Six degrees of separation; a contemprory fairytale of love at first sight and happily ever afters.

He never liked the north coast much, it's the same Cairo social scene, just in a different location. Where the cool hangout are, what's trendy this summer and what's not, everywhere is too crowded. His ideal vacation was somewhere quite, distant, and peaceful; somewhere where he can just sit on the beach , read a book and jump in the water when he feels like it. But this time he just needed to get away. He traveled with his family for the weekend but had the usual semi-annual argument.

“Mustafa, it's time for you to come back home, find a decent girl, get married, start a family. Your parents aren't getting any younger and they need you”, his aunts and uncles would say. But then, the Egyptian people drive him nuts. Whenever they sit together, they will start complaining about everything in Egypt and how this country is hopeless. Then they tell him come back... come back to what! And Why!?! They would start gossiping about the increased number of divorces and failed relationships in his generations. How the entire generation are spoiled brats who were “born with a golden spoon in their mouth” and had no sense of responsibility whatsoever. Then they tell him he has to get married... what kind of schizophrenic society is that!

He decided he'll go out with his cousin; although younger , but he just needs to leave the house right now. Sitting at a table with strangers except for his cousin. He tried blending in for a while but people were talking about who's who and who did what, and aside form the fact that this discussion was way out of his interest zone, he has been living in Boston for the last 12 years so has absolutely no idea who was who! He sipped his coke while glancing over the big crowded open air lounge but a conversation behind him drew his attention.

Two girls talking about books; best-sellers that they both read, comparing and exchanging notes. He found it more entertaining than any other discussion going on in the entire lounge so he , in silence , just kept listening, withdrawing his urge to join the conversation; it's the Egypt... people don't talk to random strangers. One of the girl had a fluent British accent and sounded like she's in the early thirties. The other girl sounded younger and spoke perfect English, no accent, which means probably Egyptian. He didn't turn to see how they looked, but he assumed, the one with a British accent was perhaps a work acquaintance of the Egyptian or something like that.

Their conversation changed topics several times, from books to music, movies, then about society and Egyptian culture. By that point, a guy joined in, apologized for being late in Arabic. Both the girls , talked to him in Arabic, which meant that his first assumption was wrong. He looked at his watch, and realized it must have been an hour since he started eavesdropping; they have been quite entertaining .So curious to see what these people looked like, he adjusted his chairs so he can see them clearly. The girls; one blond with brown eyes, which he assumed was the British and one veiled . The guy was clearly the twin brother of the veiled girl. They were both typical looking Egyptians; dark hair, dark eyes, tanned and handsome. They all looked mid-twenties and not thirties as he had first assumed.

His phone rang and he picked up, it was his dad. He talked briefly to him and hung up. Still interested in their conversation, he listened while watching them from his seat. The guy was talking about second chances and missed opportunities, obviously, he missed part of the conversation while his dad was on the phone. To his shock, the veiled girl, replied in the perfect British accent; that it was MIT and not some random excuse for a university. That it's time for him and Hana (who he assumed was the other girl) are getting married and should have a chance to start new. And that she is more than happy to look after their mum and dad. And without any warning, the girl looked at him, smiled and said; “I noticed you were listening to us talking just now; what do you think?”

This was something he wasn't really ready for. In Boston, it was normal for people to talk to random strangers but not in this country. It was also normal for girls to strike random conversation with men. But he never thought that happened in Egypt. The girl obviously lived abroad for some time; either that, or she was trying to embarrass him back into minding his own business. He was too bored and decided, he'd take it the nice way. He casually stepped in the conversation.

“MIT is an excellent opportunity,” he smiled and said, “ plus, if she wants to take care of them, let her!”

“Thank you!” she said, smiling to everyone. “You see, anyone with common sense would say so.”

He was about to turn away but the girl said, “why don't you join us?” So he did. He moved his chair to their table and introduced himself with a firm handshake to the guy. “Mustafa Sherbiny”. They guy smiled and said “Sherif Oraby”, pointed to the blond girl, “My fiancée Hana and my sister Yara “. They all smiled and nodded.

They all kept on talking for at least 2 more hours. He told them that he did both his bachelor and masters in MIT . He has been working as an engineer in Boston for the last 6 years. He understood that Yara was Sherif's elder sister. They were born in the UK and lived there as children , then returned to Egypt for high school. Yara went back to do her masters and PhD. Sherif had a scholarship to do his MBA in MIT but didnt want to leave his parents out of a sense of responsibility. They talked and talked about the west versus Egypt and all that time he couldnt help but notice Yara. She was such an interesting character, she felt at ease talking about everything with him, a stranger that she just met. She was funny , warm, cheerful , very well read and sophisticated. She was also very beautiful.

