Tempting Navid

by Victoria Pinder

  "Pedar's girlfriend, I think," Margo answered. "He didn’t say that, but he took her to dinner a few times."

  It felt like nails were hammered through her heart to burst through her chest on the other side. Not once had Navid mentioned a girlfriend, not that she’d asked. Her brain yelled that she knew better to sleep with a man too soon, but she ignored that voice—it was too late. Instead she dried the next dish and asked, "Do you think they are serious?"

  "No." Margo handed her another plate as soon as Elle put the last one in the dryer tray. "He's not brought her in to meet me, and I don't think he's gone to meet her family without me."

  Elle paused. "Does that matter in your family?"

  Margo scrubbed the frying pan her dad had flipped eggs in. "Yes. My Mamabazorg searched many families to find Pedar a wife, from a good family."

  "So in your country they do arranged marriages?" Elle leaned against the counter and waited.

  "Not exactly."

  "I don’t understand. Let's switch." Margo handed her the pan, but it still had spots. Elle motioned for Margo to get down and then scooted her step stool over and Margo took the sink. "I'll wash and you dry this one."

  "Okay." Margo waited with the towel. "I can pick my own husband, but my pedar must approve or I risk being kicked out."

  Elle tried to understand Margo as she spoke about her culture. Last night Navid had said his wife slept in another room during their marriage, which she'd not ask Margo about, but the thought made her wonder if all couples did the same. She scrubbed the pan one more time and asked, "So your father chose your mother and then asked your grandmother for permission?"

  "No." Elle handed Margo the pot and she started drying it with a towel. "Pedar was never home and he told my Mamanbazorg, my other grandma, to pick his wife, so she did." She put the pot on the dish rack but still held the towel when Navid's office door opened.

  He walked Leila to the door and she kissed his cheeks goodbye. He returned the gesture, closing the door behind the pretty brunette before going back to his office without one glance at them.

  Elle's chest burned. Navid and Leila? She lowered her lashes and tried not let her emotions rule her.

  Margo put the towel down and whispered, "Leila left without being introduced to me."

  Did that mean their relationship wasn’t serious? Elle wanted to show Navid that she'd be a better fit, but she looked at Margo and offered her hand. "Let's go do your homework and get started on the New Year’s traditions. I want to ask you more, but after school work."

  "Okay." Margo ran toward her room. "I'll pull it up on the computer."

  "Do you know how to print?"

  "Of course," she said, like she knew everything.

  Elle, burning with curiosity, slowed near Navid’s office door. "I'll be right there, Margo. I want to talk to your dad for a minute."

  "Okay." Margo ran ahead down the hall and into her bedroom.

  Elle swallowed her pride and knocked on the door. Navid had hired her to keep Margo safe, but there was no danger in their condo. She hesitated, not wanting to interrupt him.

  "Come," he said.

  She steeled her nerves and opened the door. He sat at a desk with a computer file opened. She took a deep breath, quelled her growing anger and reminded herself to ask questions first, and moment later walked in. "Who was Leila?"

  "A friend." He stood and held up a long white envelope. "She dropped off tickets for the celebration tonight, with an invitation to sit at her family's table."

  So, Leila was a girlfriend. "It's serious with her?"

  "Serious?" Navid walked past her, closed the door, and placed both of his hands around her waist. "Elle, I'm consumed with desire for you."

  Sex wasn't love or respect. He wanted her in his bed, and she’d gone willingly but Leila seemed to have more in common with him and knew his culture, plus she was beautiful and understood him more. She held onto his belt as Margo’s words echoed in her mind about families meeting meant serious relationship. "So you aren't going to meet her family?"

  "No." He answered with such certainty that she believed him.

  She closed her eyes and he reached under her shirt to pull her in for a kiss.

  The feel of his calloused hands on her small waist and back made her weak. No one made her feel this passionate, ever.

  The moment the kiss ended, she was tempted to take her shirt off and back him against the desk while she asked for more with him. However, she’d promised to be with his daughter and she found their culture fascinating. The more she learned the more she wanted to know. "Okay, I should go to Margo."

