April 28th, 2018

Saturday, 3:27am

Amin woke up rather abruptly when the action of stretching his hand by his side didn’t produce a Jessica. The tug of war began almost immediately—torn between closing his eyes and finding her. He knew that she was probably and not abducted but if Jess wasn’t sleeping, she was working. It was either black or white with her, which he understood.

“Great,” he muttered and placed his feet on the cold tiled floor, before standing up. “Jess.” No answer reached his ears as he left the room, and flicked the hallway lights on. “Where are you?”

“Here,” her voice came from the kitchen and he followed the sound, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He met her hunched over the stove and taking golden brown plantains from the oil in the frying pan.

“Why—no, I don’t want to know. Come to bed, please.” He took the plate that she was using to hold the plantain out of her hand, placed it on the table and pulled her into a hug. “Come with me.”

She giggled, pushing him off. “I can’t. I have a ton of work to do. Why are you up anyway?” The stove got turned off and she sat at the table, in front of her laptop. The plate littered with plantain was pulled closer and she speared one with a fork.

“You weren’t where I left you when I closed my eyes.”

She stifled a laugh and focused on her laptop, he watched her alert eyes dart from left to right. “And what position was that?”

“I,” he started then paused in amazement. “I don’t…I don’t remember.” He sat in the seat beside her and propped his elbow on the table so he could lean against it.

“I know. I was showing you all of the work that I had to finish reviewing before Sunday night, and when I was finally done explaining, you had already nodded off. I was talking to myself,” her hand was on the mouse and a sly smile played around her lips.

“You’re kidding.”

She shook her head, laughing. “Nope. You’re exhausted. But when I say it, you won’t hear. Go to sleep, Amin.”

“Not without you.”

That made her look at him. “How do you sleep when I’m not around you?”

“I don’t. I work till morning or until sleep decides that she’s had enough of my nonsense.” He placed his head on the table, while Jessica gazed at him fondly.

“That’s not healthy, babe. If you don’t stop, I’ll have to make you sleep here every night.”

“Is that supposed to be punishment?”

“Goooo sleep. I’ll join you when I can. You know you have work in five hours.”

He looked at her for a moment, then stood up. “Fine. Please don’t do this all night.” He kissed her cheek, then looked at her. “You smell like plantains.”

“Good,” she responded, stuffing another plantain in her mouth. The plate was emptying at an abnormal rate and he raised a brow at her. “What? I’m hungry.”

With one last look, he left her and went into the room. His phone was buzzing away into the silence. Only two people would dare to call him at such a time. And one was in Beirut. He groaned and reached for the phone, but got his first shock of the morning.

“Bassam.”

“Why am I not surprised that you’re up?” The jovial voice came over the phone and Amin couldn’t believe his ears.

“What sorcery is this? Aren’t you supposed to be in Beirut?”

“Apparently not. I just got back, with Khalil. We’re leaving the airport,” Amin heard the voice as soon as it was mentioned. “He’s here reciting poems to his wife now that he’s back.”

Amin got off the bed and paced the room, clearly agitated. “Answer accordingly. Bas, why the hell is he back and I wasn’t informed?”

“Oh yes, it was a fun trip. On one occasion, we had decided to go up to the mountains, but he changed his mind at the last minute so, here we are.”

“Still, still. He could’ve sent a WhatsApp message or something. So what, his plan was to show up at the store tomorrow? Is he trying to do something I don’t know about?”

“Surprises? You have a surprise for me? Aw, you shouldn’t have. Make it a good one, man.”

Amin stopped pacing. “He wanted to surprise me?! And you just followed his obviously dumb idea? You could have warned me, you know?”

“I know. But promises aren’t made to be broken.”

Amin sighed and sat on the foot of the bed. “Great. What do I do now?”

“Relax, it’ll be fine. You don’t sound excited at my arrival though. Should I go back?”

“I dare you. It’s just so unexpected. And you know how he is, firsthand. I’m not done finalizing anything.” Hearing his voice in the background just made him even more annoyed.

“I’ll handle it. Okay? Just continue with it and finish whenever you can. Your dad’s a bully but it doesn’t work on me. Never did.” He laughed and Amin couldn’t help the chuckle. He was right as always. He practically grew up with Bassam and he was always in his house in Beirut. Bassam was the only one who could get away with not doing what his father wanted and still end up the favorite child. Who’s not his child in any way.

