Isaac If ancient Egypt itself had been capable of hosting a party, I imagined this was what it would look like. The gala was taking place inside of a museum, but the exhibits had been set up in such a way that it felt like we’d walked straight into a different time. Sandstone columns rose up around the entrance, towering at our sides as we paused to smile for pictures. Inside, massive statues stood watch over immaculately dressed guests while galleries filled with artifacts older than most countries stretched out around us, dotted with cocktail tables under ceilings that soared several stories high. It was magnificent. “This is absurd,” I muttered, in complete awe that events like this actually existed in the world I lived in. “I mean, seriously. What the fuck?” Jasmine giggled at my side, her fingers tightening a little around my forearm. “You really are eloquent tonight.” “I’m bowled over, is what I am,” I said honestly. “It’s like I fell asle ep and woke up in an alternate dimension.” She lifted those immensely dark eyes up to mine, amusement glittering in them clear as day. “You know, it’s cute how things impress you.” “Tell me this doesn’t warrant being impressed.” She smiled. “No, it does. It’s just good to see someone actually appreciate it so openly for a change.” I stared down at her for a long beat, honestly unsure if she’d actually meant to be nice to me or if it’d happened by accident. Either way, she looked so stunning under the warm lights that I didn’t really care. That gown of hers still made me want to groan out loud every time I let myself look for too long, and she was here with me. I could take a bit of banter if it meant having her on my arm. “Come,” she said suddenly, sliding her gaze away from mine and tugging me farther into the cavernous room. “We should mingle as much as we can before the drinks really start flowing.” I had no idea why that was so important, but I let her guide me around, pausing every so often so she could introduce me to businessmen, historians, diplomats, and all sorts of other affluent people. She never skipped a beat on a name, title, or questions about family or current projects, politely exchanging a few words with every person as effortlessly as if she’d known them since birth. To be fair, I was sure she had known some of them all her life, but it was still impressive that she seemed to not only know every single person by name, but had also stored enough information about each of them to make the exchange feel warm and personal.
Every so often, she’d lean toward me, quietly becoming my social navigation system. “Ignore him. He’s a jackass with too much money, but he’s also a minister in parliament, so just smile and move on.” Another moment later, “Now, that one is important. She’s the head of the Planning Committee. Shake her hand and smile like you mean it.” I found myself taking extreme comfort in her guidance, beyond grateful that she’d offered to stick with me tonight. At one point, after brushing past yet another person who apparently wasn’t important enough to waste more than a greeting on, I finally bent over and murmured against her ear. “I owe you big time, Jasmine. I have no idea how I would’ve survived this without you.” “Oh, I know.” She batted her lashes at me, a suspiciously sweet smile on her lips. “I have a few ideas about how you can make it up to me.” With that, she winked and turned to shake yet another hand, but naturally, my brain had taken her comment a whole other way. My slacks suddenly got a little tighter as images flashed across my mind of all the ways I could return the favor. She snapped me right out of it when she turned to look up at me again, her expression a lot more serious now. “There’s my father. I’m probably going to have to leave you with him for a few minutes, but I will find you again, alright?” I nodded, oddly disappointed but knowing she was probably right. “Lead the way, boss.” She took my arm, gently steering me toward Basel and once again saving my bacon by giving me some quick, broad-stroke highlights of who he was with. “Some of them are Global Star execs. Don’t worry too much about those, but the three on his immediate left are politicians. They’ll have to sign off on your plans, so make a good impression.” “Got it.” She paused for a beat, slowing slightly. “There’s enough influence in that group to sway the global economy. Tread carefully, Isaac. Those two on the far side are investors, and if you impress them, you might as well have a blank check for your complex.” Before I could even begin to process that, Basel spotted us and waved me over. Jasmine’s prediction almost immediately came true. She walked me to them, but after just a second, her father effectively dismissed her. “Thank you for bringing him to me safely, honey,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “You can take a break and have some fun now. I have him.” She inclined her chin in a nod. After offering me a tight smile, she disappeared into the party and Basel handed over a glass of something alcoholic. As I took it, he lifted his own glass high into the air.
