Page 15 of The Build Up

Dino’s Gelato,it’s called.

What else could be better in this hot weather?

The door opens with a gentle chime, and we step into a cool, air-conditioned shop.

How delightfullynormal.

The place is busy. There’s a line of at least ten people in front of us.

As Tarak steps inside, silence descends on the shop.

Everyoneis staring.

You could hear a pin drop in here.

But he’s as cool as a cucumber, inscrutable behind his dark lenses.

I glare at the most blatant starers until they look away.

We take our position in the line. Ami immediately breaks away, pulling me toward the display freezer to check out the flavors while Tarak keeps our place in the line.

“Which one do you want, Ami?” I ask while keeping a nervous side-eye on my husband. Not that I expect him to do anything worrying. It’s more the other people I’m worried about—what they might say to him, how they might react.

Earth is still coming to grips with the fact that Kordolians are here to stay, and there’s beensomuch misinformation that a lot of people don’t know what to think.

“Rainbow,” Ami says decisively. She knows what she wants, that’s for sure. I suspect she inherited that trait from her father.

“Rainbow it is, then. And I’ll have watermelon and mint.”

We return to Tarak, who’s moved forward one place in the line. When he stands, there’s an inhuman stillness about him—he never shuffles or fidgets or pays attention to those around him.

He only has eyes for Ami and I.

And yet, I know he’s aware ofeverything.

It takes a while until we reach the front. There’s a family of five before us. They request taste testers of at least a dozen different flavors before making up their minds.

Hurry up,I groan internally, rolling my eyes.

Then, someone’s credit chip is declined. I’m about to step in to pay, but an old lady beats me to it.

“Don’t worry about it,” she says. “Happens to all of us.”

Embarrassed, the teenager offers profuse thanks as she leaves with a small cone of chocolate gelato.

We move forward.

The people in front of us are terse and impatient. People keep filing in, crowding the small shop.

Maybe it’s the heat and humidity, but there’s a certain tension in the air.

All the while, Tarak stands beside us, perfectly patient and preternaturally calm.

Toocalm.

He’s always been short-tempered when it comes to humans. He has very little tolerance for stupidity and time-wasting and what he considers to be trivial human things.

Well, except for when it comes to Ami and I.

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