  "Wait." He traced her shirt, reaching up for her bra.

  If he insisted, she'd stay here. Margo was in no danger inside the condo. Her heart beat faster. "Yes?"

  He rubbed her nipples, and the sensation drove her crazy. "Elle, tonight, after my father's family leaves and my daughter goes to bed, I want to tie you up and play with you, for New Year’s." His daughter's footsteps banged down the hall, so he let her go with a heated whisper, "So think hard if that's what you want."

  "Elle!" Margo swung the office door open, her voice enthusiastic. "There you are. I have my assignment printed."

  Elle straightened her shirt and ensured she was two feet away from Navid. "So, thanks for everything. We have homework to do."

  Margo blinked at the two of them, but then held the door wide. Elle took her hand when she neared and walked out with her. The moment she closed the door behind them, Margo asked, "What were you talking to Pedar about?"

  "Boring stuff," Elle answered quickly. She reached for the papers in Margo's hand. "What's your homework about?"

  "English." Margo drawled the word as if it drained all her energy and it was only 8:30 in the morning. She added fast, "I finished the math already."

  With her father and her uncle both computer genius types, Margo must have never questioned that math was important in her household and did that work first. Elle scanned the papers while they walked to the dining room table. "What do you have to do with English?"

  "That worksheet." Margo pointed and made it sound like the paper might be the death of her.

  Elle stifled her giggle as she glanced at the reading passage and grammar questions. They sat at the table, side by side. Elle glanced at the sheet that wanted Margo to pick nouns, verbs and then draw arrows to what went where. "This looks easy enough, and once we're done, we get to work on the New Year’s project."

  Elle picked up a pencil and began working on the sheet while she said, "Pedar hasn't liked celebrating any holidays, ever, but Mamajoon and I always did and made him. Now she's gone, it's up to me, but he thinks I'm too small."

  "Mamajoon? That’s not Mamanbazorg?"

  Margo’s eyes squinted like she tried to understand Elle and finally said, "Mamajoon is mother dear, that’s my mom. Mamanbazorg is grandmother."

  "It’s sweet you call your mom Mamajoon." Navid’s wife had been beautiful, but Elle remembered how his hand inside her brought more to life in her than any man she'd ever known. Her last boyfriend, Jeffrey, hadn't even turned her on much when they kissed. She tried to remember what Margo said about the noun verb agreement, but couldn't. She concentrated on the paper. Elle said, "Once you finish, I can check it."

  Margo then tapped her hand and stared at her. "Can you make sure my sabzi is watered and green still while I finish?"

  Elle stood, happy to have something to do other than fantasize about Navid or his intentions tonight. She walked into the kitchen and checked on her science project. "Yes, your beans have sprouted nicely and I can see how the roots of your wheat are joined."

  "Okay, I finished, can you read this?" Margo said the moment she sat down.

  "Let me see." Elle studied Margo’s neat work. She’d missed circling one of the subjects, so Elle handed the paper back. "Please check the third line. You missed a noun."

  "Huh..." Margo circled the right answer and then gave it back to her. "Now are we done??"<
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  "Let's put this in a place where you take it to the teacher," she said.

  "Like my backpack as Pedar makes me?"

  Navid was smart to have her work from home until the threat was done. "Yes, perfect for when you go back to school, but let’s ask your teacher if she wants us to scan it to her."

  "Oh, she mentioned that in the email. I’ll do that now." Margo ran from the table with the paper. "Once I send her the file on the computer, then we can put the sofreh together?

  "Great idea." Elle had about five minutes to Google the ceremony and really be helpful. It would be good to show Navid that she was interested in his culture and wanted to participate. It might make him open up more, which would be good. She was more than just an American princess and she’d find a way to show him that she was open to everything about him.

  Margo returned to the living area where they’d set everything up last night and Elle held up her phone. She sat on the long beige couch, next to the grand piano and a bookshelf with a paper and pen on the coffee table before her. "I'm not seeing the words sofreh and norooz together except on ancillary websites, Margo. I've tried to Google on my phone but I'm not finding a list."

  "What’s ancillary mean?"

