For
weeks, both Boulos and Amal were miserable.
Boulos made no further attempts at finding a way to contact his
love. Amal tried to live her life as
best she could and not think about her love.
Boulos, ever attentive to his work, was frequently distracted. Amal, the dutiful mother and wife, seemed forgetful. What they wanted to forget would not leave
their minds.
Alone
each night, Boulos fled from his mind which chased after him with
accusations. His life was
worthless. Being nice to people meant
nothing at all. People didn’t see
him. He didn’t matter. The only brightness in his life was Khalid,
his work partner, and Charles. Boulos
and Khalid formed a solid work partnership.
Each knew what the other would do during the work day and the day was
normally seamless. Boulos was grateful
for Khalid’s patience.Charles kept his promise to be a friend to Boulos. Most days after Boulos returned to his apartment after work, Charles would knock on the door and the two men would talk and have coffee. More than anything, Boulos appreciated that Charles treated him like a person. Typically, their time together was not more than an hour but Boulos appreciated the effort. He realized Charles could go home after work. He had a wife and child at home. Still, Charles considered Boulos important enough to make the effort to demonstrate genuine concern and caring. Charles was the first person to care since his uncle died. Amal was the only other one since his parents died.
From time to time, Charles would mention things about his Christian faith. Sometimes it made Boulos feel uncomfortable. Sometimes the words were soothing. Eventually, Boulos realized he was moving forward with life. He felt he would be ok.
One early evening, Amal stood on the deck and watched the sunset. The breeze was soft and colors striking. In that moment, she wished she could share the moment with someone so she called her family to see it. Her husband grumbled as he went to the balcony. Said, who was trying to learn to be a man, followed his father’s example. Her girl, Adeline, was happy to see the beauty of the moment.
Once the boys left, the girls observed the sun sinking to the Mediterranean. Amal prompted Adeline to describe the scene. The girl had trouble finding the words for what she saw. Hoping to finally have someone to share this love of hers, Amal asked Adeline what a particular cloud formation looked like. Adeline puzzled over the cloud, turning her head from one side to another. Finally, her eyes registered recognition. Beaming, she said, “It looks like a two fish swimming.”
Amal turned and looked. Where were there two fish? She tilted her head to one side and the other. Then Adeline started laughing. Amal swooped her daughter up into her arms and fell back into a chair. She placed the girl on her lap and the two sat watching the sunset. Adeline continued describing shapes she saw but Amal was lost in thought. She imagined writing down her sunset descriptions. The thought ruminated as Adeline talked. Perhaps Amal had a way to express herself. Maybe, it could provide relief for her tender heart.
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