabeth to rave about the baked trout, which David did not hesitate to order. For herself, Elizabeth opted for the grilled salmon. She wanted to talk as they waited for their orders to arrive, but her frustration grew as she could not find the right words to say to the man she loved.

While she sat in silence, David stared at her with a frown straining his handsome features. Soon, his concern seemed to become significant enough to make him speak, which only made Elizabeth feel even more irritated with her own behavior.

“Is something wrong? Are you not comfortable? You are very quiet.”

Elizabeth forced herself to smile, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing wrong and I am comfortable...but, for some strange reason that I can’t figure out, I find myself speechless tonight.”

“Maybe you are still tired from last night. I know you go to bed early and last night you did not sleep at all so…that must have been hard for you to adjust to” as he spoke, David’s expression changed from nervous confusion to deepening remorse. He bit his lip and lowered his eyes, staring at the table instead of looking into her eyes.

“I’m sorry I made you stay so late…It was very selfish of me…I should have considered that you would get tired and should have let you leave when you wanted to, but instead I forced you to stay and leave your family behind.”

Elizabeth was caught off guard by his sudden change in mood, but she responded with great energy, “You shouldn’t apologize about that. I didn’t want to leave yet and I wouldn’t have stayed if I did not want to. Besides, I had a wonderful time. You’re right that I feel very tired right now, but I don’t regret anything I did last night, because it was the happiest night of my life.”

David lifted his head and stared at her with widened eyes and reddened cheeks. Elizabeth found his surprised reaction whenever she declared her affection for him to be both endearing and yet depressing at the same time. It reminded her of how poorly she had treated him in the past.

Much to her surprise, David took her hand into his own and squeezed it while his eyes remained lowered. “Thank you” he whispered. David surprised her further by releasing her hand and staying silent. She had expected him to say more, but he seemed to be too overwhelmed to speak. She thought she might be able to help him break the ice between them and therefore said,

“You have been very quiet tonight as well. Of course, you’re almost always quiet so that does not bother me as much as it bothers you when I am quiet, but I do think that you seem more uneasy tonight than usual so now it’s my turn to ask you if there is something wrong and if you are not comfortable.”

David looked at her with a bemused smile, “There is nothing wrong, but I have to admit that I am not all that comfortable…” his smile disappeared as he bit his lip and forced his head away from hers as though he was hoping to hide. His dodge did not work, however, for she managed to see his deep blush anyway.

He stared at the floor beneath his chair as he said, “I had never been in love…before I met you…eh, I never thought I would be…and after I did fall in love…eh, as you know, things did not work out right away…so I thought that my love could never be returned…so, that eh…that is why I…I feel so eh… eh, overwhelmed is a decent word I guess… I feel so overwhelmed right now…and I feel like I don’t know what to do with myself… I am afraid that I might say something very silly…or eh I might get very carried away and eh ask something I should not ask yet so I thought it might be better if I say nothing at all” he ended with a whisper.

Elizabeth felt a lump forming in her throat as she listened to him struggle to utter his innermost feelings. It became clear to her that her rejection of him over a year ago had hurt him far more than she could have imagined. She knew he had liked her and she knew she had wounded his pride by rejecting him that day, but she had never conceived of the idea that he had all ready been in love with her way back then.

She realized now that she had been wrong to assume that his love for her developed while he met her again in Beirut, which was when she had first begun to experience a deeper understanding of and admiration for him. An overpowering sense of shame came over her as she realized what she had done by refusing to date him. She had broken his heart. A heart that was both fragile and precious. A heart that was also very kind and forgiving. The fact that he had not called her for several months afterwards no longer puzzled her. Indeed, it was amazing and, she acknowledged, a testament to his character, that he had called her at all.

Elizabeth held his hand with both of hers. She longed to kiss him senseless, but knew he disapproved of public displays of affection and, therefore, held herself back. Instead, she gave him the only response she could think of.