  "Umm, necessary information on how to put things together."

  "Ohh. Here, let's use my iPad and write haft seen." Margo grabbed her tablet and sat next to Elle, her agile fingers typing the letters into the search bar. "We call all of them together sofreh, but this is a haft seen sofreh." She handed the tablet to Elle and pointed to a picture. "Our home has to have these things decorated pretty on the dining room table. Pedar gave me his credit card to get what I wanted."

  Margo handed her the card, and Elle realized that this meant Margo, and Navid, trusted her, despite how her family supposedly stole billions. She'd do right by them. She eyed the display of dishes and flowers on a long table. "If the items are on top, then where do we eat the meal?"

  "The floor," Margo said as if it was completely normal. "We have a nice carpet that we also call a sofreh to sit on."

  Elle glanced at the red Persian rug under her feet, recalling movies where people sat around on the floor to eat from dishes in their laps. Would everybody eat from a communal bowl? Her stomach knotted at the idea.

  Next, she read the page Margo opened for her and nodded at the first thing on the list. "Oh, well you have the sabzeh covered. I didn't know the green sprouts symbolized rebirth."

  Margo’s face was serious and she pressed her lips together while she stared at the small stack of supplies from candelabras to honey. "Everything has meaning. We have to set the sprouts in front of a mirror on a nice tablecloth or carpet. Maman always used one, but I don't think Pedar brought it to America."

  Today was a big holiday for them and Leila had wanted him to go to a public celebration. Instead Navid chose to share his culture with his American family and she’d do everything she could to make this evening perfect and help him build bridges. Elle clutched the plastic credit card in her hand. "Margo, hon, would you get my laptop from my room? If we order online we can have some of these supplies by this afternoon."

  Margo ran off and her feet stomped down the hall. Elle took stock of what they had on their list to order and hoped this impressed Navid. If she and Margo worked on it together, then maybe he’d see that she’d be open to his culture and a relationship. If he wanted one with her at all, besides sex. Despite being a father, Navid had many walls around his heart.

  Margo hurried back with her laptop in both hands, carefully putting it on the coffee table. Elle pulled up a few of her favorite sites to buy accessories. Hundreds of tablecloths, napkins and runners to choose from. The pictures she’d seen had all started with a neutral base. "White?"

  Margo nodded.

  "We can get this one delivered in an hour." Elle held up her finger. "Let's make a list of things we need. Do we have a mirror?"

  Margo pointed to a blue-framed mirror on the wall. Hand-painted, it looked like, with gold trim, blue background and yellow birds. "You can take that one off the wall."

  "It’s beautiful." Blue, yellow and gold would be the colors if that mirror was to be the center. Elle envisioned their display. "We need a way to set it on the ground and hold it up." She found a metal sign holder that looked sturdy. "Is this one good?"

  "Yes." Margo wiped a tear. "I'm so happy. I thought Pedar wasn't going to allow me to do this."

  Elle hugged her like her own mother might have done to her. She’d have to find a way to help her family, but right now she could help Margo. "What else do we need to buy?"

  "We need samanoo."

  "Can you look that up on your tablet?" Elle waited.

  "It is sweet pudding made from those wheat germs I’m growing."

  Elle added whole wheat flour to the cyber shopping cart, looking over Margo’s shoulder to read what samanoo represented. "We'll head to the kitchen once it arrives. We definitely want to celebrate affluence."

  Perhaps making this would help her family get a good lawyer.

  Margo tugged her shoulder. "Maman always used blue dishes that matched."

  "Do they have to be blue?" Elle had been thinking blue, yellow and gold to match the mirror, but if they all needed to be the same, she’d find a way.

  Margo thought about this, then answered. "No. I've seen many tables with different dishes."

  "Got it." Elle wanted to ensure the table was everything Margo remembered. Clearly Iranians judged the beauty of the place setting. She discovered one exclusive set by an up and coming local designer and showed Margo. "How about this venetian glass? See the gold and yellow swirls?"

  Margo clapped her hands and scooted to the edge of the couch. "They look like birds!"

