"Strange times make the strangest bedfellows," Raul James said to himself as he left the Vanier townhouse located near the Silver City movie theater. The owner of said townhouse, Fatima Sayyid, waved him goodbye as he got in his van and drove away. The lady was glowing and Raul had everything to do with it. Nothing like a job well done, Raul thought with a wicked smile.
The tall, dark and handsome, burly young Haitian thought of all the times he did plumbing work for Salman Sayyid, the cheapskate old Arab dude. The bastard had always been a penny pincher, paying Raul, a poor contractor and college student, the bare minimum to fix things around his townhouse.
When Raul heard that Salman Sayyid died of a heart attack, he hadn't exactly felt bad. As far as he was concerned, the old buzzard got exactly what he deserved. Still, Raul felt bad for Fatima Sayyid, Salman's widow. The older Arab woman had always been kind to him, so he felt a measure of respect for the lady, even if her late husband was a scumbag.
"Shukran, thank you for coming by to pay your respects," Fatima Sayyid said, the day Raul came by. The lady looked pretty good in a long-sleeved blue T-shirt and traditional ankle-length Islamic skirt, her long dark hair tucked away under a modest azure Hijab. Raul thought that Fatima Sayyid looked pretty good for her fifty seven years. Her daughter Amina Sayyid lived in Montreal, Quebec, with her husband Ali.
"Ma'am, it was the least I could do," Raul said as he offered her flowers, and Fatima Sayyid took them, then invited him inside for a little chat. The lady inquired about Raul's life, and he informed her that his studies in construction management at Algonquin College were coming along nicely. She seemed to take quite an interest in Raul's personal life, especially after he told her that he split with his long-time girlfriend, a big-booty Nigerian cutie named Khadija Kwame.
"I am so sorry that your girlfriend Khadija left you, Raul, you must be so lonely," Fatima Sayyid said, and she gently touched Raul's knee while looking into his eyes. Raul nodded, and looked at Fatima pensively. Truth be told, he wasn't too broke up about his relationship with Khadija ending. The Nigerian gal had been too materialistic, and she didn't put out enough in the bedroom as far as Raul was concerned. Good riddance, of a sort...
"Oh, yes, it hurts being alone," Raul said, and a pensive look came upon Fatima Sayyid's beautiful face. The older Arab woman leaned closer and looked into Raul's soulful brown eyes. The Haitian brother held his breath. Fatima was definitely not acting like her usually reserved, friendly but distant self. Raul found that puzzling. What was going on through the Arab lady's mind?
"I know all about loneliness, my friend," Fatima Sayyid said, and when Raul gazed at her, he saw a deep, powerful longing in her face. Raul always wondered, privately of course, what a tall, gorgeous woman like Fatima Sayyid saw in a short, cheap, arrogant and cold-hearted bastard like Salman Sayyid. They have arranged marriages in the Arab world, that was the only explanation Raul could think of, regarding the mismatched pair...