3 days ago.
It was 1pm and Samanta was sitting on a couch drinking some iced tea while she stared at the two suit cases sitting by the door. She let out a sigh and put her cup on the table. She took the note she had such a hard time writing last night. Teresa stuck to watching her in silence.
Undoubtedly, this was a tough call to make. Although she had made it a long time ago, a variant came into the equation, making her doubt even her own decisions.
Her feelings for Dominik were intense, considering the time they had known each other. Things happened too fast, and, although she felt terrible by the way it ended, she did not regret anything. She enjoyed every second of it.
“I don't get it” Teresa stood up and walked up to her little sister. “You should be so happy. Yet, you're so sad” she ran her hand through Samanta's brown hair.
“I am happy. Very” Sam opened her eyes, faking excitement.
“Cut the crap. I heard you last night. You were crying.”
“Tears of joy!”
“Samanta” Teresa gave her the side eye. “It's that guy. Right? Dominik.”
“Of course not, I just…”
“Wow! You really want to keep lying to me today.”
Who was she kidding? Her sister knew her perfectly. She knew she was suffering, albeit she tried to hide the magnitude of her pain. Samanta was a realist. She understood her pain because she had her hopes up, very high about this possible new relationship, and more because Dominik represented what most women want. A handsome, rich and talented man.
She shook her head, forcing herself to think about what was really important, the plans she had done since she was very young.
The chance to study at a prestigious university abroad should be enough to let her forget about Dominik, Alan, and all the trash the press was airing out about her private life. But, no. There was something inside of her that kept her from fully enjoying this personal achievement.
«It is a test», she reminded herself.
She convinced herself, although she knew Dominik, she already had her life planned away from there, and she was sure, he too, had his own plan, where she was not included. She had to be realistic and keep her feet on the ground. What they had together was a very sweet passenger romance, which she would treasure among her fondest memories.
She took a deep breath and slowly breathed out.
“Everything's ready. I'm leaving today, starting a new adventure” she said, to then turn towards her laptop, close it and put it away. She had used it the night before to talk with her parents on Skype. They were so proud of their daughter and promised to go visit her as soon as they had all their documents ready. Teresa was doing everything needed to have them move in to the US with her.
“Are you sure, Samanta? You could stay and go to UCLA” commented Teresa.
“What are you saying? Egypt is my dream, I won't let it slip away.”
A car horn let them know her taxi cab was waiting.
She took her coat, a purse and one of her bags. Her sister carried the other one.
When they opened the door to their house, Carlos was expecting her by the taxi, with a huge smile.
“Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off?” questioned Teresa, dragging Samanta's luggage.
“Positive. You don't have to miss work just to drive me. Your boss is very picky” responded Samanta, reminding her sister she was not allowed to miss work. Last time she did, from a serious cold, he was about to transfer her to another department as punishment. But, truth was, Samanta did not want her sister to take her to the airport, but her friend. So she could talk to him, freely.
Carlos finished loading her bags in the trunk, while Samanta said goodbye to her sister with a big hug.
“Let me know as soon as you get there” asked Teresa.
“Sure” Samanta winked, turned around and got in the car.
The taxi driver started the vehicle, and, wasting no time, they were on their way to the airport.
“Spill it” said Carlos as soon as they had moved a couple meters.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, please! You did not expect me to believe that whole mean boss thing you told Teresa all came out of your kind heart, right? You wanted to tell me something. So, say it. What's going on?”
Samanta bit her lip and put her hand in her pocket. She pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to her friend.
“I need a huge favor” she said.
Carlos looked at the paper and took it.
“What is this?” He did as though he would open it.
“No. It's not for you.”
“Then, who?”
Sam looked at him annoyed, and shrugged.
»No, Sammy. Stop hurting yourself” commented Carlos when he realized who this note was for.
“Please. I need you to hand this over to him if he comes back in town asking about me.”
“What makes you think he will?”
“I dunno. I have a silly hope he will.”
“What if he doesn't?”
“Then you don't have to give it to him. Easy” Sam could not hold her annoyance towards Carlos' negativity. “I need him to know I love him and I am doing this for our sake, both of ours. Can you do that for me?”
Carlos wasn't very excited about it, but he said yes so she would drop it.
“Alright” he said, putting the paper in his pocket.
*****
They arrived to the airport and rushed to Terminal B, where the Flight 282 of British Airways was waiting to take her to London. There she would catch her next flight going to El Cairo.
After presenting her corresponding documents and checking in her luggage, Carlos walked her as far as he was allowed. Tears became present when they understood Samanta was going very far away and they would not be seeing each other for a really long time. Gordon and Ethan showed up unexpectedly to say goodbye. They only stayed for 10 minutes since they had to go back to work.
“Passengers of flight 282 of British Airways, destination London, please commence boarding.”
A female voice rumbled in the place and Sam felt her heart trying to beat out of her chest.
“Okay” she shrugged and looked at Carlos.
“I hate goodbyes” Carlos had to swallow in order to hold back his tears.
“I love you, Carlos. Never forget that” she jumped into her friend's arms and gave him a tight hug.
“Stop it already. Let go” he said with watery eyes. “Don't make me cry in front of everybody.”
Samanta smiled and hugged him once more.
Carlos could not hold it anymore. He was crying.
“I wish you the best in the world, Sam” he spoke as best as his trembling voice let him.
With a peck on the cheek, Samanta bid goodbye to her friend and walked away.
*****
Almost 18 hours of flight and the Atlantic Ocean were separating Samanta from her memories. Dominik must have been the only thing she thought of the whole flight since she left LA. She had her heart shattered and she had no other choice but to hold on to the expectation of a new adventure she was now embarking to.
