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Jack rubbed his palms together, then he dragged in a deep breath. “You go first,” he said to me.
I shook my head and smiled. “You go first.”
We both hesitated, then agreed on going together. When he rubbed his palms together again, he picked his cutlery and we both dove into the food together.
“Hmm,” I sighed, as I chewed and enjoyed the mixture of rice, meat, and vegetables. “This is amazing.”
“It is,” he agreed, and then we dug into the meal with gusto. By the time we exited the roadside store, we were both giggling and talking about how weird it was that the sheikh and his people served so many dishes and called them American.
“They have no idea what toast is,” I said as I hooked my hand in his and matched his pace. We laughed again, and I indulged in the light sound of his laughter because I loved it.
“I have to admit it though, the sheikh is completely smitten by you. He talks about you all the time, and he’s even thinking of inviting you to go golfing with him.”
“Is that allowed? I thought golfing was for the men here.”
Jack shook his head. The sheikh has more liberal views. Besides, this isn’t the 19thcentury, things don’t happen that way anymore.”
We fell silent as we continued strolling for some time, and I enjoyed the cool breeze that ruffled against my skin even though the afternoon sun filtered through the sky and brightened the day.
I had used sunscreen earlier, so it wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be. Then again, I was enjoying my time with Jack too much to even remember the troubles I had with forgetting all about him.
“I hope the business you two have turns out fine,” I said as we kept walking down the street and admiring the beautiful sites of ancient architectural buildings.
“It will,” Jack answered as he glanced at me and smiled. “We already started it right.”
I nodded and considered asking a few more questions. Jack rarely ever talked about himself, and in the years, I have known him, he still maintained that aloofness about his personal life.
“When I left the Navy, I didn’t think I could ever find balance in my old life again,” he began after they stayed silent for a long time. “It’s strange how one can easily feel out of place when they stay away from everything they are used to for a long time.”
“Why would you think you wouldn’t fit back into your old life?” I asked him and turned to look at his expression again. “I mean, you’re Jack and it’s always so easy for you to fit in anywhere.”
“Not exactly,” he answered, and that made me laugh. “What? I mean it. everyone sees me and thinks it, but I’m not so great with people. I mean if I was, how come Ryan and you are my only friends?”
“Oh, but it’s easy for you with women.”
He tilted his head to one side and chuckled. “Come on, with women it’s different. All you have to do is be a gentleman. Trust me, I never do too much, and it works every time.”
“It didn’t work with me at first,” I boasted.
Jack laughed. “But it did in the end, didn’t it?” he answered.
I punched his arm and chuckled harder. “Boy, aren’t you the cocky one?”
I was enjoying this light banter between us because it was different from our usual bickering. Jack also seemed at ease with all of it, and I wanted the moment to last for a long time even as we spent most of our day out.
Our strolling came to an end when we reached a park, and Jack took me to an empty bench so we could sit. The sheikh’s men still hovered around, and I looked around us to find them watching us intently.
“The sheikh will always have us followed, won’t he?”
Jack nodded. “He doesn’t trust easily, and he shouldn’t. People like him are targets all the time.”
“Why would he be a target?”
He didn’t answer the question, and I stared at his face for a long time before asking another one. “Why did you leave the Navy? Ryan always told me you were good at it. So, what happened?”
“I got tired,” Jack answered. “It was always one dangerous situation after the other and as much as I loved helping out the country … I just … I couldn’t handle watching anyone else die.”
The ache in his voice was evident because it turned hoarse, and I wished there was a way I could console him. Without much thought, I reached out and put a hand over his, which was resting on this thigh. “I’m so sorry you lost someone back then.”