“David, I’m so sorry for hurting you. I wish I could take back everything I said that day. I wish I had known how wonderful you are and how much you cared for me back then. I didn’t know you had felt this way for so long, but I can’t blame you for not telling me sooner. After the awful way I treated you, I feel so grateful that you were generous enough to forgive me... I hope you understand now that I love you…and you don’t have to worry about being silly and you should not be afraid to be honest with me, because I love you so much and I could never bear to hurt you again.”

David stared at her in silence for what felt like ages. Elizabeth was starting to grow worried, but she was relieved when David cracked a slow but devastating smile. The moment, however, was broken by the arrival of their meals. They ate without speaking. Elizabeth was too lost in the swirl of her emotions to say anything else.

After a while, David looked up at her and appeared to be preparing to speak, but before his words could leave his tongue, his cell phone rang. He frowned and picked it up.

“I should take this. It’s my sister” he explained as he glanced at a concerned Elizabeth.

“Hello…Sabreen, I hope this is important, I am in the middle of having dinner….so? What do you want me to do? Drop everything and go back home…Okay then tell them to stop shouting at each other…eh! You have to make them listen to you…this is my fault! How is this all my fault? I can choose to be with whoever I want, thank you very much…No, I’m having dinner right now, I can’t leave…Ay Allah, you all can’t survive one hour without me? This is ridiculous…fine, fine, if it’s my fault, I’ll deal with it then…give the phone to Nasser, I’ll talk to him…hello, Nasser, what did you do now? What is this? I can’t leave the house for a few minutes without you and Ahmed getting into a shouting match… why would the two of you be arguing over her? It’s none of your business…oh, okay, he insulted her and you just had to take it upon yourself to defend her? Nasser, listen…listen to me, ignore him…let him say whatever he wants, I will deal with it when I get back…I know…he’s not an idiot, he doesn’t know any better…I’ll talk to him okay…you should stay out of this, your arguing with him isn’t going to help…but he won’t listen to you…yes I know, yes he is being ungrateful…hey! He’s still your brother, don’t talk about him like that…I don’t care what he said, that’s no excuse to curse at him…just leave him alone, all right? Don’t talk to him and he won’t bother you. I’ll take care of everything tomorrow, okay? Good. Listen, I don’t want to be interrupted by anymore phone calls, you understand? All right, good night.”

David hung up the phone and rolled his eyes. “I’m really sorry about that.”

Elizabeth had paled as she listened to David’s conversation with his youngest brother. She knew her relationship with David would cause problems within his family, but she had not expected those troubles to surface so soon after their brother’s wedding.

“Your brothers were arguing about your relationship with me, weren’t they?” she asked with her heart sinking from distress. She hated the idea of being a source of disruption in her beloved’s family. She feared that the cultural gap between them was too great and she would ultimately fail to convince his proud relatives to accept her and though she trusted David with her mind and with her heart, she worried about the stress and strain she would put him and his family through by remaining with him.

David gave her a concerned glance, “It will be all right, Princess. I’ll take care of it. My family will learn to accept you…they have no other choice.”

Elizabeth sighed as her reflections turned towards her own family, “I guess I can’t judge your brother for disapproving me. I fear I will have to fight the same battle with my dad…he didn’t seem very happy when I told him I wanted to stay behind last night. I think I will have to have a long, uncomfortable talk with him.”

David smiled, “Your mother is on my side though. I have to admit that is better than I expected. Besides, your father does not know me very well and he has not seen us together. I don’t blame him for being worried, but I think he will change his mind once you talk to him and also after he gets to know me better.”

“You’re determined to make everything perfect, aren’t you?” Elizabeth teased.

“Yes, but it is for your sake, Princess. Of course, I won’t let you have it any other way” David answered with a smug smile.

They spent the rest of their evening in quiet reflection. Elizabeth occupied herself with thoughts of what she could say to convince her father of David’s worth while David pondered dilemmas of his own. When she finished eating, David called for the bill. All too soon, it seemed their night together was destined to end. She felt saddened and could not bring herself out of her bad mood until David sat down next to her in his car and turned towards her.

