The Red Line Read Online Free PDF

had changed everything in her life. When she arrived there, she experienced a sense of freedom she never knew existed before. The mountains up in northern Lebanon had their own kind of peace. After a series of fights between the villages during the first years of the war, a kind of truce was settled there.
    It was a mostly Christian area, so night clubs were abundant, and an atmosphere of going out and of partying hung around the place. This was where people young and old and even people of different religions met to dance or to dine on tabbouleh , the traditional Lebanese salad. They enjoyed gossip and fought over politics around the same table. In this place, the Muslims tasted freedom from the ir rigid traditions. The girls — especially the wealthy ones — could go out and party as hard as the Christian ones. The false sense of leaving the war zone was overwhelming.
    For Nora, who had lived most of her life stuck between the bunker and her studies, this was a side of Lebanon she’d never even imagined. This was a whole new life offered to her on a platter, and she decided to fully enjoy it. After spending two days with the Monzems , she accepted their invitation to move into their house. Then when Tamer asked her to stay in his bedroom, she didn't hesitate. For her, she had already taken the step. Besides, in this war, she couldn’t care less about society, especially outside her fief where no one knew her. Nora trusted Rheem to keep her secret and tell everyone who noticed her absence at the hospital that she sometimes had to cross the line and stay with her mother.
    The first nights with Tamer opened up a whole world of discovery for her senses and sensuality. As a virgin, educated as she was, she found that she knew nothing of the games of sex and love. He was awakening every cell in her body to this new world of sensations and pleasures, and she was discovering his body, trying to give him as much as he was giving her.
    Tamer respected Nora’s virginity and waited patiently for her to make the first move. It took her some time; she was always frightened at the last moment to let go. ‘Let go of what?’ she kept asking herself. Let go of her old self? Or let go of her traditions, education, and beliefs? Maybe she was frightened of the shame she would bring on her family if she were discovered; maybe she was scared of the guilt she would feel for her mom’s sake. She would be crossing the red line big time! No way back anymore.
    A week after Nora moved in with Tamer, she tried to be cautious and put herself on the pill. There was no need to get a prescription for medicine in Lebanon. You could just go into any pharmacy and get the drug you needed. Anti-anxiety drugs were being sold by the dozen; rare were the people who could sleep without taking one. These pills were even passed between friends and neighbors and distributed in the bunkers.
    Nora got the anti-conception pills she was looking for, and the night she said yes, she knew that she only desired one thing: her lover. Everything else disappeared. She was drawn into a haze of pleasure and passion and wanted to stay there forever. Tamer was as passionate as she was. They lived detached from their surroundings in their own cocoon under the indulgent eyes of Mona, who never said a thing, but just watched...
    Nora and Tamer grew so close that they could hardly spend any time away from each other. At the hospital, Nora's whole attitude changed from taciturn to outgoing, from shy to participating actively in her classes. Most of the time, Tamer tried to hover around the university grounds so they could meet in secret around a corner or behind a building. At the end of the day, they would end up sitting close to each other in a bistro or a trendy restaurant, laughing or smiling in their own private world. Neither the sound of faraway bombs nor the darkness in the streets had any effect on them. They hardly even noticed the people around them.
    When Nora wanted to