The First Round of Love

Round One: The Stubborn Night
The room was dimly lit by moonlight seeping through the half-closed curtains. Samir sat on the edge of his bed, catching his breath after another ---sleep---less night. On the bedside table lay a note written in delicate handwriting: "Prove yourself worthy of my love." Those words had haunted him for months.
He remembered the first time he saw her at Café Al-Difah, sitting alone, sipping her coffee slowly. Her eyes resembled two moons in a clear night sky. He tried to smile at her, but she gave him a cold, assessing glance before turning away. In that moment, he felt as though he had unknowingly stepped into a wrestling ring.
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Round Two: The Challenge in Her Eyes
"Don’t you know women are like queen bees?" his friend Khalid said, laughing. "You have to prove yourself first."
Samir decided to rise to the challenge. The next day, he returned to the café with a bouquet of flowers. He approached her confidently: "I know you don’t accept flowers from just anyone, but I dare you to refuse these."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise, then took the bouquet coolly. "Seven rounds. If you win, I might give you a chance."
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Round Three: Love’s Stinging Blows
The rounds grew harder. In one, she demanded he recite poetry while standing on the café table. In another, she challenged him to outrun her in a race around the park. Each time, she looked at him with that piercing gaze that said, "You’re trying, but you’re still not enough."
On the sixth night, as they walked together in the rain, he heard her whisper: "Why do you insist? Every other man flees after the third round."
Wiping the rain from his face, he replied: "Because I see what you’re hiding—your fear of being as vulnerable as I am."
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Round Seven: The Unexpected Surrender
For the final round, he took her to his balcony overlooking the city. This time, he brought no flowers´-or-poems—just a question: "What are you truly afraid of?"
For the first time, he saw tears in her eyes. "I’m afraid of being just another name in someone’s ledger," she confessed.
In that moment, she collapsed into his arms—not as a queen bee, but as a frightened woman. He felt as though he’d won the greatest prize, only to realize it wasn’t a prize at all. She was his partner in this mad journey called love.
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Epilogue: After the Rounds
A year later, Samir found himself sitting in the same café, but this time, she was the one serving him coffee. On her old note, she had added: "Finally, someone worthy."
He looked at her and asked, "Was this your plan all along? To make me suffer seven rounds?"
She laughed—the laugh he adored. "No. I just needed to be sure you’d keep fighting for me, even after knowing all my flaws."

He held her hand, knowing life would bring endless rounds. But now, he was ready for every one.

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