Luci Guest Writer 
Work has been overwhelming lately, and I wanted to let loose for a while, but didn’t get a chance to do so. My phone rings while I’m sitting on my desk at work and I was excited to see it was Faisal.
Me: Hey you!
Faisal: Hey man, how have you been?
Me: Doing great. How’s Cairo treating you?
Faisal: I wouldn’t know, I was traveling the past few weeks. Remember?
Me: Oh yeah, how did that go?
Faisal: All is well. I’m now back to Dubai.
Me: That’s the best news I’ve heard today. Let’s grab dinner?
Faisal: Dinner sounds boring. Let’s go partying?
Me: Sounds even better. See you tonight!
We met to grab something to eat before heading to one of the popular clubs in town and I decided to wear one of my sexy dresses, not to grab Faisal’s attention in any way, but because I was in a sensual mood. Yes, women don’t dress for men, we dress for ourselves.
Faisal: Oh wow, you look sexy!
Me: Thank you buddy.
Faisal: I see, friend-zoning 101.
Me: Hahaha, that’s not what I meant.
Faisal: A few of my friends might be joining us. Don’t worry, you won’t have to hang out with an older man all on your own.
Me: What you said is way too lame. You know I don’t even care how old you are. We are friends regardless.
Faisal: Smooth, again with the friend-zoning.
I looked at him not sure what to say, but decided to ignore it instead.
An hour later, we made our way to the club, the queue was pretty long, but Faisal got us in just a minute after whispering into the bouncer’s ear (who was a lady).
Me: Seems like you’re smooth with the ladies.
Faisal: Good, someone finally noticed that. Should I get you something from the bar?
Me: A Red Bull please.
Faisal: You don’t drink?
Me: Nope.
Faisal: How are we supposed to have fun tonight?
Me: Trust me, Red Bull will do the trick.
While he was heading over to the bar, I started spotting some familiar faces from work, including ones that I wasn’t so excited to see. Mainly Rania, the girl who was bad-mouthing one of my team members, and her gang from work. As soon as our eyes met, she came running towards me.
Rania: Ahhhh, Luci, so good to see you out of the office. I thought you never went out.
Me: Usually, I barely have time, but tonight I’m taking a friend out.
Rania: Oh, where is he?
Me: Over there (and I pointed at Faisal).
Rania: He’s hot! You sure he’s just a friend? I’ve always taken you for the innocent kind. What are you doing at a club?
Me: Hahahaha interesting.
Rania: Isn’t that guy like too old to be your friend? Don’t get me wrong, I have your best interest in mind.
I looked at her, and the first words coming out of my mouth would have been, of course you don’t have my best interest in mind *****, but then I smiled instead.
Faisal made his way back to me, handing me over my Red Bull.
Faisal: Here’s your drink darling.
Rania: Oh and you drink too?
Me: Rania, meet Faisal.
Rania: She claims she’s a good girl, but I’m starting to doubt that. Anyway, I’ll leave you guys to enjoy the night, if you know what I mean (and she winked).
After walking away from us, I couldn’t stay silent anymore.
Me: That bitch, what the hell did she mean? Who the hell is she to even try and judge me, she has the worst reputation at the office.
Faisal: That’s exactly why she’s trying to judge you and make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. Never mind her.
Me: Well, she managed to do that a bit.
He nodded his head and grabbed my hand to start dancing. An hour went by and none of his friends showed up, I didn’t care that much, but I could see Rania and my co-workers looking at me every now and then and I was sure they were talking about us. It started making me angry and super uncomfortable, why would they do that?
Faisal: You don’t look like you’re happy.
Me: When are your friends coming?
Faisal: Not sure, am I that boring?
Me: No, you’re not, but I just want to prove to them that we’re just friends.
Faisal: Why do you even care what they think? If I were you, I would confuse them and have fun without even giving them a second of my attention. Now shall we do that? Let’s confuse them.
Me: How?
Faisal: I’ll lead the way.
