Much Ado in Tangier
A Short Story On Friendships in the Competitive World of Achievement
Much Ado in Tangier -Part 2-
CHAPTER THREE
“
“WHY DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD HIRE YOU?”
“Why not?” refrained Fatima inside the artificially heated room. The interview passed in a blur, and for an entertainment company, the recruiters' faces were a tad too serious, or maybe they didn’t get to have their morning cup of coffee yet. One of them was screening -what she assumed -her CV that she has spent 6 hours double-checking and putting on the final touches yesterday.
“What if it was already in the trash?”
Fatima was too deep inside her head that she didn’t see the girl who has just strutted her way inside the interview room. Desperate for peace of mind, she walked around the company of her dreams before she stopped at a coffee shop, LA GALLETE.
The bell chimed and she was inside the sweet ambiance of pastries, hot teapots, and coffees. She took a seat by the window, and she looked outside. Soon enough, just when she was about to make her order, a familiar voice squealed her name from the door:
“Fatima!”
“Hajar?!” she gasped, her eyes widening while she studied the young woman before her.
Hajar fixed her skirt from behind and made a careful jog towards her table.
“Are you wearing heels?! And God, a skirt too?” Fatima couldn’t believe her eyes.
“And you’re still in your sneakers” Hajar chuckled, taking a seat across her friend.
Fatima shrugged; “That is me. The girl with the sneakers”.
Hajar fidgeted to look behind her in the silence that followed. A girl with the waitress uniform gave her a thumbs-up sign. Her attention was soon summoned back to Fatima.
“It has been such a while! A year right? Tell me, what have you been up to?” Fatima beamed, eager to hear about how the girl who only knew to put on hoodies ended up wearing a skirt.
“Oh nothing much really” she laughed, “Uh- I went abroad to complete my BA in Physics, now I’m on a holiday with my fiancée”
“Fiancée?!” Fatima practically screamed.
Hajar affirmed with false confidence, mostly concerned about the droplets of sweat that were running down her spine. She knew this was a terrible idea, but as soon as she spotted Fatima from the glass window entering the shop, she lost her sense of reason, and what was supposed to be a reunion with her best friend has become a charade that rendered her oblivious to what was right from wrong. If it was not for Chaimae, her closest coworker at the coffee shop, she would have been exposed to her friend, a customer, and she, a waitress. So here she was, describing the life she wished for herself.
And what a tale it was!
“What about you?” Hajar attempted, with genuine curiosity, yet almost challenging.
“Well” she chuckled, the sound deafening the cheerful noise around them, enough to build an invisible wall through which she was suddenly seeing the girl before her, her best friend, who was getting already engaged.
“Here and there” she added, suddenly ashamed, averting her gaze to look at nothing in specific outside.
The mosque stood tall before her eyes, and the afternoon prayer suddenly resounded like the sign she needed not to spiral into the rabbit hole of utter despair, and the wince that almost knotted her stomach has metamorphosed into a hopeful, gleeful smile that ushered to her lips.
“That is not true” Hajar prompted… just when she was about to fire another question, she froze thinking she heard her name at the counter.
When Fatima’s order came, Omar, another waiter at the shop, gave Hajar a knowing sign that she decided to delay, for now.
“Why don’t you order something? My treat.” Fatima offered, cheerfully.
Omar’s snort escaped like a bad joke to which Fatima knit her eyebrows, hard, clearly not impressed.
“What is so funny?”
A chilly silence fell in, and as if on cue, Hajar’s phone began to ring. Now that she noticed, there have been about 20 messages from Chaimae alone,
‘Abort! Mission Abort!”
‘The old man saw you! He wants you NOW’
“What is wrong?” Fatima shook her out of her spinning thoughts.
Seeing Omar has left, Fatima sighed. “I was feeling generous with my tip but he ruined it, I cannot believe he was so rude. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Hajar?” she echoed.
As if pulled by a divine string, Hajar got up from her seat with a racing heart. “Sorry, uh- my fiancée wants me pronto. Oh and this-” She pointed to her plate, “is on me”
“No way!” Fatima protested, almost vexed at the sudden distance in her voice.
“Don’t worry about it! You can make it up to me later.”
Hajar ushered to put on her coat and practically began to jog to the counter when Fatima grabbed her arm from behind,
“Is everything okay?” she halted, fixing her with a stare laced with worry.
