Noah & Navid

Chapter 58 - Noah Solo

We have this habit of walking to the yogurt place a few blocks down Ventura Boulevard from our house. I load mine up with fruit and granola while Navid loads his down with protein bits and healthy stuff for muscles. 

I was excited when we saw one inside the casino resort he took me to for the weekend. It was a business trip with some old clients who were looking to invest more in a few places out in Palm Shadows. He would have to work some, but he promised we would have time together without them.

His work had gotten even crazier since the Fall. He was either out on business, chauffeuring me to school and back, or at the gym. 

Some nights he came home when I was already in bed. He'd eat out with the clients or grab a protein shake after the late night workout. It was cutting into our sex life too. 

He'd come home so tired that we'd either rush through it or I'd pretend to already be asleep while I fumed at him silently for being gone so much. His stress was killing things.

There was barely an "us" anymore when he worked like this. He would never complain about it to me. He'd ask how my day was and then turn back to his phone emails when I tried to answer. 

I didn't even know how to talk to him about it. He was finding so much success, but didn't even seem to enjoy it. Something was definitely up. I wondered if it was us.

So here we were to have a fun weekend in Palm Shadows. Navid has a love for the mega resorts in the desert because they have casinos and he does pretty well at the card tables. 

We'd brought his best friend Aram along who was still dating my best friend Erik. Navid and Karim's business had gotten big enough to bring in some help.

Aram was finally finishing his business degree so Navid was showing him the ropes. It had created some tension between the two. 

Navid is meticulous with his business, organized and always working. Aram is a little more carefree and Navid could be a tough boss.

I'd been in the car a few times when Navid and he were yelling back and forth in Persian through the carphone. I didn't need to speak their language to know that Navid was not pleased with anything less than perfection. Even Karim had told him to ease up. 

The two had been friends since early childhood though and I knew this dynamic between them had likely weathered worse. The morning after one of their worst arguments though, Aram still came over and they laughed together about some older white guy client who was drooling over Aram.

I didn't dare get in the middle of it. Erik didn't either. When we hung out neither of us mentioned the problems between them. We had our own friendship to think of and our Persian men wouldn't want us discussing their problems anyways.

Things had cooled down and now the four of us were all together in the desert for a fun weekend with just a little bit of work for the guys, or so I thought. 

Friday the guys went out to show the clients some properties they were interested in. Erik and I stayed behind and played at the resort. They had a small waterpark. It was like two slides on either side of a big pool, but it was enough for us. It was fun to hang out with him somewhere other than home or campus.

Erik filled me in on what was going on with the two of them. Aram was more easy going than Navid. He let Erik be himself more and go out with friends unescorted. Aram clearly loved him, but he was less caught up in the hyper-masculine religious role than Navid was. 

Navid deeply believed it was his calling to be the man, the alpha, the chief of our tribe of two.

Aram was less concerned with playing that role. He didn't think Erik needed so much protecting. He'd adjusted quicker to the culture here where a man was judged by different standards and the concept of weaker and stronger in a relationship wasn't so prominent.