He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him while dancing, looking directly into my eyes. I could feel my heart starting to beat faster, but hopefully he wasn’t able to catch on that. When I started feeling really uncomfortable, as it’s very unlike me to come that close to a guy I don’t even have feelings for, I excused myself to the ladies room. A minute later, the whole work gang made their way to the bathroom too.
Rania: And you say you’re just friends?
Me: Rania, don’t you have anything better to do than focusing on me?
Rania: Well, my boyfriend isn’t here today and I can’t just do the same thing like you and cling to a guy who’s twice my age, so yes, I have nothing better to do.
Me: Hmmm, interesting. Maybe you’ve had a little too much to drink?
Rania: Surely, not as much as you’ve been drinking.
Me: That’s a Red Bull, but you know what, none of your ****ing business.
Rania: I only criticize women who think they’re all self-righteous and turn out the complete opposite. Don’t you think I see the way you look at us at the office, thinking you’re all better than us? Well, turns out you’re much worse.
Me: Wtf! Have you completely lost it? Control your overflowing hormones, shall you? I couldn’t care less what you guys do and I suggest you do the same.
Rania: Well, maybe you’re a gold-digger or you have daddy issues? That’s the only reason you’d hang out with a much older guy or put up with him.
I couldn’t believe the amount of bull**** coming out of her mouth and neither did her friends, who have started to grab her and control what she was saying. The thought of punching her was the first thing that came to mind, but then I remembered I’m not that good at it and don’t want to drag myself to her low. Instead, I decided to say: “You know what, you’re not even worth my time. Get sober, because that’s the lowest I’ve ever seen someone.”
I walked away full of anger, like a mini volcano was bubbling up inside of me. Faisal immediately noticed and got all concerned: “What wrong Luci, everything okay?”
I told him about what just happened and it got on his nerves too.
Faisal: I’ve always known women are crazy towards each other, but never thought it was that bad. We can punch her if you want to, but that would be a childish move. What I would suggest, is not showing her or giving her the pleasure that she got to you. Can you do that?
I nodded, trying to throw away what had just happened. Half an hour later, I completely managed to let it go. I was back on track with dancing like a crazy person who was only there to enjoy their time. One thing I can tell you for sure, even though I didn’t have any feelings towards Faisal, was that I felt extremely attracted to him. I could tell he felt the same. You notice these things from the way he looks at you, smiles, the way his eyes sink into yours for a longer period than they should have.
We left around 3am and I couldn't stand on my feet any longer, heels just suck after a long night, don’t they?
Faisal: Want to do anything now or should I drop you home?
Me: I’m too tired. Let’s hang out tomorrow?
Faisal: No problem.
We drove in silence, where I started remembering Rania’s mean comments again and tried to figure out how I’ll deal with her at work. Should I talk to the HR manager or would that be irrelevant since it took place out of the work place? Lots of questions about her kept bumping into my head, and I didn’t even notice Faisal was speaking. I only took notice when he started tickling me and I burst out not able to control my laughter.
Me: What was that for?
Faisal: Well, talking wasn’t enough to get you listening, so I thought doing that will do the trick.
Me: What were you saying?
Faisal: Nothing important.
He parked to drop me off at my place saying: “Here you go, don’t forget your bag. So am I allowed to make a move and kiss you?”
So here’s what naive me thought, yes usually I’m much smarter, but because I was still over-thinking I actually thought he meant kiss me goodnight on my cheek, so I nodded. He came closer and I only grasped what he had in mind when it was too late. One of the most passionate kisses I’ve ever had. The kind that takes your breath away, and instead of pulling myself back, I held onto his neck and continued kissing him deeper. I smiled and bounced out of the car. I can’t believe this, it’s so unlike me, but to be honest, it felt good. I knew letting loose that way had its consequences, but right now, I didn’t care.
The door man at my building looked at me while I was walking happily, saying: “Good morning mam”. I looked at him blurting out in my head, no man, don’t you dare judge me saying good morning just to indicate I’m coming in way too late.
That night, I slept with happy thoughts in my head. The next day, while at work, I saw Rania and wasn’t sure what to do, so I just ignored her presence. She didn’t do that though and walked right up to me saying: “Game on, I’m going to make your life at the office a living hell. Watch me do it.”
