7atem Biy2ool

She is an Egyptian girl I know. Her husband's name is 7atem. She's famous for talking a lot & starting virtually every sentence with the words "7atem biy2ool"(Hatem says). "7atem biy2ool 7alal", "7atem biy2ool 7aram", "7atem biy2ool fi", "7atem biy2ool mafish" etc....You get the idea.

Now we all admire wifely devotion am sure but I mean, the woman is like a broken record.

She does it so much that now many people have taken to calling her "7atem biy2ool". It has become her unofficial nickname - behind her back of course. I didn't though because it struck me as being unkind.

I knew her a very long time ago. We went to grade school together for about 2 years. Then she moved back to Egypt with her parents. She came back here with her husband about 4 years ago. And this world being as small as it is, it turns out that her husband's brother is married to my husband's sister. So now we see them a bit more than we otherwise would because of this family relationship.

My husband & I don't enjoy their company for many reasons but I digress. That's not what this post is about.

Hatem has recently seen fit to start a dirty rumor about me. I first heard about it from who else? His wife herself. She came over once to tell me that Hatem was attending a conference with some colleagues at a local hotel. He saw me sitting in the lobby smoking with a guy. Then when they finished the conference & came down in the lift, I was still in the lobby this time smoking with another guy who happened to be drinking. So Hatem's friends/colleagues thought I was sitting there to pick up guys. And Hatem, being very concerned about my good name, went home & told his wife that she should tell me to be careful & not do things that look so suspicious.

Of course my first reaction to this was to burst out laughing. I had no exact recollection of the incident she was talking about but for sure if I was in a hotel lobby during the daytime, it would have been for business reasons. And if I was sitting with someone then I was sitting with someone else, that would have been for business reasons too. Occasionally when we have these meetings someone will decide to have a glass of wine over lunch or something. Even if I pay attention to what everyone am sitting with is drinking - which I rarely do - am not in a position to be telling either clients or colleagues what they should or should not drink. And finally, the last time I smoked was ages ago so if she & Hatem have been busy thinking I was some kind of man-eating monster for so long then that was just funny.

Except over the last couple of months, I keep hearing the same story from different sources - that Hatem has seen me in a compromising situation. Each time with newer & juicier details - all revolving around the fact that am a "typical Magribiya(Morrocan)". Moroccan girls here are apparently all sluts and frankly, each version I hear is more offensive than the one before.

Last week apparently, Hatem went & told his brother who told his wife who just happens to be my sister-in-law. And my sister-in-law apparently called Hatem & his wife & went absolutely ballistic on them for talking about me etc.....

I am pleasantly surprised. That's my evil sister-in-law we're talking about here. She hates me. I don't expect her to stick up for me. So that's good. What's bad is this whole situation is starting to get to be a bit of a pain. So the question becomes what - if anything - should I do with Hatem & his sidekick- excuse me - his wife?

My instinct is to ignore this sort of thing. But if the story has so far travelled through the Egyptian gravepine from Abu Dhabi to London where my sister-in-law lives then that's a sign that it's not dying out isn't it?