I want to tell her that home is just another empty place that makes me miserable. But I don’t have a chance to say a single word as she exits the cubicle, leaving me standing there with a bag filled with untouched takeout food and this void feeling in my chest.
“So let’s say someone hypothetically hurt your sister.”
“Oh no.” Ani presses a hand against her head.
I readjust my position on the bench so I can get a good look at her. “What?”
“You’re the one who hurt my sister?”
“No.” Yes. But how does she know that?
“I knew she was upset!” Ani jumps up from the bench and starts pacing.
I bristle. “What do you mean?”
“Because she canceled on us for dinner. She only misses family time when she’s sad or sick.”
Fuck. That’s the last thing I want. “I messed up.”
Ani rolls her eyes. “I see.”
“How can I fix it?”
“Depends on what you did.”
Am I really going to confess my issues to Ani to understand her sister better?
Yeah, I guess I am. “Well, it started with a bad idea.” I go off, explaining every decision I made up until this point about Zahra. The more I rehash, the worse I feel about it. Ani’s facial expressions don’t help.
“What? Say something.”
She shrugs. “She really liked Scott. I heard her talk about him to Claire.”
I wince. “Help me come up with an idea on how to get her back and I’ll owe you anything.”
“Anything?”
I nod.
Ani tucks her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. If she thinks you’re like Lance, she might never give you another chance.”
I’m not going to even entertain that option. “Okay. That’s fair. But if you were me, what would you do?”
“Easy. Give her a reason to trust you. A really good reason.” Ani answers me like it’s the simplest idea in the world.
Except I have no idea how to get someone to trust me. I’ve never had a reason to do so.
“How do I do that? She doesn’t believe anything I say.”
“You’re a smart guy. Figure it out.”
I peer inside Zahra’s cubicle. If she feels my gaze on her, she ignores it. The only way I can tell my presence bothers her is based on her tiny frown.
I step into the forbidden zone and take a seat on the corner of her desk. Her eyes narrow at her paper. Today’s pin looks like the seventies threw up, with the groovy flower power text surrounded by flowers. It matches her retro-inspired vintage T-shirt and bell-bottom jeans. I haven’t seen Zahra match her outfit to her pin before but it’s cute.
“We need to talk.”
Her only response is the crinkling of the pages beneath her tense fingers. The silence grows between us to an uncomfortable level.
“It’s considered rude to ignore your boss.”
Her jaw ticks.
I peek over at the paper she has in her hands and read the title. No way.
I rip the application out of her hands.
She spins in her chair and stares at me head-on. “Give it back.”
“No.”
Her nostrils flare. “You’re acting like a child.”