"Salaam, bae, how's my favorite booty doing?" Sebastien Lavoie said cheerfully, his deep baritone voice pouring through the cell phone all smooth and confident. Bashira Mahmoud-Lavoie chucked softly, and shook her head. Leave it to that lustful husband of mine to call and ask about my ass, literally, Bashira thought. Sitting in the now empty lunch room located at the back of Walmart, the young Moroccan woman paused before answering her husband.
"I'm fine, Sebastien, funny you should ask about my booty, cause I ate a bad burrito from Mucho Burrito and let's just say the cleanup guy isn't going to be happy," Bashira said, laughing, and she heard Sebastien groan. Serves you right for talking about my booty when you forgot about our anniversary, Bashira thought, a bit peeved at Sebastien's forgetfulness.
Three years ago they met, just a couple of students reaching for the last Accounting II book inside the Algonquin College bookstore in the City of Nepean, Ontario. Sebastien, the tall and handsome newcomer to Ottawa by way of Laval, Quebec, and Bashira, the young refugee from the Kingdom of Morocco. What an unusual pair they made. Who would have thought such a life-changing sequence of events would stem from that initial encounter?
Sebastien and Bashira came from different worlds, but they had a lot in common. They agreed to share the accounting book upon discovering that they were in the same class, taught by Mr. Matthews. They sat in the same row, and ended up getting paired up in group work. When they became friends, people stared as they watched the two of them walk around. When Bashira and Sebastien became a couple, a lot of their fellow students were surprised, especially the Muslims, but they didn't let that stop them.
"Monday, September 7, 2015, that's when we met," Bashira thought to herself, and a bittersweet smile spread across her lovely face. Sitting inside the Walmart lounge, she savored the last few minutes remaining on her break. After graduating from Algonquin College with an Accounting diploma, Bashira looked for work with everyone from H & R Block to the Canada Revenue Agency, to no avail.
"Don't let these fools get to you babe," Sebastien told Bashira, earlier that morning, when she complained about the tiresome work that came with being a customer service manager at Walmart. Angry clients came in and blamed her for malfunctioning gadgets bought at the electronic section and Bashira had to smile through it all. As a college-educated woman and a new permanent resident of Canada, Bashira was qualified to do better work, but the Canadian government wasn't willing to give her a chance. As a Hijab-wearing Muslim woman from North Africa, Bashira knew that she could never be Canadian enough for them.
"It's not fair, Sebastien, I'm bilingual, I've got qualifications and a great resume, I have a degree from a Canadian college, what more do they want?" Bashira whined, and Sebastien looked at her sympathetically, then pulled her into his arms and held her. Sebastien can't relate to some of the things that I go through because he was born here, Bashira thought bitterly, then she chastised herself for such thoughts.