After a while of thinking, I stood up tall and walked over
to the large and brown chair in the living room. My eyes
wandered the walls and Mike as he walked toward me. I looked
at him with amused curiosity wondering why would he be
coming. Mike came face to face with me. His eyes were slicing into mine as I leaned as close to him as I dared. My face turned red as blood as his mouth leaned closer to me ear and slithered back down my neck. My hands quivered, my heart sang and my eyes closed.
“I have a secret to tell you,” he said secretively.
“What is it….?”
“I …,” Then suddenly a loud yelling voice echoed
through our ears.
“Mike get over her your brothers’ on the phone!” Mike ran to
the back of the room mumbled a few words and approached me
back.
“I…,” Mike said again quickly looking sideways.
“Mikee really get over here he still needs to speak with you,”
Joseph hollered.
“IIIII…,” Mike said once more in a weary voice.
“MIKKKEEE!!!!!” His brother hollered louder once more.
“I…,” Then he let out a sigh as he clutched his fist
aggravatingly.
“Mikee…,” Monica said in disappointment not being able to
even finish her sentence.
“Look tomorrow I promise I’ll tell you,” he winked and walked
on quickly and disappeared around the corner of the living
room. I glanced back at the corner where Mike lastly
disappeared. I was locked in between disbelief and anger. I
planted my elbow on the table and propped my chin on my fist.
I blew out a sigh. At this rate I was never going to hear what he
wanted to tell me. I was stuck with a blank answer for now.

A ray of light shot through my window arousing me
from my sleep.
“Beep, Beep, Beep”
As soon as my alarm rang, I shot out of bed, quickly changed
my clothes and raced out to the living room. I wandered the
empty, bright red, living room quietly, overhearing my mom
speaking to Mike in the kitchen. What are they talking about?
Why is Mike here so early? I asked plotting myself in the large
brown leather sofa across of the kitchen door.
“Creak,”
I watched the door knob open with amused eyes and saw Mike
coming out. I glared at him my expression stiff with
skepticism.
“Hello,” he said with a voice that was amused and cheerful at
the same time plotting himself in the coach across of me.
“Hi…,” I couldn’t think of anything else to say until I
blurted…
“Mike, what’s the secret you said you’ll tell me today,”
Mike seemed oblivious.
“I’m curious,” I said as I dangled the string of my shirt around
my finger.
“I can’t tell you here! Tomorrow I promise...,”
My lips puckered in disappointment at the harshness in his
voice. “W-O-W,” I said to myself exaggerating the word into
three syllables. He has said the same excuse for 2 days already.
“Please...Mike,” I begged. “Give me some hints,”
¨NO. N-O NO”
“Well… ok, I’ve got one. It is something I like and you might
like too. It’s a yes or no question…,”
I felt my face warm up as I bite my lip shyly and stared directly
into his eyes. It was a moment of silence until he smiled and
finally said
“Ok deal.”
“Ok,” I said agreeing.
But, I was definitely not going to forget tomorrow

“Monica!” Mike called as soon as he got out of the car. I
turned toward him greeting him as his eyes flashed up to me
and smiled enthusiastically. As I entered his gray Mitsubishi
car out of nowhere my mother came racing through the black
lobby doors yelling
“Wait, wait you forgot the kids.”
“Ugghhhh,” I said to myself pretending to smile. Mike opened
the passenger door, holding it for me as I stepped in, shutting it
softly behind me. I watched amazingly as he walked around the
front of the car gracefully and calm. Once inside the car, Mike
started the engine and turned the AC on high. He pulled
through the traffic parking at the end of the empty dark street.
“Slam”
The passenger door opened and I watched my 2 sisters and his
brother all leave as Mike handed them a green piece of
paper labeled 20. Three smiles lit up on their 3 faces and they
raced to the store.
“Now,” he said significantly. “It’s your turn.”
My hands were folded in my lap, as I turned my head directly
to his direction. We were inclined toward each other in
awkward silence. I think he likes me, but, it’s so hard to tell.
Mike is always so…so cryptic. I intertwined my fingers and
gazed at him patiently. He looked at me, with his brown
playful eyes then turned his face towards the window.
“I… well… I was wondering if…like...you were interested in
being with me forever and being the mother of my children,” he
said softly pausing at his last word being said. “Will you marry
me?” Mike said peeking sideways at me with a hopeful
expression.
“…Yes,” I said curtly.
“I mean do you really agree?” he said as he glanced up from
underneath his eyelashes.
“Yes,” I said again blushing hoping he wouldn’t notice that
detail.
“I really, really do agree.”
Mike leaned weakly against the back of the brown leather seat
looking up with his brown eyes, seeking mine. I
suppressed a smile and he let out a laugh smiling back.
“Creak, Slam,”
The door opened as our siblings entered happily laughing
munching on yellow colored chips.
“What did you do?”I asked them invitingly.
“We got chips, ice-cream and candy!” my sister Nour said
jumping out of her seat with a large smile on her face.
“I got juice,” Bola said sipping to her orange juice box.
“What about you Hamoodi?” Mike asked questionable.
“Well, I got Dolce,” he said laughing swinging the small
packaged ice-cream Popsicle in his hand.
“Are you ready to go home?” Mike asked kindly.
“Yes, let’s go home.”

