Letter 19531016 notes that S and F are so close they are like sisters. S is the half that is left behind, abandoned when F leaves for Egypt. S is no longer needed now that F will meet Shareef in person.
Need to explore how to implement this in dialogue.
Also, when a friend from Lamesa visits F in Lubbock and discovers that she received mail from Shareef as both S and F. She seems a bit confused and frightened at the same time.
When F discovers that the IFL has arranged her with Shareef, she comes up with a plan to hide behind another veil of secrecy, so that her mother can't read her words, her mind. She can truly write freely. She gets carried away with the charade and realizes that Shareef likes S more than F.
This is when she decides that she must "fake" more friends in order to keep his attention. See letter 19531119.
Her plan seems to be going so well until her mother attempts suicide. It's a huge wake-up call for F. Shareef no longer receives the letters from S or F. He continues to send letters for an entire year until he is accidentally drafted into the Army. When he returns, he discovers that the letters are being returned. F nor her family live in Lamesa anymore.
F is trying to live her life as genuinely as she can. She is now at TT studying accounting. She hopes to get a good office job and meet a man who will respect her life as a career woman. This fails when she learns that her brother has enlisted in the Army and she is forced to drop out and help her father who is struggling to make ends meet and take care of her mother.
She works two jobs for about a year until her father can retire and collect more income. Her mother's strength and courage has returned and she's willing to be a housewife for the remainder of her life. Her housework is recreating the tension that F felt at home in Lamesa. And she finally decides it's time to move out when she starts sleepwalking again.
She moves out and lives with S. They become roommates and F enjoys the time they spend together. Finally S encourages F to write to Shareef again. Tell him everything. He'll understand. She discovers that he's engaged to be married in a few months. F writes several more letters but no responses come from Shareef. She grows more and more worried [show a cue that she's not sleepwalking and enjoys that she's perhaps causing problems for Shareef]
Finally he writes to her and tells her that he's called off the wedding. He's very distraught and struggles each day to get himself to work and back to a normal routine. She helps him through it and finally tells him that she's behind all the letters. She fell in love so hard that it split her in two.
Shareef is overjoyed to hear that she finally confessed her feelings to him and that they should meet. F tells him that she can barely meet with her own ends by working two jobs. She feels like things are moving too fast, but doesn't know how to tell him. He offers to come to Lubbock and see her. After many failed attempts to get a visa, Shareef finally tells her that he'll pay for her to come to Cairo.
She accepts the invitation, but not his money. She tells him that she'll just have to save up for the airline ticket herself. She's really really buying time to change her accent and appearance. She wants him to be impressed with her physically. Not in a sexual way, but she wants to rid herself of the "country" girl that she still exhibits. [e.g. teeth replacement, accent classes]
He also has a deception of his own. He was be honest when he said he couldn't get a tourist visa. He didn't tell her that he enrolled at UT and planned to meet her as Shareef's cousin. This is his way of seeing her in the flesh. (reference to Hadith and also emphasizes how letter correspondence is no different than meeting a woman in full niqab.
When she's bought the ticket, she discovers that his father has suddenly died in a car accident. He tells her it's customary to wait a year before resuming anything other than work. She agrees to wait patiently. In the meantime, she continues to practice her accent and smile. Her office workers don't even recognize her anymore. [remember to emphasize the country in her previous appearance]
Finally the day comes when she must leave. This is when she ultimately separates from S. [Hence the story that involves S discovering that F has left without a trace].