LUCENT

22

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sa'ad asks, barging into my office.

I remove my glasses and give him a pointed look, unhappy with his intrusion.

"Don't give me that look. Mama won't be happy about this," he says, sitting on the settee.

I sigh. "I cut you some slack because you're my twin. Don't make me revoke your privileges," I say, picking up the document I've been reading over for an hour.

"No! Not my twin privileges," he says sarcastically with an eye roll.

I've always been fascinated with his facial expressions. He shows me exactly how I would look to others if I had the same mannerisms as him.

"You've been an adult for a hot minute now, don't you think you should change your repertoire?" I ask.

He shakes his head and stands, "Don't change the subject. Are you still fighting?"

I ignore the question, and he walks forward. He presses his palms on the desk and leans forward. "I told you to fix it."

"I tried," I admit.

"Did you try hard enough?"

"I spoke to her, but she still seems convinced she was right."

He groans and smacks his forehead. "Did you explain to her?"

I click my tongue and raise a brow. "Do I need to? I'm pretty sure she was there."

"You are infuriating! Your logic makes no sense!" He yells.

"My logic makes perfect sense," I reply.

He groans again. "Ok, let's look at it this way. How did her actions make you feel?"

"Disappointed," I answered, combing over the paper in hand.

"Great. Express your disappointment. Tell her in detail why you were disappointed," he suggests.

"And what after that?" I ask.

"Then you talk it out. She can tell you how she felt, and you can reach common ground," he responded.

More feelings? Yuck.

I put the paper down and pinch the skin between my eyes. "I'll try."

"That's the spirit!" He yells, grinning from ear to ear. "Let's go home. It's lunchtime."

"I'm not hungry," I answer.

"Let's go home before Mama notices you left your bride at home and came to work," he says.

"I'll be right behind you," I lie.

"You know she'll come down here and drag you by the ear. Spare yourself the embarrassment in front of your employees," he says.

I give in, and we speed home.

"I'll go change," I say as we exit our vehicles and Sa'ad nods.