“Yeah, that’s true. You’re going to the house?”

“Only for tonight. Then my place tomorrow.”

“Okay then.” Jessica entered the room and sat beside him, taking one of his hands in hers. “I'll see you later, man. Welcome back.”

“Yes you will. Later.”

Jessica's patience drained as soon as he switched the call off. “Is everything okay?”

“Nope. My dad's back.” He bit his tongue just in time to keep from mentioning Bassam. She had no idea about him, and neither did he.

“Okay. You sounded so angry...did something else happen?”

“He didn't tell me he was coming back today. I'm a little rattled.” He fell back on the bed and let out a groan.

“Oh… I see. So who called you?”

It was almost expected, Jessica left no stone unturned. One of the reasons why she was excellent at her job. “The answer to that will probably anger you.”

“I want to hear it anyway.” Her tone switched almost immediately and Amin knew that he was in for it.

“It was Bassam. He's...we grew up together. Closest friend I have.” He said it quietly, in fear of her reaction.

“I see. And when were you planning to tell me about this... Bassam? If I hadn't asked, would you have—” she bit her tongue and closed her eyes for a brief moment, before standing up to leave the room. “Okay.”

“Jessica.” She ignored him and walked out in obvious anger. He followed, and grabbed her hand. “Will you listen for one minute?”

“I did listen! It's the words that came out of your mouth that angered me. Remember?!” Her voice raised on the last word and he flinched and clenched his jaw.

“Not telling you about him was not deliberate. The thought just didn't cross my mind. Honestly—”

“The thought of telling your girlfriend about your best friend didn't cross your mind?” She laughed, but there was nothing funny at the moment.

“I'm busy, thinking about other stuff all the time. I really didn't mean to, babe. We barely talk, so that's also a factor. It wasn't intentional, seriously.” He kept his voice level and calm, while she looked ready to explode.

“Busy huh? Well newsflash Amin, I'm busy too! Yeah! I don't work with numbers or money, I'm not an accountant but I put in just as many hours as you do. And yet, I still remember to state the important things.” She crossed her arms and raised her chin, meeting his gaze squarely.

“This is not me turning the tables but...the only thing I know about Ella is her name. Meetings with her are always postponed, something always comes up. Why is that baby?”

Jessica averted her gaze, and he knew he had her. They skipped over the things that would make them fight even a little bit, but she ignored that unspoken rule tonight.

She stalked off, and plopped down in her chair in the living room. “That's not the point.” Her voice dropped, and he could hear how tired she was.

Without a word, he sat beside her and pulled her on top of him. She welcomed his intrusion and laid her head on his shoulder. “What's wrong? You've been on edge all evening. Talk to me, Jess.”

“Is this worth it?” She whispered and snuggled closer to him. “Are we worth all this headache? Why are you with me?”

“I’d like to think so. I wish I had all the corny things that you hate hearing to say, but this is not a good time to get on your nerves,” he smiled when she started shaking with laughter, “I'm with you because I like you. I like how I feel when I'm with you. You...you make me happy, Jess. Everything about you just...seems right. It's hard to explain. But I'll say this. This means more to me than you know. And I'm willing to fight for it, if you are.”

She didn't say anything, but her hand found his and intertwined the two. They sat in silence for a while, thinking. Then, “isn't it tiring? Not being able to...be with me? I just, Amin I can't—”

“Hey.” He lifted her chin gently so she could stare back at him. “We've talked about this. It's okay. I respect your decision. In fact, I love that you are serious about it, and disciplined enough to stick to it. It also shows that my feelings for you are genuine. I've been okay for six months, I can be okay for the months to come. Okay? Hm?” She giggled and nodded. “Good girl. Now can you turn that frown upside down?”

“Kiss me first.”

He scrunched up her mouth and planted a kiss on her lips. “I like you,” he whispered against them.

Her lips stretched into a smile despite the slight hold he had on them. “I like you more.”

****

“Emmanuel. Please hurry up, I don't want him to meet the chairs like this.” One of the store boys mopping the floor beside Amin nodded and quickened his pace.

