Unfinished Romance

-Where’re you going, darling?
-To visit my friend. Any objection?
-Not at all.

That was the conversation which occurred again and again between the young couple, Nadia and Karim.

When the former threw the door shut and disappeared, the latter began to bring back memories that had long haunted him.

It was an idle and rainy day when Nadia was crossing, under her beautiful umbrella, an overpopulated street. She was in a hurry. Probably she was going to visit some of her relatives. Suddenly, she did not know how a person rushed and tried to stop her.

-Will you stop for a minute, miss? Asked the person with whom the girl was not familiar.
-Well….! Replied she with a half reluctant smile which encouraged and at the same time appalled the daring fellow.
-Where’re you going if you don’t mind my asking you? Continued he.
-I’m going my way!!! And she went on her way without any other single word.

She was fairly a beautiful girl, despite the fact that her beauty was barely exposed, for she was confined in a very heavy coat that made her look older than her real age. Her face was wonderfully drawn. Some freckles could be easily noticed upon her rosy cheeks and on her tiny nose. Her big dark eyes would not go unnoticed and over which slight, fine and thin eyebrows were harmoniously detected. Her way of walking was graciously measured.

She went on her way, leaving the daring fellow looking at her in rather an amazed eye. He tried to espy where she was leading her slow but certain steps. No sign of her was in the horizon. He shook his head and turned back disappointedly.

All that was Karim’s reminiscence when Nadia left him for a friend of hers. He wanted more and more remembrances.

“I will not let her flee from me” was Karim’s ultimate decision.

The following day he stood near the very place where he had seen her passing by four and twenty hours before.

“Good God, here she is!” Exclaimed he when he saw her crossing the road.

Karim did not know why he was so attracted to that girl. The very day he had seen her, he began imagining things and things. He fancied himself going out with her, hand in hand, smiling and expanding with delight.
“Believe me, darling, I’m yours to death.” He would tell her in his dreams

Of a sudden, he woke up from his dreams and touched himself only to find he was dreaming no more.

It was late in the evening; still Nadia had not yet come back home. Karim found it useful to continue his recollections.
Days went by and the boy was so eager to have a confident talk with his fancy girl. At last, his dreams came on the verge to be true.

-Would you be so kind as to stop and listen to me! Said the daring young person when he ran across her while doing some weekly shopping.
-Sure thing. How may I help you? She was quite polite.
-I am … well. I’m hoping to have a private conversation with you.
He finished his words with plight.
While he was saying these words, she was smiling and wishing him to finish them as soon as possible. Finishing his words, she turned to him calmly and said:
-Why, you can call on me at home at any time you like. Here is my address.
And she handed him a piece of paper upon which her address was typed.
-Very well.
Unbelieving his eyes as well as his ears, Karim took the paper and left the shop with extreme gaiety.

Karim was looking from time to time out of the window espying the forthcoming of Nadia. She was late. Yet, he did not want to lose such an opportunity to bring back as many remembrances as time could allow. So he sat on the comfortable armchair and his mind was set at work afresh.

The very next day, after having had his breakfast, the daring boy dressed himself up in decent clothes which would best fit the occasion .He wore a dark suit and a white shirt and, of course, a stripped tie that harmoniously completed the decorum, with all these things a pair of polished black shoes had given extra value to what he was wearing.
-Is that 63 A, please?
-Yes, sir. It is so. What can I do for you?
-I was wondering if you could tell me in which floor the Tazis live.
-Sure. Third floor. First flat .Left.
-Oh, thanks a lot.
Bidding good day to the concierge, he took the lift. Once face to face with the door, he reluctantly and gently rang its bird-like bell. His right hand was cautious.

Some seconds later, a girl came into sight. It was Nadia.
Karim’s happiness could not be fathomed on account of the way he was received when he was ushered into his beloved’s flat. He felt he was entering a new world – a world of his own imagination. He was bewildered. The flat was harmoniously furnished. Candles were lit everywhere as in a temple or a church. Wonderful were the paintings hanged here and there.
Karim had one objective: to converse with the girl of his fancy. In that he succeeded. The moment he sat down in a comfortable chair, Nadia came near him and sat down herself. They began talking and talking about different topics, study, travel and even life.

