Maryam Goes on a Date(Leila) "Maryam, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Afsaneh asked with a mischievous smile.

"I'm going on a date. Remember?" Maryam replied with a friendly smile, as she tightened the knot of her scarf. "Also, remember not to tell anyone."

"And why is that, Maryam?" Afsaneh asked her, her tune mocking.

"That's obvious! My parents shouldn't learn that I'm going on a date!"

"What happens if they find out?" Afsaneh asked, hardly stopping herself from bursting into laughter.

"They will scold me!" Maryam replied with a terrified face.

"And who is the lucky gentleman?"

"He is .... I mean ... Sorry, but that's a secret!"

"Oooh! Will he get scolded if his parents learn he is going on a date too?"

"Of course! That's not something you can tell parents!"

"Okay then, you should be going now if you don't want to be late. Just remember to tell us what happens tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye!"

As soon as Maryam went away, Afsaneh burst into laughter.

"Oh! Can you believe her!" she told the other girls, "27-year-old, and she still thinks she should hide her date, or she gets scolded! What kind of idiot has asked her on a date?!"

Unlike Afsaneh, Mona, Maryam's colleague in her office, looked frustrated. She sighed, and said, "I know him. He is a good guy, but a little naive. I guess he has seen her outer shell, and assumed she is nice and innocent like a baby. I feel sorry for him. He will be shocked to learn she is not like a baby, but exactly a big-bodied baby!"

Meanwhile, Maryam went home and got ready for her date. She spent a long time preparing, and playing with makeup, and finally settled on a colorful dress with a matching scarf that made her look like a piece of some weird abstract painting.

"Why have you made yourself like a clown?" her mother asked when she was about to leave.

"Oh! I'm going on a … I mean … I'm going out with my friends … We are all girls."

"And here I was, thinking you are going on a date." her mother said sarcastically, "But where are you going like that? Are you going to perform a freak show in a circus or something?"

"No ... Cinema ... We are going to a cinema."

"Which cinema?"

"The one which is close ... near the square."

"What film are you going to watch?"

"I don't know. We'll know when we get there."

"Maryam, are you lying to me?"

"Nooo! Why should I?!"

Her mother gave her a disappointed look, and said, "Maryam, you know you can run away with any crazy guy at any time you like, right? You don't have to lie about it. In fact, I might even be willing to pay someone to take you away."

Maryam felt ashamed, and said, "I'm not lying. It's just a group of friends."

Obviously not believing Maryam, her mother said, "Okay then. Enjoy your film. Be sure to tell me about it later."

Maryam left home in haste, believing to have fooled her mother.

Saman was waiting for Maryam at a café. He had chosen a cozy little place with a nice view. Just a few days ago, when he was visiting the company where Maryam worked at, he had finally found the courage to ask Maryam, a goodlooking girl, who seemed very charming and hardworking, on a date. He had seen Maryam when visiting there for business meetings several times, and was eager to know her better.

He recognized Maryam from a distance, and was taken back by the way she looked. Maryam looked almost like a colorful doll, being distinguished from her surroundings by her weird appearance.

He got up to greet her.

"Hi," she said shyly as she sat opposite him.

"Hi, Maryam. How are you?"

"I'm good. So nervous! I told my parents that I was going out with my friends. You know, just a circle of girls."

Saman was surprised to hear that. "But why? We are two adults on a simple date. Why did you have to lie?"

"They will scold me if they find out. Don't your parents do the same?"

Saman frowned. This was far from what he expected. "No. Why should they? I mean ... I live alone, but I would have told them if we had a chance to talk before I came here."

Maryam's eyes widened, as if the concept was foreign to her. "Well, you know, because we're ... I mean ... you know how it is. Girls and boys shouldn't be together."

"Maryam, it's the 21st century, not the middle-ages! Besides, why did you even come here if you believe what we are doing is wrong?"

"It's not that I think it's wrong. It's just ... I don't want anyone to find out, especially my parents."

Saman stared at her in disbelief. They had only met for a minute, and the conversation was already awkward.

A waiter approached them. Maryam blurted out her order without even looking at the menu. "I'll have a chocolate milkshake and fries."

Saman assumed she was joking. "Hehe ... that was funny! What would you really like?"

"I just told you," Maryam replied with a serious tone, "a chocolate milkshake and fries."

Shocked, Saman told her, "But those two don't go with each other."

Maryam giggled. "That's exactly why I like them together! Besides, my parents aren't here to tell me what to eat, so I'm going to make the most out of the situation."

The waiter gave them a surprised look when taking her order, then turned to Saman with a questioning look. He had already regretted coming to the date, but felt obligated to sit a little bit more in order to not seem impolite. He awkwardly ordered a cup of tea.

Maryam started to talk about her day, her voice bubbly and fast. She talked about her favorite cartoons and her doll collection, and complained how boring her work was. Saman nodded along, trying his best to keep a straight face, and hardly stopping himself from running away.

"You know, I once got scolded because I painted my bedroom walls with nail polish!" she said with a giggle, "It was so beautiful, but my mom was so mad!"

Saman tried to smile, desperately waiting to change the topic to a more adult one. "So ... How was your university?"

"Boring. Everyone was just talking about the lessons, politics or other boring stuff. I thought I got rid of all textbooks when I finished school. I was always the top student, but I never liked school. As soon as I came home after the last day of high school, I gathered all my books in our yard and set them on fire. It was so fun! Unfortunately, the fire got out of hand and burned a tree. The whole house was about to catch fire, but my parents arrived and called the fire department. Anyhow, going to university meant I had to tolerate textbooks for more years."

Saman was horrified, but he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her. A gold-digger, a criminal, a sadist, a cavewoman with cannibalistic tendencies, a mutant parasite which had eaten a woman's brain and took over her body - all these seemed preferable to the person he had taken on a date.

"How is work?" he brought himself to ask in a desperate attempt to cut Maryam's childish blabbering short.

"Boring, but you know what? I have found a way around it. I just avoid doing stuff for a while, and they will assign the task to someone else. If that didn't happen, I pretend I'm sick when I'm supposed to attend a meeting, give a report, or anything like that. That way I don't work at all but still get paid! I can watch movies or play video games on my computer all day long, while everyone thinks that I'm working!"

Saman felt stupid. He had seen Maryam at work when visiting her company for meetings, and since she usually seemed busy behind a monitor, had assumed that she was a hardworking person. But now, he was realizing how naive he had been. He couldn't take it anymore and decided to escape at any cost.

"Maryam, it has been fun, but I need to get going now."

"But why? We just got here, and are having so much fun together."

"Yeah ... I know ... but ..." Saman searched for words, and realized that any grownup answer hinting at the real reason for not wanting to be with Maryam will probably result in an angry childish reaction by her, so he decided to make up something she could relate to.

"My parents ... they will wonder where I have been if I go back late. I know I said that I live alone and I'm not afraid to tell them about my dates, but the truth is ... I just wanted to impress you. So ... yeah!"

"I knew it!" Maryam yelled victoriously, "You didn't tell your parents either! See? You are afraid of being scolded too! But that's okay. To tell you the truth, I feel more comfortable now that I know we are alike!"

Her words sounded like a bad insult to Saman. He wanted to yell at her, and tell her that they are opposite of each other, but managed to control his anger. "I guess you're right. But I still need to go. Bye."

"Bye bye! I'll call you at home tonight!"

"I'm looking forward to that!" Saman said, as he went out of the café, almost running. The door wasn't even closed behind him yet as he took out his cell phone to block Maryam's number.

---