Love from A to Z(58)

I was thinking of how the prophet Muhammad was a soft, beautiful soul, who didn’t get bothered that a woman had asked him, didn’t get bothered that she was his boss.

How Adam had that kind of a soul.

I could tell from the way he loved his mother to the way he treated his sister.

Like, right now he was calling Hanna over to a display case. When she arrived, iPad held out ready to snap, he bent over so that he was at her level and then told her quietly about whatever precious thing they were looking at.

I hung back, my facial expressions blocked by a pillar display housing a bejeweled sword sheath, unnamed feelings eating me up inside and most probably spilling out on my face.

My parents have always been pretty relaxed when it comes to relationships. As long as we’re in a group or in public and observe certain boundaries, it’s okay for my siblings and me to be on friendly terms with anyone. They have no interest in setting us up or arranging marriages or, the best, making harsh statements like Stay away from boys! My sister, Sadia, met Jamil on her own at college, and my brother, Mansoor, has been talking to the same person, Hodan, forever, since they met in middle school, and everyone knows where that is headed. I mean, it was great for my parents that they knew Hodan from the mosque and that she was related to Ayaan’s family, which immediately gave her another layer of legitimacy.

Because they’ve told me I’m free to meet someone who shares my values, whether they know the person or not, on that front, I know that they’d be completely fine if I told them that I’d met a boy in Doha. Like Sadia had been okay with it.

But I didn’t know what to do with all this.

I mean, I knew he liked me. And vice versa, to the hundredth power, if we’re talking mathematically.

But what did that exactly . . . mean?

The “certain boundaries” my parents had coached Sadia, Mansoor, and me about were physical ones. Touching leads to kissing leads to sexing.

Which they (and every sermon at the mosque regarding this topic) had warned us about—especially that being alone with someone you had the hots for and who also had the hots for you could lead to touching and kissing and sexing.

Until Adam, I hadn’t understood this.

? ? ?

“This is my favorite necklace.” As we exited the exhibit, Hanna extended her iPad to show me a picture of a heavy-looking choker filled with rubies, emeralds, and pearls, which appeared to cover the entire neck and part of the shoulders of the mannequin head it sat on. “Adam said I have a good eye. Because this one took a lot of crafting to make.”

I peered at it. “I love it. Especially the rubies and emeralds, the way they’re stuck inside the gold.”

Adam glanced over at the image. “Yeah, some of these are stones, but the parts inside the gold are like enameling. We just read a bit about it back there.”

“It’s called meenakari, and Adam says we’re going to try to do it at home,” Hanna said. “Like, an easy version.”

We came out of the hallway onto the landing of the central museum staircase, into a burst of light.

I looked up at the amazing ceiling with a star-shaped skylight.

“This is my favorite place in Doha, the museum. Actually, one of my favorite places on earth.” Adam joined me in gazing up. “I love things that inspire me to try my hand at making stuff.”

“Adam is a maker,” Hanna said, breezing by us, going back to her favorite activity of skipping around snapping pictures. “He’s making a world in a room at our house. You should see it!”

Adam laughed and straightened his head to look right at me. “No, you shouldn’t. Because there’s nothing there yet. It’s a work in progress.”

He was just a few inches taller than me, and, maybe because of that, when he looked at me, we were almost eye to eye. It made me look anywhere but at him. Mostly because—cringe—I was afraid he’d see the feelings on my face. I examined the huge circular light fixture suspended just ahead of us. “What else do you make?”

He turned to look at the fixture too. “All sorts of things. Whatever gets my interest at the moment.”

“Wait. Was the last thing you made the rock-collection box for Hanna?” I stole a glance. Oops, it happened to be at the same time he did.

“I heard my name!” She flew by us, snapping a picture of us.

I’d have to get that girl to send me those pics she took of Adam and me.

Adam nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve started another project since.”

“The world room? That Ha—” I paused as Hanna made her way around us again. “That your sister talked about?”

“And something else. A special project that I started just this morning. Before I came here.”

After a quick glance at each other, we both turned to the light fixture once more. It was super intricate, the designs on it.

Wait. What was in that look he just gave me? Is he making something, a special project, having to do with me?

Stop, I told myself. Be realistic.

I cleared my throat. “So, when are you going back? To London?”

He became quiet.

I waited a bit before facing him.

He wasn’t looking ahead, at the light, but down at the floor. “I’m not. Going back to school. That’s something else I have to talk to my dad about. I officially de-enrolled from university before I flew here.”