About half an hour later, Dodi Ghanem called on Jamil.
"It's getting late. Zora and Yasmin have to go back to Abu Dhabi. But seeing that Yasmin hasn't woken up yet, it would be best that she stay here with you, in Dubai. Anyway, she'll be departing from Dubai airport just the same," Dodi said.
He asked if Jamil could bring him and Zora back to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, he'll take his car and drive Zora to Abu Dhabi from there. He offered to bring back Yasmin's luggage to Dubai. Jamil immediately agreed. He left a note for Yasmin, in case she would wake up before he had returned. He drove Zora and Dodi to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
On the way to Abu Dhabi, Yasmin's parents said little. Dodi asked Zora some questions regarding Yasmin, like where she is currently working, what's her job, what course she took up in college, and how long Yasmin and Jamil have known each other. Zora answered his questions.
"Yasmin and Jamil were not in touch for five years since Jamil left for Dubai after his college graduation. Yasmin had cried so hard that I have to take her to Abu Dhabi. She worked in Abu Dhabi for some years before she joined her company in Kazakhstan. It surprised me tonight when Jamil said that they were engaged," Zora said.
"When and where could they have met up, I wonder?" Zora continued.
"Why? What happened between them?" Dodi asked.
"I have no clue. It's best to ask them," Zora replied.
Upon arriving in Abu Dhabi, Zora hurriedly packed Yasmin's luggage and handed it to Dodi; thinking of Jamil, who would wait for Yasmin's stuff. It was almost midnight, and Jamil will have to take Yasmin to the airport early in the morning.
Dodi drove back to Dubai and handed Yasmin's luggage to Jamil. He asked Jamil if he could help him arrange a meeting with Yasmin sometime soon, even if that would mean visiting her in Kazakhstan. He would have to enlist Jamil's help to do so. Jamil couldn't promise, but said he would try to talk to Yasmin about it. Jamil thanked Dodi for bringing Yasmin's luggage. Dodi stopped him. Instead, Dodi shook his hand and thanked him for looking after Yasmin during all those years.
Looking at Yasmin on the bed, Jamil would very much want to change the layers of cloth from the Indian sari into her more usual comfortable nightclothes. He found one of her one-piece short silk dresses from her luggage. Jamil slowly removed the Indian sari on Yasmin's body, leaving only her top and bottom undies on, and taking care not to wake her up. He slowly slipped the dress over her head and covered her with the blanket. It was almost midnight; he thought. He had better sleep now, as he's taking Yasmin to the airport early in the morning tomorrow.
Yasmin woke up a little later, feeling disoriented. It was dark, and the place was unfamiliar to her. Wondering where she was, she tried to feel the bed she's sleeping on. She was practically groping in the dark when she felt a man's body beside her. Jamil woke up to her touch on his chest. He held her hand at once to calm her.
"Sweetheart, it's me. You're in my flat. You're fine." he said soothingly.
"I was wondering where I am," she said, half-awake.
Jamil pulled her body close to his to allay her fears. He cradled her head on his chest while kissing her gently on her forehead. His right hand rubbed her entire back all the while. He shared with her the blanket covering him and pulled her even closer to his body. He told her he took her home after she fainted. Her father brought her mom back to Abu Dhabi and came back to Dubai with her luggage. He changed her clothes, so she'll be more comfortable.
"Thanks, sweetheart. But I can't sleep with the bra on. I can't breathe. Can you unhook it for me, please?" She asked.
Jamil had to pull her even closer to him to unhook her bra from behind her and remove it altogether. As he did, his naked body touched hers. Clothed in her silk nightdress, she instantly felt the heat travel from his body to hers. Jamil was naked underneath the sheets. He sleeps this way, despite the air conditioning; his tanned, well-toned thick body always feels hot.
Yasmin was half-awake, and seemingly in a hallucinatory trance. Singed by his stiff shaft amid his hairy thigh bulges, she was inflamed. And for once, she took command. She turned to Jamil, used her body's curves, bulges, and dips to rub his rock-hard body. From the simple tongue swirling and nibbling to his ears, neck, and the featherlike stroking and tender fondling of his skin, she knew what would tickle and elicit a heated, burning desire from Jamil. Yasmin wanted to return the favor, and she worked her way, pleasuring him in every way she knew. She paid attention to the response of her own body, to every light touch from Jamil in the past, and now she's going to give back. She knew what Jamil wants and what would heighten his passion, heat his ardor, and excite his animal ferocity to bring him to the point of no return. And she did. She took him in her mouth, and when she thought he had enough, led her inside her. And tonight, she heard it all, the ferocious cry of an animal satisfactorily appeased and wanting for more. Jamil has unleashed in Yasmin a spotted female hyena, dominant and aggressive when sexually charged.
