Chapter 58

El Cairo, Egypt.

Days went by, one after the next and Samanta seemed to have found the peace she so much needed. She took refuge in her history books, between her Latin class and that spectacular world that offered endless opportunities.

In just one week, she made a couple of friends, among whom, her roommate, Charlotte, or as Sam called her, Charlie. They got along so well, starting with how talkative Charlotte was, crazy and peculiarly good at ancient languages.

Among her new group of friends, there were also Amir and Maher, the Mobarek twins. Amir was a very intelligent and dedicated boy, good-looking, the typical local beauty with deep, green eyes that made Samanta nervous to even look at.

To Amir, Samanta was not irrelevant, from the first time he saw her, he noticed her innate innocence, the kind you no longer find in a woman from the New World.

On the other side, there was also his sister Maher. Identical twins, but she was his exact opposite. She was care-free, a little absent minded and a day dreamer.

Samanta, Charlotte, Amir and Maher were members of a select study group who gathered every afternoon in the library looking to discuss different topics relating to their major.

“Oh! Here you are” said Charlotte as soon as she walked into her dorm room. Sam was sitting at a small table with a pile of book in front of her. “I've been looking for you all morning.”

It was a Saturday and Samanta was diving in her history of art books.

“I've been here. Studying.”

“How much can there be to study in only one week? Close those books and get dressed.”

“What's wrong with my clothes?”

“Amir invited us to spend the day with their family, trust me, you don't wanna wear your pajamas to meet the Mobareks.”

“To their house? I thought they lived on campus” Samanta put the book she was holding to one side.

“They do. But they visit their parents on the weekends.”

“What are we doing there?”

“Have fun, spend a day in a different way, dive in their pool… What do I know? There is so much you could do in a mansion.”

“Mansion? Amir is rich?”

“Amir and Maher are the children of a very renowned businessman in the area. Didn't you know?”

Samanta shook her head.

»Well. Now you know.”

“Why do they live in the dorms?”

“Because they want to. And because they can. I heard Mr. Mobarek can be very annoying. I don't think it's weird his kinds would like a break from him. Come on! Stop asking all those questions and put on something nice” she winked. “I've noticed how you look at him.”

“At whom? Amir?”

“Yes, him. He's very handsome” she winked again.

Samanta giggled nervously.

“We're just friends.”

“I said the same thing about my ex. We were together for 5 years.”

Samanta rolled her eyes from her friend's remarks and put on something appropriate. That day, she had decided to have a good time with her new friends.

When they arrived to the Mobarek home, Samanta was breathless before such a beautiful house. The place was adorned with beautiful sculptures, gorgeous marble lions stood at every corner of the room and golden curtains danced in the wind. A marble staircase with stunning  rails in mahogany and floors of polished granite, gave the impression of being in the house of a Sheikh, and not just a wealthy merchant of the area, like Charlotte said.

Samanta could not hold back a whistle.

“Right” agreed Charlie. “The Mobarek live the good life.”

“Welcome” Maher's voice made them turn suddenly to face the pretty woman coming up behind them.

“Wow! This is gorgeous” Sam was almost breathless.

“Thanks, dear” Amir showed up to join his sister. “Welcome to our humble abode” He added with a warm smile on his face.

“If this is humble, I live under a bridge” joked Charlotte.

Everybody laughed.

“This way, please” Amir came up to Samanta, putting his arm behind her, around her waist, showing her the way with his other arm.

Sam startled when she felt his proximity.

All four of them walked through a long hallway with windows on each side, feeling the sunlight and the soft brush of the wind on their faces.

They walked into a room with a few tables with food, fruit, drinks and typical regional delicacies, long sofas and large screens on the wall.

“Go ahead. Make yourselves at home” urged Amir.

“What do you want to do?” Asked Maher. “We made a selection of movies" he gave a small jump. “We also have board games. All the board games you could ever imagine” she said, pointing at a long table on the side of the room.

“Or, if you want, we could go swimming” commented Amir.

“I love that idea” said Charlotte.

“Alright. Maher, show them where they can change…”

“I don't want to swim” said Samanta before Amir finished. “I'd rather watch a movie.”

“Come, Charlie. Let's go change.”

Maher held Charlotte's hand and dragged her out of the room.

“Thank you so much for having us” said Samanta when she was alone with Amir.

“You're welcome. It's a pleasure hanging out with you two” he answered, and sat next to Sam.

“Are you hungry? I can ask our chef to make anything you want.”

“I'm fine. Thank you.”

Amir smiled and set his eyes on the beautiful girl.

*****

While Charlotte and Maher swam, Amir and Samanta were seeing a movie. She chose Mad Max, trying to avoid any kind of romantic scenes that could lead to any awkward situations. She did not want to send the wrong message to Amir, and, the sooner he understood she wanted nothing but his friendship, the better.

Maher and Charlotte joined them after a while.

Maher insisted and got everybody to play scrabble and monopoly.

They laughed till it hurt with Amir's jokes and Charlotte's remarks. They listened to some music and drank some cocktails.

It was getting dark and Amir and Maher's parents were nowhere to be found.

“I thought you said this was your parents'” Charlotte could not contain her curiosity.

“It is” said Maher.

“Where are they? We haven't seen them all day.”

The Mobarek twins laughed.

“And you won't” said Maher.

“Our father spends most of his time travelling the world. We rarely see him” commented Amir.

“That's why we live on campus. Living here, all this spacious halls, we don't like it” said the youngest (by two minutes) Mobarek twin.

Samanta thought it was kind of weird how the twins only mentioned their father.

“And Mrs. Mobarek?” She let out.

Amir and Maher shared and awkward look.

“Our mother passed a few years back” answered Amir, sadly.

“Oh, God! I'm so sorry” Sam felt very embarrassed.

“Don't worry. You didn't know” said Amir.

“You could house half the student body here” said Charlotte, ending the sudden tension.

Everybody laughed out loud.

»No joke, though. If I lived in such a big house, I'd have a ton of people live with me. Starting with the swimming team, the basketball team and the football team. Oh my god!” Charlie put her hand on her forehead. “Today is the final!”

“Really? Shoot! I forgot” Amir stood in a brisk and got the TV remote. “I bet a thousand dollars on Spain.”

“Forget it, mister” Charlotte seemed offended. “That cup belongs to Germany.”

Samanta felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of that country.

«He made it. Dominik made it to finals». She couldn't help getting excited for him.

Amir put on the sports channel and the game was already on minute 63.

Charlotte looked at the time and realized it was almost 8pm. The day had gone by so quickly.

“Oh my god! It's late. We have until 9 to make it back to the dorms.”

“It's fine. You can sleep over. We have all this spare room” said Amir. “We can all go back together tomorrow after breakfast. What do you say, Samanta?”

Samanta was lost in her own thoughts.

“Samanta?” Called Charlotte.

“What?” Sam shook her head hard.

“Do you mind sleeping over tonight?” asked Charlie.

Samanta nodded by inertia with her eyes stuck on the TV screen.