“Gentlemen, let’s have a toast to the structural engineer who is going to put Sharm El-Sheikh on the map as a leading industrial region in this hemisphere!” The men around us immediately thrust their own drinks into the air, echoing various sentiments but in Arabic. I clinked with them, sipping as if I knew exactly what they’d said. Colin had warned me about how business was done in Egypt, but it was yet another thing I’d been unable to fully comprehend until I lived it for myself. Basel and his friends plied me with drinks, asking questions about my family, my upbringing, and the house I’d been restoring back home. A dozen more toasts were made, my glass refilled every time I glanced at it. Business was never overtly discussed, but after a few comments being made around the group about history and heritage, Basel suddenly draped an arm around my shoulders. “We are moving forward with your design,” he said, swe eping his arm around to motion vaguely at just about everything in sight. “We’ll celebrate that.” A round of cheers rang out and yet another toast was made, but I was feeling slightly tipsy by now. Not drunk, necessarily, but pleasantly buoyant. One part of me ignited at the thought that I’d apparently just gotten the go-ahead, but the other, bigger part was a little more sk eptical about whether it was even actually true. I’m being cautious about this one. He’s been drinking even more and even longer than I have. Finally, as the older men switched over to Arabic, I looked around for Jasmine, but she was nowhere to be found. I glanced at Basel next, but he was completely absorbed in whatever story he was telling, his eyes shining and his whole body in volved in the animated gestures that accompanied his words. Moving away from the table one inch at a time, I finally managed to slip away without anyone noticing, wandering from one gallery to the next in search of my not-date. My head was spinning slightly, the enormity of the museum only really dawning on me now that I’d lost my guide. I had no idea where I even was when an unfamiliar voice spoke up from behind. “You’re Isaac, aren’t you?” Strangely, the man who’d spoken sounded vaguely Australian and I didn’t recall having met anyone from there tonight, so I turned, hoping some of Jasmine’s earlier remarks about who was who would help, but they didn’t. I was sure I’d never seen this guy before in my life. He was maybe a few years older than me, with dark hair and a glass of whiskey in his hand. As I nodded, he swapped the glass to his other hand to extend his palm toward me. “David Maher.”
I shook with him. “It’s nice to meet you, David. That’s an interesting accent you’ve got. What part of Egypt are you from?” He chuckled. “My parents are from Cairo, but I grew up in Sydney.” “Right.” I offered him a polite smile. “That explains it. I, uh, if you’ll excuse me, I’m having some trouble ke eping all the new names and faces straight. Have we met before?” “Oh.” He flicked his hand dismissively. “No, I was with Basel earlier and he was telling me all about the new structural engineer he hired.” “Ah.” David grinned. “My family is in the oil game. We’ve been crossing paths with Global Star for years. Basel’s almost like a second father to me.” “That’s great,” I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other as I glanced around the room. “Hey, that must mean you know his daughter, too. Jasmine. Have you seen her around?” He blinked a few times. “I do know her. Everyone does, but no, I actually haven’t seen her tonight. Why?” “We came here together, but I’ve lost her.” I shook my head, grinning as I looked back at him, but it quickly faded when I caught the tail end of a scowl flickering across his features. It was gone almost instantly, but unless it was just my booze-soaked mind conjuring up hallucinations, his smile was suddenly much thinner. “You came here with Jasmine?” “Uh, yeah. She disappeared while I was talking to Basel and some of his friends, but I should probably go find her. It was nice meeting you.” He nodded, but as I started turning, he suddenly spoke again. “I know who you are, you know. Isaac Thayer.” The emphasis he’d put on my last name made me frown as I twisted back to face him. “Okay, David Maher.” That strangely thin smile cooled. “I’ve heard quite a lot about your family. I know you’ve recently had a few very difficult years.” “Yeah, but we’re doing okay now,” I said, not missing the edge in his tone. I’d had to deal with this kind of thing plenty of times in the past. While I wasn’t sure why he’d suddenly turned into a dick, I wasn’t about to let it get to me. “Well, like I said, I should go find—” “Jasmine,” he finished for me. “Yes, I suppose you should. It was kind of her, bringing a charity case such as yourself to an event as prestigious as this.” “Excuse me?” I scoffed. “Basel invited me.” “Oh, I’m sure. He does seem to be enjoying taking advantage of your family’s misfortune. I simply didn’t realize Jasmine was so generous as well.”
