I noticed the change in lighting. The music that had been playing got quieter as my gaze sought something new to focus on, some form of distraction. I stopped my search when my attention settled on the stage where three people climbed on, dressed in traditional belly-dancing attire…
Nobody was paying attention, not even Kareem, as he spoke to someone who had managed to catch his attention.
My focus was drawn to the stage, my mind a haze as I studied the women getting into formation, the atmosphere already beginning to change.
A tether somewhere in my body stretched and then grew taut as I focused on the dancer in the middle. That height. That skin tone. That waist. That aura.It couldn’t be possible…I frowned, watching closely…It couldn’t be her.I knew my mind was prone to playing tricks on me, supplying false images and troubling memories, but it wasn’t too late into the night. I wasn’t trying to sleep naturally; I was awake, barely intoxicated.
She was here.
Her deeply accentuated eyes scanned the room like it was an opponent she wanted to conquer.
How I recognized her with that veil was proof enough that I had been lying to myself that the last I saw of her was actually the last I wouldeversee of her.
Why was I surprised? I couldn’t precisely pinpoint it. Therewas this curl of excitement and wariness in my stomach, so tight that I had to battle with the expression I showed to anyone who could see me.
I watched the way she took a step back, her exposed, thin but curvy waist swaying with her movements as she summoned the attention of the women behind her. I could tell she was saying something, and the frowns on the faces of her companions spoke volumes of their discomfort with what she was saying.
It didn’t last long because they seemed to agree to whatever she had proposed, and they were getting off the stage.
I watched how she slowly gathered her confidence, looking in my direction but not at me. Kareem was her target for the night. Not me. She didn’t realize I was here.
The urge to get up and silently leave pulled firmly at my gut. However, my curiosity and my barely controlled obsession with watching this woman do remotely anything had my grip clenching around the glass. I remained seated.
I was confused as to why she was here and surprised as to why she was on that stage, dressed in a way that brought a different kind of heat to the room.
It took only a slight shift in her gaze to catch my stare. The way those bright brown eyes took me in with shock affirmed my assumptions about her not knowing I was there.
The light around us dimmed, and a bright spotlight was placed on her, giving me one of the most beguiling sights my eyes had ever gotten the pleasure to see.
Wow.
Zahra was standing there, glowing, in all the glories known to be bestowed onto a human being…
No.
That word seemed too small to describe what I was seeing… She was otherworldly; she deserved to breathe the same oxygen as gods and deities alike.
The woman before me was too good to be in this room full of undeserving parasites.
Anger bloomed within me.
The moment she took her eyes off me, I looked around to see she had not only caught my attention but everyone else’s, women and men, young and old, and she had barely even moved yet, barely even blinked; her presence was enough to demand the attention of all.
When the song started to play, I focused on her once more. I watched, astonished and taken with the way she seemed to blend in with the music, the stage, the instruments. She owned every bit of this moment, and it felt like my lungs had finally succumbed to my ill will.
Her hands moved in perfect sync with her waist, like the music lived in her veins.
My mind, at this very moment, registered the fact that underestimating Zahra was a sin one shouldn’t ever commit. I was convinced she could do… anything.
The way she moved.The way this woman moved—seducing the music, teasing everyone in this room without touching them.
I was amazed, dazed, proud… aroused.
I didn’t have the luxury of looking anywhere else. I felt missing a second of this would seem like cutting off the air I needed to breathe.
Her body spoke languages my mind’s reasoning failed to comprehend.
My lust was mixed with admiration and jealousy at the realization that I was not the only one she was seducing.
