Noah's Starship Ch. 16

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We found a nice restaurant inside the resort and Navid asked the hostess for a private booth. She said they were pretty busy, but she had a small one left for us.

She led us through the restaurant to this long row of tables broken up by a foot of space between each. On one side of each table was a long, padded bench running along the wall. The other side had chairs. I don't like that setup, but the place was packed. There must have been a convention at the resort. A lot of single adults in business casual dress filled the place.

Our table was surrounded on two sides by an L in the padded bench. Navid slid into one side and I was to his left on the end. It was like I was at the head of a very long table.

Our neighboring diners were four men who looked similar to Navid. They were dressed in button-up shirts and slacks. They had those disposable lanyards on with their names and titles. I tried to read them without staring.

"Salaam," one of them said to Navid with a nod. He didn't respond right away.

"That means hello in Arabic!" I said with a smile. I'd read that when I looked up information on the language. The man nodded towards me and returned my cheer.

"Yes, hello," Navid said. He put his hand on my thigh protectively under the table as though the men would jump on me and take me from him. I looked up to see his forced smile that said he wasn't happy with this situation. He didn't like me engaging strangers. In his tradition, only the "stronger one" engaged strangers. He also wanted our privacy, especially away from people of his home culture who might judge us.

Navid made polite conversation with the group in their language. He knows enough Arabic to function when he needs to and enough French to get me hard. I loved listening to him go on in a foreign language. I wish I understood some of it.

A waiter came and gave them their check. He turned to our table then and Navid ordered for both of us. I was surprised that he picked the exact thing I was looking at on the menu. The men handed the waiter their check and left shortly after.

"They seemed nice," I said when the group had gone.

"There is energy conference for their company. They are workers from Northern California," he noted. We finished our dinner quietly, the rush had died down so no one came to fill the table.

The next morning we slept in late and had room service brunch. We walked down the beach and into the little village. Navid said we needed to buy gifts to send to Iran.

"Is it a holiday?" I asked.

"No, Noah. There is wedding coming soon for my close cousin and two birthdays for my brothers. Also my father will have birthday next month. I send gifts to excuse my absence," Navid said.

"You wish you could be there?" I asked.

"I would want you with me... This would be difficult. Also I finish my degree so there is always possibility I could not return to here, to you. I cannot take the chance. People sometimes get stuck in Iran as way to control the people. We cannot afford for all the educated people to move away. They call this brain drain... But yes... I wish to be there for these things. They are my family," Navid said as we walked past the tourist shops.

"I'm sorry. I wish we could move there and be together with your family. I could live with you and your parents! Maybe I could learn Farsi since you never want to teach me." I said as Navid opened the door to a jewelry store off the main square.

"You are American. You can just visit Iran, not move. Plus you need a loyal Iranian to be with you at all times in my country. It's the law for tourists from USA," Navid said.

"I'd be with you. You never let me out of your sight here. Why would there be any different?" I laughed.

"Is not so simple, and your father is here. You think he will let me kidnap his only child to other side of world? He mentioned to me a few months ago that he was not comfortable with you going to Iran. I don't know why he thinks I would take you there... You think he will be ok with you move there?" Navid tried to sound like he was making a joke, but a deep sadness rang through his laugh.

"No... I don't know." I had no answers, but a salesman interrupted us with a pushy offer of assistance.

"Yes! Good morning. We need a few items for celebrations. Best quality items... two watches for young businessmen first, please... then necklace for a wedding... something we cannot find commonly in Los Angeles. Gold is best," Navid said to him in a tone of superiority.

"Oh! Right this way, sir!" the salesman straightened up. He led us past the counters, where a couple of tourists were haggling over a small chain, back to a small lounge area.

"Please! Relax here while I bring out a few selections!" The man waved his hand towards a leather couch with a large, low coffee table in front of it.

"I think he's going to try and sell you the whole store," I whispered to Navid as the man rushed away.

"He better. We don't dress so nicely for no reason. He takes us seriously," Navid said. We had on new clothes Navid had packed for us. I wondered why he hadn't packed any of the simple t-shirts and shorts I normally wore. We looked like Beverly Hills beach-goers.

The salesman came back with a helper carrying trays. They laid out nice watches while Navid tried them on and looked somewhat displeased. He was a negotiator. I usually played on my phone while he did this. I was raised that the price is the price, but Navid took pleasure in getting a better price for things. I was amazed when he ended up with two watches at a substantial discount.

They moved on to the necklace and the scene repeated until they threw in some nice earrings. Everything was nicely wrapped in small boxes with beautiful ribbon. Navid looked confident and happy as he took the bag and nudged me towards the door. We wandered the little village and looked in a few more shops.

"How will you get them to Iran?" I asked as we looked through a souvenir store.

"I have contact in Turkey. We send this to him and he takes to my family's home. Like a private UPS," Navid laughed.

"Couldn't you get in trouble for that? It sounds illegal," I asked.

"No, Noah. Nothing illegal... The authorities do not care for this. He is respectable traveler who does frequent business between Turkey and Iran so he goes unnoticed. We never send bad things, just family items," Navid said.

We were in a souvenir shop with standard California junk, but there was a table and glass case of handmade items near the cash register where an older lady with colorful clothes was folding t-shirts.

