Out of the blue

It was a glorious morning, just the perfect day for traveling. The sea was calm and I could see dolphins frolicking near our boat. I can even see Male’ now. My mother is from Male’ but she married my father and moved to our island twenty years ago. Whenever I visit Male’ I stay with my aunt. She’s a lovely woman. As I stepped on the jetty I was bursting with happiness. Yes, my dream of meeting my favorite singer is finally going to come true.

When I came home in a taxi my aunt was serving lunch. I joined her family for lunch. My cousins Zuha and Zuba hardly ate anything. They toyed around with their food and left after a while. I stayed and helped my aunt to clear up the table. When I joined my cousins in their room they were whispering and giggling about something. As soon as I entered they stopped talking. I realized that they were gossiping as usual. But I was not interested in the grapevine. I wanted to know when and where I was going to meet Azhad the famous young singer.

I love Azhads songs and his music. When I was studying in Male’ he used to sing in the school singing competitions. I admired him back than even. But once I completed my studies, I went home and luckily I got a job. I was in a relationship for two years and my boyfriend dumped me to marry a girl who went over to our island for the holidays. During those lonely days I listened to his CD’s day and night. I do like him very much but I try not to show it. My cousins already laugh at my stupidity. Sometimes they can be very mean. Once they told me that why would a well known successful musician like Azhad like or even marry an island mouse like me? So I made a mistake by telling them because all of her friends happen to know about my secret little crush.

But I’m willing to forget all about it. Well, they happen to know a guy who is a very close friend of Azhad. So they are going to set up a get together where I would also be invited. So I can meet him and may be get him sign on my CD. Gosh, I’m so thrilled. I chat with them every day and ever since they have told me about it I’ve been planning this trip. I even bought a new dress to wear with matching accessories. Nothing will ruin this special day for me.

"Well, we were just going to tell you ", Zuha started. 

"Azhad is currently looking for someone to act in his new song with him", finished Zuba. 

"So what", I said irritated. I mean come on, I want to meet him. When this new video is released I would see it. So right now it’s not very important. 

"Hmmm’, Zuha started again, "Well since you are so beautiful, we showed him your picture and he wants you to do it’, Zuha said innocently. 

I was so shocked that I forgot to blink my eyes even. I just stared at my twin cousins to burst out laughing. But they didn’t, they just stared back quite seriously. I knew they were telling me the truth and nearly fainted with happiness. 

"So what do I have to do?" I screamed at the top of my voice laughing at the same time like a hooligan. My aunt even rushed in to check whether I’ve flipped.

We were seated in Dine More restaurant. Everyone ordered chicken submarines. I didn’t feel like eating. Since I agreed to star in Azhads new song, I’m about to sign the agreement. Zuha and Zuba claimed that it’s really important. On the way over here they even showed me their camera. They said that it’s such an important day for me that they decided to capture every moment so I could cherish it for life. How nice of them, I thought elated. 

When I man walked in I looked up with anticipation but was disappointed because he was someone else. But he came towards our table and my cousins happen to know him. He sat down heavily and informed us that Azhad cannot make it tonight, so he came with agreement for me to sign. Azhad would sign it later and send me a copy and hoped that it was no big deal. Of course it was a big deal, but I tried to smile trying to ignore the emotional turmoil I was going through. So I signed the paper without reading it properly, I mean it’s not that important. My cousins snapped away and I posed for the camera and we had a great time.

After a week, I asked my cousins when I had to go for the shooting and they started laughing. 

"You really think that it was true, it was all fake", they chorused. 

They’ve played pranks on me before and I never ever said anything at them but this is just simply malicious. How can they hate me so much when I’ve never hurt their feelings? I just lay on my bed for the rest of the day feeling miserable. I should never trust them. Their friends would be having a good laugh after seeing the pictures and the fake agreement I thought with rage. I decided to go home since I was so humiliated even though my holidays weren’t over. 

That night while I was packing my cousins came and spoke to me like they’ve done nothing. And before turning off the lights, Zuba mentioned casually, "by the way we’ve uploaded those pictures on facebook, you do know it’s just for fun, nothing personal".

My mom was glad to see me and made a special lunch for me. I was feeling much better now. However, every time I thought about the signing incident, I feel like throwing up. I’m so ashamed of myself that I want to crawl under a rock and hide forever. But life must go on. I flipped through my dairy and came across a page where I drew a big heart and in the center I've written Azhad plus Aika equals love. I was revolted by it, so I tore the page and threw it to the dustbin. Feeling lonely even though I wasn’t alone I walked outside and headed towards the beach.

I walked towards my favorite spot and sat down. I couldn’t pretend anymore, I started crying and to be honest I started a good bawling session. I don’t know how long I was there crying when I suddenly had a feeling that someone was standing behind me. I turned around slowly and had the shock of my life. There stood the famous singer Azhad with a sympathetic smile on his face waving at me. I thought I was hallucinating. He came and set next to me. I was speechless. 

He offered me his handkerchief and said, "my friends always laugh at me because I always happen to carry this". 

Oh my god, I cried silently. Oh no! I thought in despair. My hair was a mess, my eyes were red and puffy because I’ve been crying and I really needed to blow my nose and it would be noisy! I managed to croak a lousy thank you, waaa, I even sounded like a frog.

Well, that’s how I met my husband five years ago. He just popped up, out of the blue. I went to all that trouble to meet him and he was sitting next to me, just like that. Yes, my cousins were astounded when they found out. He told me that he noticed me on the ferry. You see, he came to our island on the same ferry as me that day. But I was so depressed about the unpleasant holiday in Male’ that I hardly paid any attention to the other passengers. He also came for a walk and happened to be on the same route as me. I was so happy that day even though I was quite a sight. First we were friends and then we had long phone calls and he visited me during weekends since my island is just an hour of boat ride away. Well, I believe we are destined to be together.