“Of course! Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?” Her imposter smile was piercing a hole inside her cheeks, creating fake dimples.
“Inshallah” nodded Fatima.
The girls exchanged quick air kisses before she was out of sight. On the other side of the counter, a short man in his 40s was standing, hands crossed against his chest, ‘waiting’ for Hajar who was back in her waitress attire.
Once the storm was over, a few hours later, Hajar’s shoulder slumped as she let her back hit a nearby wall with a soft thud. She hopefully shoved her cold hands inside her apron’s pockets, only big enough to fit her fingers, and had she curled them into fists, the cloth would be stretched enough to rip. She sighed.
She has been like this for the last 40 minutes.
“You have been like this for the last 40 minutes. How much longer are you going to sigh for?”
“Chaimae” she cut in, her tone even more glacial than the evening ahead.
“What” the girl, shorter than Hajar by only a few centimeters, snapped, rubbing her hands together in hopes for a taste of warmth.
The majestic sun has set since an hour ago, signaling the busiest hours for the shop. After practically begging the manager for another chance, Hajar ended up for a half wage deduction while Chaimae, deemed her accomplice, had a little less than that taken from her paycheck.
“Why does life suck so much?”
With an eye roll, she chuckled. “Okay, wipe those tears. I know what is going to cheer you up.”
She hasn’t cried, yet, and as expected of her friendly colleague, Hajar turned to find the other’s eyes glinting mysteriously. Chaimae raised an eyebrow and fished the phone out from her friend’s pocket. She swiftly entered the passcode Hajar told her ‘in case she couldn’t pick up, somehow’ and typed in a number they both knew by heart.
“No. No way! I’m not going to call him first” Chaimae jerked the phone away when Hajar attempted to get it back.
“And have you wreck my energy for the rest of the evening? Get off your unicorn. You need him now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Hajar shook her head restlessly while swiveling her way while the other dodged her tries skillfully.
Bless the power of basketball. Chaimae’s height could easily fool anyone!
“Plus it was your fault this time. You’ve been frosty for a week, this is your opportunity to make up and create proof” she finally let out, pushing Hajar away before she put the device against her ear.
“Phew. It is ringing at least”
“What proof?!” Hajar hissed.
“Proof of a fiancée” she winked, her tone layered with playful malice.”
CHAPTER FOUR:
“
“ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE GOING TO GET THIS POSITION?”
Si Mountasir, Lina’s father and a successful businessman widowed for 15 years, inquired from the other line.
“Of course! I took this very seriously, dad. You know me” Lina cooed sweetly, a tone that reminded her dad of when she was only a little girl who dreamed of nothing but carousels, castles, and beautiful princess dresses.
“That is what worries me most” he echoed her thoughts.
Truth was, he was right. The real world has been hard on Lina lately.
She let her head fall on the wall behind the bathtub, oozing rose petals, she lit up the screen of her phone that glowed with the vibrant picture of her mother smiling; her role model, who passed away when Lina was only 5 years old. She was everything Lina wanted, and everything she wasn’t at her age. Her father said that she had Lina when she was only 26 years old while she was launching her last women's classic wear collection and which gained immense success all over the world.
After 5 years of success as a self-made fashion designer, the news of her death didn't only affect the fashion business for a long time, but also her beloved one, Si Mountassir, now 56 years old, couldn’t leave his room for months from the deep sorrow.
‘Your mother was the only woman who could catch up with me”. He’d chuckle to himself, reminiscing of the times when she was alive ‘There were always surprises with her. She was a real go-getter, like me’ he used to say, pride brimming his eyes.
Before she sunk any deeper into the labyrinth of her thoughts, her phone lit up with the icon of a familiar face.
“Oh my god!” she panicked while she carefully dried her hand.
“Fatima?” She sang her name with a bright plastic smile. “What a wonderful surprise! How are you doing? It has been so long!”
The efforts she has put into relieving the palpable tension on her shoulders were gone as soon as she remembered seeing her at the hotel this morning.
“Right? It feels so long! And you wouldn’t believe who I met today!” Fatima said with the excitement of 10 years old.
‘god. She is still so easily impressed.’
“Tell me everything!” she squealed with an enthusiasm that couldn’t be more fake.
Moments later, Fatima fired the question Lina knew she had to answer at some point in this conversation.
