A smile for sale… the smile of the air hostess seemed to him when she welcomed him coldly at the boarding door. How much was her smile, he wondered? The problem was that she mummified her smile on her lips to the degree it seemed like a grin.
She sold her smile as he sold his stories. Everybody sell what they own these days. Everything can be sold whether they are innovations, smiles, bodies…
The truth was that Khaled did not do any effort to smile back because he was still drawing a smile that persisted on his face till he sat down in his seat in the plane.
Mahdi and Munir continued cracking jokes with Khaled till the last hug. Munir was saying,
Khaled turned his head to face the window in an attempt to avoid the noise of the passengers. There were a lot of trampling, spitting, and some friendly scuffles to complete the scene.
The plane took off at last after everybody carried out their travelling duties.
Travelling is an experience from hell being it on a plane, on a shuttle or on the instant means of disapparition and apparition.
Travelling is travelling…a matter of anxiety…stomach disorder…forgetting the passport or travelling ticket…and above all a piece of chocolate in the bag that looked like a pack of cannabis would make the whole process much more cheerful.
He was listening to the Hajji Srifi, the singer of the mountains, with his headset. They were mountain genre songs that increased the agony of departure.
«My beloved you are, Tangier,
Whenever I see you, I feel relieved…yes my beloved has indeed come, too…
My beloved you are, Tangier»
Tangier was waving him goodbye and in her eyes looks of missing, gentle reproof, and enquiry,
His eyes bathed in tears… the lights of Tangier were fading away gradually.
Whenever he traveled, he felt she was really sad. Her mountains, sea, air, … definitely all of them are burdened with a sweet sadness… a sadness promising of a coming reunion.
When he got off the plane, she felt the freezing cold searing his face. He was lucky he prepared himself putting on a heap of clothes. Huda was standing there in the lobby area of Charleroi airport. She was wearing winter clothes that made her more beautiful and glamourous. When she welcomed him warmly, he said to her,
She smiled while she was trying to help him put his luggage in the car trunk. He noticed that her car was similar to the one she rented in Tangier. It took almost an hour and a half to reach Antwerp. She asked him about his news and about any new thing with him. He told her about the incident in the airport.
When they arrived in Antwerp, he noticed that it was really quiet. Khaled was fond of the European architectural system… the small contiguous buildings… corridors made of stones tightly pressed together. All streets, even side streets, were lit without any exception.
He did not respond. He sensed some insult in her sentence. She is supposed to be with him in his free time instead of letting him write a novel!
He tried to overlook it when he looked up at the building near which they stopped. It was his favorite style with no more than four floors. The apartment was small, and it would take the inhabitants a short time to find it comfortable. Huda said to him,
She was talking as if she needed to finish what she said as fast I she could. Did she fear being with him in the same apartment? He knew well he was not an angel, but he wasnot a demon, either. It really confused him and almost stole his slumber had it not for the combination of travelling tiredness and the irresistible power of sleeping. His eyelids relaxed, and inside his mind a sound was asking,