Page 23 of Twenty-Three Years of Longing

“Seeing me is not seeing them.”

She was right. But after tomorrow, they will understand that I didn’t just abandon them. They will see that I’m busy. And someday they will see that I did this for them too.

“I’ll try to come by again,” I said.

“Good. Now, which restaurant are we headed to? You said it was a surprise,” she asked.

“It’s not really a restaurant as much as a pub.”

Her eyes widened. “A pub? Here? Since when?” she asked.

“A couple of years now. I didn’t think you had a chance to visit the town yet. We even have a bowling alley, and they are building a movie theater.”

“Wow. Do you mean people can actually go out on real dates now? I remember all we could do was go to the beach and that too if our parents even allowed us to go out at all,” she said.

“You will see. People are only inside now if they choose to be. That makes it a bit challenging when it comes to the students because they don’t want to be home studying when there’s so much fun to be had,” I explained.

“Then we need to make school a fun place, as well as educational,” she stated.

“Fun? School isn't supposed to be fun. It’s work. It’s where you learn so someday you can go to college and get a good job to provide for your family,” I stated.

“In the States, we combine both. We have after-school programs for students. Not just music, but basketball, baseball, and drama club. These things keep the students motivated to study. It raises test scores and encourages them to do their best, so they don’t lose out on the fun. If your grades drop, then the fun part is cut. No one wants that, so they try harder,” she explained.

“Once you’re settled in, we can talk more about that,” I said. This was a good time to bring up my place. “Reesa mentioned that you are looking for a place for you and Joey. I am going to be moving closer to work and wanted to know if you would be interested in renting my place.”

“Your apartment?” she asked, making a puzzled face.

“I have a house. Big enough for an entire family if you wanted one.”

“When can we go see it?” she asked.

I could bring her now, but it wasn’t wise to bring her there at night. “How about tomorrow? I can pick you up after work and bring you then. How does that sound?”

“That works. I hope it works for me because I don’t want Joey to come here until I have everything nice for him,” she said.

I didn’t want to hear anything about him, especially after seeing how her eyes brightened each time she said his name. I hope he knows how lucky he is because it’s obvious how much you love him. “Then it’s settled. We eat tonight and tomorrow we look at the place.”

“I’m almost too excited to even think about food now,” she said.

Afraid she’d start talking about Joey, I said, teasingly, “You won’t think that when you try the food.”

“It depends on what it is,” she said. “I’m not picky, but I do have a few weaknesses.”

“Best pizza in Tabiq,” I grinned, hoping I had guessed correctly. I caught her smile out of the corner of my eye.

“Pizza! Now, you’re talking,” she sighed, sinking into the seat and placing a hand on her stomach that gurgled. “Guess I’ve been overruled because my stomach reminded me that I didn’t eat lunch.”

“Good. We can talk about the house while we eat,” I said, pulling into the parking lot. “And before we go inside, Reesa has given me strict instructions.”

“What are they?” she asked.

“That we never talk about work during dinner.”

Raya chuckled. “Did she have any rules about what we can talk about during the desert?”

I laughed. “Nope. Never mentioned that.”

“Good. Because I really could go for an ice cream too.”

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