The library in the Cochrane residence was dimly lit. Very little sunlight filtered through the Tudor windows even on the brightest of days. Alexandra always disliked being in that room. As a child she had believed it was haunted and the large stone fireplace reminded her of the mouth of a monster ready to gobble her up. She wouldn’t go in unless her father was there. Of course, even if he were there, his presence was of little comfort. Now it was only her father who unsettled her in that room. As she had seen him do many times, Professor Cochrane sat stiffly behind his large wooden desk and coldly eyed Ghassan. Alexandra stood nervously beside Ghassan, her hand tightly entwined in his. The tension in the room was overt and she began to doubt that she had the strength to stand up to her father like she needed to.
She looked up at Ghassan’s face and although it was grave it was also set with determination. She remembered his words to her that afternoon, that he would fight for them, and although she believed him when he said it, now she could see that he meant every word. Seeing this helped to boost her confidence and she grasped his hand a little tighter.
“Father, I am going to marry Ghassan.” Alexandra heard the words leave her mouth but she wasn’t really sure she had spoken them. Her father’s face remained expressionless. “We are leaving tomorrow for Stuttgart.”
“Is that so.” Professor Cochrane said icily.
“Yes, it is so.” Ghassan repeated equally icily.
“You think you will live happily ever after with this…man, Alexandra? Do you think living in Syria will be some kind of paradise?” The professor hissed speaking only to Alexandra and ignoring Ghassan.
“Father, I don’t know what living in Syria will be like but I do know what living in Aberdeen is like and I am not happy here.” Alexandra said quietly. “I love Ghassan, Father.”
“You are a fool, Alexandra. I thought I had raised a well-informed daughter, but clearly I have failed somewhere along the way.” Professor Cochrane’s face was sheathed in disgust. “You have a penchant for self-destructive behavior.”
“You have certainly failed, Dr. Cochrane, as it is you who is the fool for not seeing Alexandra’s true intelligence and worth.” Ghassan’s voice wavered slightly, his anger starting to tear at his stoic exterior.
Professor Cochrane still behaved as though Ghassan had never spoken. He spoke, instead, directly to Alexandra.
“If you get on that plane tomorrow, that will be the last you will see of me and your mother. We will not attend your wedding, we will not come to Syria to visit, and we will not have any interest in any children you produce. If this is what you want, by all means, marry…if you can call it that.” Professor Cochrane never made empty threats and Alexandra knew that he would disown her without batting an eye. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. But she had been prepared for this eventuality and she had decided that she would not give her father the satisfaction of knowing that it bothered her.
“I’m sorry you will miss the happiest day of my life.” She said quietly and turned to leave the room.
“You will regret this Alexandra Mary Cochrane. Mark my words, you’ll come crawling back here in less than a year a miserable and tarnished woman.” Professor Cochrane sneered.
“It is testament to her spirit that she is not already miserable and tarnished.” Ghassan snapped.
Professor Cochrane rose from his chair and for the first time, spoke to Ghassan.
“Get out of my house, you loathsome Arab. You would regret showing your face here again.” he hissed.
Ghassan bowed slightly and replied very deliberately. “I have no reason to return here, Professor. All I want is coming with me.”
Alexandra interjected before her father could say anything, “Goodbye, Father.” Shakily she joined hands with Ghassan again and left the library and her father behind.
—–
The magnolias of Wilhelma had blossomed and fallen more than a month before but the Moorish gardens provided no end of brilliant colour on the day of their wedding. The sun shone through billowy clouds making the day as near perfect as one could hope for. Ghassan and Alexandra sat quietly as husband and wife by the water lily pond after the guests had dispersed. The wedding had been small and intimate. Most of the arrangements had been made beforehand by Frau Hanauer and there had been little for Alexandra to worry about once she and Ghassan had reached Stuttgart. The Imam of the city mosque had been invited, there were a few friends from school, Frau Hanauer, and Ghassan’s parents. Ghassan and Alexandra, however grateful to those who had shared the day, only had eyes for each other. As far as they were concerned, they were the only two people on earth that day.
As he held her small hands, Ghassan watched the cool, summer breezes ruffle the skirt of Alexandra’s beautifully simple ivory silk dress. She was beyond elegant, beyond beautiful – her red hair swept up on her head and an embroidered, ivory scarf, which his mother had brought, laid loosely over her curls. Her bright, blue eyes had never looked happier as she had said her vows and now, as she sat beside him. In that moment he pledged to himself that he would never let that happiness in her eyes fade. He would do whatever he had to to make sure that the rest of her life was nothing like the first part – wrought with unhappiness and disappointments. He would make sure she had the life she deserved.
In many ways, Alexandra had put that old life behind her. Her life now was one with her husband, Ghassan, and as she looked into his dark eyes she knew she was safe there. Today he was radiantly handsome – probably due to the smile that had not left his face since she first saw him before the ceremony. It was contagious that smile, and even now as she lovingly admired his face, she found herself smiling back. Certainly, in the back of her mind, the obvious absence of her parents, caused some sadness, but, at the same time, she had never felt freer in her life. She was excited, and a bit anxious, about starting her new life in a land she had never been to, but her sense of wonder and adventure, and the security she felt with Ghassan, encouraged her. This man, this amazing man, who had stood so steadfastly by her was who she would walk with certainty into the next part of her life.
Ghassan stroked Alexandra’s cheek lovingly, as he had done so many times before, but today it felt particularly affectionate for both of them. She placed her hand upon his.
“The love I have for you Ghassan, is beyond description. If love is in one’s heart, then my heart has grown far beyond my body to hold my love. It is the sun and the moon and the vast space beyond. I will love you until the day I die and if we are fortunate enough that our souls live on beyond our lifetime, then I will love you for all eternity.”
“Rohi. You are my soul.” Ghassan held Alexandra’s face. His kiss was long and tender. “Hayati, my life.” He whispered. “Let’s leave here. Let me make love to you. You will start to understand then how much I love you.”
Arm in arm, Ghassan and Alexandra strolled the paths of Wilhelma park, through the shaded magnolia grove, along the covered walk, past the look-out pavilion, toward the main gates and off to their life beyond Wilhelma and Stuttgart – off to a lifetime of love tested but unshaken by the challenges of marriage, children, and the passage of time.
—–
Ghassan and Alexandra were my parents. They both passed away nine years ago within months of one another – my father from cancer and my mother, they say, of a broken heart. May their souls always find their way back to one another.
Mariyah
abufares