Dawn was breaking and his cousin wanted to leave. So he stood up, bid them a good night and said it was such a pleasure to meet them all and have this conversation. He left with his cousin but as soon as they reached the car he realized that he just can't leave without at least trying to set a date with Yara. He asked him to wait for a few minutes. He went back in, walked to the table to find they had already paid their bill and were on their way out. He walked to Yara, made sure that they were being heard by her brother out of courtesy.

“Yara”, he said, “I know that it's probably rude to do what I'm doing in this country. But I can't leave without even trying. Do you think it's possible we meet again sometime?”
She smiled, which was a good sign , he thought.
“I'd love that” but she paused ...
then she smiled again, “But , we're in Egypt. We do this the Egyptian way.”
“And what way is that?”, he asked
“Everybody knows everybody in Egypt, won't you agree?”
“I do” waiting to see what this has to do with anything
“You know the six degrees of separation theory?”
“Anyone in the world can be connected to anyone else” he said it not sure what she meant but as he went on “ though a maximum of six people who know somebody who knows them” and he realized what she meant. So he laughed. “You're brilliant”
“You know my full name ” she smiled, “Happy Hunting!”
She disappeared in the crowd leaving through the door.
And that made his day!

He went home with his cousins, who were both really excited about him meeting some girl and wanted to hear the full story. However, he was too overwhelmed so he decided to sleep on it for now.

He woke up around 14:00, had breakfast with his cousins. One of them was spending one more day and the other wanted to leave in an hour or so; he said he'll go with the one leaving now.

In the car, he decided to tell Karim, his cousin, who was closer to him, the story. Karim volunteered to go digging in the matter. He's well connected and will probably find someone who knows Yara or her brother. The challenge was, according to him, was that there were several families with the last name Orabi, but he told Mustafa to leave it to the professionals.

They started their search immediately, Karim made several phone calls; he said he wanted to find out about “a girl called Yara Oraby, veiled, tall, beautiful, British accent, PhD in the UK.”

It took 5 phone calls, and by the sixth, a guy named Bassem knew another guy called also Bassem who heard of someone who had a crush on someone with that description. He said he needed a few phone calls to find out more.

Apparently, Bassem one , called Bassem two who said that his girlfriend's brother Tamer did have a crush on a Yara with that description but wasn't sure if her last name was Oraby or not. He needed a few minuted to call Tamer and find out.

Bassem two called Tamer and found out that yes, she is the one. And that Tamer was introduced to her through his work-buddy Mennah who knows everybody. He loved the story about Mustafa meeting her and guaranteed that he's over her now and is currently dating someone else. He said he'll call Mennah and try to arrange a meeting for Mustafa with Yara, as long as Bassem guarantees Mustafa is a decent person. Bassem two said that Bassem one is close friends with Karim, Mustafa's cousin and that they come from a very well-reputed and decent family. That was enough for Tamer to make the call.

Tamer called Mennah, who happened to be Yara's best friend and has already had the heads up from Yara about Mustafa. She agrees to set up a meeting that evening, on the condition that this Mustafa person does something overwhelming and sweeps Yara off her feet. According to her, Yara had had enough ^$%$#%$ in her life and needed to be taken care of and spoiled for a change. Tamer felt offended but decided not to make it a big deal.

Mennah called Tamer later to tell him that she is meeting Yara that evening at 8:30 at Mint Cafe in Mohandeseen.

Tamer called Bassem two who called Bassem one who called Karim who told Mustafa that information.

Mustafa went home to Heliopolise, and with the help of Karim, the professional, he called Mint cafe and arrange that when Mennah and Yara arrive, the menu card given to the veiled young lady will have the following piece of paper inside it.

At 8:50 p.m, at Mint, Yara opened the menu card, found the piece of paper and laughed hilariously. She took a pen from inside her bag and wrote something on the back of the paper. She then gave it to the waiter and asked him to give it to the gentleman waiting for it. The paper said;

He joined for dinner. Mennah made a random excuse and left them alone. They talked and talked, realizing that they were each other's dream come true. They saw each other everyday till he went back to Boston.
In Xmas vacation, he came back to Cairo, proposed by moonlight on the river Nile.
The following summer they got married. And the last we heard, is that they lived happily ever after.