It's been months. Yasmin hadn't seen Jamil in a long while, although they always talk over the phone whenever Jamil gets the chance to call. She had now lived out. Jamil chose the apartment they both liked. He made the payments by bank transfer and arranged Yasmin's move with the broker. He worried he couldn't help Yasmin move her things into the apartment. But Yasmin assured him she has nothing heavy to bring in with her.
One good thing about the apartment, the agency had it furnished. They don't need to bring in any additional appliances or furniture. They only need some essentials like kitchen cutleries, linens, and Yasmin's things. Yasmin purchased beddings, curtains, towels, doormats, and linens. It was exciting to be decorating the apartment.
Her office friend Naira and former roommate, Anya, enjoyed helping her out. They prepared food and drinks and slept in Yasmin's apartment on the first night, to celebrate her moving in, laughing at their anecdotal stories about the office. The apartment has two bedrooms: the one where her two friends slept is smaller compared to the master bedroom she will share with Jamil. They all agreed that the view of the beach was the main reason for the apartment choice, although the garden needed landscaping and the girls promised to do it one day. They helped her fix the curtains, cover the king-sized bed and pillows in the master bedroom, and the queen-sized bed in the other bedroom, and decorate her living room.
Women love flowers, gardens, decorating, paper walling, and best of all, shopping. Naira and Anya were more than willing to help her shop for some items she'll be needing for the apartment. They helped fill Jamil's absence. They would picnic, swim, and spend the weekends frolicking. There were days when they would cook out. Yasmin purchased a garden set with a barbecue grill. She and her friends set it up on the lawn, under a square parasol to shield them from sunlight or rain. They tried it out that week grilling some fish and other seafood. The girls enjoyed it very much and promised to do this on the weekends. They've thought of buying the early catch of the day in the fish market.
They baked cookies on Fridays and would bring them to the office the following day. It surprised them when their cookies became a hit! Everyone loves them. They tried serving them to office guests with the coffee, and from time to time, received favorable compliments about the cookies. Soon after, they would have to meet the demand from their office mates, who would order cookies for their consumption or gifts. Their small hobby had now turned into an actual business. And they got better with their frequent cookie baking, and even expanded their cookie selections, with their frequent experimentations - chocolate, vanilla, fruit, and even candy flavors for kids. Soon, they were marketing various delicious flavors. They've decided that if Jamil is in town, they would bake in Anya's apartment to give the couple some privacy.
Their weekends became more enjoyable and their friendship became closer with their regular weekend bonding. Her friends were so thankful that she had connected with her college sweetheart and moved into the apartment. For even Naira and Anya felt blissfully at home, in Yasmin's apartment during the weekends.
One day, in the living room, after seeing a movie they've agreed to watch together, her friends coaxed Yasmin to share with them how she and Jamil met up again. They were so surprised to know that they were college sweethearts who had separated for five years and met up again. Most couples, they said, would have been engaged or married to other partners by then. It's unbelievable, anyone could wait that long. Yasmin couldn't believe it either, she said. She was thankful to know that Jamil had waited, too.
It thrilled her to recount their meeting at the airport on her latest vacation. As she recounts that night to her friends, she would smile so longingly and reminisce so dreamily. Yasmin forgot she was very expressive, telling her story. Not able to stop herself, Anya commented she guessed Yasmin must have had a truly 'salacious' vacation last time. Naira and Yasmin widened their eyes in shock and screamed, and laughed out loud. Coming from a very prim and proper Anya, they didn't expect her to say that word. They had laughed and rolled on the carpet in the living room. Anya reasoned that she'd been observing Yasmin's eyes telling the story; it would light up like glistening emeralds and diamonds. She believed there is a lot more to her stories than she's telling, she said. They laughed all the harder, making Yasmin blush.
She was so glad to have moved into the apartment. Her weekends had never been dull since her first weekend off. There were so many things to do and her two friends also enjoyed doing them together. She had filled pots with flowers and lined them up to her window sills. She had even purchased a birdhouse and fixed a small fountain for birds to use as their drinking oasis.
How heavenly would it be to be living with Jamil all her life? When Jamil would call her, she would happily recount her days with her two friends, gardening, decorating, barbecuing, and baking. She even told him they had turned their cookie baking into a business! She would excitedly tell him they would often picnic on the beach, and bike by the beachside, and to and from the supermarkets.
Jamil would listen happily to her incessant stories until, on one of his calls, he reminded her teasingly that he did not lease the apartment for her friends, and that he also lives there. She might forget that, he said. Yasmin laughed heartily. How could she? Foremost, this wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for him. She wouldn't be experiencing all these if she hadn't moved into the apartment. Jamil had not even asked her to share the housing allowance she got from the company. But she will take care of the things they will need from her allowance.
There was something Yasmin now knew from her friendship with Naira and Anya, and she will cherish this all her life. The three of them may think they were just having fun now, but in reality, they were building memories that will forever stay in their hearts. When she leaves Kazakhstan and reminisces about her times in the country, she will longingly remember these two friends and their weekends together in this apartment her beloved Jamil had provided.
"Thanks, Jamil, my love for all these fun times and happy memories. You truly make me happy," Yasmin said. As she looked out the window on this moonlit night above the glistening shine of the waters.