He was my father’s age,
I met him at Ramses station on my way back to Minya.
He was a professor at Ain Shams University,
And he treated me like a daughter.
He used to call me at my parents’ house to check if I needed anything.
I liked that he was kind.
He was like a second father to me.

The third time I met him, I was also waiting for the train.
He called me, and told me that he, too, was coming to the station.
“Let’s go to an empty train until my train comes,” he told me when he came,
I agreed.

We went inside an empty train,
He sat next to me, and started holding my hands and kissing them in a weird way,
Not the way a father would.
“I’m tired and my back hurts, and I want someone to massage it.”
Then he held my hand and brought it to his penis.
I was terrified.
“Don’t be scared, why are you scared?”
And then he forcibly grabbed both my hands and kept rubbing himself.
I didn’t react aggressively.
I didn’t cry, or scream, or do anything.
The moment he let go of my hands to take out a tissue to wipe himself,
I quickly ran out of the train.

Two days later, it was 2 in the afternoon and I had just left uni.
I was walking down the sidewalk when I heard someone saying,
“Psst...psst...excuse me, I’m not harassing you,
I just want to talk to you.
I swear I’m not harassing you,
Do I look like someone who would harass you?”
He was a 50 year old man, and he was wearing a fancy suit.
I thought I’d hear him out, see what he wanted.
“I’m a lawyer, and I have an office and I need a secretary.”
He kept telling me about how his old secretary had passed,
And that he was in dire need of someone who was respectable.
He told me that he will teach me everything,
“Let’s go somewhere and talk about it!” he said.

I got into his car and we went to a coffee shop in an area I wasn’t familiar with.
He talked about work, then he started talking about the “actual work”:
“You won’t just be managing my office,
You’ll be my friend and my lover,
We’ll do everything except sleep together,
So you’ll remain a virgin.
I’ll take you out, and buy you clothes.”

He started moving closer, running his hands all over me.
I didn’t know how to get out of it,
So I told him “I’ll think about it and get back to you.”
I stayed at home for 3 days, scared to go out,
And for a month I’d only go out with one of my friends,
So I wouldn’t walk in the streets alone.