Page 124 of Taeja

Zain seemed pleased, but he didn’t say it. Instead, he lifted her chin and took the glasses off her face. He wiped away her tears with a napkin. It looked like he saved this one for her instead of adding it to his ball.

Taeja smiled after he got done. “Thank you.”

Zain nodded. “Let’s go.”

They headed to a private room to clean up themselves. They did it in silence, and Taeja used the time to reflect on all she’d been through.

How she skyrocketed to a high, then fell from it…

How vulnerable it made her feel, then empowering her after…

It was other-worldly. Unlike anything she ever felt before.

Finally finished with the cleanup, they returned to the car.

As she settled in the passenger seat, she smiled at him. “Thanks, Zain,” she said, and he nodded. “You were right. I feel much better, but I know all of it won’t goaway until I get some closure.”

“Your mother?” he asked, and she nodded. “Do what’s best for you.”

“Do you ever… wonder about your biological father?”

Zain shrugged. “Not really.”

“Why not?”

“Seth has a family.”

“You’re his family.”

Zain scoffed. “A thirty-two-year-old son he doesn’t know exists?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” he said, a bit harsh. “He has a wife and daughter.”

Taeja gasped. “Stick a pin. You have a sister?”

He chuckled. “That’s what I said.”

Taeja smiled despite rolling her eyes. “Stop be slick wid mi. What’s her name?”

“Lashay,” Zain confessed, and Taeja smiled.

“That’s a pretty name.”

“It is,” Zain agreed.

She detected some sadness in his tone. “Why do you think it’d be bad to know him?”

A few seconds passed before he sighed. “Damon helped me find Seth in college, and sometimes… I kept tabs on him and his family. Seth loves golf. Lashay loves swimming. And Indra hates herself because she couldn’t give him a son.”

“He wants a son?”

Zain nodded. “Indra had a lot of miscarriages; Lashay is their miracle.”

“How old is she?”

“The same age as you.”

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