They met early one Friday afternoon. Their assignation grew out of an irresistible urge to surrender, coupled with a hope that he would be able to escape in the end. He felt it a fall from grace but it was steeped in happiness. He had no knowledge of places where lovers met. She suggested al-Azbakiyya Garden. He objected on the grounds that it was unprotected and open to view from all directions. But the Zoo was sufficiently far away and deserted, lying outside the built-up area and safe from the eyes of busybodies. To reach it the tram had to pass through open fields and wastelands. They walked side by side enjoying a “real” life in the few hours before closing time. He had not been to the Zoo since visiting it on a school outing. He had no idea what was customary when taking a girl out: what may be said and what may not, what may be done and what may not. They walked together happily and quietly; yet there was that uneasy feeling nagging at him and telling him that the meeting was something irregular and wrong, that he should not have given way to the impulse. To ward off his feelings of confusion and frustration he expressed his admiration of the trees, the bridges, the grotto, the streams, the ponds, and the different kinds of animals. But he remained convinced that he had not yet said a single word to the point and that he was trying to escape when it was already too late. She walked beside him, her eyes melting with a dreamy and triumphant look, her head raised and her breast thrown proudly forward. Her air suggested to him a tide race of demands within. And in her breathing he felt that she took in the most beautiful mysteries of life. Their eyes met, and in her glowing look he read the purest innocence, sweet cunning too, and the rush of secret desires.

“Even now that I’ve got a job I can’t easily get out of the house,” she protested.

“Don’t let it make you cross, my dear,” he answered in a ludicrously paternal tone.

“But it’s unnatural and humiliating.”

“An inaccurate translation of the parental sentiments.”

“I don’t think you really believe that.”

“Really?”

She laughed with complete assurance and added: “If my mother had known I was coming to see you, I don’t think she would’ve minded.”

“But she didn’t know?” he said anxiously.

She laughed again and was silent for a moment until his mouth went completely dry. Then she said, “Our meeting remains a secret as agreed.”

“Of course, dear.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not happy about this.”