“So… what happened,” my mother asked smiling cheerfully."Nothing we went out. Got chips and came home. Nothing
new.”
She plotted herself on to the corner of my bed raising one
eyebrow as a smile lightened her face.
“Really?”
“Yes really. Good night mom.” I said weakly covering my face
with my blanket rolling to my side.
Her smile vanished, and her heavenly face became suddenly
serious.
“Monica Diane Meyer! If you don’t tell me what happened
right now I’m sending you out to New York”
“Ok... Ok fine.” I answered quickly.
Her smile returned.
“Mike asked for my hand in marriage”
“And…”
“And I said yes”
A moment of awkward silence began and she got up leaning
against the door finally replying …
“By the way the other day he asked me and I told him to ask
about your opinion. I’m glad you said yes. He is a very kind
boy,”
So that’s why he came in the morning the other day. He came
to ask my mom her opinion on marrying me.
“I know mom,” I replied.
“Good night oh… and Mido wants to tell you something.”
“Monica!” My cousin Mido and his wife Amal shouted.
“Congratulations! You mother told us the news. We hope you
guys continue with each other for a very long time,”
“Thanks,” I said cheerfully. They were the first two to
congratulate me.
She left the room shutting the door slowly behind her. The
lights shut as I slowly drifted off to sleep

“WHAT! Mike and Monica are getting engaged!!!” Aunt
Shaima blurted.
“Are you crazy? WHY…! What about my daughter!” Shaima
complained.
“Shaima we didn’t choose for this to happen. It just did god’s
Miracles,” My mother blurted out.
She looked down finding Shaima’s hands clenched in fists.
“You had this all planned.”
“No,” she said icily.
“How dare you not tell me and your stepsisters? Were your
family you shouldn’t have hid anything… OH… and Lola our
own sister betray us with you!” Shaima retorted leaning her
hand on the brown table in the center of the living room.
Disappointment flooded through my mother’s eyes as she
unerringly focused on the table.
“Shaima… I never hid anything. I swear and you’re the first
person I told.. When I told you I trusted you and thought you
would be happy as well.”
“NO, you and my sister Lola planned this whole thing before
you came to Egypt. I should have known that after 7 years of
not coming to Egypt you came here for a policy not because we missed you,”
“You know what I’m fed up with you Gigi and your sister
Lola,” Shaima said furiously grabbing her handbag and quickly
walking to the door holding the doorknob in her hand.
“Don’t think this is over… I will take revenge. I will poison
Mike and Monica once I get the chance,” Shaima said staring
directly into Gigi’s eyes grinning evilly.
“Good-Bye”
“Slam”
The door closed harshly behind her as Gigi walked slowly to
the couch in disbelief and began to dial her sister Lola’s phone
number.
I entered the room in silence as my mother waited for the line
to pick up, suddenly, her cell phone rang.
“You made an engagement party without us!”Soma my
mother’s sister yelled through the phone.
“How dare you call me a robber? I never robbed your money!”
Boshra yelled aggravatingly.
“Why didn’t you invite me? I am their grandmother. Why!!”
Grandma blurted.
“Guys listen to me none of this happened. Shaima´s lying, I
didn’t do a party Soma.”
“Gigi you’re my sister and sister’s don´t lie to each other.”
“Ohh and Boshra I never called you a robber. Your sister is
Lying!”
There was a moment of silence until the line shut. My mother’s
expression was stiff with skeptism. The revenge seemed to
begin sooner than we thought. I watched my mother call again
and try to calm them down and tell them the story but, it seems
to look like Aunt Shaima has got it all planned and they
weren’t willing to believe her story. All they said was okay and
hmm. Now, my mother’s side of the family was against us.
Now, they were our worst enemies.

At the end, nothing mattered to us except for the happiness
of Mike and I. We now knew who really did care about us and
who didn’t. We stood down the aisle inclined towards each
other. Then I gazed down at my white dress biting down on my
lip shyly. Mike squeezed my hand tightly, “I’m here.” Mike
moved his hands to my waist holding me tightly against him. It
was true he was here with me his arms around me. I could face
anything as long as he was with me. I entered the room silently
all eyes on me. My heart pumped to the rhythm of the piano. I
squared my shoulders and walked forward holding his hands
prepared to meet my fate, with my destiny solidly right next to me.