Page 48 of Ra
“No, it’s fine. Just please do not embarrass me. Don’t make me have to explain you.”
“Dear Azenath, have you not realized that I am anxious to be established at your side? I have seen firsthand your respect and admiration for those of my time and our ways of life. I only wish to witness its effect on others that only think they know of ancient Egypt. I cannot wait to see you give them an entirely new point of view. And if you have to explain me, I’m your significant other. We’ve already established this.”
Azi shook her head as she turned her back to him and looked through her briefcase once more before zipping it closed and picking up her purse and car keys.
“One more thing, Azi,” he said.
She looked up at him, waiting for whatever else had occurred to him.
“You are stunning. The very picture of the most beautiful goddess I could ever imagine. There is none equal to you.”
Azi looked down at the cream colored dress she wore with a heavy gold necklace and matching earrings and bracelets, running her hand over the skirt to smooth away an imaginary wrinkle. “Are you sure? I could change into another one.”
“No,” Ra said, shaking his head, “this one is perfect.”
Azi smiled at him then together they started for the door.
Ra hesitated, his hand brushing against the heavy gold bracelet she wore on her right wrist as he attempted to hold her hand.
Azi looked back at him. “What’s wrong?”
“I have no gold.”
“What?”
“I have no gold. I am never seen without gold.”
“Ra, they don’t know who you are. They don’t expect you to wear gold.”
He looked at her with the most sincere expression. “But I know.”
Azi nodded. “Okay, come with me.” She put her things down then linked her hand with his and headed up the stairs toward her father’s room — the same room that had been assigned to Ra when he’d first arrived. She walked into his closet and opened a small chest sitting on a shelf, exposing multiple pieces of jewelry. Most of it gold, some of it with enamel inlay. “This is my father’s. He often bought pieces that imitated the design of jewelry from ancient Egypt. He never wore it, just liked having it. Choose what you’d like, but if I may say so, don’t go overboard. You look like a god that stepped out of the past, don’t take away from it by wearing too much decoration.”
Ra smiled at her as he stepped forward to examine the pieces of jewelry in the small chest. He chose a cartouche ring with the heads of a falcon and a ram, clearly made in reverence to Ra, and slipped it on his index finger. He examined several different gold chains in the over sized style of the ancients, until Azi chose a simple gold chain and held it up for him. It was created in a herringbone pattern, making for the shiniest presentation, and was on the wider side since it was made for a man rather than a woman.
“I got this one for my father as a gift. It is not styled in a way you’re familiar with, but I thought it was beautiful when I bought it. I still do. I think it would complement you and speak to your style without being too much.” Azi held it up to his neck to let him see that it would be visible beneath his shirt, falling right at the hollow of his throat. The shine and flash of the gold reflected the light and he smiled, nodding his approval. “I will wear this one.”
He walked into the bedroom to look at himself in the mirror there. “Yes, this is good.”
“Here,” Azi said, walking up beside him, holding out another piece of jewelry. “I bought him this, too, but I don’t think he’s ever worn it.” She fastened a gold watch on his left wrist and stood back, looking at the image he cut in the mirror. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to make anyone believe you’re not Ra himself. You are beyond anything I’ve ever imagined.”
Ra turned and looked at her, gently pulling her into his arms. “As are you. I never imagined this would be how it would come to pass. I thought things a certain way and you have completely skewed them.”
“Is that a good thing?” Azi asked.
“It’s a very good thing.”
~~~
“Are we on time?” Dr. Henry Clement asked, glancing anxiously around as Abasi pushed his wheelchair through the back door of the auditorium at the university.
“We are. She should be starting the presentation any moment now. I intentionally made sure to time our arrival to prevent her or anyone else from seeing you before she starts.”
“That’s good. That’s very good. It should be about her, not me. I’m just an old man proudly watching my daughter come into her own.”
“She has much to be proud of,” Abasi said.
“Yes, she does. She’s a most remarkable young woman,” the senior Dr. Clement said.