“Honestly, I’m still digesting Hajar’s fiancée news, but tell me what you have been up to!”
“Me?” Lina cleared her throat, her brain in a fight-or-flight mode, looking for some excuse to escape this.
“Don’t tell me you’re engaged too or I’m developing an early midlife crisis” she said jokingly.
“No way!” Lina attempted in response, “I’m still single. But I- Well, I’m in Paris.”
“You’re kidding?!”
“Yeah. I’m vacationing with the stylist I’m assisting for after the fashion week.”
Lina squeezed her eyes shut, thinking she will just have to live behind Nabil’s broad shoulders for the rest of her life after this call. Not that it hasn’t already been getting to her how she was staying at the same hotel as the girl who had no designer’s piece in her wardrobe.
“I knew you were going to achieve big things. You just needed a little bit of push” Fatima added, genuinely excited for the girl who did nothing but squander her dad’s money on designer shops. What a relief, she thought, she had finally found her way.
“Well, can you see la Tour Eiffel now from where you are?”
“Yeah, it is very… sparkly” Lina echoed, looking up at the abundant starry night sky of Tangier’s.
Fatima let out a peal of short laughter. “Your vocabulary still needs some improvement though.”
“Anyways, what about you? What have you been up to?” Lina probed, barely containing her anticipation.
“I-”
Then, the line hung up.
“You cannot make any calls. Please mind refilling your balance”
“Great. Just the twist I need right now” Fatima muttered as she put down her phone on the sun lounge.
Just four floors away from Lina’s room, on the VIP hall, she was staring at the sea of stars above, savoring another magical night in Tangier.
***
1 week later…
The results were in.
This was it. The big moment for both girls.
Fatima has finally risen today for her morning prayer –just in case. Lina has decided this morning was most appropriate to lay in a little longer.
In the VIP hall of the hotel, Lina had her breakfast served to her room, again. Ever since that call, she couldn’t get out of her room in fear of getting caught, adding to Nabil’s confusion as to what to tell his boss whenever he asked about his daughter’s condition.
“Do you want me to read for you?” Nabil suggested.
“Whatever” she hummed, a pillow over her head.
On the other side of the hotel, Fatima was done having her breakfast, ad she couldn’t believe it again when she spotted the plate of the muffins still full.
The jitters inside her stomach turned into a carnival as soon as she finished reading the email. Yet, they died down at once when her mom’s icon played on the screen of her phone.
“So?”
“I’m in!”
“That is amazing!” Her mom said excitingly, “I also have some news for you!”
Fatima waited with anticipation.
“Remember the Masters in Marrakesh you ended up on the waiting list? They just called to say that you’ve been saved a spot for next semester! Congratulations darling!”
Her body crumpled on the chair. Words deserted her mouth. Tears of emotions she couldn’t decipher welled up her eyes.
“Fatima? Sweetheart?” Her mother’s voice reverberated from the other line.
“Yes. Yes, mom?” she stammered, lowering her head as not to reveal her sizzling tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
“I said you were admitted into your Masters. You can come back home now, darling”
‘I don’t want to come back home.
“That is not what the deal was, mom. There is still the whole summer for the masters. My internship starts next week.” She asserted, mustering up back some courage as she dried her eyes with the sleeve of her pink sweater, which may have or not gained her some looks from the people dining nearby.
“It doesn’t matter. You won’t be taking the job anyway. Come back to spend the summer with us before you start preparing for your degree. You have been away from your studies for long enough”
‘Are we going to be talking about this now?’
A long and stiffening silence settled in, enough to muffle the noise that was surrounding the fancy dining outdoors late in the morning.
“I don’t want to” Her voice was a whisper, and her mother didn’t catch it.
“Are you okay, darling?”
“I said, I don’t want to come back”
At first, she didn’t know whether she was referring to home or studies. Either way, this was the first time in her lifetime she has disagreed with her mother, and it was bound to have consequences. The question was, just how much she was prepared to handle.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hotel, inside Lina’s extra spacious room, Nabil was still explaining the results for her.
“You are on the waiting list for an internship in the art team instead”
“So I haven’t flunked it?”
“Maybe you aimed too high? A position of leadership with no experience, that is a bit far-fetched”
Lina threw a cushion from the nearby sofa. Chuckling behind, he took it as his cue to get out and leave her be. Once he was out of sight, she got out from her comfy bed, finally, stretched out like a Cheshire cat and taking up all the space around her.
