Persian Sunset by Susanna Zaraysky (read this if txt) 📖

on the crease in Rosaluna’s shirt, moved her cross to the back of her neck and kissed her on the lips.

“Mahram, you made me wait so long, you know that Cuban men don’t let their women wait, they make their moves quickly.”

“Be open to what I say, Rosaluna. I know it may sound a bit strange to you,” Mahram said in a cautious tone. He took her hand and massaged it as he spoke.

Rosaluna was expecting that after five years of not seeing each other, Mahram was going to tell her that he loved her.

“Fetneh

, my dear, in my culture there exists what we call seegheh, a temporary marriage. It’s to protect women. Men and women make an oral agreement that they are getting a temporary marriage that will last for the night that they spend together. Traditionally, it’s to protect women in case there is a child conceived. If we get married tonight, then you will be protected. It would make me so happy if you agree to seegheh with me,” Mahram said.

“What, you want me to get married to you? We agreed that we are just lovers,” Rosaluna exclaimed.

“It’s not a real marriage. We are just blessing our evening together,” Mahram explained.

“Oh, a ‘one night stand’ with a Koranic stamp?” Rosaluna laughed.

Mahram kissed Rosaluna on the neck and whispered, “We are not having a one-night stand my dear. I am really trying to make you feel more comfortable, the marriage is for the benefit of the woman.”

Rosaluna chuckled and replied, “If I get married, I need a church wedding with the works. Catholics like prayers, candles and traditions. Let’s just be lovers, ok?”

Mahram felt embarrassed by her reaction. He rose from the couch and reached out his hand to Rosaluna. She lifted her hand into his and he lightly pulled her from the couch and walked her to the bedroom. Slowly, he undressed his Cuban guest repeating the word fetneh

over and over again as if he were trying to pardon his sexual urges by calling her a troublemaker and seductress. He placed his thick lips on hers and continued kissing her as he slowly took off her bra, moving his hands softly around the contours of her breasts. He removed her cross pendant and put it on the nightstand.

They made love. Rosaluna lay in bed wondering why she left Mahram if the last five years could have been filled with nights as lustful as this one. Mahram was lying on top of her and was breathing on her neck when they heard a knock on the door.

“I thought you said we were the only ones here tonight,” Rosaluna exclaimed.

“I definitely didn’t invite anyone else. Let me go see who is at the door,” Mahram responded.

He quickly put on his clothes and left the room to answer the door. Rosaluna sank into the bed and covered herself with the blanket. She heard him walking toward the front door.

“Mahram, we’re here to end tonight’s Ramazan with you!” said Arash and Dina, his relatives and next-door neighbors.

“Please come in. I have some baklava for you,” Mahram said as he motioned for them to sit down at the table.

Arash and Dina saw the table of appetizers, lamb stew and kashke bademjan and then looked at each other with surprise.

“Mahram, you’ve made quite a meal here. Did you have guests?” Arash asked.

Mahram didn’t answer and looked through the cabinets for teacups and put the kettle to boil.

Rosaluna could hear their chatter from the bedroom and was appalled that Mahram avoided their question. She wrapped herself in the blanket and walked to her purse and took out her cell phone to call her friend Oksana, but she didn’t answer the phone. Rosaluna remembered that Oksana was at an Italian café in Marin at a wine tasting event. The only other person who knew that she was going to see Mahram was Xavier, her French lover with whom she had an open relationship. She walked to the bedroom window to get as far away from the door as possible.

“Xavier” she whispered, “I need to tell you something.”

Xavier was so worried by her hushed voice that he thought she was in trouble, “Cherie, are you OK? Do you need me to come and get you?”

“Maybe. Look, remember I told you that I was going to Mahram’s house tonight? Well, he made me dinner. It wasn’t good. Oh, never mind about the dinner. He wanted to get married with me for the night. We just had sex and now he is having baklava with his neighbors in the living room while I am laying in bed!” Rosaluna exclaimed.

“What? Hey, sometimes men have a cigarette after sex, but usually you want to share a desert with your lover and not with your neighbors. What a freak!” Xavier said.

“Yeah. Now I remember why I left him five years ago. So what should I do? Should I climb out the window and walk to the bus to go home?” Rosaluna asked.

“That would be hilarious. No, just wait for him to come back. Call me when you get home, I want to know the details!” Xavier said laughing.

Rosaluna tried to sleep, but the chatter in Farsi and English kept her awake. Every long vowel sound intrigued her, as though the stretched out words she didn’t understand were more appealing to her than the relatively bland English ones. She stared at the sliver of the moon that she could see through the trees.

Rosaluna stayed in bed and after an hour, Mahram’s guests left. When he returned to the room, she stared at him and said “How could you leave me here?”

