When Sarah woke up from her nap, it was already night time. It surprised her how much she had slept given the circumstances, but her encounter with Sheikh Mohammed had left her both physically and emotionally drained and sleeping was a good way to forget about everything for a while. She checked the time on her phone and found a new message.
Hamdan
Came home but you are asleep. I'll be at the terrace.
She freshened up in the bathroom and went to meet him, entirely torn between what she had to say and wanting to hug him like she had never hugged him before. The door to the terrace was half-opened and his voice started to fade in as she got closer. She saw him talking to his phone as if it was on speaker mode, but he was not talking, he was reciting a poem, probably recording it. She only got to hear the last verses before he was finished. Without him noticing her presence, Sarah walked out.
"That's beautiful," she said.
"Hi," he beamed, looking pleasantly surprised.
"Hi," she encircled her arms around his waist and held tight, letting the side of her face rest on his chest.
He kissed the top or her head while his hand stroked her back.
"Who was that about?" She asked, listening to his heartbeat.
"This girl I like."
She chuckled and looked up at him. "You wrote a poem for me?"
"I've written several poems about you," Hamdan admitted.
"How come I've never heard any of them?" She protested, taking a step back.
"Well, now you can," he eased, scrolling on his phone.
"No!" She exclaimed, pushing the device down. "I want to hear it from you."
"Fine," He held her hand and walked her to the edge of the terrace.
The full moon was shining over the beautiful Dubai skyline as she rested her hands on the rail. He stood behind her and placed his hands on top of hers.
"Close your eyes," Hamdan instructed.
She looked over her shoulder. "Why?"
He tilted back. "Do you want to hear it or not?"
"Okay," she replied, bugged-eyed.
Sarah closed her eyes while he brushed her hair over the left shoulder and she felt his beard on the right side of her face. He started reciting the verses and his deep voice swaddled her up like a shooting Summer breeze.
Who loves you the same as me?
Who tries to love you the same as me?
No, there is not anyone barring me.
You are my eyes' light
And you are my life and my pleasure.
You are the body of my essence
And the essence of my body.
You are my eye, my ray and my splendor
And you are my fire if my love has stagnated.
You are my time, my sleepiness, my trouble and my patience.
You are my comfort, my breath and my dear.
And you are the first love,
There is no one before you
And there is no one after you.
The love gathers us and if you are,
Be near, I will not be too far.
Small shivers went up and down her spine with every verse. When he was done, she leaned back against him and his arms surrounded her.
He kissed the side of her head. "Do you like it?"
"That is the most amazingly beautiful thing you have ever done for me, Hamdan."
"Have you thought about what I said?" He asked.
Her eyes snapped open. For a moment, she forgot about everything else and only listened to his velvety voice. She bit her bottom lip, all the things she thought about saying left her mind. Hamdan released her from his embrace and went to rest his back against the rail to look at her.
"Still nothing... I wish you said something. Anything," he shrugged.
"Hamdan—"
"But no," he continued. "You keep avoiding me."
"I'm not avoiding you!"
"Well, not me, but the discussion about our future. Why?"
Her mind went blank. The conversation with Sheikh Mohammed was the only thing she could think about.
"I think I have the right to know," Hamdan insisted.
"I don't want any of these occurrences to give you hope on something that's not going to happen."
And he continued. "Aren't we together on this?"
"Stay... and watch him marry someone else — because he will marry someone else, someone fit for our family."
"Why, Sarah?"
Her head was spinning around and she blurted out the first thing it came to mind. "Because I don't think we have a future!"
His expression turned somber, the sad look on his eyes was something she knew would stick with her forever.
"And you know why," she added, trying to soften things. He had to know that it was not because she did not love him the same way.
"Sarah..." He pushed himself up to stand straight. "I would give up everything if that is what it takes. I don't care, if I have to, I will."
"There are too many ifs in what you just said," her voice was starting to break. "Because you do care."
"Maybe I do but you're more important," he held her face in his hands and rested his forehead onto hers. "Nothing would make sense without you. And I have this gut feeling that this is the most I will ever get from you."
She hugged him around the neck and saw the moon over her blurry vision due to the tears.
"I never told you the story about the rabbit on the Moon, did I?" She sniffed.
