Just
Breathe
Relationships
By Neda Najibi
April 2001
The Iranian
Mona and Akef - Part 1
Mona and Akef met at the airport. The plane to Paris was
ready to be
boarded. The passengers assembled by the gate but Mona sat
patiently. She
enjoyed her Venti Breve as the crowd passed by her. She
couldn't understand
how all these people could rush into a plane that
obviously wasn't going
to take off until all had boarded.
Her trip to Paris was a way for her to get away from her
problems. Mona
found out that the man she was dating for seventeen months
was married.
When she arrived into Orly airport she got a taxi to take
her to the
Hotel de Rafael. It was next to the Champs Elysees. She
wasn't as excited
to be in Paris as you'd expect her to be. It was her first
time in Europe
but all she could do was think of her ex-boyfriend, Luke.
How would this
conundrum play out?
Her hotel overlooked a beautiful part of the city. She
could see the
Eiffel Tower in the distance. But she kept thinking of
Luke and how he was
married all that time they were together. Her friends
insisted that she
make the trip.
She put her cares aside and went off to Paris. She
attempted to look
at everything and enjoy the brilliant architecture, the
romantic people
and wonderful culture but still thoughts of him would
appear.
She stopped at a café for dinner and then prepared to go
back
to the hotel. A gentleman approached her and asked to join
her. She felt
it harmless and accepted. They immediately fell for each
other and they
couldn't keep their hands off each other. They proceeded
to a nightclub
and then off to his hotel.
The evening went on for several hours until Mona heard
knocking on the
door and woke up. It was all a dream! She had dozed off as
she was browsing
through her Paris maps. She pulled herself together, got
up and answered
the door and it was the Bellman delivering a floral
arrangement. The card
simply said "Until we meet face to face". She had no clue
who
had sent them. She set them on the table and went off to
tour Paris - for
certain this time.
She walked through the Champs Elysees and ended up at the
Louvre. She
didn't go in; she just walked around the museum and then
headed back to
a café on the Champs Elysees. She then headed back to the
hotel and
slipped into bed and fell asleep immediately. She was
exhausted. She awoke
in the morning with thoughts of Luke.
She planned on staying in Paris for two weeks, but she
just couldn't
get Luke out of her mind and didn't think she could even
last a week. She
headed to the Louvre and had a great time. She went back
to the hotel to
pick up her shopping list her friends gave her. When she
returned to the
hotel, the bellman informed her that she had a message
waiting for her at
the desk. Mona asked the bellman if he was able to find
out who the flowers
were from and he said yes and left the gentleman's name on
a sheet of paper
and left it in her room.
She went to the desk and picked up her message and it
read, "I hope
you enjoyed the flowers. I'd really like for you to join
me for dinner."
She didn't see a name and went upstairs to see what name
the bellman left
her.
The name didn't ring a bell. Immediately her phone rang
and it was him,
the admirer.
He introduced himself as Akef and reminded her that they
had met at the
airport. She remembered that he did impress her with his
offer to assist
her in getting a taxi. He asked if she would join him for
dinner and she
accepted. An hour later a car was waiting for her and took
her to the restaurant.
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