“Honey, I had to let my neighbors come in. It’s part of Persian hospitality.”

“What! You invited me, not them. Why didn’t you ask them to leave?” Rosaluna asked.

“I couldn’t tell them that I had you here” Mahram explained.

“Oh, so after asking me to ‘marry you for the night’, you just left me here by myself? This is your Persian hospitality to me?” Rosaluna threw a pillow at him.

“What, were you cold here all by yourself?” Mahram asked.

“Oh please. Don’t you get it?” In a quick swoop, Rosaluna grabbed all of the blankets and rolled over to the other side of the bed.

…

A week later, Rosaluna went to a Catholic Retreat Center with her Russian-Jewish friend Oksana. As they were driving across the San Mateo Bridge over the San Francisco Bay, Rosaluna told Oksana about her night with Mahram. Oksana was shocked.

“Rosaluna do you realize how bizarre this is? It’s weird enough that I am Jewish and work part time at a Catholic University and am taking you on this retreat with priests. Now you are telling me about your Persian lover and how he can’t seduce you during daylight in Ramadan. Hmm, I don’t think you should mention this during confession, you might scare the priests! I am having trouble paying attention to the road while listening to this crazy story. What time is it?” Oksana exclaimed

“It’s 5:30. Isn’t the sunset gorgeous? The colors are about the same as they were last week when I was at Mahram’s house. Except as we’re driving over the bay, the colors are more dramatic with the reflections on the water.”

“We are going to be late. Oh well, hearing this story is a good excuse to be late,” Oksana responded. They both giggled.

“So what happened next? Did you spend the night or was that against his religious rules?” Oksana asked.

“Of course I spent the night and then I wanted to have an encore performance in the morning, but he couldn’t touch me after sunrise. I have never had a lover with so many restrictions. On one hand, I felt like he was a tease, but on the other hand, there was something alluring and mysterious about his fear of me.”

“So are you saying that you will continue this Ramadan romance, Ms. Fetneh

? I like that word fetneh

. It sounds very sensual. The Cuban seductress meets the practicing Muslim Persian lover. What a crazy set of events. Wait, wait, wait. You already have Frenchy, your French lover. Are you expanding your circle?” Oksana inquired.

“I am Cuban and an equal opportunity lover. The more men in my life the merrier. Besides, Frenchy has been too depressed lately to show me any attention. Even though I didn’t like the lamb dish, Mahram is a great cook. Frenchy, despite his roots, can’t even make a salad.”

“Oh, so you are like a man. The easiest way to your heart is via food!” Oksana laughed.

“I am not talking about getting to my heart. Oksana, he’s my Persian lover, not my boyfriend.”

It was getting dark and they were driving in a secluded area without many lights. Oksana could barely see the “IHS” Brothers of Jesus retreat center sign on the gates of the property as she drove into the driveway. Neither could imagine how they could stay silent for the entire weekend after such a story.

“Rosaluna, you really are going to test my mental faculties of concentration and avoidance. It’s going to be hard just looking at you this weekend and not laughing,” Oksana exclaimed.

“Well, you can always fantasize about the priests,” Rosaluna chuckled.

“Ha, ha, ha. Do you think there will be any good looking priests at the retreat center like the one in the movie The Crimes of Father Amaro?” Oksana said.

“How do you expect me to concentrate on my Catholic spiritual quest with your chatter about good looking priests? We are going to a spiritual retreat, not a singles bar!” Rosaluna reminds her Russian friend.

They parked the car and saw the retreat director waiting for them by the sign for the “Vatican II” retreat.

“Did you take me to a discussion of Vatican II? I can’t deal with Latin prayers and liturgy today,” Rosaluna said.

“I hope not. Our group should be here somewhere,” Oksana responded.

They walked to the door of the retreat center and met a Jesuit at the door.

“Father, where is the university retreat group?” Rosaluna asked.

The priest responded, “We were waiting for you. Your group is in the main meeting rotunda. They just started.”

Rosaluna and Oksana thanked him and walked in to the hallway.

“You know those Jesuits don’t appreciate latecomers to their spiritual retreats. Maybe those nuns that bothered you in Catholic school will come back and haunt you!” Oksana whispered to Rosaluna and lightly nudged her elbow into Rosaluna’s arm.

They reached the rotunda and the group was sitting in a circle with candles lit all around them. Rosaluna and Oksana left their bags on the chairs by the pictures of the priests and found empty chairs that didn’t face each other.

The female retreat director smiled at them to acknowledge their presence. She closed her eyes and said, “I will lead the group in the first meditation exercises. Everybody, close your eyes and think of the beauty of a sunset.”