  Elle clicked the set to buy. Luckily the site had fast delivery, for a fee, of course. Margo leaned against Elle. "Do you like Pedar, Elle?"

  Her breath caught in her throat. Had they been seen last night? Did Margo know? Her heart beat wildly but she kept her focus on the computer. "Why would you ask that?"

  Margo wrapped her small hands around her arm. "It would be fun if you were my new mom and stayed with us forever."

  Elle’s heart warmed. Before now, she’d been adrift in her life. Here, with Navid and Margo, she felt like she had a purpose. She then said, "Well I do like your dad and you, but I’ve never been a mom before."

  Margo lifted her head and stared at her like she just offered her Christmas morning. "I can try to convince him."

  She shouldn't have let that slip. The truth was she wanted to know more about Navid and his life, but she shouldn't promise forever to his daughter. She petted her hair. "Don't worry, Margo. What's next?" She read the recipe for sweet pudding. "We can take turns stirring this in the pot if I get you a stool, but let's get back to the list of things we need."

  "Senjeh. Olives," Margo said. "We have them—I packed the jar."

  Elle read the iPad. "Olives symbolize love? Let's put out extra as I would like love too." Margo bounced on the couch. "What's next?"

  Margo ran her small finger down the screen. "Seer. Garlic, but it's not decorated in the picture."

  "Then we'll decorate it anyway!" Elle read the meaning and symbolism on why it was displayed. "Garlic equals health, how cool." She reached forward to pick up the arts and crafts supplies she’d laid out last night. "Can we use these yellow sparkles?"

  "Yes!" Margo said, jumped off the couch and spun around, dropping to the pile to pull out a ball of blue satin. "With this ribbon."

  Elle had no expectations of what being a nanny meant, so arts, crafts and baking, with a little homework added in, was just fine. She gestured for Margo to sit. "We'll do that while we wait for the rest of the supplies. What's next?"

  Margo glanced at the iPad too and then smiled. "Seeb. Apples. We have a whole bag."

  Apples meant beauty, Elle read. "Wow. Guess that might be symbolized in Snow White—when the witch gives her a poisoned apple because she’s so beautiful?
I had no idea."

  "Huh?" Margo asked confused. "Snow White goes to a magic sleep and only her true love’s kiss can wake her up."

  Elle couldn’t discuss story tropes with a six-year-old. Snow White was more beautiful than the Queen which was why she was the target, but either way they had more important things to worry about. "Let's move on. What's after that?"

  "Sumac. Fruit of the flower."

  "Is that in the spice rack?" Margo ran to the kitchen as Elle murmured, "I like symbolizing sunrise. It's a pretty time of day."

  Margo returned with the jar of sumac. Elle motioned for her to put it next to the other supplies on the floor. "What's next?"

  Margo looked at the iPad again. "Serkeh. Vinegar."

  Elle read, "Serkeh means patience," which she needed as her parents and brothers were all in jail right now. "I could use some of that. Is that everything we need to set out for the display?"

  Margo shook her head. "Those are the seven requirements, but we add things from other sofrehs—New Years can be all of them. I like the painted eggs."

  "Fertility." Easter had the same symbol. It also explained the egg-painting kits she’d found in the arts and crafts closet. "We're on it. What else?"

  Margo reached for a mesh bag filled with shiny circles. "Gold coins."

  Again, Elle didn't need to look up the symbolism. "That's easy. It means money."

  Margo jiggled the bag and laughed.

  "Anything else?"

  Margo ran to the bookshelf next to the grand piano and pulled out a heavy brown book that looked like it was kept in the corner, to stay out of her hands. "Hafez."

  One of Elle’s self-help gurus had always talked about Hafez and how the reading of the poems was meant to be deep and reflective as she meditated. Her eyes widened. "The poet?"

  Margo nodded. "Pedar has the book. We have to put that in front of the mirror."

  This wasn’t on the website so Elle stared blankly at the book. "Why?"

  Margo shrugged. "It can be the Koran or Rumi, but Pedar always liked this book."

  Rumi was another poet a self-help guru quoted. Elle had no idea they were both from Iran or that they were that important there.