Page 145 of My Only

“I wonder…”

I took long strides toward the kitchen next, going straight to our coffee bar.

Despite hating the D-Slam sculpture, I had left it exactly where Hassani put it.

I figured… he loves it, so I can learn to love it, too.

With my camera in hand, I took a few steps back, angling the lens toward the melting coffee cup sculpture.

I positioned it just right, letting the soft skylight glow cascade over the surface, then…

Click.

I peeked down at the LCD screen.

Cringed.

Then snorted a laugh.

“Nope,” I said under my breath, shaking my head. “You are still ugly as fuck, chile. Damn.”

That snort turned into a full-blown laugh.

I immediately turned the camera on myself, holding it out at an angle…

Click.

It had been too long since I had taken a picture of me.

When my face appeared on the LCD screen, all I could do was exhale in amazement.

There was nothing glamorous about me that day.

No makeup. My headscarf still wrapped around my hair.

Just a tee and shorts.

But I looked…

Beautiful.

Not because of what I had on or didn’t have on.

I looked beautiful… because I looked happy.

I lowered the camera and held it close to my heart.

“Reunited, and it feels so good,” I said tenderly, smiling.

Then I turned on the arches of my feet and sprinted toward the bedroom.

I had to tell Hassani.

I had to call him.

I had found my camera.

The skylights—the ones I told him his sketch of the house needed when we were teenagers—were absolutely perfect for it.

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