Better Late Than Never

05

"In response to your earlier statement," Ayman began as he wanted to make small talk so he could get her to loosen up a bit and ease into everything. "You didn't keep me waiting." The lie slipped free and he didn't regret it. "I hadn't been here long before you came in. Also, you showed up before the scheduled time so it's all good."

Relief was all Ayra could feel. Unsure what to do with her hands, she smoothened out invincible creases on her skirt while offering him a small smile. "I'm glad. I don't think that would have been nice to keep you waiting long when I should be the one waiting for you."

"It's fine, Ayra." It really was. "If you passed through Business and Institutional Area, then we took the same route. I probably beat the traffic."

That surprised her. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "I am. I live there alongside a lot of members of my family." He wasn't usually one to overspill but in that moment – with her – he was unable to help it. "We stay right behind the University of Atlantica. That's your alma mater, right?"

It didn't go unmissed by him how more of her nerves faded away. Her surprise increased which caused her eyes to widen slightly. He should have looked away, maybe even lowered his head for a brief moment, but he stared; her eyes' hazel brown shade bewitching.

Ayra nearly moved to the edge of her seat. "That area's open now?" The memories hit her all at once. "We heard a lot of stories back then when Ibty and I were in our second, third, and fourth years. People said the area was going to be for an extension of the university. Others said it was for a real estate company and then some people said it was just a residential area for those who wished to stay there. The last group turned out to be right. Last I heard, the government named it after one of the esteemed retired Lieutenant Generals of the Atlantican Air Force, Omar Bello, and –"

When her brain made sense of what she'd said, her mouth clamped shut. On the opposite side of the table, Ayman wished she'd keep talking. Like the first time they met, she spoke softly but there was a difference and he preferred the current softness embedded in the way she said each word to the way she'd spoken back at EMA.

Ayra's heart did a little skip and her nerves returned with so much force that she nearly put her hands together to hold them tightly. She managed a small smile. "I'm guessing the residential area was meant for your family, the Bellos."

He nodded. "It was. Most of us who decided to return home are replanting our roots there. Those who didn't want to stay there found other places both within and outside Aomi."

Ayra nodded slowly, telling herself to not say anything more. However, it was the first time her curiosity was sincerely raising its head in a while and it didn't want to put its head back down so it forced her to ask "Is the retired Lieutenant General Omar Bello your uncle or something?"

Ayman didn't want to focus on how his entire being was warming up little by little. His smile – despite how small it was – didn't want to leave his face. It sat there comfortably. He shook his head, wondering how she'll take his response. "He's not my uncle or something." He paused for a moment. "He's my father."

It was the first time the flight response hit Ayra with all its might. Her smile tightened. "Oh. Uhm..."

She looked over his shoulder, wondering if she could bolt and how long it would take her to reach the door. She wasn't sure she wanted to go on with the interview, not when it wasn't going any way she'd imagined, and he hadn't even started asking her his questions yet.

For Ayman, the warmth he'd been feeling popped at her reaction and his chest squeezed. He folded his arms on the table, wanting her to turn back to him. "Ayra."