Serendipity - 9

Butti walked into the familiar meeting hall at the J.W. Marriot carrying the weight of the world on his eyelids. Exhaustion was not enough of a word to describe how he felt. He was still caught up in the events of yesterday.
Shuffling his legs with the energy left in his body, he walks to the closest pair of chairs he finds and sits back to rest his head and drown into a nap....

It was a long road which seemed endless. He's been walking for months if not years. The road was empty most of the time, just a few flowers scattered at some parts that passed. And just as he felt hopeless of reaching anywhere, his eyes land on an injured white dove lying in the middle of the empty road. Picking it up as gently as he can, Butti rested the angelic dove on his lap and then he found it. His purpose. He knew he had to take care of this dove. The mere thought and sight of it made him content. 

Butti felt a faint poke on his arms and a soft voice coming from a distance calling his name. He searched around him for the source but found nothing, the road was still empty. Something about that voice was comforting; it sent warmth to his heart...

With huge struggle he opened his eyes still looking for the angelic voice. He could see a blur of lights and a black silhouette. Too much for an angel, he thought to himself before closing his eyes again. He felt the poke again and suddenly it hit him: The leadership program.

"Are you ok?" - Nouf stood on the right hand side of his sofa awkwardly holding a pen in her hand. She looked sincerely concerned.

Rubbing his eyes like a five year old, Butti adjusts his posture and sends Nouf an apologetic smile, "I didn't sleep well yesterday..."

"oh. I dont think the super serious couple we were paired with will be happy with this. We're sitting in that corner." she says pointing to a middle eastern man in a suit, probably in his late 30s and a very smart looking chinese lady by his side. "I've been trying to talk to them for the past 15 minutes but he wont even give me a chance to say a word, ugh........."

Butti was leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head and a huge grin on his face. He's looking intently at Nouf while she's throwing her hands in the air and complaining endlessly. The energy this girl radiates is impossible, she was able to shred every ounce of fatigue that Butti felt away with her spontaneous attitude.

"What?" - Nouf blurted out awkwardly when she noticed Butti's expression. "And you're not listening too? ufff ard baitna a7san!"

"Afaaa, how can i not listen?" Butti smirked at her. Her face expression was priceless. It was very entertaining to see her get annoyed in a split of a second. "I was just wondering how can they not give you a chance to talk when you didn't even give me a chance to talk!"

Rolling her eyes, Nouf started walking away towards the couple. She glanced back at Butti and stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "Your eyes are red, and you look awful... like a hangover."

Why is she mad at me? I'm not the one that ignored her. sigh. Thought Butti as he walked to the rest room to freshen up.

Shit - He did look horrible. That's not how he would present himself formally in public. He stared at his puffy red eyes, untamed hair, loose white shirt and grey sweat pants. What was I thinking, coming here like this. Its Fares' fault!

________________________________

The night before 

Chilling at Abdulla's Meelas was Butti's way out of the stress of work and his busy life. He was not the type that would walk for hours in shopping malls aiming to haunt down a girl like other guys, or go out clubbing, partying and drinking. Butti had values that he lived by regardless of the opinions of his friends. They've dragged him along a couple of times but it was just not his thing. The feeling of guilt he gets after this type of fun was not worth the "fun" in his opinion. 

Ahmad, a regular visitor at the meelas, walked in. "Wa3laikm Eslam", they replied back in a unified voice as he took his place beside Butti. 

"Agool Butti," Ahmad was nearly whispering, "what was the car plate number on Fares' new Range Rover?" - Butti replied back with the answer casually concentrating on the deck of cards in his hand. 

"He's up to trouble. I saw him fe JBR. He was too loud with a couple of girls, i don't think he's in his full senses."

"He has a brother, father and uncles. Its none of my business." Butti was trying to control his temper. He knew he will step in to save that maniac. His brother was out of town and this news will bring down his father with yet another heart attack. But no he wont, enough is enough, he ought to be taught a lesson by the elders in the family. He convinced himself he will not help Fares, for his own good. 

