She hugged me. Her breast was warm against my arm. I liked her. Even though she was Jawid’s wife, and I still ached with the loss of him, I couldn’t help liking Nasrin.
“You came to love him, though, didn’t you?” I asked quietly, smiling into her upturned face.
“Oh, yes.” She smiled. “How could I not?” A pang shot through me as the glow of her love suffused her face. “The moment I saw him, I felt I had known him all my life.” She blushed unexpectedly. “And I wanted him in ways I wasn’t supposed to know anything about, but I wanted to learn.” She clasped her fingers into mine. “Was it the same with you? And Jawid? I know American women do not often come to their weddings as virgins. Was his loving still special to you, the way it was with me?”
The question was so clear, and so open, and I was so stunned by her bluntness, that I answered truthfully. “It was the most wonderful thing in my world.” I instinctively tightened my fingers, trying to push back the longing and pain when I thought about him. “I fell in love with him the first time I touched him. We were working on separate projects. I’d been offsite, doing research, and I hadn’t seen him in many months. My project ended, and I needed his signature on a document. The clinic was full of people, total chaos. As I handed him the papers, a small boy ran into me, and I literally fell into his arms.” I looked at her, squaring myself for her reaction. “I felt like I’d been struck by lightning.”
I don’t know what reaction I’d expected, but her laughter wasn’t it.
“How wonderful!” She grinned. “But then, Jawid is an excellent lover.” She blushed all the way to her hairline.
I must have looked as stunned at her reaction as I felt. Nasrin led me quickly to a bench in the shade and we sat down, still holding hands. She took a long drink from the water bottle she was carrying and passed it to me. I drank deeply, ignoring the occasional stares from people walking by, noticing again, even though I didn’t want to, how beautiful Nasrin was, then suddenly realized that I didn’t care what people were thinking. I wanted the support of her touch too much to let go.
“Jawid truly would like you to be his second wife.”
I just stared at her, jerking when she reached up and gently stroked the hair from my forehead. “Jawid tells me you are older than I by four years, and that due to your work, our children will likely all come from me, rather than you. But he wants you still.” Her hand cupped my cheek, her palm warm and accepting. “He loves you, Amanda. And you love him. You would make him a good wife.” Her thumb stroked lightly down the side of my face. “And you would be a good companion to me.”
I shook my head, pulling away from her. Only our hands stayed linked, where her tender grip refused to let go. “Nasrin, that’s not possible.”
“Why not?” She laughed. “He can obviously support us both.”
“That’s not the point,” I said, shaking my head. “Jawid knows that. In this country, it’s one man and one woman, to love, honour and cherish, forsaking all others, ’til death do us part. There are no provisions for fucking around with men who are already married to someone else. Personally, I’d shoot any son of a bitch who ran around on me!” I blushed when I realized what I was saying, and how vehemently I was saying it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Nasrin waved her hand, dismissing my ramblings. “You are talking secular marriage laws, Amanda. Jawid explained how to work around them.”
“Nasrin,” I said, exasperated. “If he divorced you, you’d lose all your rights. I couldn’t live with that. And I’d never trust him to do right by me if he did that to you. I’ll have no part of his divorcing you, and I’m certainly not converting to a religion that requires women to live with their husband’s mistresses!”
She shook her head, smiling, and stood up. “We will talk more about this later, my friend. Perhaps there is some way we can yet work things out. Look, the peacock is fanning again!” Her delight was contagious, and we put aside our discussion to tiptoe behind a bush and watch the proud and noisy bird’s display for the whimsical little brown peahen.
We left before the traffic got heavy. Nasrin had purchased some seedlings in the gift shop. I carried them on my lap on the way home, balancing them precariously while trying to learn the dance steps Nasrin insisted on teaching me at every stop light. It was early enough that I felt comfortable going back into the house. I knew Jawid would still be at work. When we’d deposited the new plants in the potting shed and cleaned up, Nasrin herded me into the kitchen and handed me an apron. We spent the rest of the afternoon with her showing me how to cook potato boulani and meat rolls and rice with raisins and sauces with names I couldn’t pronounce. As I prepared the green salad, I forgot that I was making something that Jawid would later eat. I savoured the unexpected blend of tastes on Nasrin’s fingers as she fed me a sample of rice. I was licking her fingertips clean when her hand went still.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep, calming breath, knowing without looking that Jawid was there.
He wrapped his arms quietly around us both. “So, my loves. You have had a good afternoon?”
Nasrin’s smile lit her face. “Yes, my heart. You were right. I can easily love Amanda. For herself, and as a wife to you.”
The honesty and selflessness, and, to my mind, stupidity, was almost more than I could bear. “Excuse me,” I whispered. “I’ll be going now. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, Nasrin.”
Nasrin’s grip held me. “Amanda, that is enough.” She shook my arm lightly. “You love him. I love him. We can grow to love each other. What is so wrong with that?”
“It’s not. . right,” I stumbled. Things weren’t so clear any more. I wanted to resist. Over the course of the afternoon, Nasrin had become a friend, and I was betraying her by my very presence, lusting after her husband. I had no right to love him.
“Of course it’s right.” Nasrin pulled me closer, so that her arms encircled me. I was erotically aware of her body, and stunned that I didn’t want to resist her touch. I inhaled shakily and leaned into her embrace.
Jawid’s arms tightened convulsively around us. “Have you reconsidered my offer, Amanda? Will you become my second wife and join our family?”
Nasrin squeezed my fingers reassuringly.
“This is insane,” I whispered.
“The law is insane, but since it is a law, yes, we will have to go around it.” He held me tightly to him and slid the fingers of his other hand up Nasrin’s arm to stroke her cheek. “I hadn’t realized how much I would love my first wife,” he said quietly. “Despite what Nasrin believed, I hadn’t planned on taking another wife, not once I had her. I did not expect to fall in love with you.” His glance slid over me. I shivered, my skin humming as his fingers travelled up my arm. “That is why I needed her approval, and your acceptance of her role as first wife.”
Nasrin slipped her arm around my waist, hugging me, smiling, and rested her head on my shoulder. Her fingers joined Jawid’s, tracing down my back in tandem with his.
“Knowing all this, will you still marry me, Amanda?” he whispered, licking the curve of my ear. “I love you.”
“God, I hope it’s not cheating if we’re married,” I whispered. Clutching them to me tightly, I took a deep breath and threw myself to the winds. “All right, Jawid. I’m certain I’ve lost my mind, and, for the record, I still think this whole idea is insane. But I can’t help loving you. I will be your second wife. I won’t convert, and I’m keeping my condo and I have no idea what I’ll tell my family. And you’d better believe we’ll have some iron-clad legal agreements.”
That’s as far as I got before Jawid crushed his lips on to mine. I kissed him as if he were air saving me from drowning, giving myself over to pleasure. Nasrin licked my collarbone and sucked softly on my neck.