Noah & Navid

Chapter 52 - Mike & Karim

Series recap:

Noah (age 20) is a small, blonde, college boy hopelessly in love with his dark, muscled, Persian boyfriend Navid (27). Navid, a native of Iran, works in trading investment properties for his boss Karim (40), an older version of Navid who was raised by a traditional Persian family and helps Navid reconcile his feelings. Noah's friend Erik (20), a tall, outgoing gay boy, is dating Aram (26), Navid's best friend since childhood who came with him from Iran to study here.

+-+ Noah +-+

For the first day of the Fall semester at Tarzana College Navid insisted on wading through the crush of traffic, parking in the overcrowded garage, and walking me to my first class.

You might think he was being annoyingly overprotective, but I could tell he missed being on campus with me. It had been his home the past three years.

We'd come the week before to buy my books and see where all my classes were going to be. He seemed sad that he wasn't going to be there anymore. He kept commenting that things were so simple for me.

I got the feeling that the pressure and success of his business was starting to make him nostalgic for his laidback days of class, soccer, and friends. He hadn't played in his league in months. I know he missed it, but he was building his business.

He dropped me at my class and then stayed on campus to meet up with Aram for coffee. Navid had a meeting way out in Ventura that afternoon so Aram would give me a ride home.

He only let me sign up for four courses this semester since they were harder and he wanted me to spend more time at home taking care of things. I'd tried to add a beginner Farsi class so I could start to learn his language, but he said that was a waste of time and wouldn't help my degree.

He'd spent the summer working on big business deals and they were picking up speed and size. He was taking on more projects and wanted me to be home more to take care of him. He'd said he felt better when he knew I was safe in his home.

I was glad classes were back in session though. The summer had been lonely and I was anxious to see my friends again.

It wasn't a demand that I stayed home, but I liked being there for him. He needed me there. He said it made him so happy to come home and find dinner cooking and me not overly stressed about school. He said it was his happy place, and I was his happy person. I was his peace and that let him focus on his work.

Karim and Mike were coming over more often too. Karim and Navid set up their calendar and projects board in the little nook next to the dining table and under the stairs. Mike and I would make dinner while Karim and Navid went over logistics, schemes, finances, business stuff.

The funny thing is that Karim and Mike have a big house with Karim's office, a huge kitchen, and lots of space to relax. But... they seemed to prefer our little townhouse. I asked Mike about it once and he said he didn't understand it either... He told me Karim said they work better here.

I asked Navid about it one night when we were falling asleep and he said Karim liked the "vibe" of our place.

"Our place has vibes?" I asked. I didn't know what that meant.

"Is English word, Noah! You don't know this?" Navid laughed. He loved when he found something I hadn't really heard before. "It means mood. He likes that it is chill here, and you make happy home."

"Their home isn't happy?" I asked and looked up at him with my face against his chest.

This was the one time of day when Navid seemed ok with me asking endless questions. He knew his deep, Persian tone soothed me to sleep in his arms.