-And what do you think of life, Krimou? Asked she after having spoken for a good hour.
-Well … Life is …when you feel that the one you love is by your sides, otherwise life becomes synonymous to…death.

The conversation had stopped here.
-It’s high time I went, Nady.
-Well, Krimou. Now that you know where I live, do come at any time you please, as much as you find it available.
-You’ve been so kind, all of you.

All of a sudden, the bell rang. Karim got startled.
He had almost forgotten that his wife had to come back then. His imagination was interrupted once again.
-You’re late, aren’t you?
He asked her the moment he opened the door for her.
-Usually the same. Instead of asking me where I was, you’re telling me I’m late. So I am late. Where is the problem?
She replied with anger.

She was not like that. She was tender and softer. But of late, she had grown nervous. Just after three years of marriage. She got angry about useless matters. Sometimes she would shout at Karim’s face as a hideous creature.
Unlike her, Karim was calm and composed. He would deal with matters coolly and wisely. He, himself, couldn’t understand what made his wife turn out to be like that.
When he saw her in such a state, he withdrew to his favorite armchair. She went to her room.
Karim found it an opportunity to recall how he had come to marry Nadia.

On a sunny day, while the relationship between Nady and Krimou had been strengthened, he asked her to go with him to a quiet place where they could speak freely and relaxingly. While walking, Krimou saw two chairs, empty. He quickly asked his companion:
-Don’t you think that those two chairs look inviting?
-No doubt. Let’s be seated.
They sat down and began talking, as usual, about different subjects until Karim took her by the hands and asked her if she could accept him as a husband.
She blushed. She did not reply. Taking it as an encouraging sign, Krimou went on talking about himself and about his future relationship with her. He swore he would make her happy and they would both share that happiness and only death would set them apart.
-What would you say, darling?
It was more of a request than a question, for his eyes were looking bulgingly at hers.

She did not utter any word. She drew to a suspicious silence, which aroused Karim’s anxiety.
A few seconds later, this silence was broken by an inquisitive question.
-Are you sure of what you’re saying?
Krimou, with expanding delight, nodded.
-Then the answer is yes.

The wedding ceremony had been scheduled. Karim would wed Nadia was the refrain repeated by their friends and relatives. Indeed, the ceremony soon took place and then they were declared wife and husband, for the best and for the worst.

Three years had elapsed. Three long years during which they witnessed the peak of their happiness.

-Are you angry with me, Krimou?
Karim jumped from his armchair. He knew not which snake had bitten him. He could not bear the fact of being so suddenly interrupted.
The truth is that Krimou was interrupted by his very wife, who had just recovered from her previous state of mind.
-Why should I?
He replied while preparing to leave his armchair for his room.
-I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.
She tried to apologize
-Well, tomorrow we’ll discuss that. Excuse me now. I feel tired. I need some sleep. Are you staying here any longer?
-Yes. I have to finish a letter to my friend.
-Well, good night then.
-Good night.

Karim attempted to make his imagination to work again. It was in vain.

Nadia worked on her letter which she intended to send to a friend about whom Karim knew almost nothing. Suddenly a thought struck her mind. She must go and apologize to Karim, but she quickly excluded it from her bosom. Once again, the same idea came back to her head. Before she could put it into effect, she began asking herself some questions that had never crossed her mind before.
“Was I right to act likewise?” Asked she herself.
She could not find any answer. Her soul was disturbed. She did not know what was going on inside her. She could not cope with her present state of mind. Lately, Nadia had felt that she had no passion for her husband, who, she admitted, loved her to death. She found him old fashioned, book worm and very rigid. In this she was right. All his love had been devoted to her and to his books, for he would hardly be sitting without a book in hands.

Karim, so to speak, loved Nadia. But that love was not such Nadia wanted. She wanted a convivial man who could laugh and befriend her mates. In fact, Karim neither laughed, not without reason, nor liked Nadia’s friends of whom she was very fond.
“To tell you the truth, darling, I don’t like your flighty kind of friends,” he would tell her when they were on the verge of sleeping.
That was the heart of their problem, which made their lives go shaking.