He took a deep breath and tried to continue working but his gaze kept straying to the front of the store. It had been two hours since they opened, and his father was nowhere to be seen and neither was Bassam.

Chisom was at his side of him, at her desk giving the invoices in envelopes to one of the employees who was responsible for delivering them to the offices. Other than their low conversation in which she was giving him directions to their new clients’ offices, the store was quiet. Almost tense. He had informed everybody that the big boss was in town and that he would be at work that morning. The cleaning that was done previously was done again, each employee trying to avoid being the reason for Khalil's outburst.

“Chichi babyyy, I'm back!” Bassam burst through the doors of the store and went straight to Chisom's desk and sat in the chair opposite hers. Her smile was the widest one that Amin had ever seen on her face. Interesting.

Bassam was decked out in a very pink polo shirt, with black jeans and black sneakers. His raven black hair was combed and shiny. He was more pretty than handsome,and the fact that he was a huge flirt didn't help any of the women who both worked for them or came in the store.

“Bassam! When did you—oh wow. Hiiiii! Amin, you knew?” She stood up, her face showing off her blush perfectly and Bassam smiled his mission-accomplished smile and went around to hug her.

“Yeahhh, but he wanted to surprise you guys so I couldn't say anything.”

All of the employees from the back came to the front with smiles on their faces, especially the old ones. He'd been gone for six years and his space was never filled. He related to all of them and they loved him.

“Eman! What's up, my man? How ley jue bah? Robert! You still here? You need to give me update o, wetin been happening around here? Moses, Danny boyyy. It's been so long!” He gave a fist bump to everybody and patted them on the back. “I'm back! Allor us la big men neh na, so you respect me I respect you. I na small boy again o, doing internship. Eh ehn! Y'all already know me. Ehn la true ehn?”

“We know, bossman.”

“We copy code, Bassam. Welcome back mehn!”

He smiled widely and Amin noticed how Chisom's hand tightened on her pen. She had a mega crush on him, and Bassam used it to his advantage any chance he got.

“Good. Its good to see y'all mehn. I buying lunch today for everybody. Y'all jeh meet Chichi later, I'll give her the money.”

They started clapping and causing a ruckus until the door opened and Khalil stepped in, his huge body stature bringing a complete hush over the group.

“Welcome back, bossman Khalil,” Robert dared to say. An unintelligent murmur of welcome backs followed and Khalil just waved his hand and took a seat in the chair opposite Amin. The small group dispersed immediately and Bassam just shook his head with a smile and sat down beside Amin.

“Amin. You look good, man. How long has it been?” They fist bumped and Bassam rolled his chair over to Chisom's station. “Baby o. Can you please fix me a cup of coffee? Hey Khalil, coffee?” He called to Khalil who nodded, his attention on the newspaper that he had in front of his face. “Two cups, darling. Thanks a lot.”

Amin just shook his head, chuckling. “You'll never change. Here, I compiled all the documents that you'll need from this year. Your money has been counted and sent to the bank, here are the slips. The password to your work computer, the safe password, everything is on this paper. Finally, my burden is less.”

“Yeah, yeah. This is very helpful, Amin thank you. Ah, at least I know where to start.”

“Amin,” Khalil spoke finally, looking over his glasses at his son.

“Father.”

Bassam stopped scanning his documents to watch the exchange. Even Chisom was careful in how she set his coffee down beside him.

“How have things been?”

“Very good, sir.”

“Really? Are all the invoices accounted for and filed?”

Amin clutched his pen in his hand firmly. “We're still working on it. But the auditor's not due until Tuesday—”

“That's not the point. You were supposed to finish this a week ago. These Liberians will look for any reason to extract money from people—”

“We're almost done. There won't be a problem.”

“I should hope not,” Khalil snapped and took a sip of his coffee.

Amin pushed his chair back and headed to the back of the store. He had to get away before he said something that he'd regret. He branched off into his office and closed the door. He barely had a chance to sit down before Bassam entered.

“You good?”

“I'm fine. He just really...gets on my last nerve these days. Especially since—” he stopped just in time, and Bassam smirked lazily and leaned back in his chair.

“Since Jessica?” He lifted Amin's phone up to show the notifications of her WhatsApp messages. “Amin. Who's Jessica?”

•A taste of Liberian koloqua•