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“It’s nice out here,” said Janet as she looked up to the sky. “There are so many stars. Do you know anything about stars?”
“No,” he answered. He didn’t know about stars, nor did he want to. He didn’t even want to talk about them, but it seemed as though Janet could talk about anything.
“Neither do I. I don’t know how people know which star is which and all that big dipping stuff,” she replied.
“Big dipping?” Basil raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh.
“Yeah, you’ve never heard of them?” She gasped as she turned her head to look at him.
“I’m sure that’s not what it’s called.”
“It is! I’m sure it is.”
“Okay,” Basil said, knowing that she was wrong. There was no such thing as big dipping. He knew what she was trying to say. He just shook his head and drank a bit more of his smoothie.
“Oh, you don’t believe me.” Janet pulled out her phone from her pocket and started doing something. Basil could see her fingers at work from the corner of his eye. He didn’t want to ask what she was doing. He just wanted to sit there in peace.
“Oh, it’s Big Dipper.” She laughed a little and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She had an adorable laugh. “I was close though,” she added. Basil took a sip of his smoothie.
“You looked that up on the internet,” he said.
“I had to; you didn’t believe me.”
“And I was right not to.”
“Ha.” Janet crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. The wind brushed her hair back and revealed her face to Basil. She was beautiful, he thought to himself.
“Sanaa’s birthday is coming up,” said Basil. Since she just kept on talking, he thought he’d talk to her about Sanaa’s birthday.
“Aww really?” Janet asked. “When?”
“In two weeks.”
“Are you going to throw her a party?”
“No, should I?”
“Well, what did you have planned?”
“Nothing.” Basil shrugged his shoulders. “What do you do for a seven-year-old?”
“Throw her a party with clowns and jumping castles or take her to Disneyland. There’s so much you can do for her.”
“I don’t know; she’s not keen on people since her mother’s passing.”
“Okay, perhaps something intimate.”
“I have no ideas.” Basil rose to his feet.
“I’ll think of something. Don’t worry; I got your back.”
Basil smiled to himself and headed inside the house. I got your back, she said. No one had ever said that to him. It made him smile and feel warm on the inside.
Chapter 9
Janet watched the sheikh walking away for a moment. She sighed as she looked away from him and just looked at the stars. The sheikh was such a complex man, she thought to herself. At face value, he was cold and aloof. However, Janet was starting to see a different side of him. There was a certain softness within him when he spoke about Sanaa and his wife. Janet was surprised when he had spoken to her about his wife’s passing. He opened up about his guilt towards his wife. He went from snapping at her to confiding in her.
The breeze felt cold against Janet’s skin. She got up from her seat and quickly headed down to her room. She changed into her pajamas and got into bed. She decided to call her mother before she went to sleep.
