He smiled widely. “I think we are going to work very well together.”
Once Jana was able to communicate through the shock, they discussed terms and salary, which was more generous than she’d expected. He said the paperwork and a formal offer would be in her email the next morning. Her start date would be a week from Monday, and she could come into the office and meet everyone before then.
“Thank you again,” she said. “For being so…understanding about my personal life.”
He gave a warm smile. “Dr. Suleiman,Jana, you know the story about how Farzana and I got together, right?”
“You were a professor, and she was a student.”
He nodded. “She was a graduate student. I wasn’t her supervisor, but it was still inappropriate. I was an assistant professor at the time, and I resigned my position, and we moved across the country and eloped. Her family didn’t approve, because I was older than her and not Muslim. My family were mad because she was a student and I gave up an excellent job for her. I lost most of my friends.”
“But love conquered all?”
He snorted. “Hardly. I think the love lasted about five years. The marriage lasted eight.” He sighed. “It took a certain amount of psychological fortitude to come to terms with what we’d done, and I’m not sure I was ready. I felt so much guilt—I should have known better. And Farzana was feeling so isolated from her family. I took out my guilt on her, and she took out her resentment on me. I regret that we didn’t give each other a real chance. Or give our family a chance. We were both so stubborn.” He smiled at Jana. “A funny thing happens with time, though—old scandals become just that.Old. People still talk about us. There are some in my family, and in hers, who don’t approve of our reconciliation. But when people see how happy we are and that we don’t hide from our past, they realize that judging us does nothing. You should be living foryou, not for others.”
Jana smiled, remembering when Farzana Aunty sang “When I Kissed the Teacher” at karaoke. Farzana Aunty wasowningher past scandals. She was truly a legend.
“I consider myself lucky every moment of the day that I was given a second chance. Farzana and I are happier than we’ve ever been. Our kids aredelighted. I’m so grateful we were able to get out of our own ways. But enough for now. We have plenty of time to get to know each other.” He smiled and looked at the boxes on the porch. “You said these boxes are souvenirs from the trip?”
Jana chuckled, then told him about Elsie shipping all the trinkets the wedding party had bought.
“What an excellent idea. My suitcase was so full—we really should have had things shipped. Did you buy a lot?”
She told them about the animal figurines she had bought, including one from a vendor in the Serengeti that was made of bent wire and cut-up soda cans.
“How unique! I’d love to see it—after you’ve opened the boxes.”
“Oh, I can get it now.” One of the boxes still on the porch saidSERENGETIon it. Jana used her key to open the box and dug out a wrapped package with her name on it. She unwrapped it in her lap to show Dr. Lopez.
Only…it wasn’t an elephant.
It was the penis Nicole and Asha had painted for her in Amsterdam.
Her boss had just seen her blinged-out dildo.
Mom came outside then, holding the platter of biryani. “Oh, Jana, what’s that?”
Chapter 25
Later that night, after Imani had gone to sleep and Jana had hidden away the dildo, she heard her mother come home from Kassim Uncle’s. Strange. Mom never came home from one of Kassim Uncle’s parties so early. Maybe it was because she’d ridden with Dr. Lopez. Jana didn’t go downstairs to greet her, because she didn’t want to continue the conversation from before Dr. Lopez arrived earlier, but when Mom didn’t come upstairs to bed, Jana went down to see if she was okay. She found her mother sitting in the living room, a decorative box that looked vaguely familiar at her feet. Jana frowned, sitting next to her. Mom had a photo album on her lap. That’s what that box was—it held all the family albums. Jana hadn’t seen it in years.
“You’re home early,” Jana said.
Mom nodded. “Everyone was talking about the wedding, and about how well Kamila and Rohan have done with their lives. Successful, and so happy.” Mom looked at Jana. “I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t talk about you.”
Jana blinked. Was that because Mom didn’t think Jana was successful or happy?
“Let me show you something,” Mom said, flipping the pages of the album. Jana had seen it before—it contained vacation pictures from Jana’s childhood. There were pictures from their trip to Disney World, Muskoka, Quebec City, and even Tanzania. Jana, her dad, plus all the other kids, too—Kamila, Shelina, Zayan, and Rohan.
“You notice anything about these pictures?” Mom asked, pointing at a few specific ones.
Other than Jana’s frizzy hair, there was nothing out of the ordinary. There was one of her and Dad on a ride at Disney. One where they both had binoculars in their hands looking out the roof of a safari vehicle. One where they were in side-by-side tubes on the rapids in a river.
“It’s me and Dad in all of them.”
Mom nodded. “I took all the pictures when we were on holiday. In other families, the father takes the pictures, but not in ours. You and he were always together—not noticing the world around you. So, if I didn’t take pictures, no one would.”
Jana didn’t remember that.