His phone glows and it was what he feared. His aunt was calling him for the rescue. Mothers instincts. How on Earth did she know that her son was in trouble?

"Butti," She started crying. "Ummy, d5eelk 3shan 5a6ry, go find Fares." She pleaded. "He didn't come back home since he left on Friday morning. Please Butti."

"Enshalla 5alo." He surrendered. Her pleadings broke his heart, it wasn't her fault. 

__________________________

Its his third round in JBR but Fares is out of sight. He calls all of Fares' numbers and fails to get a response. With the experience he has, Butti knows exactly what to do to narrow down his search. First he calls the most "off the right track" person he knows, Thani. 

"Thanooy, did you see Fares?"

"yeee bro" This one is drunk too, Butti notices. "I left'em at a partaaay fl Nakhlaa......" Butti hangs up. There's no use the guy is too drunk to make sense and is very much distracted by the female company. The palm, at least he narrowed it a bit. 

"Fares, please answer your phone" There's only one more villa to go to. Natalie's Villa on Frond O. Butti was feeling very tired. Its already 2:00 am. I should get to know his rotten friends' numbers already to find him easily. 

"Bingo" - And there was his famous Range Rover parked outside a villa that was two villas away from Natalie's. "And that's a new party place to remember" sighed Butti. 

Walking in to the villa, the party is surely still on. Loud music is blasting, dim lights and a crowd of people. Butti finds his way through the drunken dancing crowd all the way to the backyard of the house. More people are out celebrating by the beach. It a whole another world in here. People from everywhere partying and drinking. You would totally forget you're in the same Dubai. Nightlife in Dubai takes you to a whole another world that to Butti seemed to be a darker, less welcomed world.

A girl in a short black dress grabs the hands of Butti and pulls herself to a very close distance from him. He's definitely not as model handsome as his corrupted cousin is, but nevertheless a good catch.  He had an overall charisma and essence that attracted you to look again.

"ob oob" the huskiness of Fares' voice comes from behind Butti, "w tgool ma 3ndk hal swalef". He's laughing uncontrollably while pulling the girl to his right side as his left side is already taken with another, "Stay with me. He's his mama's boy" he winks, "Aren't you?"

"We're leaving. Now." His harsh tone is enough to bring back the little sense of sanity left in
Fares' head. Butti knows the effect he has on Fares. Whatever happens, he's the only one that could bring him back. He's the only one that knows him well. He knows that deep down somewhere, Fares still holds respect and value towards Butti.

Brushing a soft kiss on the girls cheeks, Fares leaves them and follows Butti while laughing.

"What happened?" he says casually as they stand by the car.
Butti summarizes his aunts phone call. He did not even bother to give advice or even make sure that he was following him out in the first place. He had enough. His life, his choices.

"Bs?"
"Bs?!! why you wanted me to inform you that your mother died for you to stop..." Butti couldn't find a word. "this" he gestured to the whole of Fares. "Never mind, just call her tell her you're alive. Give them two more weeks and she'll get used to this crap, like your father and I. Bye."

Fares stood there all alone trying to crunch in what just happened. The whole incident is a regular scene in both of their lives but this time something changed. Butti didn't care. He didn't insist that Fares would not drive, nor did he give him one of his regular lectures. What Butti didn't know was that this absence of attention that Fares felt had more impact on him than the years of lectures and advice. Fares ran his fingers through his hair thinking for the first time about his life.

___________________________________________
Leadership program

Running his fingers into his hair in an attempt to tame it down, Butti was looking better than a few minutes ago.

Coffee, That's what i need. I should focus on this project now and keep everything else for later. Or Nouf won't stop complaining. 

The thought of Nouf complaining made him smile. Her attention span is very short and so is her mood span. She radiates a rainbow of moods in just a short period of time. It was very entertaining to him to see her reactions.



Stay tuned.