"No."
Hamdan followed her to a round garden daybed where she sat tucking the legs underneath herself, while she shared how her grandmother used to tell her the story her grandfather brought back from his time serving during World War II.
"There's an Old Man that lives on the moon," she began. "And every night he looks down on Earth to see how his animals and people are doing, smiling when he sees them resting after a hard day's work.
One night, many years ago, the Old Man lingered in the sky over a forest in Japan. The animals below seemed to live in peace and harmony. Suddenly, he spotted a monkey, a fox and a rabbit who were living side by side. The Old Man wondered about these animals and began to long to know them better. He asked himself which creature was the kindest or more generous; he wanted to know what they were truly like, until his curiosity got the best of him. So, he transformed himself into a poor beggar and floated down to Earth to the clearing where the monkey, fox and rabbit lived."
Hamdan made himself comfortable, lying down and resting his body on one elbow to listen to her.
"The three animals went up to greet and welcome him, asking what they could do for the beggar and he told them that he was old and poor and that he was very hungry. The three animals quickly offered to fetch some food for the man, so he sat under a tree and waited.
Soon, the monkey returned with an armload of fruit. He had bananas, berries, oranges and pears. He laid the fruit in front of the beggar wishing he would enjoy the gift. The beggar thanked the monkey as the fox raced into the clearing, carrying a fat, fresh fish in his mouth. He also laid it in front of the beggar and bowed, hoping the fish would satisfy the man.
The man was blown away by the kindness of the forest animals, and all three of them sat and waited for the rabbit to come back.
Meanwhile, the rabbit was dashing his way through the forest, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not find food for the beggar. Finally, he returned to the clearing and asked the monkey to gather some firewood for him and to the fox to build a big fire with it.
The man sat quietly, watching in wonder as the two animals did what the rabbit asked for. When the fire was blazing, the rabbit turned to the beggar and told him he had nothing to offer but himself. He said he was going to jump on the fire, and once he was roasted, the beggar could feast upon him.
Rabbit bent his knees, preparing to jump into the fire. The beggar at once stood straight, tall and proud, he didn't look like a beggar anymore. The animals, seeing this strange transformation, began to shake with fear.
"Don't be afraid," The Old Man said. "You see, Rabbit, I am more than a beggar, and I have seen that you are more than generous. Your kindness is beyond price, but you must understand, I wish you no harm. I do not want you to sacrifice yourself for my comfort. I will take you home with me, where I can watch over you and make sure you are never harmed."
The Old Man lifted the rabbit into his arms and carried the rabbit up to the moon," Sarah looked up at the sky. "And there he is now," she concluded.
Hamdan reached for her hand. "That's a great story, but—"
"You are that rabbit, Hamdan. Willing to sacrifice everything for me. But just like the Old Man, I won't let you do it," she affirmed with a broken voice. "Only difference is... I can't offer you the moon to take you with me."
He propped himself up, one hand on her waist, the other on the back of her neck. "All I want is you. If you're with me, nothing else matters."
She shook her head and blinked the tears away.
Grabbing his hands and holding them tight, she wished he would never forget what she was about to say. "Words could never express how grateful I am for what you have shown me."
"There's so much more we could—"
She put her fingers on his lips to stop him from talking. Her index finger went up to trace his eyebrow and then went down to follow the line of his beard. Hamdan was looking back with furrowed eyebrows, while Sarah's sight lingered on the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. She started kissing him and they both rose up on their knees. She took his headscarf off, tossed to the ground and started unbuttoning his kandura, pushing the white robe down as he did the same with the straps of her dress, making it fall down on her body.
She lay down and he removed the rest of the dress and his own kandura, followed by his undershirt. He drew a line of kisses from her knee to her neck, passing through her hip, stomach and breasts. Each kiss was leaving a burning sensation that it was almost too painful to bear. When he looked at her, tears rolled down the sides of her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" He wondered, drying them off.
"Because I love you so much."
Sarah held him by the nape and brought him close, until their noses touched and she could feel the warmth of his breath.
"Just make love to me. Please..."
***
Who remembers when was the first time Sarah mentioned the story about the rabbit on the Moon to Hamdan?
XOXO,
Sophie.