khosh āmadin!

In response to the: Writing young love: an invitation to write

It was a cool and breezy day as Nicole sat on her porch enjoying a nice cup of Persian tea in a sort of daze. Her mind was on the conversation she had with an old friend of hers. Nicole had received a call the day before from  Arman. He had received her phone number from a mutual friend of theirs.

 It seems that Arman had never stopped thinking of her and had wondered what had happened to her. She too had thought about him throughout the last five years. She had wondered if he had married and had children by now. Maybe he had gone  back to university and obtained his master's degree as he had wanted.

Arman and Nicole had attended  university together. In fact, they had met at the Freshman orientation. When she arrived at the orientation the only seat available was the one next to him. She was an attractive young woman with the most beautiful hazel eyes, and light brown hair. She noticed that he would constantly look at her throughout the speakers' presentations.

When it was time to take the tour of the university, Arman was quick to ensure that he was in the group that Nicole was in. He was  a very attractive Persian young man. He had deep brown eyes, brown hair,  a killer smile that  just oozed with charm. He was also very intelligent,  hard working and determined young man.

He introduced himself. "Hi! My name is Arman."

"Hi! My name is Nicole. Nice to meet you." 

He did not miss a beat. "A couple of my friends and I will be sitting together during lunch. Would you like to join us?" 

She was surprised by the invitation. Next thing she heard herself say "Sure, why not. Thank you!"

While sitting together he made sure to get her phone number. Throughout the university years Arman and Nicole became great friends. Through him, she was able to make a lot of great friends from various countries. She had always wished she had told him how much she really liked him as more than a friend.

She always found it strange that he had never dated anyone during their university years but then again neither had she. He had always seemed content to just hang out with her and friends. She had noticed that he really liked to spend time with her discussing various topics. He especially liked talking about Iran and politics. He would tell her stories of how beautiful Iran was. How he wished that she could go and visit it. Even better that he could show her Iran himself.

He taught her some Persian words and phrases. Introduced her to Persian food, culture, politics and history. She especially liked it when he read Persian poetry to her. She was spellbound by his words. Yes, she had fallen deeply in love with him. Unbeknownst to her, he had also fallen in love with her. However, as a struggling student felt that he had nothing but himself to offer her. So he had decided to be content with just being best of friends. At least until things improved for him financially.

After graduation Arman moved to California were he was able to obtain a job in computers. Nicole stayed in Texas and secured a Bilingual teaching position. They would keep in touch but eventually life got in the way. Last she heard from him was that he was to move from San Diego to Los Angeles. Shortly after she moved from Austin to San Antonio and they lost track of each other.

Finally, a mutual friend of theirs came across Nicole in San Antonio while on vacation. They exchanged personal information and even stayed at Nicole's house a couple of days. She had insisted that Sahar and her family  not stay at a hotel. Sahar and Nicole talked for hours and the subject of Arman came up.

Sahar told her "You are not going to believe who I came across last month." 

She looked at Sahar with a puzzled look. "Whom?" Sahar had the biggest smile and mischievous look.

Sahar said "Arman, you remember him. We all thought that you two would end up getting married. Why did you two not end up together?"

Nicole smiled "Now you know that Arman and I were just very good friends. Besides any love attachment could have jeopardized the friendship. I just wasn't willing to risk losing him."

Sahar  sighed. "Hello! You haven't spoken to him in like five years. How is that not losing him? Anyway like I was saying. I saw him last month and he asked about you. Apparently, he has been trying to find you." 

Nicole felt a little faint. "What do you mean he has been looking for me? What did you tell him?"

 She looked at Nicole with amazement "I told him the truth. The last I heard was that you were moving to San Antonio to obtain your master's in Bilingual Education and work as a Bilingual Teacher. I also, told him that I had lost your number. Sorry!"

Nicole, just laughed. "Yes, that sounds just like you. Well, I have programmed  my home and cell phone number into your cell phone. You can't lose them now."

Sahar started to laugh. "Hey! How about if I call him and give him your phone number or would you prefer I give you his number and you can call him."  

Nicole thought for awhile. "Hmmm, I tell you what. I would prefer you call him and give him my phone number. You can tell him that I will be waiting for his call."

 Sahar, said "Okay. I will do as instructed. I will play match maker then." Sahar laughed and teased her.

They hugged and said their goodbyes. Sahar called Arman as soon as she left Nicole's house. She could not wait to tell him. The phone rang a couple of times.

"Hello! Yes, this is Arman."  He had a very deep and masculine voice.

"Hi! Sahar, how are you? How was your trip to San Antonio. I see, glad to hear that. What? What did you say? You did? How was she? She does? Yes, please..please do give me her number."  He quickly took down her number. Sahar jan, thank you very much. I owe you big time. Yes, I am going to call her right now. Take care....bye." 

As soon as he hung up, he started to dial Nicole's number. "Hi! Hello! Who is this? Is anyone there?" 

He had lost his voice for a couple of seconds after hearing her sweet voice. It had been so long and this was the moment he had been waiting for five years.  He had told himself that if he was ever lucky enough to find her that he would never let her go again.

"Hi! This is Arman. How are you?" 

She was silent for a second then she said "Hi! Arman, I am well. It is so good to hear from you again. I am so sorry that we lost touch. I won't let it happen again. I am very happy that Sahar gave you my number. I'm sorry, I haven't given you much of an opportunity to talk." 

He was so happy to talk to her that he didn't care about anything else. "Nicole, you are not going to believe it. I am actually in San Antonio right now. I had to come at the last minute to complete some work. It is why Sahar did not know. Is it okay if we meet somewhere? I could also come to your place to pick you up and have dinner."  

The alarm clock rang and woke up Nicole from her daze. "The Ghormeh Sabzi is ready."

 She quickly hurried to turn off the stove and checked on the Persian rice. "Yes, it is still warm."

 She looked over and the dinning table, it was nicely set. Just as she was going to check on her make up, the bell rang. 

"He is really here." She had the biggest smile. 

He had arrived. She walked towards the door, took a  deep breath and opened the door.

"Hi, Arman. It is so good to see you again."

Arman and Nicole hugged, as Arman said "I  missed you."

Oh yes, time had been very kind to Arman. He was even more attractive than she had remembered him. He had a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of red wine. He had the biggest smile possible. He simply was in awe at her inner and outer beauty. Time had also been kind to her.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZhCT940540

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceJbh7R8ZPA

Note: Thank you for reading this humble fictional story. The author wishes it had been her life. :o)