As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

Salama and Kenan get to know each other, talking about their families and dreams. Kenan wanted to be an animator, having studied computer science at college. They talk about their favorite animated movies, mostly those from Studio Ghibli like Spirited Away. Kenan’s parents, like Salama’s mother, passed away. He’s the sole provider for his two younger siblings, Lama and Yusuf, as Salama is for her sister-in-law Layla. He’s impressed by her care for Lama, since she originally planned to be a pharmacist, not a doctor.

Khawf insists Kenan knows Salama, since he’s acting like they’ve met. She asks him multiple times if they’ve met. Kenan finally reveals they were supposed to have an arranged coffee date about a year ago. Salama cries out that he was the boy considered for her arranged marriage.

Kenan blushes at Salama’s talk of arranged marriage, and admits her deduction is correct. In a flashback, Salama remembers hanging out with Layla, her mother insisting she bake a knafeh (a Middle Eastern pastry), though Salama didn’t understand why. Before Kenan and his parents could arrive, a bomb struck their house, killing Salama’s mother. Salama suppresses the memory and thinks, “I’m hiding in the house of the boy I might have married.