Throughout the first hour of dawn, Jamil went through various ways to enjoy their sensual union; the unfamiliar sensations; different degrees of arousal, and the immense pleasure and satisfaction.
***
Jamil took Yasmin to the airport early the following morning. On their way there, Jamil told her about her dad's request to meet with her, even if he had to travel to Nur Sultan. Yasmin was quiet. Then she looked at Jamil.
"I don't know. Let me think about it. I'll let you know," she said.
Then she looked out of the window. They kissed before Yasmin alighted from the car. Yasmin insisted to be dropped off only, no need for him to go down the car. They waved goodbye.
***
Jamil received a call from Dodi Ghanem before lunchtime, asking him to meet him at lunch that day. He'll message him the place and time. Dodi booked a quiet corner at a restaurant in a golf club where he is a member. There was practically no one, except for a long table of playing buddies at the far-end corner. Dodi had arrived by the time Jamil showed up. Dodi asked him to place his order first. When the server brought Jamil's food, Dodi started.
He said the last time he was in touch with Zora, and the last financial support he can remember having given her, was when Yasmin was barely two years old. He was engaged by his parents to Amina's mom and couldn't defy them. His father was a high-ranking military officer, who later became the highest immigration officer in Dubai, and he knew of Zora. His father threatened that if he wouldn't stop his affair with her, he'd ban her from the country. Dodi begged his father to let her stay and work for their daughter's sake. Zora wouldn't be able to support Yasmin if she lost her job, he begged. His father agreed on the condition that he marry a local girl.
He told Zora about this, and she said she understood, but since then, no longer accepted any financial help from him. She returned everything he sends her and asked to be left alone to take care of Yasmin. He had married and will soon have a family of his own, so he should concentrate on them, were Zora's parting words with Dodi.
They had even transferred residence in Manila. Once when he had the chance to fly out of Dubai, while his father was on a 2-week business trip in Russia, he went to Thailand, and from there traveled to Manila. But when he reached Zora's former address, she had moved her parents along with Yasmin. He couldn't approach her at all, while she's in Abu Dhabi, afraid his father would know.
Dodi claimed he still loves Zora. She was 20, he, 23 years old when they first met at a party where they were both guests of their friends. They continued to meet secretly until he got her pregnant. He begged Zora to give birth to their baby as he wanted their child to grow as a living proof of their love.
Dodi confessed that seeing Yasmin at Fayed's engagement, crying while holding on to Fayed, he couldn't breathe; it pained him to see a young woman being hurt by a man. And realizing later, it was his daughter when her mom called her name and saw Zora. His heart sank, he was heartbroken. He wanted to hug Yasmin right then.
No, please, not my Yasmin. Don't hurt her, was his heart's cry, he thought.
He had already hurt her mother, he wouldn't want his daughter hurt as well. He looked at Jamil long and hard.
"Marry her. I can see that she loves you. I want her to be happy," Dodi declared.
Jamil was speechless.
"Was the marriage arrangement five years ago the reason you separated? Because your father threatened you with her? Even unknowingly, I had still caused my daughter pain. I want to make up with Zora and Yasmin," Dodi said painfully.
"Help me, please, Jamil. I will owe you this for the rest of my life. Please do. Promise me. Let's go see her in Nur Sultan. I can't and won't wait any longer. I want them in my life soon and be part of their lives," Dodi begged.
Jamil could almost feel Dodi's pain. Jamil asked Dodi if he could talk to his father regarding their marriage. He could have married Yasmin a long time back if it hadn't been for his father, he said. Dodi immediately agreed. Dodi spent the next hour learning more about Yasmin from her college days. By the end of their lunch date, father and future son-in-law had bonded so easily in a matter of two hours.
***
Jamil spent two days deliberating with himself on how to convince Yasmin to see her father. The only thing he can see was the fact that his father can facilitate their marriage. Their fathers were friends from their childhood days. Their bond was so tight, as to have even agreed to marry their first-born children should they be of opposite sexes.
However, Naseem Al Abdallah never knew about Zora and Yasmin. Dodi had kept it a secret, even from his childhood friend, that he had a non-local girlfriend too, like him, before his local wife. He must have been very protective of Zora.
