Page 26 of Written By a Woman

“The company pays for my lunches, though,” I found myself walking around the desk to take the containers of leftovers from Salma’s hands, so she wouldn’t have to balance them over her bump anymore. Once her hands were free, Salma gave me a smirk with raised eyebrows while she tucked her hair behind her ear, to let me know that she wasthrilledto have officially met Signe like this.

“If you don’t eat those, I will. It all smells amazing, and I won’t snub a home-cooked meal,” Signe spoke up, adjusting Zeki on her hip. The little boy instinctively tightened his little fists on her shirt, as if he was worried for a moment that she was going to set him down.

“Even though we just met Sig-nee out front, I think Zeki wants to keep her,” Salma added, acting nonchalant about the fact that our office manager and her son were hitting it off. That didn’t surprise me. Zeki was an excellent judge of character.

I saw Signe first, though.

I was more than willing to uphold dibs against a three-year-old.

“Does he?” I raised my eyebrows at the miniaturized version of Salma with blue eyes before speaking to Signe, “And feel free to eat as much as you want. I wouldn’t want these to go bad.” Half of the time, upper management used eating out as an excuse to have meetings that we didn’t want other employees to interrupt or walk in on. Lunch was a loose term because even though food was present or we were at a nicer restaurant, work was still being conducted the entire time.

Because these lunch meetings wouldn’t come to a sudden end, I didn’t want my mother’s food to go to waste. Plus, I liked the idea of Signe enjoying the Syrian and Lebanese food my mother prepared. I liked the idea of her enjoying part of my family’s culture that way.

“I’m holding you to that,” Signe smiled up at me, and quickly lowered her gaze to Zeki as he tugged a little roughly on the lock of red hair in his fingers, “Are you going to come back and visit me soon?” She then used her free hand to tickle his tummy, making him cackle with laughter and drop her hair from his grip.

“Zeki wanted to be held as soon as we walked in,” Salma tilted her head towards me, before nodding at Signe and her son, “But I was struggling with holding the Tupperware and him, and when Sig-nee offered to hold him instead, he practically jumped in her arms.” Salma smiled at me, another secretive look I couldn’t quite understand flicking over her features.

“Ah,” I nodded as if the pieces of the puzzle were all coming together, “He’s wrapping her around his sticky little fingers.” I tilted my head down towards Salma as if we were both observing this interaction in privacy instead of a foot away from Signe.

“Yes, he is,” Signe crossed her eyes at Zeki, making him giggle as he put both of his hands on her cheeks to squish them together. Signe wasn’t fazed by his touch, instead, she just laughed and uncrossed her eyes, squeezing him to her body as they both laughed at their silliness.

Zeki then grabbed a fistful of her shirt, accidentally tugging it down as he bounced happily in her arms while shouting, “Again!”

Signe quickly captured his hand and released his grip on her shirt, keeping her cleavage properly concealed for the workplace as she crossed her eyes at him again. I found my heart rate increased the slightest bit at the creamy skin my nephew almost revealed.

Don’t obsess over a half second of the accidentally exposed cleavage, jackass.

I quickly glanced down at Salma, who gave me a suspicious look as she spoke up again, “Can I chat with you about something really quick? Are you busy?”

I was always busy, but I found myself much more agreeable in Signe’s presence, so I nodded.

“Want to go see what snacks we can find in the break room?” Signe asked Zeki with a wiggle of her eyebrows. He nodded enthusiastically, so Signe lifted her head to address his mother, “Is there anything I shouldn’t offer him?”

“Oh,” Salma tilted her head, “Do you have anything back there not safe for kids?”

Signe explained, “I wasn’t sure if there were any dietary restrictions he has, I didn’t want to accidentally offer him something you wouldn’t normally.”

Salma and I both regarded Signe for a moment, touched at Signe’s consideration. It made something in my chest ache.

Our family wasn’t practicing Muslims and didn’t uphold traditional practices like Halal. We weren’t strict with religion beyond celebrating the holidays and weddings with our extended family who were. The fact that my mother married a non-Muslim, Italian man like my father, meant that we were raised less traditionally than our great-grandparents would have probably preferred.

The only thing that stuck with us from our Arabic heritage was our lack of interest in alcohol or pork, but our parents always made us feel safe to make those choices for ourselves.

“We don’t eat pork, but I doubt any of the chips or cookies in the break room have that in them,” Salma smiled as she studied Signe.

“I’ll read the ingredients first anyway,” Signe smiled and adjusted Zeki on her hip before turning around to leave, “Let’s see who all we can say hi to on our way there.”

Zeki giggled as they walked off and out of sight.

Salma closed the door behind them and followed me to my desk, before making herself comfortable in one of the seats that faced me.

“So…that’s Sig-nee,” Salma whispered, resting her hands on the edge of my desk as if we were planning something, “And I think I’m warming up to her.”

I chuckled, shaking my head at her, and turned towards my desktop, “Is that what you wanted to talk about?” I asked, not reading any of the words on my screen.

“I really was just dropping off leftovers for you, but after meeting the woman who is actively writing fanfic about you, yes, I want to talk about Sig-nee.”

“It’s Signe.”

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