Other Side

36 | Fear No Colors

He chuckled, scrubbing a hand over his five o'clock shadow. "Oh, trust me, Talia, it only gets better from here," he began, giving her a somewhat convincing nod, before continuing, "once you factor out the three-a.m. wakeup calls, endless doctor's appointments, spontaneous temper tantrums, minimal to no privacy, upside-down work schedule, the borderline loss of your personality—and oh yeah, best of all, realizing if your kid turns out to be a piece of shit, it's probably all your fault for passing on your horrible genes."

Talia blinked. "And the plus to look forward to is...?"

"The child tax credits!" Fouad shouted from his office, having been listening in this whole time. "They're useless, otherwise—take it from me!"

"Thanks, Baba!" Marcus yelled back, cradling his head with another groan.

***

After nearly a day of lounging around and eating homemade pastry after homemade pastry, Zaid insisted Talia join him on his health kick.

At just shy of ten, they stretched out their stiff muscles in the middle of the driveway, enjoying the pleasant breeze lapping at their faces. It was just before the intolerable summer hours in New England, where a perfect blend of oppressive humidity and blinding sunshine rendered even the inside of the house almost as hellish as the outside.

"I can't believe I agreed to a run," she grumbled and bent down to stretch out her hamstring. She forgot the pose gave Zaid a full view of her ass, only covered by a tiny pair of athletic shorts. Yeah, no, she thought and straightened up again, realizing the smile on his lips was just as amused as she thought it would be. "We very well could be doing touristy things right now, not exercising."

"Oh, come on," he said, hands at his hips. "Let's not act like this city is new to either of us this point." He took a step forward and dipped his head down, looking at her through the curtain of his long lashes. "Besides, this isn't the last time you and I will be here, right?"

Her cheeks reddened at his intent gaze. Or maybe it was just the balmy weather. "Is that a confession, Zaid?"

"It's a projection," he said, smiling softly. "My post-grad plans are still in the works at the moment."

"So are mine," she mumbled as they began a light jog. "Actually, I hated my internship so much I'm willing to begin the soul-sucking job search process all over again, as long as I can find something in Boston."

"Boston, huh?" He lifted a brow. "You remember those winters happen every year, right?"

"Are you trying to discourage me, habibi?"

"On the contrary," he murmured, shaking his head, "you're motivating me to get my shit together, hayati."

Talia liked that about their relationship now. The inevitable future loomed just across the horizon, but instead of running to something that was all but a construct, they were waiting until it came to them. It would appear without their doing, anyway, just like the sun every morning.

Well, maybe not every morning in New England.

"Should we go the long way or the short way?"

Zaid pulled her out of her thoughts and to the humiliating realization that she was already panting after a couple minutes of jogging. She brushed a couple of stray hairs from her eyes and shot him a glare.

"What do you think?"

"Long way it is," he said and sprinted away.

For a good ten minutes, Talia lagged behind him, the pound of her clunky strides against the gravel drowning out any of the beautiful sounds of nature. At least the other side of him was a pretty enough sight, thin white T-shirt rendering the grooves of his back muscles visible to her shameless eyes. Every minute or so, he would brush his hair away from his face, and the overgrown black locks would fall into each other, begging her to run her hands through them instead.