Nagib had been in and out of the security office several times, first when he was issued his badge, then for a few periodical reviews and more recently when he was dealing with enlisting his old friend Renaldo as a laboratory assistant. He noticed that one of the secretaries took a special interest in him and was more than willing to help him through the bureaucratic procedures of the security office. She was quite plain looking and Nagib had other things on his mind when talking to her, but did not fail to notice her nametag that said Ms. Alia Elias. He knew that Elias was a common last name in many countries and in his youth even knew a Christian family by that name that owned a souvenir store near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. However, her first name, Alia, was quite typically Arab and he knew of Princess Alia bint Al Hussein of Jordan, for example. So Nagib found an excuse to visit the security office and managed to exchange a few glances and some words with Alia. He then returned to the analytical laboratory and picked up the phone and called her with the pretext that he needed some help with the forms he was asked to fill for his forthcoming promotion and suggested that they meet over a cup of coffee in the main cafeteria. Alia was more than glad to accept, being thrilled that the handsome scientist asked for her assistance, and although she suspected that he had reasons other than bureaucratic help for the meeting, she was willing to meet him. She glanced at his personal file and was aware that he was originally from Palestine and was glad and flattered that he took an interest in her.
Nagib was already seated at a small table near the window of the cafeteria when Alia arrived. He offered to fetch a cup of coffee and some pastry for her but she said she had to watch her weight and preferred herbal tea which he brought to the table. She addressed him as Dr. Jaber but he told her to call him Nagib, which he preferred and asked her if he could call her Alia. She smiled shyly and asked him what he needed. Nagib pulled out the forms and said he was not sure about some items and she leaned over to have a better look at the form and he got a whiff of the delicate perfume she had put on before coming to the cafeteria. He then knew that she was really interested in more than just helping him and smiled discreetly to himself. After finishing with the forms he asked her if they could perhaps go out for dinner one evening and she said she was free on Saturday, so they exchanged cellphone numbers and she gave him her address and arranged for him to call for her at seven pm.
Nagib took Alia to the Pyramid Café on Central Avenue that served Mediterranean and Greek food and after having calamari and shrimp for appetizers they ordered couscous with lamb and chicken tagine for their main course and shared the tasty dishes. Nagib asked Alia if she drank alcohol and she laughed and told him that she was a Christian and liked red wine, so he took a look at the wine list and ordered a bottle of Argentinean Malbec. The dinner was delicious and both were now more relaxed and thanks to the wine less inhibited and left the restaurant walking so close to one another that their shoulders "accidentally" rubbed each other. Alia told Nagib that she had been married for less than one year to a no-good redneck who loved rodeos more than he loved her and left her for the sake of an affair with one of the cowgirls who followed the rodeo show around the county. Their divorce was smooth and quick — they had no property or assets to fight over, and thankfully no children. After the divorce she took up her maiden name — Elias. Nagib knew he should go slowly and gently cultivate his relationship with Alia who had been hurt once before, so after dinner he drove her back home, shook her hand and thanked her for a delightful evening. She was a bit disappointed that he didn't try to kiss her but thought that he had little or no experience with women and attributed it to his shyness.
A few days later he called her and invited her for another date. He suggested that they meet on Saturday morning and drive to Bandelier National Monument, visit the Pueblo dwellings and have a picnic. She volunteered to prepare a cold lunch consisting of salads and sandwiches and he offered to bring a good bottle of wine and some cold sodas. The short drive to Bandelier was very pleasant, the sun was shining but not too brightly and they enjoyed the hilly views. There were not many visitors at the site so they took their time climbing up the wooden ladders to the small rooms carved in the soft rock. Nagib helped Alia, who made a big show of being afraid of the heights, so when they descended back to the bottom of the ladder they naturally continued to hold hands. They took one of the many trails carrying their picnic basket and a rug until reached a secluded spot with a scenic view of Frijoles Canyon. They spread the rug on the grassy terrain and enjoyed the food Alia had prepared washing it down with the wine that Nagib brought. They were both slightly intoxicated and lay on their backs, still holding hands, and looking at the clouds moving across the sky. Nagib turned on his side and gently caressed Alia's shoulders and then leaned over and kissed her neck working his way up to her cheek. She turned her head so their lips met in a long deep kiss. Their kissing became more and more passionate but once again Nagib pulled back slowly, making sure not to offend her, and said that they'd better head back to town. Alia again attributed his behavior to lack of experience with women and reluctantly let him go. They drove back in silence as both pondered the next step in their relationship.
Strangely, Nagib was getting fond of Alia and almost decided to forego his plan to manipulate her and use her for getting information on scheduled warhead shipments. Then another idea occurred to him — what if he made her an accomplice and full partner to his plans. So on their next date — this time over dinner she had cooked in her apartment he waited until they were seated on her living room couch after dinner before bringing up the subject. He tried to probe and understand what she thought about the Israeli occupation, life in the US and the unconditional support the US gave Israel. He asked her about her life in the US and she told him that she was born in Durango that was a small village in south-western Colorado where her parents ran a momma-and-papa convenience store. Her parents had immigrated to the US from Beit-Jala, a small village populated mainly by Christian Arabs that was not far from the village near Hebron where Nagib had grown up. At home her parents spoke Arabic among themselves, but Alia, like many first generation immigrants, insisted on answering them in English, so, she told Nagib, she could understand Arabic quite well but speaking it was sketchy. She attended a community college where she had met her rodeo cowboy and followed him to Los Alamos where she managed to get a job at the Lab. She told him that her pay was sufficient for her to rent her small apartment, own a car and save a little money for the future. On the whole she was grateful to have her independence and felt that the US had provided her with a better life than she would have had as an Arab woman in Palestine. However, she did have a serious grudge against Israel and the way they treated Arabs: a couple of years earlier she went on a trip to visit her grandparents who still lived in Beit-Jala. Although she was a US citizen by birth she was humiliated by the Israeli border control officers at Ben-Gurion Tel-Aviv airport. She was taken to a side room, where she was questioned at length about the purpose of her visit, her relatives and her ties with the Arab community in the US, and all details of her life. She was then asked to open her luggage that was scrutinized by a couple of giggling customs officials, and then subjected to a strip search by a female officer who wore latex gloves and probed her body purposefully inducing pain in her most intimate organs. Her cellphone was taken into another room and she imagined that her list of contacts and record of her conversations was copied. By the time she was allowed to leave the airport she almost wanted to turn around and catch the next flight back home but knew her grandparents would be deeply disappointed. When she arrived at their humble home in Beit-Jala the warm welcome and loving attention she received made her momentarily forget the disgraceful and humiliating treatment at the airport. When she left, two weeks later, to return to the US she suffered a similar ordeal by the security officers checking the departing passengers. She had tried to put the whole episode behind her, but when Nagib asked her about her feelings for Israel it all came back to her so vividly that she couldn't hold back her tears.