marry the various bachelors invited to the family gatherings she had to attend. Ultimately she wanted to marry for love and whatever love was she didn’t feel she’d found it in any of the men her parents had put in front of her so far.
Of course having their own flat and relative autonomy and freedom had made her, Rahmaniah and Salem extremely popular amongst their friends and associates. This was largely because of the gatherings they were now able to hold at their apartments. Her father had insisted that an adjoining inner door be constructed between Salem and the girls flat. Unbeknownst to him this meant that Salem could now quite appropriately invite his male friends round at the same time that she and Rahmaniah invited their female friends round. Perhaps less appropriately at an appointed time the inner door was then opened and young Saudi men and women were able to mingle freely without being under the watchful eyes of their respective parents. These more informal gatherings had the added benefit of being able to be conducted without the constraints of the much hated abayas that Saudi women had to wear when outside their own homes. She and Rahmaniah had instigated a strict policy that anyone visiting them (whether known or unknown to them) left their abaya at the door – no exceptions. She and Rahmaniah’s social standing may have decreased in the eyes of her parents’ generation but their standing had rocketed stratospherically amongst their own generation. As well as standing up for the rights of their friends to make their own life choices their gatherings were soon the most sought after invitations in town. She had had to instruct the post room and security in their building to stop sending up the gifts of chocolates, flowers, jewels, dresses etc. that she was now receiving on an almost daily basis. Inevitably these would be accompanied by a card from someone she barely knew or hadn’t spoken to since school or University with a phrase like ‘please keep me in mind for your next social function’.
Given the unexpected success of these soirees and the significant numbers of ‘marital engagements’ that had followed she had been too much of a businesswoman to pass up the opportunity to not turn these gatherings into revenue generating opportunities. Utilising some of the family investment funds she controlled she’d set up a new ‘Event Management’ company and started similar social party arrangements in Riyadh, Madinah, Sultanah, Dammam, Taif and Tabuk. Originally she’d thought it would be difficult to find people like her and Rahmaniah but in the end it had been relatively straightforward. The demand was so great for the service they were offering and the social networks of their friends wide enough that they were able to find suitable Saudi male and female hostesses without too much difficulty.
On the advice of Salem she had been careful to make sure that both the host and hostess’ they employed were from families from a relatively impoverished background. The chance to interact with well to do Saudis, increase their own social standing and be paid for the privilege was something the hosts truly valued. They were also more likely to do everything they could to avoid their activities coming to the attention of the local authorities. In fact in the first month of their new business venture this worst case scenario had occurred. Their initial Riyadh location, in a conservative area of town, a nosy neighbour and an indiscrete host (who had allowed music to be played too loud) resulted in the religious police being called. The police hadn’t acted immediately but bided their time and then undertaken a raid during the next gathering. All the participants had been fined and severely reprimanded. Luckily Salem had been used as the front man to lease the apartments and he was the one contacted by the religious police after the raid. In the end
Of course having their own flat and relative autonomy and freedom had made her, Rahmaniah and Salem extremely popular amongst their friends and associates. This was largely because of the gatherings they were now able to hold at their apartments. Her father had insisted that an adjoining inner door be constructed between Salem and the girls flat. Unbeknownst to him this meant that Salem could now quite appropriately invite his male friends round at the same time that she and Rahmaniah invited their female friends round. Perhaps less appropriately at an appointed time the inner door was then opened and young Saudi men and women were able to mingle freely without being under the watchful eyes of their respective parents. These more informal gatherings had the added benefit of being able to be conducted without the constraints of the much hated abayas that Saudi women had to wear when outside their own homes. She and Rahmaniah had instigated a strict policy that anyone visiting them (whether known or unknown to them) left their abaya at the door – no exceptions. She and Rahmaniah’s social standing may have decreased in the eyes of her parents’ generation but their standing had rocketed stratospherically amongst their own generation. As well as standing up for the rights of their friends to make their own life choices their gatherings were soon the most sought after invitations in town. She had had to instruct the post room and security in their building to stop sending up the gifts of chocolates, flowers, jewels, dresses etc. that she was now receiving on an almost daily basis. Inevitably these would be accompanied by a card from someone she barely knew or hadn’t spoken to since school or University with a phrase like ‘please keep me in mind for your next social function’.
Given the unexpected success of these soirees and the significant numbers of ‘marital engagements’ that had followed she had been too much of a businesswoman to pass up the opportunity to not turn these gatherings into revenue generating opportunities. Utilising some of the family investment funds she controlled she’d set up a new ‘Event Management’ company and started similar social party arrangements in Riyadh, Madinah, Sultanah, Dammam, Taif and Tabuk. Originally she’d thought it would be difficult to find people like her and Rahmaniah but in the end it had been relatively straightforward. The demand was so great for the service they were offering and the social networks of their friends wide enough that they were able to find suitable Saudi male and female hostesses without too much difficulty.
On the advice of Salem she had been careful to make sure that both the host and hostess’ they employed were from families from a relatively impoverished background. The chance to interact with well to do Saudis, increase their own social standing and be paid for the privilege was something the hosts truly valued. They were also more likely to do everything they could to avoid their activities coming to the attention of the local authorities. In fact in the first month of their new business venture this worst case scenario had occurred. Their initial Riyadh location, in a conservative area of town, a nosy neighbour and an indiscrete host (who had allowed music to be played too loud) resulted in the religious police being called. The police hadn’t acted immediately but bided their time and then undertaken a raid during the next gathering. All the participants had been fined and severely reprimanded. Luckily Salem had been used as the front man to lease the apartments and he was the one contacted by the religious police after the raid. In the end
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