“Listen, if I sit down next to you is there some big bastard who’s going to show up and try to pick a fight with me for hitting on his absolutely stunning girlfriend?” said Brad slyly, as he pulled out a bar stool and gave the exotic woman a friendly grin.
The corner of her mouth curled up very slightly, trying to hold back a bigger smile. She spoke perfect English with a slight accent which Brad thought to be Middle Eastern. “No, I’m not with anyone tonight.”
Brad flashed a smile. “Well aren’t there laws against beautiful women spending a night out all alone?” “There should be.” She agreed. “But unfortunately for me, my friends have decided not to show up. So never the less, here I sit.”
Brad contorted his smile into an exaggerated frown as he finally sat down on the stool he had pulled out. “Well they don’t sound like very good friends. I’ll tell you what, my name is Brad…Why don’t I be your friend for the evening?” said Brad, as he propped his elbow on the bar, leaning forward and extending his hand towards the young woman. She took it gingerly and shook it. “Well Brad, my name is Ifreeta and I have a feeling that I am very pleased to meet you.”
Even though Brad was not the conversational type, he and Ifreeta spoke for hours. She was mesmerizing to say the least. Far more interesting than any other woman he ever had met. In the few short hours of conversation he had learned that she was from a small mining village in Jordan, which was entirely subterranean. She explained how she was raised Sunni by her people and had studied the Quran diligently during her entire childhood. As she grew older however, she began to become more and more curious about life outside of her village. Eventually she began to rebel against her elders, feeling stifled and repressed. Ifreeta told Brad of how she gave up on the old ways all together; she abandoned the orthodox practices her people had taught her and was immediately shunned and cast out into the desert to die alone.
After just two days, Ifreeta neared death. She had lost all sense of direction when a small team of American archaeologists, who were digging for lost cultural treasures and relics of the ancient Arabic civilizations, stumbled across her twisted form. They nursed her back to health and took her in as an apprentice where she repaid the team by showing them abandoned mines to use as dig sites. With her help the team was able to procure countless artifacts for museums around the world. The experience inspired her to come to America with the team to study Archaeology and Anthropology under them. This was when Brad discovered that she was still in college and was about 2 years shy of getting her masters in both fields.
Thoroughly impressed, Brad bought them both drink after drink and before long they had moved past the back stories and innocent flirting and headed steadily onward, suggestively touching one another with every opportunity. She would put her hand on his thigh while laughing at a joke and he would brush his hand against hers while reaching for his glass. Call it what you will, they were both doing their part to seduce the other.
It was about 1:30 in the morning when the tall female bartender came over to Brad and Ifreeta and asked if they wanted to order anything else before last call. They took a shot of grain alcohol each and Brad paid the tab, over-tipping in a moment of drunken generosity. They slowly walked to the arching entrance way, clearing not wanting to leave each other, where Brad finally made a move.
Looking deep into Ifreeta’s large, soulful, brown eyes he asked her gently if she would like to accompany him home. Ifreeta looked around nervously and bit her lip in a smile. “How about we go back to my apartment instead? I have a feeling it’s a lot closer.” She said, smiling coyly. Brad smiled too; he always enjoyed having a one night stand at someone else’s place. It made it that much easier to get out of the awkward morning on the following day. “That sounds perfect. Where do you live? I’m not really sure where we are anyway; I just sort of stumbled across this place.” Ifreeta smiled again and looked up at the ceiling. “Right here. This building has offices, a market, and apartments too.” Brad laughed loudly and drunkenly, “Well I’ll be damned, lead on my desert angel.” Ifreeta turned around and smiled devilishly at him “I wouldn’t go that far.” She said as she took his hand and led him to the elevators.
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