Shimmering Muse

What I’m sharing today isn’t a sensual story or about my raw emotions. It’s a funny, weird experience I had a while back.

Coming back slowly from an Emotional Vacation I wanted to keep myself engaged with writing. Since there are no fascinating stories in my head right now, I thought I would share this experience with you.

I knew this guy from my home country, but not for very long. He was just someone I kept in rare contact with. He would message or call me rarely and we would talk. He had a property in my hometown that was the link between our contact.

Since he was a local guy and witty enough to keep me engaged in conversation, I was okay with talking occasionally, though most of the time I would ignore his messages.

He mentioned he owned a couple of businesses in MENA and mainly lived in the Middle East.

A year later, I moved to the Middle East. It wasn’t preplanned, nor did I ever mention the plan to him.

Once I moved there, when he contacted me I mentioned my relocation, and he was excited to meet me. So we decided to meet for coffee one weekend evening.

As planned, we met. Initially, I had planned just for a coffee, expecting to return home early as I thought I might be bored. However, we ended up spending a good time conversing and roaming the streets. We would converse in our local language, and he would make me laugh uncontrollably with some jokes he mimicked. Luckily, we had a good vibe, and I felt rejuvenated and happy.

He was interested in showing me around since I was new to the place, and I loved his energy. While I was clicking pictures of things that caught my eye, he was taking candid shots of me, which turned out beautiful. And often he would ask me to pose, but I would decline.

Hmm, let me tell you this; I struggle to pose for someone else’s click. It doesn’t mean I don’t take pictures of myself; I do a lot, but I just can’t pose for someone else even though I am an admirer of my own beauty. No! It’s not self-consciousness; it’s something else that I couldn’t figure out exactly.

However, in the end, he had my candid photo gallery on his phone. Seeing his amazing clicks and photography skills, I found out he was an excellent photographer. I was impressed and I complimented him. That’s when he mentioned he was a photographer in his early career days and worked on projects similar to Animal Planet or Discovery Channel, although I can’t recall the exact name. I was intrigued because of my interest in wildlife, and he talked a lot about his experiences. I suppose we met around late evening and were roaming until late at night. I felt safe with him, both physically and emotionally. Then, he dropped me back home late at night, closer to dawn.

After this meetup, we still remained the same. He shared all the pictures he clicked but there was no daily chit-chat or anything. But we kept in touch just like before.

Sometimes, he would invite me to parties or drinks, but I never showed interest and would decline with some reasons. However, I sensed his interest in me and where he was heading. Despite this, spontaneous meetups happened occasionally when he passed by my place. Whenever he called me asking to catch up quickly, either while I was running in the park or about to go for my run, we ended up meeting in the park, in my not-too-sweaty clothes, and then we would drive to a nice café. I adore open-air cafés with beautiful ambiance, soft music playing, and uninterrupted conversations. We would spend hours in a coffee shop before I went back home.

So, that’s how we met a couple of times. Whenever he talked about his photography or traveling life, I was interested in engaging in his conversation because he was an adrenaline junkie, and that excitement intrigued me. Otherwise, there was no intellectual match. He would talk about the brands he wore, the assets he owned, the cars he drove, and so on. I barely noticed which car he drove. Lol. There was absolutely zero match, nor did I want to engage in such talks. Well, that really puts a damper on things.

Once, he called me and said he was going to Australia for two months and suggested if we could meet for lunch. I said okay.

While we were driving, it was too sunny, and I had forgotten my sunglasses, so he gave me one from his dashboard.

We enjoyed authentic cuisine, and then I returned home, realizing I had forgotten to hand over the sunglasses. But I messaged him immediately, saying, 'Your glasses are with me, and they will be safe. I'll return them to you when you're back, if you can't collect them before you fly.'

He said he would try to collect them before he left because he needed them for a night drive. I said okay and shared my workplace location, saying he could collect them from my office on weekdays. However, weekdays passed, and he didn’t collect them.

