Deen raises an eyebrow. ‘Really?’
I shrug. ‘She has connections, I guess. There were a few people here that she would know, so it would make sense.’
‘Wow. I didn’t know Maya was such a big fan of me,’ Deen says haughtily.
I roll my eyes and elbow him in the ribs.
He smiles. ‘You should talk to her.’
‘I don’t know. I mean, why would she want anything to do with me, after everything?’ I ask.
‘You’re joking, right? If she didn’t want anything to do with you, she wouldn’t send influencers to this launch. She wouldn’t even know about it, because she wouldn’t be keeping tabs. Dina, Maya did this for you, not for me. Because she obviously still cares about you.’
I have a hard time believing Deen’s words, even though I want to. Because Maya isn’t here. If she really cared about me, if she still wanted something to happen between the two of us, wouldn’t she be here? Wouldn’t I be having this conversation with her instead of my brother?
‘I don’t know. It felt like last time we talked it was over between us. For good. I mean, she could have come here. That would have been a reason to see me, to hash things out, but she hasn’t. She’s never tried to see me since she came back, since we broke up.’
‘Well, she was in America after you broke up,’ Deen says. ‘And after she got back here, she was probably just reeling from everything. Besides, didn’t you say she told you that you broke her heart?’
‘Well, she broke mine too!’ I say.
‘I just think that it must be hard for her – to put herself out there with you again.’
I can’t believe Deen is taking her side over mine. Andalmost as if Deen can read my mind, he puts up his hands as if in surrender.
‘And it’s hard for you too, I know it is. Butthiswas Maya putting herself out there. Maybe it’s your turn now.’
I swallow thickly, thinking about the last time I put myself out there with Maya. The night that we kissed. It hadn’t fixed anything. It had only made things a million times worse. But maybe I wasn’t in the right state of mind then – I was drunk and sad, still blaming Maya for my failures. I’m not sure if I blame her for those things anymore.
‘I guess … maybe I’ll try,’ I say. ‘I’ll think about it.’
Deen rolls his eyes, but nods, like he knows it’s the most he’ll get out of me for now.
‘So, why don’t you look happy about the restaurant?’
Deen blinks at me, clearly not expecting the question. ‘I’m happy,’ he says defensively. Then, he sighs and leans back against the counter, his eyebrows creasing. ‘It’s just … Ma never showed up. I told her about it, and I thought that she would but …’ He shrugs, like he doesn’t even care, but he clearly does. Ma showed up for my football match, even though I know that she probably didn’t want to. But maybe that was different – it’s not like Baba was tied up in football the way he was tied to this place.
‘Maybe it’s hard for her, the idea of coming here and seeing it so different to what it was when Baba was alive,’ I suggest.
‘Yeah, maybe,’ Deen says. ‘I just would have thought … I don’t know, I tried to honour him and his memory, you know? I tried to do things the way I thought he would want them to be done. I mean, this place is me and my vision, but it’s also his. It always will be. It wouldn’t exist without him. I thought … Ma would want to see that.’
‘I know.’ I put a hand on his shoulder, but there really isn’t much else that I can say to him. ‘She’ll come around, I’m sure of it.’
‘Yeah, maybe.’
Only a few minutes go by before the door to the restaurant opens again. With it being as late as it is, I go to turn the customer away, only to notice that it’s Ma.
‘What are you doing here?’ I ask, surprised that she made it here after all. Surprised that she made it heresolate. That’s not really like her.
‘Deen asked me to come,’ she says. She walks past me and towards Deen, and I notice that she’s carrying a cardboard box in her hands, which she sets down on the counter in front of Deen.
‘Ma, you came.’ Deen is clearly as surprised to see her as I am, having given up hope.
‘I would have been here earlier. Actually, Iwashere earlier,’ Ma says. ‘But I had to get something.’
‘You were here?’ Deen asks, while I peer at the cardboard box and ask, ‘What did you have to get?’
Ma frowns at me before turning to answer Deen. ‘I came here, and I saw the place. And then I left to get this.’
