A Bitter Veil Read Online Free PDF Page B

to croak. He spread his arms, but she stepped back from the bed. He blinked.
    “I called last night,” Anna said. He heard the ice in her voice. “I left a message.” She pointed toward the other room where the answering machine sat. “You didn’t hear it?”
    He shook his head.
    “I told my father about you. He wants to meet you.”
    Nouri realized what an important development this was. Anna had told him repeatedly how difficult her father was. How she had to time her announcements and requests just so. Nouri should have thanked her. They should have celebrated. But Anna was still scowling.
    “Why didn’t you answer?”
    He sat up. He was still wearing his clothes from last night, and he had a monster of a headache. “To be honest, I had too much to drink.” He got up slowly, shuffled into the bathroom, gulped down some aspirin with a glass of water. When he returned, she was sitting on the bed with a blank expression.
    “Where were you?”
    He told her.
    She crossed one leg over the other. She was still wearing her coat. “You went to another woman’s apartment? An Iranian woman?”
    “Yes. There were six of us…no, seven.”
    Anna’s leg started to jiggle. Whenever she was worried or upset, she couldn’t sit still. Something—an arm, a leg, a finger—was always in motion. She would have made an excellent whirling dervish.
    “It was not what you think,” he said quickly. “It was just a dinner party. You know we don’t celebrate Christmas. It was a way for us to be together.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me about it when I called?” Anna had called every day.
    “Fatimah…she just called yesterday afternoon. It was—how do you say it—spur of the moment.”
    Anna’s leg was still jiggling. He should have soothed her. Taken her in his arms. Whispered how much he loved her. But he didn’t. She was the one who’d left him. He’d had to fend for himself while she was with her father. The unfairness of it all gnawed at him. “That’s not who you should be concerned about, anyway,” he blurted out.
    Anna’s face went white. “What do you mean?”
    As soon as it came out, he realized it was the wrong thing to say. He tried to roll it back. “Nothing.”
    “No, it’s not nothing.” Worry lines creased her forehead.
    Nouri’s head was throbbing. He felt nauseous.
    “Nouri. Tell me. Who should I be concerned about?” Her eyes bored into him, and she looked like she might cry
    What box had he just opened? He’d never seen her like this. He wished he hadn’t had so much to drink last night. He wished Anna had never left. He wished he could turn back the clock. “It is not important.”
    “Let me be the judge of that.”
    He took a long breath. He had no choice, she wouldn’t let it go. “All right.” He exhaled slowly. “There are still some arranged marriages in Iran. Not as much now, since we are quite modern. But when I was little…”
    Anna’s voice was as sharp as a blade. “What are you telling me, Nouri?”
    “There is a girl. She is nothing to me…really. Her name is Roya. She is friends with my sister. Our parents are friends. We always thought…well, it was assumed…”
    “That you would marry her? That you’d get your fancy American education and go back to little Roya?”
    Nouri’s eyebrows shot up. Anna sounded bitter. It was an emotion he’d never heard from her before. He took another breath. “It was never a formal arrangement. Just a…” He shrugged and let his voice trail off. “But now that I’ve met you, it will never happen.”
    Anna tilted her head. “How do I know that?”
    “Anna, you are the only woman I want. Our souls are meant to be together.”
    “What about Roya?”
    “Anna, I have not talked to her, or even thought about her, in years. I care only about you. You must believe me.”
    Anna’s leg stopped jiggling. She peered at him for a long time. Then she rose, took off her coat, and nodded. “All right.”
    Just like that, it was