“‘Waiting list’, What a beautiful thing!” She said with renewed energy, “I can do th-” Then she looked down to spot Fatima with her head between her hands, and some guy who looked like the staff of the hotel was hovering around her table. He was going back and forth between the staff and her as if he was lost to what to do.
At last, he approached her. He tapped on her back, but to no avail.
What Lina saw next was astounding. Fatima refused to get up, and soon enough, a small crowd formed around her table. Just when she was set on showing up to inquire as to what going on, she saw Nabil’s silhouette breaking into the crowd. He leaned in and whispered something to her. All eyes were on them, and some peaking Toms from the other rooms could be spotted from the glass windows no matter how much they thought they were not seen.
She rolled her eyes, disgruntled as to how all of these guests had nothing better to do than pry into a bit of drama. When she brought her attention back to it, Fatima was gone as well as Nabil, and the crowd has already been dispersed.
Right then, her phone flashed with a notification from non-other than her loyal bodyguard:
“I’ll be gone for about 10–15 minutes”.
PS: I hope you can stay out of trouble in my absence, Mademoiselle Lina.”
Without wasting another second, she sent a quick text to the one person who knew how to interpret things for her when she didn’t know how to. It has been a while, but this was sure yet another emergency.
Having been the last one in the group. Lina had always felt insecure about the idea of ‘belonging’. She was already so used to the idea of a protector that the moment she got into a public college, as a request from her father, it was a shocking shift to what she was raised in. She was often alone, and so as not to attract attention from other students, she often held herself from participating no matter how thrilled she was about the subjects discussed in class. That was until Hajar showed up as the first rays of light that break the darkness of the ominous nighttime.
One year ago, when they had gotten that job together at the calling center, and even after getting kicked out without getting their paycheck, the only person Lina trusted was Hajar. She trusted her first when they embarked on that trip for freedom, and she trusted her again when she said that “making your own money will be fun”. Well, maybe working at a calling center required plenty of aftercare, but they were together, and she had a home to come back to, away from the heartbreak followed by the deep longing for her mother and the overwhelming expectations of her father in her big villa.
Yet, Hajar broke the promise. Lina realized, even she couldn’t beat the world, even she, who was the most confident throughout the trip, was helpless to the deceptions and abuse of the system.
Yet, she was the person she wanted to speak to most right now. Lina was an only child, and even after a year of ‘soul-searching’ like her father called, she couldn’t find anyone like Hajar. Even now, when she had a fiancée, Lina could only hope she hasn’t already completely shut her out of her life; that would be the real nightmare.
“Fatima and my bodyguard are out alone in Tangier. I have no idea what they would be up to.”
After 20 agonizing minutes, a reply came back:
“Maybe they like each other. You know her, Fatima has always had a weird taste in men. (Wait, you’re in tangier?)”
“Hello???? It is my b o d y g u a r d (yes! long story, but tell me about your fiancee!!)”
She winced, appalled at the thought.
“Even if. Your bodyguard has a life. Fatima too, apparently (I lied. I don’t have a fiancee! Also, long story!)”
Hajar typed while she waited for a stingy customer to finish counting her tip who has done that at least 5 times now. But she was too amused at the thought of ‘the good girl’ in the group was dating her friend’s bodyguard to pay him to heed, for now.
“(What?! where are you now?)”
Amidst the frenzy of what was happening, Hajar hit the video call icon instead and to which Lina responded delightfully. Then, she shoved the device inside her waitress's pocket.
“Here you go, your 5DH tip! You better not call me stingy! I’m giving you extra money despite the terrible service here” He announced while wiping his mouth off the crumbs of the caramel pie he has just devoured, adding shaky laughter that tickled his big belly.
“Then don’t, idiot” she muttered under her breath.
“What did you just say to me?” The man retorted.
Hajar bit her lip, her hand was curling into a tight fist as she thought of her half-paycheck last week. Her head flushed red and if it was not for Omar who interfered last minute, she would have been as good as fired by the manager.
When the customer was out of sight, Hajar threw in a fit when she met Omar back at the counter:
“You could have let me deal with him!”
“Sure, if your plan is to get fired from here! You need this job, don’t you?”
On the other line, Lina has already hung up, her mouth agape.”