Unlike his father, who was so bold as to have shown Jamil to his family, relatives, and friends, that he had sired a boy for his firstborn. He didn't care if the mother was not a local. Jamil respected his father for that. No one could intimidate, threaten, or ostracize Naseem. He lives by his rules. But he can equally carry anyone on his shoulders to raise him up if he wants to.
Two men, the exact opposite of the other, in a blood-compact on the marriage of their firstborns. That is why five years ago, their fathers forcibly betrothed Amina to Jamil, although she was so much younger. And knowing now that Amina is not Dodi's firstborn, but Yasmin, will he then finally consent? Jamil strongly believes so. This would convince Yasmin, he thought. He would call her tonight.
***
Jamil called Yasmin at around seven in the evening, Dubai time. Yasmin answered at once.
"Hi sweetheart, what are you doing?" he asked.
"Missing you, thinking about last night, and suddenly feeling shy about what I did," she said.
Jamil was silent.
"Are you regretting you did it, you mean?" Jamil teased.
She said no, not at all, she was just out of control; she said. Her body responds immediately to his touches. She can't stop her body's reactions. She wished she could stay with him forever, so she can do it every day with him. Right now, she said, just talking about it, she's… (she whispered so softly) horny as hell. She wondered if they're going to have sex every day after marriage. Jamil laughed. Yasmin scoffed.
"Do you want to get married soon?" he asked teasingly, softening his voice like arousing her.
"Badly. Do you mind if I tell you that your new size has turned me into a wanton? That I've been touching myself more often now," Yasmin replied.
Seriously, this conversation with Yasmin hit him voltage-high that his rod was now completely erect.
Yasmin's physical presence, her sex texts, and her phone conversations can drive him insanely horny.
Enough! He'll just bring Yasmin's dad with him to Nur Sultan.
"I have to see this woman again soon," he decided.
And like Yasmin, he can't help but release to ease his hankering and the burning ache in his loins.
Jamil called Dodi the following morning. He said he's booking their flights to Nur Sultan that coming Thursday evening. He'll meet him at the airport two hours before their flight. Jamil had booked him into the same hotel he used the first time he visited Yasmin. But he told him, he'll have to meet Yasmin the following morning, around lunchtime. He'll just tell Dodi later at the airport that they have an apartment in Nur Sultan. Jamil knew he wouldn't object.
***
Upon arrival at Nur Sultan airport, Jamil took a cab, brought Dodi to the hotel, and directed the driver to his apartment address. He called Yasmin before he reached their apartment. For sure, she had doubly locked the gate. She had to open it from the inside, so he can enter. He will surprise her. But he will not mention having brought Dodi, less he ruins her mood. No way! He said. Right now, he's eager to see her and is looking forward to another romantic night.
As soon as Yasmin unlocked the gate, she kissed him. Jamil pulled her immediately inside and, like hungry beasts, devoured each other's lips by the closed door. Jamil carried her into their bedroom. And continued their kisses on the bed while laying bare each other naked. When they stopped to take a breath, Jamil had another kind of night planned. He's going to let her taste a new flavor of massage, he said, the healing and passionate tantric massage. She's going to love it, for sure. But first, he'll have to bathe her in fragrant flower oil, which he brought.
"Anything, sweetheart," she succumbed.
***
Dodi woke up very early. Or did he even sleep at all? He's anxious. He'd been thinking all night. Dodi can't remember if he had slept at all. Now, after twenty-five years, he'll finally come face to face with Yasmin and talk to her.
She's beautiful, he thought.
He was glad he took after his eye color- hazel, with a slightly greenish color. She is undeniably his daughter. But will she accept him? He doesn't know exactly how Yasmin would react and what to expect from Yasmin. But he didn't plan to abandon them at all. There was never a day that he hadn't thought about them. He had loved Zora, and he would have stayed with them, if only it had been possible. He hoped Yasmin will take him into her arms. "Dad, " he looks forward to hearing this word from Yasmin today. It will surely ring the most wonderful sound coming from Yasmin today, here in Nur Sultan.
Jamil messaged Dodi to meet them at some restaurant in the city. This has outdoor table settings overlooking one side of the city, with the rocky hills and the blue waters. The scenery is beautiful and relaxing. He texted Dodi to sit at that table with a small apple tree beside it, which was bearing flowers. He didn't have to tell Dodi anymore, but Jamil had that deep reverence for nature.
To him, the apple tree symbolizes family; its fruits, the children. The tree canopy; the head of the family, shielding its children from drought, famine, and harm. That the tree is flowering means there will be children to welcome. He must be silly for having thought about these things, but he can feel that something good will come out of this. And he crosses his fingers.