One day while Karim and Nadia were having lunch, they heard someone knock at the door. They got startled. They found it rather awkward that someone would call on at this very time, for they were not expecting any one to come over for lunch.
To Karim’s amazement and Nadia’s delight, a friend of his wife’s came to visit them. That friend was known as Salah or little Salo.

Salo was a very good looking fellow, full of life and energy. He took good care of his appearance. Wearing the latest brands of perfume was a quality which was undeniably attributed to him. He combed his hair as a girl would do. People who did not know him would mistakenly take his hair for a wig .Most girls would wish to have fun with him.

Salo was received coldly by Karim who shook hands with him in a half reluctant manner. His wife, however, greeted him warmly.

-Excuse me, I must leave you. I’ve got something to do. Have a good time…Salo. Have I got your name rightly? Said the host rather rudely.
-Yes, thanks. Replied the guest frivolously.

Karim withdrew on purpose. He did not want to see his wife look admiringly at the untimely visitor. Indeed, Nadia, as all her cronies, was fond of that gay. She saw in him her dreams which she found not in her husband. Karim knew that. He knew that. He knew full well that his wife was attracted to that fellow whom people called Salo deliberately. Sometimes, some strange ideas crossed Karim’s mind.
“No, she cannot do that”, said he to himself whenever this idea came to his mind. May be the drive of love made him think likewise. Nonetheless, he had nurtured some suspicion towards the unchastely visitor.

-Well, how dare you come at this very hour? Asked Nadia, starting thus the intimate conversation with Salo. This latter felt well at ease when his friend’s husband had left them.
-I am here to see your Excellency, replied he mockingly.
Nadia knew pretty well that her husband would not appreciate her infatuation with the uncouth visitor. Yet, she went on doing what she found as a relief to her disturbed heart.

Karim, when leaving his flat for his work, his mind was absent all the way long. He did not know what the matter with him was. This was the first time he felt something strange in his heart. He felt ill at ease. He was walking with slow but uncertain steps. Suddenly he found his foot leading him to the park where he had first declared his love to his wife. He did not go to his office. He seemed lost in contemplations. He wondered whether he had been wrong when he got married to the girl he worshipped to death. Nay. He married her with her own will and she accepted him as he was. But, he went on wondering, what made her change? That was a big question.
“When I told her I would marry her she felt pleased, and so did I.” Said he to himself.
“But what I can’t understand”, he went on wondering, “is that she has never treated me as I had expected her to do.” He paused. He was sinking in his contemplations. Then he went on ahead speaking to himself. “Was it my folly to ask her to marry me or was it her weakness not to refuse me?”
He suffered. Never before did he suffer as he did this very moment.
A few hours had elapsed. He decided to go back home. He felt no desire to go to work. Never before had he been absent from work.

Now that he arrived home, he knocked at the door. He could not fetch the key, for his hand was trembling.
There was no answer.
“Some thing strange must be going on in”, wondered he.
While he was on the verge of unlocking the door, the maid came and opened it.
-Sorry…Sir! Said she shockingly.
-Where’s she? Asked he nervously.
-Oh! She…She…I don’t know.

The maid was surprised to see Karim come back at this very hour asking about Nadia. It was unusual.
-What the devil are you saying? Said he angrily when he had noticed the way the maid answered his queries.
-To tell you the truth, Sidi, Ma'am is with... him. They are in the room. I mean in your, hum, her room. Whatever. .Murmured she with plight.
-Aha…..that’s nice, isn’t it? ; nice, isn’t it? He said it twice, unconsciously.
He paused.
-Say to your…nothing about my coming, clear?
-Hum-hum, stammered she and disappeared.

Before leaving the flat, his intuition took him towards his room only to hear mixed voices. He recognized them at once. He picked up something quickly from the kitchen and left the ‘residence’ ponderingly. He knew not what to do.

Most of the local newspapers reported an event which was that day’s top story.

‘A man was found dead near the City Park. After close examination of the clothes he was wearing, the unidentified man had nothing in him to unveil his suicidal act. The only thing the police did find, however, was a piece of paper upon which the following was written:

“How can I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breath and height my soul far reach.”’