You can run, but you cannot hide!

Negar was waiting in Dulles airport for arrival of a family member. All of a sudden, she felt the weight of someone's stare on her back. Those that make you naturally turn back to look. She saw her. Was it her? It has been about six years since the last time she saw Naima. She was not sure. She turned back quickly. They were checking each other out for a while from a distance. Both of them were not sure and their uncertainty and doubt itself reassured them they must be right in recognizing each other. Negar checked the announcement board. A flight from Saudi Arabia had just landed. It must be her, waiting for a family member, she concluded.

Naima was cute and flirtatious in graduate school. She used to wear clothes in see-through fabrics, short cuts, showing a decent amount of skin. She had created such a soap opera in a male dominant department. She used to go out with different guys, break up with each after a short period, and use the next one to make the previous one jealous. There was a tense atmosphere every time she entered a lounge or classroom. Soon she started having problems with her adviser. A department staff, an old lover of hers who was heart broken, quit his position after many years of service. Soon, it was not her place to stay anymore either. She left the program with a Masters, accepting a job that could sponsor her work visa.

Now, six years later she was in a colorful scarf, jeans, and a nice long sleeve shirt. Later at home, Negar googled Naima. Yes, there she was at the most prestigious technical university of the U.S., as part of a program for empowering Saudi women. Her photo shows her in Islamic cover. Negar tried hard not to judge her. Maybe she is truly religious now. Maybe she does not care for a prestigious certificate and high paying position in Saudi Arabia. Maybe she does. Why should she care? Ah, she remembered. Her heart was among the many hearts Naima had stepped on while trying to climb a mountain. Negar had forgotten all about that. She must have gotten a whole new heart. One that Naima cannot break or touch anymore. How good it had felt passing her by freer than ever.