After their long and passionate night, Jamil confessed to having brought his father with him the night before. Yasmin didn't react unfavorably. She was also considering meeting her father. Deep inside, she's thrilled to call someone "dad". Even if Jamil's father didn't want Jamil to end up with a non-local girlfriend, like herself before, still she envied Jamil for having a father.
She wished too that she had someone to ask for help from, confide in, and simply talk to. And now that heaven had sent her one, the least she could do was listen to him, give him at least a chance to speak, and have her feelings connect to the man who gave her life. Though older now, her father still has the looks. So it was him in that photo she found years ago, so handsome at 23, that her mom fell deeply in love with him.
In her sixth grade, there was a project in school where they had to bring a picture of their parents and say something about them. Yasmin had to rummage through her mother's things but can't find one picture of a foreign man among the pictures. She knew from her grandparents that her father was a foreigner, but what nationality, she didn't know. Her idea of a foreign man at that age, being the white Americans or British only. Until she saw that one; the picture secretly hidden inside a soft red purse. The man was in a white kandura, with a red and white cloth wrapped on his head. He is handsome, she even thought then. At the back, a dedication reads, "To my one and only Zora. Love, Dodi Ghanem." She didn't know him, nor her father's name, but she needed a picture of a father. She will return it, she promised. She'll just borrow it and pretend in class that he is her father.
The time has finally come for Dodi and Yasmin to meet. The three of them will have lunch together first before Jamil would leave them alone to talk privately. Jamil will stay inside the restaurant, sit nearest the glass wall, looking out at father and daughter. Dodi and Yasmin sat facing each other on the table, with the apple tree beside it shading them from the sun.
Dodi was looking straight at Yasmin, while Yasmin bowed her head. He was talking, while Yasmin was shaking her head, or nodding, but had not uttered a word. Dodi told Yasmin about his father, and the reason he had to stay away from them; about his father's death four years ago; his marriage to Amina's mom; about her half-sister; her wife's death, the year after her grandfather; his undying love for Zora; and his eagerness to meet her and be back in both their lives. Nothing has changed in his heart, he said. He still longs for her and Zora. Now, he can even marry her mom and, though maybe late, be a father to her.
A long silence followed. Yasmin finally looked at her father. She said she had longed to have a father. She envied her classmates having their fathers come to her school, to watch their children during performance shows; fathers who would talk to their teachers about their children's class standing; and fathers who would simply take their children from school, in times of calamity or school emergencies. She said she had always been alone until she met Jamil; she said. Jamil was the closest she had to a paternal figure. Jamil filled the void of a father in her life. When Yasmin looked at her father's face, he was in tears and sobbing. He removed his glasses to wipe the tears off his face with his handkerchief. Yasmin was teary-eyed too, and she looked away into the hills and the waters.
Her father moved to her side to sit with her on that two-seater bench, on either side of the table. He took her hand and asked for forgiveness and understanding. Yasmin looked at his face. She could see and feel his sincerity. She also remembered her mom. If her grandparents die, her mom will be all by herself. She wouldn't want that. Though late, she wanted her to be happy - with him, her father - and especially with her first and only love, Dodi Ghanem.
With these thoughts, she moved closer to her father, hugged him tight as she whispered, "Dad."
Dodi couldn't contain his happiness, and hugged Yasmin tighter, saying, "I love you, my daughter. I love you, Yasmin."
Jamil, looking at them, couldn't help but shed a tear.
Alhamdulillah. Thank God, he mumbled.
***
Jamil invited Dodi to their apartment. Yasmin wanted her father to see their home in Nur Sultan. Jamil sat with Dodi on the balcony, overlooking the blue waters at a distance, while Yasmin prepared cold snacks for them. She was smiling, just looking at the two men in her life now.
About her father, it's not late, she convinced herself, it's never too late. They can still make memories together, from this point and onwards. She's very sure her mom will accept him. She's done preparing, and the snacks were on the tray, waiting to be served, but Yasmin stood rooted, savoring the scene before her. Jamil and her father sharing a laugh. She hoped to see this often soon in the days to come. She truly hoped so.
Fathers and daughters will always have that unique special bond. They may not have started it earlier, but they can still catch up. It is not the quantity but the quality of time that counts. With the showers of kindness, gentleness, and love, Yasmin will eventually feel the love her father had kept within him for her.
For a daughter, no matter the age, she will always be "Daddy's Little Girl."