Chapter 46

My head snap reaction brings my eyes to a set of wide-open, startled, and familiar dark browns, locked on me as though he’s unable to blink. Set in a face that still haunts my dreams most nights for a million different reasons. I don’t know which of us is in the worst state of disbelief because it feels close to both. My body turns to liquid at being three inches away from the man I never wanted to see again, and my hands start to tremble, swallowing hard as my insides crumble.

“It’s… it’s really you?… Sohla…” He’s breathy, obviously in a state of shock, and staring at me like he can’t process it. Still kneeling here in the middle of my crowded restaurant, it’s like we’re caught in a bubble where noise and the presence of others have faded away. Oblivious to our surroundings. His eyebrow twitches, and pupils dart from one of mine to the other in quick succession. He has the shocked, stiff, and gawping of a man who’s just seen a ghost and doesn’t know how to react. It’s obvious