Sam descended carefully down the staircase, abandoning the plane that brought her from the United Kingdom. Her heart was beating out of her chest. It was a nice warm weather in the middle of the Egyptian summer.
The airport was packed with thousands of people from all over the world, which made it difficult for Sam to walk down the corridors.
When she finally made it to the immigration booth, she handed over her documents, and they were sealed. She picked up her luggage and walked down the Duty Free, looking at the store windows, the people coming and going in all directions, men with white tunics and turbans, women with their faces covered by some kind of pashmina, tourists wearing shorts and floral print shirts, stereotypical Hawaiian style, Africans in their traditional colorful outfits. A very wide array of ethnicities.
Samanta was fascinated by such display of culture. People smiling to a world that held so many wonderful surprises for them.
Suddenly, a knot appeared in her throat and a few tears fogged up her eyes. She felt scared of what was to come. And there, again, Dominik was in her head.
She gulped and carried on.
She took the escalator and got on her way down, she noticed in the distance, a woman holding a sign that read: “Samanta Andrade”. She frowned when she found someone expecting her, she had set her mind since she left the United States that she would be all on her own, facing this new world.
Samanta scrutinized this person expecting her.
She was a beautiful woman. Approximately in her forties, light brown skin, black hair, think, dark but subtly defined eyebrows, a fine face, with very obvious asian features. She was about 5'9", thin. She could notice some expression lines across her forehead from the big smile she was holding as she approached her. The woman was also wearing that veil on her head, but unlike what she had seen so far, it wasn't covering her whole face, just her hair. A pair of green eyes studied her when she was close enough.
“Samanta Andrade?” The woman asked. Samanta nodded, showing a shy smile. “My name is Tahirah Halabee” the woman bowed her head.
“I had no idea someone would be expecting me.”
“We normally don't do this. But I live nearby. I heard a new exchange student would arrive this morning. I asked what time the flight from the US was coming and, here we are. Welcome!”
“Wow! Thank you very much. You're so kind.”
“I know how hard it is, coming to an unknown country, not knowing what to do, or where to go. Unfortunately, when I went to New York for my degree I did not have the fortune to have someone there to guide me. I was lost and I had to call in to have somebody to come find me.”
Samanta laughed silently.
»Come on. I'll take you to campus” said Tahirah.
They headed out of the airport, the woman could not stop asking her all sorts of questions and Samanta answered all of them. They were talking about her trip.
Once they were outside, Samanta was impressed by that beautiful sky above them, a magnificent light shade of blue. She could not help but smile when she saw all the signs and banners were written in a language she knew absolutely nothing about. Lots of cars were parked outside, people waiting for a friend or relative to arrive. An elderly man was sitting inside one of those cars. He smiled and she smiled back to him.
Wasting no time, they loaded the bags in Tahirah's car and left.
On the way, they talked some more. Samanta wasted no time asking all sorts of questions regarding the university.
After a few minutes, they had arrived. The Campus of the American University of El Cairo.
The place was breathtaking, modern buildings, but still very much in the local style. People from all ethnicities walking all over. Some students, some professors. The sun shined strongly on the grayish floor, making Samanta squint her eyes to avoid the brightness from hurting her eyes.
What she like most were the green areas, full of gorgeous flowers, lilac and red, outlined by a line of palm trees. It was like an oasis. She could see herself lying down there, reading a good book.
“This way” said Tahirah.
Samanta followed her to the entrance of a building which, she assumed was the Rectory.
»Good morning, Aanisa” the woman greeted as soon as they came in. “I stopped by the airport on my way here, I brought this pretty girl.”
Samanta smiled from Tahirah's remark.
An older woman, maybe in her sixties got up from her chair and approached them.
“Welcome!” She greeted Samanta.
“Thank you.”
“I leave you in good hands” Tahirah told Samanta. “Aanisa will help you expedite your process” she winked at her work mate. “Assign her to the girl who came yesterday.”
“Okay” answered Aanisa.
When Sam turned around to thank Tahirah for such kindness, she was already gone.
“I'll need to see your documents” said the woman in front of her.
Samanta nodded.
»Have a seat, please.”
They both sat down and started setting everything in order.
For the next hour, Samanta provided the lady with all the information she needed to formalize her enrollment into the university's system. She had to give out Teresa's bank information in order to cancel the charge for the first semester, and, although she had a 30% discount for her scholarship, she had to pay a considerable amount to cover costs of enrollment and housing, getting the cheapest housing there was, a double she would have to share with another girl.
Samanta was greatly thankful for everything her sister was doing for her until then. She destined her compensation from her husband's passing to provide Samanta with proper education. His level five officer rank was a big factor when it came to settling the amount Teresa would receive. One hundred thousand dollars that would never compare to losing the man she loved.
As soon as everything was settled, Samanta was escorted to the place where she would be living for the next couple of years.
A beautiful blonde by the name of Charlotte Novikov, from Poland was her roommate. On a first impression, they got along quite well.
First thing Samanta did as she unwound was, after all the hustle and bustle, write to her sister letting her know she was settled and well. Also, she notified the payment of the first semester had been drafted. She then wrote to Carlos.
The day flew by while she organized her stuff and chatted about everything with her new friend, who was great at conversing.
“No. No. Don't be stupid” yelled Charlotte from her bed. Samanta turned towards her and noticed she was looking at something on her laptop. “You dumb fool! Pass the ball” the girl turned to Samanta. “Sorry. Germany's playing today, and, Poland being out, I'm rooting for them. Let me know if I'm being too loud. I get really worked out watching football.”
Samanta shut her eyes tight.
«Dominik», she remembered.
She had been so busy all day, she did not have the chance to even think about something so sad. Until then, when her roommate, who seemed like a female version of Carlos, reminded her of her broken heart.