The weekend came, and he called me. I ignored his calls. I completely forgot about the sunglasses, so it wasn’t the first time I had ignored his calls; whether I answered or not depended on my mood. I usually avoid calls on weekends.

On Monday, while sitting in my office and checking my calls and messages to respond, I messaged him with some reason. That’s when I realized, “Oh, this guy must have called me to collect his sunglasses.”

Gosh! And I didn’t bring his sunglasses to the office either. I messaged him the same apologizing and requested him to collect them in the evening once I reached home, and I also shared my house location.

He said he or someone would collect them, to which I agreed.

So, no one came to collect them, and I didn’t bother. After all, they’re just sunglasses. I gave them the least importance in my mind.

Three or four days passed just like that. Then one day, while I was at work, I received a message from him.

Him: You have changed a lot.

Me: What changes have you noticed that you hadn't noticed in me before? (I was being funny)

Him: After you took my sunglasses, you're acting different and you don’t even care to return.

Me: "WTF." Dude, it's just sunglasses. Is that all you've understood about me after having multiple teas at ----- with me? (I was irritated with the remark)

Him: You only deserve to have tea from ----- . You're not the type who deserves 5-star places.

Me: Oh, Really? Yes, I don't deserve 5-star places with a boy like you.(I chuckled at his immaturity and the way he said it, despite being in his 30s)

We exchanged some back-and-forth messages, Instead of losing my calm, I surprised myself by hitting him with the right answers, which seemed to provoke him.

He said he would send his manager so that I can hand over the sunglasses to him since he is already out of the country.

Lastly, I mentioned to him (with all due respect) that anyone could come, whether him or his manager (lol, now I am like who the fuck are you dude, sending a manager and all, as if I was his staff not a friend), to collect from me anytime from my workplace or home. I would be available to take calls and made it very clear to him not to message me about this anymore or want to continue the friendship either. I stopped responding or viewing any of his new messages. I simply deleted them all.

As he mentioned, someone called me once, but he didn’t come to collect them either. Lol. It was funny.

While I expected someone to come eventually, two or three months passed, and no one came to collect them. I wasn’t bothered in the least. Eventually, I forgot.

Then one day, while I was on holiday back in my home country, I woke up early for my morning jog and saw his messages asking for the sunglasses. It was quite amusing, to say the least. LMAO

I couldn’t stop laughing. A man who talked endlessly about his wealth, brands, and whatnot was now chasing me down for sunglasses.

I didn’t ignore him; instead, I informed him of my current location and he was like courier to me. His silly replies made me laugh again, and I couldn’t help but be entertained by our back-and-forth text messages. At one point, I even entertained the thought of destroying his glasses and sending him a video of it. Anyway I didn’t do that.

Finally, I asked him to end it once and for all by collecting the sunglasses from me before I throw them away and leave me alone.

Here is something I want to emphasize: I am a modest woman who is not only independent but also self-sufficient. I am fully aware of the kind of life I want to lead, neither needing to prove anything nor wanting to plan out how I want to spend my life. After all, where’s the thrill if we sit and plan everything?

The fixation on a pair of sunglasses baffled me. I don’t rely on anyone to experience luxury or indulge in 5-star dates; I’m capable of treating myself to the finest things if that’s even my interest. I know that I deserve nothing less than the best. However, my preference isn’t for glossy luxuries. My definition of luxury is different from what he talked about at least. My kind of luxury date would be spending nights somewhere under a moonlit sky filled with a billion stars, with a man I desire or with people who value me just the way I am.

The ordeal with the sunglasses taught me an amusing lesson about human behavior. It showed me that anyone can flip their perception of us at any moment. This man—oh no, he’s still a boy—immediately shifted his view of me, all because of the sunglasses that I forgot to return. Even though it was a funny experience, it was a reminder of the importance of compatibility and mutual respect in any connection.

It’s fascinating to observe how quickly someone’s perception can change when we assert ourselves or simply stand firm.

In the end, no one came to collect the sunglasses. The exchanges and the eventual fallout over something so trivial underscored a weird aspect of human connections—sometimes, it’s the little things that reveal the most about who they really are.