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Kamal woke up with a start and looked around wildly. He was in his office, and
there were papers stuck to his face and drool on the desk. With a groan, he wiped off his face and rubbed his eyes. Glancing blearily at the clock, he realized it was three o’clock in the morning.
He and Sara spent hours talking at the bar. Hours. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d spent hours talking about anyone other than business. They talked about old friends and old memories. He talked about his business, and she talked about her work.
What they didn’t talk about was their relationship. She didn’t say whether she was seeing anyone, and he didn’t admit that he was married.
God. Married. He finally saw Sara again, and he was married. Feeling guilty, he picked up the phone and called Jada.
“Kamal? Oh my God, what’s wrong?”
He chuckled. “You said I could call anytime of the day.”
“I know but it’s three o’clock in the morning there. Have you not gone to sleep yet?”
He couldn’t help but smile. “I fell asleep at my desk. How do you know that it’s three o’clock in the morning?”
“I have my phone set to let me know what time it is there. And I’m stressing you out, aren’t I?”
“Of course not. I like that you know what time it is here and that you get a little worried when you think I’m calling at an inappropriate time. What have you been doing with yourself?” The fluorescent lights blared angrily down on him, and he reached over and flipped the switch off. As he plunged into darkness, he settled back in the chair and closed his eyes so he could listen to her voice.
“You want to know what I’ve been doing with myself? Kamal, you should be going to bed. You shouldn’t be discussing my day with me.”
“I want to hear about your day, Jada. I need to hear about your day.” Even he heard the desperation in his voice, and Jada fell silent for a moment.
“Okay. I woke up this morning and made breakfast. I know you want me to eat with your mother and have the servants cooks us breakfast, but I like to cook. So I made breakfast and I cleaned. And then I read.”
“What did you read?”
Again there was a few minutes of silence. “I picked up a book on the political theory of law.”
Kamal whistled under his breath. “Wow. That does not sound like light reading.”
“It’s not, but it’s interesting, and it helps pass the time. What about you? How are you progressing?”
The words were unspoken in the air. When was he coming home? “I keep hitting some roadblocks, but it’s nothing that I can’t handle.” He lapsed into silence, and for a moment, he just listened to her breath.
“You should go,” she said finally. “You need to at least get a few hours of sleep, and if your are at your desk, that means that you need to go back to your hotel and get to sleep.”
“Yup.” He nodded his head and rapped his knuckled against the desk. “Yeah, I should get some sleep. I’ll talk to you later, Jada.”
She hung up, and he sighed. His wife was concerned for him. His wife wanted him to go back to the hotel and get some sleep, and that’s exactly what he needed to do. He’d left the bar with Sara and came straight here because he didn’t trust himself to go home. He didn’t trust himself to be alone after seeing Sara.
“What am I doing?” he muttered as he closed his eyes. “I cannot be around her. I can’t do this. I’m married.”
Getting up slowly, he dragged himself out of the office and into the abandoned warehouse. Leaning against the railing, he gazed down on the empty space below him. Soon this place would be buzzing with activity, and it would be his. This was his baby. He’d left his new wife before to do this. He’d wanted to do this to make his father proud. He wanted to prove that he could do this.
In his pocket was a business card with Sara’s number on it. Pulling it out of his pocket, he stared down at it. He could call her. He could call her and bring up all those bad memories, or he could drop it and let go. He could let go, focus on his job, and get home to his wife.
Decision made, he opened his fingers and let the card flutter to the ground. He wasn’t going to be the man that threw away his present because he couldn’t let go of his past. Straightening, he made a call to the driver and take him to the hotel.
During the drive, he dozed. He thought about what Jada was doing, and he wondered if she even missed him. She wondered if she even thought about him.
As they pulled up to the hotel, he stretched his legs and got out. “Kamal.” Turning his head, he stared at Sara. “Hi. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Why?” he said hoarsely. “It is really late, Sara. You should be asleep.”
“I tried,” she said with a soft smile. “I honestly tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I kept thinking about you, and I wanted to see you. Is that okay?”