Aaaaand I’ve had enough. “You have a good night, David.” I refused to take the bait or to stoop to his level. I was tipsy, overstimulated, and frankly, very much over being treated like a second-class citizen. The last thing I was going to do was cause a scene that would almost certainly come back to bite me in the ass. “I’ll see you around.” Spinning away from him, I strode toward the first open door I could see, not really sure where I was going, but I needed some fresh air—and a place with a general lack of David in the vicinity. Thankfully, the door I’d chosen led me to both. I walked out into quiet gardens that seemed to wrap around the museum. Glowing lanterns lit up paths between towering trees and trimmed hedges. I followed the path that seemed to offer the most direct route away from the building itself, sliding my hands into my pockets as I put David and his judgment behind me. I’d known I was going to come up against someone like him at an event like this. It had become inevitable over the last few years. Now I just have to let it go. If only he’d known how many times I’d had to rise above petty comments just like those, perhaps he wouldn’t have bothered. The truth was that I’d long since gotten over feeling anything at all when all that bullshit about my father came up. He was serving his time and my family was recovering. The future was what I cared about. The past was in the past and I intended on making it stay there. Eventually, I found myself on a path overlooking the city, a low wall s eparating the museum grounds from a winding road along the side of a hilltop on this side of the property. Relief washed over me, releasing some of the tension I’d been carrying. As I rounded another corner, I heard the sounds of soft splashing, and when I looked up, I saw Jasmine sitting on the low stone wall beside a fountain. One of her heels dangled idly from her foot, her gaze fixed on the illuminated gardens and the city beyond. “If I’d known we could opt out of the party, I would have snuck out here hours ago,” I said, smiling as I approached her. “I thought you were going to come find me again.” She glanced up, those dark eyes swe eping over me just once before she laughed. “Oh, no. You’re drunk.” “I’m not.” I frowned de eply, wobbling the last few st eps before half collapsing, half sitting down beside her on the wall. “I was just conducting business with your father.” “Right, so you’re drunk,” she said, chuckling as she held my gaze. “Yeah. I should’ve probably warned you about the way the Egyptians drink while conducting business.” “So that is what we were doing?” I laughed. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure. They toasted to everything, Jasmine. Like, everything.”
“They always do,” she said, turning toward me with her lips pressed together to ke ep from laughing. “Here’s a pro tip for next time.” “Next time?” “There will be a next time.” Her eyes sparkled as she jerked her head toward the building. “Just this museum hosts at least half a dozen events a year. So next time, no matter where you are, just pretend to drink.” “Pretend?” I r epeated lamely. “To drink? How does that even work?” She gave me a slightly exasperated smile. “You pick up the glass, bring it to your lips, and put it back down again.” “Oh.” “Yeah.” I nodded. “So I don’t toss it over my shoulder when no one’s looking?” She grinned. “Too risky. But hey, look it at this way. It could’ve been worse.” “They could have made me take shots?” I guessed out loud. She shook her head. “They could have busted out the cigars.” “Gross. Cigars smell amazing until they’re lit. Then they’re awful.” “Exactly,” she said quietly, looking back out toward the city lights. “Given half a chance, they would have you puffing on one from the moment you arrived.” “I’ll take the booze any day.” I braced a hand against the cool stone and followed her gaze. “It’s pretty out here.” “Yeah,” she agreed, sighing before she glanced back at me. “I don’t mind the events, but I find I always need to es cape the prying eyes for a few minutes. There’s always someone watching at a gala like this, you know?” I thought back to my interaction with David and nodded. “That’s why I tend to avoid big parties. I’d take getting lost exploring an old neighborhood any night over attending fancy events with judgmental pricks.” She turned to face me again, a slight furrow between her eyebrows. “Why did you say that?” “Because it’s true,” I said. “Also, before your father sent me that invitation, that was my plan for tonight. I was going to take a cab to Old Cairo and just wander around. I mean, don’t get me wrong, those exhibits in there are awesome in the truest sense of the word, but I’d rather come check them out during the day when I can actually spend time looking at them.” Jasmine suddenly smiled. “I like that too. Just putting on a hat and sunglasses and spending the day going wherever my feet take me.” I blinked back my surprise. “I feel like I should’ve known that about you.” “Why?” she asked, but it didn’t sound like she expected an answer. “The things you don’t know about me could fill several libraries of books.” I laughed. “I suppose that’s true.” “At least next week, we get to leave the city behind for a little while.” A tiny smile appeared. “Despite the fact that I have to be your guide, I’m kind of looking forward to it.”
“Despite the fact?” I bumped my shoulder lightly against hers. “Bullshit. Admit it, you’re looking forward to being my guide.” “Fair enough. I am looking forward to the part where I get to tell you what to do.” I found myself looking de ep into her eyes, leaning just a little bit closer and lowering my voice. “What exactly is it that you’d like me to do, Jasmine?” She stared at me for a second before she burst out laughing. “Oh, my God. Isaac Thayer, are you trying to flirt with me? You really are drunk.” “I’m not...” I trailed off, leaning back as I sighed and glanced up toward the sky. “Yeah, I think maybe I am.” Fuck, maybe I should get a cab. I think the whiskey has officially scrambled my brain. She doubled down on the teasing then, but I just smiled and took it, because maybe it’d been stupid to try and flirt with her even the littlest bit, but in this quiet corner of the garden, it felt like the night belonged only to us, and thanks to the alcohol, I was more than okay with that.