New Year with a Pakistani.
The two brothers were Muslims but had English names that did not match their last name. It was odd. David worked for an international intelligence agency since 1990 and lived in New York. Sean, who arrived five years later, was the manager of a fast-food franchise in Queens. Their father had died of a sudden heart attack while strolling by the streets of Karachi. When Sean left Pakistan to go to the Big Apple his mother said to him, “You are the eldest son and have to give example to your siblings. Promise me you will marry only a Muslim girl.” Sean crossed his heart and replied, “I swear.”
It was hot. Margarita and her friends had been at Johns Beach all day. They were tired and hungry and decided to dine at Burger King. While she was waiting to order her food, a tall man passed by and smiled at her. She was wearing an unflattering dress and never thought the smile was for her. When Margarita finally got to order her meal, she was hesitant about eating a whopper with onion rings or with fries, but she chose the latter. Two minutes later the tall manager of the place, came to her table, stood in front of her, and handed her a portion of onion rings. “My name is Sean and I hope you will return” and then proceeded to give coupons of “buy one and get two” to all her friends.
The Pakistani and the Colombian became best friends. Romance was not possible because Sean was deeply religious and knew he had to respect her mother’s wishes. Margarita felt relieved because she was not interested in falling in love with someone that would never marry her. Their non-physical bonding was strong. There was a soul connection. Both were happy people who enjoyed the simple things in life and liked to help people. Sean used to pick up Margarita to drive her to Long Island in his limousine, the first one of a transportation business that would make him rich, to drink coffee or eat Indian food. They loved to watch Bollywood movies and pray for the world. David, Sean’s brother, never talked to Margarita. He wanted to keep a low profile with people, but it was impossible because he was a very handsome spy, a sexy secret agent.
The friends decided to spend the New Year’s Day at Times Square to watch the drop of the ball just as Margarita had wished one year earlier when she chose to come to live in New York. Sean had to work until late and they were not able to leave for Manhattan early. It snowed that evening. The night was stunning, and the neighborhood looked like a paradise covered with fresh snow. Everything was so white, and the moon reflected its light on the whiteness of the snow. The natural scenario was breathtaking, and Margarita was mesmerized watching, for the first time, how the snowflakes covered her world. Strangely it was not cold. The couple walked to the metro station on a soft white magic carpet.
Police cordoned off the perimeter of Times Square, blocked a lot of streets that had access to Broadway and frisked every person going to see the ball drop. Thousands of people had been waiting for more than ten hours to receive the year 2001 in the most famous place of New York. When Margarita and Sean finally arrived, the spectacle was unrivaled, and emotions were hyped with lights, music, and enthusiasm. They were trying to get nearer to the ball when David called and warned his brother about possible terrorist activity.
Sean tried to drag Margarita out of Times Square. They found themselves trapped by the crowd as the countdown started and the loud screams of “Happy New Year” were heard. People hugging and kissing were shown on television around the world. Suddenly, the Pakistani tightly embraced his friend and looked at her with love expecting the worse. “Sorry,” he uttered. Luckily nothing horrible occurred. On the second day of January of 2001, Sean disappeared from Margarita’s life. Nobody in Times Square ever knew of a potential explosion. It was classified information.
