"We the women of Afghanistan walk a fine line, we are supposed to be super traditional, upholding our Islamic faith and culture proudly by being chaste, pious, and we're supposed to always be respectful and deferential, especially in our dealings with the male authority figures of our faith, as you can see, Doc, I definitely don't fit the mold," Fauzia Samadzai said, smiling. Shrugging, she leaned back on the couch, shaking her head for emphasis.
Sitting in the psychiatrist's office, Fauzia looked at the calm, composed and bespectacled man seated behind the desk. Dr. Alan Klassou looked at Fauzia and began to steeple his fingers, something he only did when stressed. His handsome face remained impassive. Tall and burly but fit, with dark brown and slick, curly dark hair just starting to go grey at the temples, he reminded Fauzia of the Hollywood actor Dennis Haysbert, the one from the All-State television commercials.
"Fauzia, we're all affected by the rules, norms and traditions of our background, like you, I was raised in Canada but I am still a proud son of the Togolese nation," Dr. Klassou said, and he flashed Fauzia an empathetic smile. Fauzia crossed her legs, and noticed the way the doctor barely stopped himself from looking at her. A coy smile crept into her lovely face, and she licked her lips in a most suggestive manner.
At the age of twenty three, Fauzia Samadzai was quite the stunner, and she damn well knew it. Five-foot-eight, curvy and sexy, with dark bronze skin, and rapturous long dark hair that she no longer bothered to hide under a stifling Hijab, Fauzia was quite beautiful. The young woman's rather inquisitive brown eyes and sensuous, full lips giving her a downright seductive look even when she wasn't trying.
Fauzia always felt stifled by the rules of the rather conservative Afghan-Canadian Muslim community, which led to her rebelling against them. Fauzia was no longer speaking to her parents, Ghazzal and Rafiq Samadzai, who considered her dead to them due to her scandalous behavior. Fauzia was more westernized than the average white Canadian woman, and to the Samadzai clan, this was too much. Fauzia became an outcast in her own community...
On that particular afternoon, Fauzia came to Dr. Klassou's office wearing a black leather bomber jacket, unbuttoned, not unzipped, over a red tank top, a black leather miniskirt and thigh-high black leather boots. Fauzia's aviator shades, which she never left her Kerrisdale townhouse without, rested on top of her head. Cool brown eyes scrutinized the good doctor, as if scanning him for potential weaknesses.
"Hmm, did you ever rebel against the rules like I did, Doc?" Fauzia asked, and Dr. Klassou smiled but remained silent, seemingly perplexed. The good doctor came highly recommended, by a close friend of her family. There were lots of qualified, outstanding psychiatrists in the Vancouver metropolitan area, but Fauzia was extremely picky. Story of her life, really...
Fauzia smiled as she thought of all the doctors she'd checked out and rejected prior to waltzing into Dr. Klassou's office. She didn't want a Muslim psychiatrist because he or she would be judgmental of her life choices, and she definitely didn't want a white person because he or she wouldn't be able to relate to her experience as an immigrant woman. No offense against any of the above, just Fauzia's preferences.
Whom did that leave for the rather picky Fauzia? Dr. Alan Klassou, McGill-educated licenced psychiatrist and author of BDSM And Psychology, a best-seller on Amazon for ten straight weeks back in 2014. Four years later, the good doctor split his time between lecturing at Trinity Western University and running his small, exclusive psychiatric practice.
"Of course I rebelled, Fauzia, it's only natural," Dr. Klassou replied, and Fauzia grinned, glad that he was the one to break the silence for a change. Now we're getting somewhere, Fauzia thought. Prior to choosing Dr. Klassou as her shrink, she dutifully checked him out. Fauzia never failed to do her due diligence when it came to selecting someone, whether for personal or professional reasons.
