After three shots of espresso, all coffee tastes the same. I was starting to feel the same way about the conversations I was eavesdropping on, until one made me perk my ears up.
“So, Basma, you don’t actually go out with your fiancé then? Maha asked her colleague over what seemed to be a business meeting.
“No. So, do you think this colour is right for the logo or should we maybe go darker? Basma replied moving her laptop screen towards her.
Nodding, her friend said, “Yeah, that’s fine. So, you’ve never had a conversation in private with him?
“Hmm, no I think we should go with yellow, it would look good against the navy blue background, and also on the web site, what do you think? Basma asked pushing the computer screen towards her friend.
Not getting a reply, Basma looked over her glasses and asked, “Were you saying something?
“Well, yes, actually, I am just surprised that you have never been out with your fiancé alone. You do not strike me at all as a conservative person.
Laughing, and taking a sip of coffee, she said “I am not conservative, but I believe it’s right. I dated a man for five years before. We went out all the time, we even travelled together, worked together, everything, and it just never happened.
Confused, her friend fidgeted in her seat and looked Basma in the eye.
Basma explained, “You see with men, ya Hala, the less you give, the more you get. That is what I’ve learnt. It has nothing to do with conservatism, she smiled.
When a young man, who had been sitting in silence, suddenly held up his laptop close to his mouth, and started having a voice conversation using no external mic or headphones, I was drawn towards him.
“Ba Ba, I am OK. Don’t worry, I will go and have lunch at your friend’s aunt’s house on Friday, the boy said in an Arabic dialect that I could not quite place.
“Hatem Ba Ba, did you settle down? Do you like Egypt? yelled a crackly voice from the laptop. “You must go to Abbasseya and see where I lived as a student, next to the petrol station.
The boy looked up to see that we were all engaged in his conversation, and held the computer closer, “Alo, Ba Ba, I am fine.
“And who is staying with you in the room? Is he Egyptian? Does he pray?
When Hatem realized we were all still tuning in, he turned the volume down and whispered, “Bahkeek later. I am meeting my friend now, he said ending the performance for his audience.
And with another coffee cup came a new conversation.
Three young women walked in almost together, looking around uncomfortably, then at each other.
“Oh my God, Maha? I can’t believe it, you look the same but different, but the same really. “I really don’t look the same! Sally said with a sneaky smile. “Let’s sit and catch up. It’s been 20 years, can you believe? “OK, I’ll start, volunteered Lana, “I have two beautiful babies and I work as a teacher. I have a lovely husband and a warm home. I’m happy, she gloated.
After an exchange of smiles, and “masha’allahs, Maha said, “So what have you been up to Sally?
“I must say life was not all that great for me till recently. I had broken up with the love of my life and fiancé of two years so that was a bit rough, then I slipped into depression.
“But Sally, you were the one with all the laughs.
“I am fine now; lovely husband and I’m four weeks pregnant. In fact, you are the only ones that know. Maha, you did not tell us how you are!
Smiling, Maha said, “It’s so good to see you guys, I am so happy.
Looking at her watch, she continued, “Girls, I must go, it’s been great chatting, we must do it again.
“But we just got started.
Getting up, Maha said in anguish, “Fine. I don’t want to talk, OK, I thought it would be good to see you girls, but nothing has changed, of course you are both happy, and I am not, still like before.
“I had such a rough life, I lost my brother in the war, and I have no husband, and my parents got a divorce that I can’t get over, fine?
With that, I decided my coffee session for the day had come to an end.
