It was now or never.
Arezoo took a deep breath. "Aunt Parisa, can you take over the register for a few minutes?"
Her aunt looked up from the shelf she was organizing. "Why? Where are you going?"
"I need to talk to Maman. In private."
Something in her tone must have conveyed the seriousness of the request, because Parisa's eyebrows rose. "Everything okay?"
"Everything's fine. I just need a moment."
Parisa exchanged a look with Yasmin, who had drifted closer, but she nodded and moved toward the register. "Go ahead. I've got it."
Arezoo found her mother in the converted walk-in closet that served as her office. She was so focused, so competent, so utterly intimidating despite being nearly a head shorter than her, and Arezoo's courage wavered.
But she'd come this far. She couldn't back down now.
"Maman, do you have a moment?" She wished the closet had a door she could close, but it had been removed because her mother hadn't wanted it. "I need to talk to you about something."
Her mother didn't look up from the tablet. "Can it wait until we get home this evening? The store is busy, and I need to start preparing things for the party tomorrow."
"The store isn't that busy right now, and Parisa is covering the register. I just need a couple of minutes." Arezoo swallowed hard. "I've been trying to gather the courage to have this conversation for days, and if I wait any longer, I'm going to lose my nerve completely. Please, Maman. It's important."
That got her mother's attention. She looked up, her dark eyes searching Arezoo's face. "Gathering courage? Am I that scary that you are afraid to talk to me?"
"Yes," Arezoo admitted. "You are."
Her mother's expression shifted to something that might have been hurt, quickly masked. She set the tablet down. "Very well. Let's talk."
"Not here. Can you come with me to the storage room? We'll have more privacy there."
Now her mother looked worried, but she nodded and got up from her chair. They walked into the storage room, weaving between boxes of dried goods and crates of produce. The space was cramped, but it smelled good, the familiar scents bringing back childhood memories.
Her mother closed the door behind them and crossed her arms. "What is this about?"
Arezoo's mouth went dry. She'd rehearsed this conversation a hundred times in her head, but now that the moment had arrived, all her carefully prepared words were nowhere to be found.
"I want to get married," she blurted out.
Her mother's eyebrows rose. "You're already engaged. The wedding is planned for?—"
"I want to get married sooner. Much sooner." Arezoo forced herself to meet her mother's eyes. "I talked to Amanda, and she said she can put together a beautiful ceremony in just two weeks."
"Two weeks?" Her mother's voice rose an octave. "That's impossible. A proper wedding takes months to plan. The dress alone?—"
"I don't need a fancy dress. I don't need anything elaborate. I just want to marry Ruvon as soon as possible."
Her mother stared at her, and Arezoo could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. The calculations. The suspicions.
"Why the rush?" Her mother asked in a tone that indicated she already suspected the answer. "What aren't you telling me?"
Here it came. The question Arezoo had been dreading.
"I'm not pregnant, Maman," she said quickly, before her mother could voice the accusation. "I know that's what you're thinking, and I'm not. Ruvon and I are waiting for the wedding."
Her mother's eyes narrowed. "If you're not pregnant, why do you need to get married in two weeks? Are you that eager to discover the pleasures of the flesh that you cannot wait?"
Arezoo hadn't expected her prim and proper mother to be so blunt. Not with her, anyway, and her cheeks caught fire. "It's not that." It was a big part of that. "I just want to become immortal as soon as I can, and the only way to do that is to—" She felt her face flush. "You know what's needed to induce the transition, and I would rather be married before that happens."
