[This is a fictional story, don’t draw any conclusions or ideas for actual behavior from this.]
*****
Her reading interrupted by a knock on the kitchen door, Lina Abbas left her book and stepped quickly down the hall, pausing briefly to check her hijab in a mirror.
“Hello, Lina, I have your things here.” It was Jason, the neighbor.
“Oh, Jason. Hi. Did you fixed it?” She asked, smiling hopefully.
“Sorry to tell you, it’s dead.” Lina’s smile turned into a childlike pout.
“Oh. Ok.”
“The good news is that I’m pretty sure I got all your things off the hard drive. You won’t lose anything. It’s all saved on these USB sticks. Where should I put them?”
Jason was holding the laptop like a tray, precariously carrying a bunch of USB sticks in a plastic bag on top. Lina was torn between reaching out to take her computer from Jason, possibly dumping the USB sticks with all of her files, or allowing him to enter her home with her husband not there, something not allowed in her religion and which would have infuriated her husband.