The vendor nods, his eyes misty, then waves us away gently, turning back to his cart.
Calvin and I stand there for a moment in the twilight, the sounds of the city washing over us. Ella reaches for the pendant, and I let her hold it. It’s too big to pose a choking risk, but it does look fragile, so I keep my hand underneath to make sure she doesn’t drop it.
“That was…” Calvin starts, then stops.
“Yeah.” I look up at him, and for a moment, his professional mask has slipped. He looks moved. Human.
“Your Arabic is excellent.”
“Thank you. I spent two years in Egypt and another year in Jordan. You pick it up fast when you’re working in the field. Of course, it’s different anywhere you go. I’m not fluent in Jumayan Arabic, but apparently I know enough.”
“I should have thought to learn some before coming here.”
“You still can. I can teach you some basics if you want. At least enough to be polite.”
He meets my eyes, and something passes between us. A connection. A spark.
My heart does a small, traitorous flip.
Stop it,I tell myself firmly.He’s your boss. This is a work arrangement. Do not make this complicated.
“I’m not polite?” he asks.
I raise an eyebrow. Is he baiting me? “I haven’t seen enough of you yet to know whether or not you’re polite,” I point out. “But I meant enough to be polite in Arabic.”
“We should head in,” Calvin says, breaking the moment. “The team will be gathering soon.”
It’s not lost on me that he didn’t accept my offer. Or turn it down. He just chose to not respond at all, which is incredibly rude and has my cheeks turning hot.
Whatever. I offered just to be nice. But between Ella and my work and somehow finding time to shower, eat, and sleep, I won’t have time to play teacher anyway.
“Right. Yes. Let me just run this upstairs so we don’t lose it.”
I practically flee upstairs, my cheeks still warm. Lois is coming out of her room, and she takes one look at me and raises her eyebrows.
“What happened?”
“Nothing. We just… ran into a street vendor. Calvin needed translation help.”
“Mm-hmm.” She doesn’t sound convinced. “And that’s why you look flustered?”
“I’m not flustered. I’m warm. It’s hot here.”
“It’s evening and quite pleasant actually.”
“Just watch Ella for a few minutes while I freshen up?”
Lois grins but takes Ella without comment.
I escape to the bathroom and splash cool water on my face. So he looked at me for more than two seconds with something other than detachment. So what? He’s an attractive man. I’m a heterosexual woman. Basic biology. It doesn’t mean anything.
But when I look in the mirror, my eyes are bright, my cheeks pink, and I look more alive than I have in months.
Dammit.
I change into a clean blouse, do my best to tame my curls with some mousse, and head back out. Ella is playing with blocks on the floor while Lois reads.
“Better?” Lois asks innocently.
