The sun was shining when Litz got out of the female-only metro vagon at Dubai Mall station. She enjoyed the light and the city-line from the windows of the long corridor to the mall, direction Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world.
It was almost sunset and luckily there was not much queue at the ticket office. She realized she would have saved money if she had booked online. However, she was able to negotiate a combined ticket with the Aquarium for about 100 euros. “Crazy expensive” she thought, but it was her 2 years-delayed birthday gift, so she didn’t pay too much attention on the price. She put the silver sticker on her blouse and happily walked through the mall to the Aquarium first. If you wanted the gold sticker, granting access to luxury service at the very highest floor of the building, you had to add some money on top. She had felt that outrageously expensive, especially being alone and not even dressed-up for a proper photo-shoot.
The Aquarium was better than she expected. She had admired it from the outside, but the inside was a totally different perspective. Litz appreciated especially to be able to see very close some sharks, a little white turtle and two enormous crocodiles. She couldn’t help spotting a few sick animals during the visit and she asked herself how fair they could be treated. The thought shaded her face only for a couple of seconds, then the crowd awaked her again on the more realistic propellant of business.
On the Burj Khalifa visit, her group was made of a few American Black friends and a couple of European girls. They were all enjoying the guided tour while one of the girls fainted. Her friend tried to wake her up and Litz promptly shouted to ask for a doctor. Immediately the staff came and rescue the girl so that she could breath properly. The visit continued undisturbed while the girl was assisted. Luckily, she was not that bad.
– Would you mind taking me a picture?
Litz asked at some point to one of the Black girls having a photoshoot at one of the best windows of the building. The sun had gone away and the landscape was a shining mosaic of lights and skyscrapers. A pair of buildings shining the number 50 announced the upcoming celebrations of the UAE birthday.
– Sure thing!
One of the American girls replied and took her a few cool pictures Litz would soon share on Instagram.
She played a few interactive games and stared a lot in front of the breathtaking view of Dubai from the mindblowing height of 829.8 metres. Then she sit on a soft couch and sipped a hot coffee, reflecting on her personal life choices.
She came back relatively late. Litz was not very comfortable going out alone at night, despite the city inspiring her a great vibe. She wore home-clothes and headed to the kitchen for a quick late dinner with 1.25 AED chicken and mushrooms pre-made noodles.
– How can you eat that, girl?
A flat-mate said, entering the kitchen with a tray full of dirty dishes. Fen loved cooking for her friends. She usually found the rare pork, roasted it with vegetables and spices and served it with rice.
– You know it’s about time.
Litz replied with a fun tone in her voice. She liked Fen. She was a single mother, waiting to get married again. Her son lived in another country and she was in Dubai for well-paid hard work. Besides her daily job, she cleaned the house not to pay the rent and offered weekend taxi drives for trips out of the city at a modest price.
– Wanna join us this weekend for a trip? We need another girl to fill the car.
Fen asked, with avid business acumen in her eyes. Litz thought about it for a second, then recalled a few plans she had already committed to and firmly replied, with a friendly smile:
– No, I’m not available this time.
