Adam

Chapter One — Just a fleeting face

In one of the old neighborhoods of Baghdad, the street would start to get crowded from the afternoon.

Juice shops open their doors, stall owners shout about fruit prices, and the sound of cars mixes with the sounds of generators scattered among the houses.

At the end of the street, there was a small mosque with a green minaret, and on the opposite side, behind a row of old trees, stood a quiet church.

The presence of the two of them in the place was not strange to the people of the area.

They were part of the street.

Like the grocery store on the corner, or the old cafe, or Abu Sajjad's shop that hasn't changed its sign in more than twenty years.

Adam lived in one of the houses near the mosque.

A quiet, reserved young man who spends most of his time between his work, his home, and his friends.

As for Mary, she lived with her family on the other side of the area, and she went to church regularly.

It was only natural that one would pass by the other.

In fact, they passed in front of each other dozens of times.

but...

Neither of them knew the other's name.

Adam did not care who came out of the church after the prayer.

Maryam did not know who the young man was who sometimes came out of the mosque at the same time.

Each of them was just one face among dozens of faces.

---

Weeks passed.

Then months.

Adam would leave the mosque, walk towards the main street, sometimes buy a bottle of cold water from the shop, then return home.

Mary was doing almost the same thing on her end.

Sometimes their paths cross at a shop or at a traffic light.

But there is no peace.

No smile.

Not even curiosity.

Just a stranger walking past another stranger.

Until that day came.

The sun was uncomfortably strong, and the street was abnormally crowded.

A taxi stopped near the curb, and the driver started shouting:

— "Come on, guys! Al-Rashid! Bab Al-Sharqi!"

On the opposite side, Maryam was trying to cross the street, but the cars wouldn't stop.

At the same moment, Adam came out of the mosque.

He stopped at the curb and took his phone out of his pocket.

He didn't know that in less than a minute...

This will be the first encounter he has with that girl who passed by him dozens of times without him even knowing her name.

Maryam: "Excuse me... can you help me?"

Adam really raised his eyes to her for the first time.

He looked at her in surprise.

Adam: "Me?"

Maryam: "Yes, you."

He paused for a moment.

Then he looked at the busy street.

Adam: "What do you want?"

Maryam: "I want to cross, but the cars

Hahaha, I know we're going to turn Adam from just "the guy who comes out of the mosque" into a complete character with a life and secrets 🌚🎀

I suggest we make him imperfect; he has good qualities, but he also has flaws that might initially make Maryam hesitant to feel comfortable with him. And I'd set his age to be appropriate for an adult, so the relationship remains between adults.

Adam — Personal Card

Name: Adam Fadel

Age: 24 years

Length: 184 cm

Build: Tall, athletic but not bulky.

Appearance: Short black hair, dark brown eyes, wheatish complexion, often wears simple and neat clothes.

Place of residence: Baghdad, in an old neighborhood near the mosque and the church.

Work: Civil engineer, working for a small contracting company, and sometimes overseeing projects to restore old houses and shops.

Financial situation: Average; not rich, but his family is stable and he doesn't need anyone to spend on him.

Education: Graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering.

Language: He speaks a normal Iraqi accent, but when he gets angry, his formality completely disappears 😂.

His family

Father — Fadel, 55 years old:
A retired government employee, quiet but strict. He likes Adam, but his relationship with him is not very romantic; he expresses his love through actions more than words.

Mother — Suad, 50 years old:
Kind, sociable, and knows almost all the news in the neighborhood 😭. The person who can read Adam with just a look.

Sister — Zainab, 20 years old:
A university student, mischievous and very close to Adam. She's the only one who can provoke him without him actually getting upset.

His personality

Adam is calm and reserved at first.

Not because he is arrogant, but because he doesn't like to get into relationships with people quickly.

He doesn't trust easily.

He hates nosiness and interfering in other people's lives.

If he promises something, he keeps his promise.

His anger is more calm than shouting.

He has a sarcastic sense of humor that only appears with people close to him.

Annoyingly stubborn.

If he feels he is wrong, he rarely admits it directly.

He respects people even if he disagrees with them.

He doesn't like anyone imposing their opinion on him.

Most importantly: he doesn't have a hostile attitude towards Christians. For him, religious difference is something that exists and is respected, not a reason to hate or belittle someone.

His past

At the age of 19, his close friend died in a car accident.

The incident affected him more than it appears, and afterwards he developed a strange fear of becoming attached to people.

Not in the sense that he is isolated or broken, no.

But he came to believe that:

"The more attached you become to someone, the more you have something to fear losing."

That's why he avoids romantic relationships altogether.

He had a short past romantic experience that ended badly, not a huge betrayal or a movie drama 😂, but he discovered that the other person