He took her hand, brought it up towards his chin, and kissed it. She responded with a passionate kiss of her own, which she repeated after he drove her to her house and before she left his car. He walked her to her door and she kissed him again until he broke away from her.

“Elizabeth, I love you. I need to see you everyday or else I’ll miss you. Will you come visit me after your classes? I will leave you alone if you have to study, I promise.”

Elizabeth smiled, “Of course I’ll come. I can’t go a day without you.”

David kissed her again and bid her a reluctant farewell, adding that only the thought of seeing her again tomorrow made leaving her tonight bearable.

Elizabeth found herself stopping by David’s apartment every day after her classes ended as she had promised. His reaction to her appearance was consistent. He would smile his most heartwarming smile, his eyes would alight with joy, and his every expression would be infused with the strength of his happiness. She had never felt so treasured, not even by her father who had always singled her out as his favorite. Her love for David grew with each passing day even if she spent most of her time studying in the living room while he worked in his bedroom. Her presence in his apartment was enough to satisfy both of them and Elizabeth was very pleased with their current arrangement.

His apartment was always quiet and peaceful. Sabreen and Ahmed worked during the day while Nasser had errands to run or friends to hang out with and Zahra went to school. Only David and his uncle remained at home and his uncle’s presence added to her enjoyment rather than taking away from it. Hamid was as gentle and kind an uncle as she had hoped for and he shared in his nephew’s conversations with great cheer. He was, however, more often napping in his room than not so Elizabeth often had the ability to study for her classes without disruption.

David took an eager interest in Elizabeth’s studies and would ask her about her classes, wanting to know what books she was reading, what she thought of her professors, which case interested her the most, and so on. He would even volunteer to help her study by testing her knowledge of the course material. Elizabeth liked to make flashcards to help her memorize everything she needed to know and David would neglect his own duties in order to go through the flash cards with her.

When she was not studying, she would question him about his work. He showed her his website and let her read the articles that were written in English. She found them to be very educational, though she sometimes felt depressed after reading some of them, particularly those that covered the tragic events unfolding within Iraq and the Palestinian territories. Elizabeth expressed an interest in learning the history of David’s homeland and he recommended several web sites for her to explore. Unfortunately, he had no books to give her for he had not owned many books while in Lebanon and he had left behind the history books that he did have when he left the country. She would read the web sites and ask him questions, hoping he would touch upon his own past experiences in his answers, but her hopes were in vain. He would respond with brief, impersonal answers. His uncle was far more forthcoming than David, but his uncle could not tell her everything she wanted to learn for he had seen little of the Lebanese civil war, since he had moved to Detroit a year after it started.

Elizabeth also began to learn bits and pieces of Arabic. She bought a book and spent half an hour going over it with David each day. She found that she was unable to speak the language correctly for there were several sounds in Arabic that were not found in English or Spanish and since her vocal chords were all ready developed, she could not teach herself to pronounce those sounds as they were meant to sound. She was, however, better able to understand the language with each new lesson and she practiced as much as she could by listening to David and his uncle speak in their native tongue. David encouraged her for the most part, though he did laugh and tease her on occasion. She bore it all with patience, however, and retaliated by poking fun at his thick accent in the few instances when her patience ran out.

Several weeks passed by in this manner. Elizabeth had not heard another word of discord between David and his siblings since her first night out with David. She could not determine whether David had taken care of the problems as he had promised to or if perhaps this peaceful period was only the calm before the storm. Her own relatives spent little time dwelling on her burgeoning relationship. Leah and Katie were too busy with their usual preoccupation with clothes, boys, and booze to pay Elizabeth any attention. Jennifer and her mother were occupied with planning a wedding, Marianne was away at school, and Mr. Benton had appeared to have settled back into his routine of neglecting everything except for his books and newspapers. Thus, life went on as it always had for everyone else while Elizabeth experienced a joie de vivre that could not be confounded by real life dilemmas. At least, that is what she had thought at the time and she had no reason to doubt her assumptions until they were proven to be very wrong half a year later.

Joie de vivre- French for joy of life.

Continued In Next Section