It wasn’t like that. Was it?
Shit.
It was.
“I really messed up, A,” David said. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect any of this to happen. I didn’t expect…”
Didn’t expect Farzan to become my new dream.
“What am I supposed to do?”
Ayesha let out the long-suffering sigh of someone who suddenly found herself dealing with an extra child. David tried not to be annoyed.
“Do you even know what it is you want?”
“Yeah, I—”
“Have you told Rhett?”
David went quiet again.
“Told your mom? Your dad? Have you told anyone? Or are you just hedging your bets?”
“It’s not like that.”
“As long as I’ve known you, you’ve gone for what you wanted without letting anything get in your way. So what’s stopping you now?”
Whatwasstopping him?
He didn’t even know anymore.
“You’re right,” he said. “I’ll talk to Rhett. Tell him I’m staying here.”
“Mm. Well, that’s a start.” Ayesha’s eyes softened. “You’re the smartest guy I know. I’m sure you can figure out the rest.”
David could.
He didn’t know about smart—hard to feel that way when he was getting dressed down by his best friend—but hewascapable of going after his dreams. He’d chased a lucrative career, and then a fulfilling one, and now… now it was time to chase Farzan.
He just had to figure out how. He wracked his brain, but it was too full of tasting grids and flash cards. He needed to be thoughtful.
He needed to talk to Rhett. To Jeri.
He needed to build the life he wanted here.ShowFarzan that he was staying for himself. Prove that this is what he wanted, whether he passed his test or not.
(He still really wanted to, though.)
David nodded, sipped his wine, and sighed. “So what’s up with you?”
“Oh, we’re finally talking about me now?”
David snorted, but then he realized Ayesha wasn’t laughing.
“You know you’ve only talked about yourself this whole time? Youhaven’t asked me about work, or how Janine’s doing, or my parents, or anything. Just you, you, you.”
He stared at the couch. There was a small wine stain on it; he scratched at it with his fingernail.
“You’re right.”