"Oh your mom would love this!" I said when my eyes fell on a pin inside the glass case. It was a small golden brooch in the shape of palm trees. The palm fronds were little emeralds. It could hold her scarf together. It wasn't expensive, but it was handmade by the store and I knew she would love it.

"Let's get for her! Anything you want. I can send with these items. She will like gift from you," Navid beamed at the thought of creating more goodwill between us.

The clerk saw us talking about it and came over to take it out. It felt solid, not cheap. It had a little tag that said it was $20.

"It's beautiful!" I said to the clerk and she nodded with that carefree beach vendor vibe.

"Thank you! I only made five of them. This was the last one," she noted with an artist's pride.

"Oh it's perfect! His mom wears scarves and she will love this," I said.

"It has a sturdy clasp. The vendor shut down last month so I can't make anymore until I find as good of quality," she said and turned the pin over so I could see the quality.

"What is best price on it?" Navid interrupted instinctively.

"Um, it's... 20 dollars," She said awkwardly and pointed to the price tag that dangled from it.

"Navid!" I whispered and tugged at his shirt, but he pressed on. He was making this about the price. It hit me the wrong way. We weren't in a high end shop with overpriced goods. The lady looked offended.

"Can you do $15?" Navid asked.

"No! Please... stop. I have money," I said. I pulled out my wallet and extended the spending cash Navid puts in there. I didn't want to insult her further.

"Noah, I have the cash. You do not need pay," Navid said and pushed my money back. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a twenty. "Twenty dollars is ok... Tax is included, yes?"

"Uh... no... well... sure... it's fine," she said with a raised eyebrow of suspicion and turned to ring it up. She handed me my change and then wrapped it in tissue paper and put it inside a tiny gift bag with her artist's logo on it. She handed it to Navid who put it in my hand with a look of pride like he'd just won something.

I felt my pulse racing and had to get out of there. I thanked the lady and quickly left.

"I didn't want to do that! I had the money to pay for it without trying to talk her down. You can't do that everywhere," I fumed when we walked out of the store. I started walking quickly away from the scene of embarrassment.

"Why you don't want me to get better price?" Navid asked as he caught up to me.

"Because... I don't do that. It feels weird... I didn't grow up like that. We don't do that stuff here. This isn't Iran," I said. I looked away from him.

"But is good to negotiate things. We get good deal at jewelry store! They expect these things when is not big store, Noah. My mother will be proud if she knows you get good bargain for gift," Navid said. He stopped me outside a coffee shop and turned me towards him.

"I don't like that though... I want to buy something and have a nice experience, and... be nice to the clerk, and... everyone's happy, and we feel good about it. She made that and put work into it. It's her art... and you made her discount it. You made her cheapen it," I said angrily.

"But is good to bargain! You win! Is better to get good deal," Navid said, not understanding.

"I didn't want to win. I wanted to get something nice for your mom without having to fight for it. Not everything has to be a contest. We made her feel bad about her craft. It was embarrassing. You hurt her feelings and made me look like a rude person," I said with anger in my voice. I didn't want to yell, but I was upset about the encounter. It was awkward and I felt like we stole something.

"Oh..." Navid sounded ashamed as though he suddenly understood, but we walked on in silence.

"We eat here," Navid said softly and put his hand to my side to guide me into a cafe. We got a table and sat quietly, pretending to study the menu. We did talk when the waiter came, but only to him.

We were at a secluded table in the corner of the cafe. There were people at the tables around us, but there was a guy singing and playing guitar to drown out any noise... or silence.

"I embarrass you, Noah. What else does strange, Persian boyfriend do that embarrass you?" he asked as he took a bite of salad.

His tone was angry, sarcastic. I wasn't used to hearing him like that. The venom in his voice, it scared me. He was always so loving. If I did something to offend him he usually explained it sweetly and we made up quickly.

"You're mad at me?" I stated the obvious. I was mad at him too.

"I don't want to be," he said with a softer voice.

"That's..." I started to say something, but I got choked up. I felt my eyes tearing up, and I just looked at him and sniffled them back. He looked angry, but he softened his eyes when I met them. I set down the fork and reached into my pocket for my wallet.

"I need... to be alone." I took the money from my wallet and set it on the table. It was more than enough to cover the salads and water.

"Where you will go!?" Navid asked a little too loudly as I got up and started to leave. I didn't want to make things worse or have an argument in the cafe.

"Noah!" he called as I walked away.

I didn't run, I wasn't trying to escape, but I walked out of there and down the street as I heard him catching up to me.

"Noah!" he said as he caught up to me. He came in front of me and put his hand to my chest.

"Noah, you can't just walk from these things like a child! You are being selfish to just leave me like this and not eat your lunch!" Navid spoke with a flash of anger.

"You embarrass me once and you get upset about it! But you're embarrassed of ME all the time! You act like we're just friends or I'm just some white boy who tags along. You even told your parents that I was some lost orphan who needed your help! I'm just supposed to accept it! I'm supposed to be ok with it! I'm supposed to be the stronger one, right?" I said and felt the tears running down my cheek.

"You claim to be some big, strong man! But I'm the one who has to be tough and put aside his feelings so I don't embarrass you! Every single day you're ashamed of me, but you get offended when I ask one thing of you," I finished. I was gushing and ugly crying at that.

He looked stunned, speechless. I shoved his chest to move him out of my way. I pushed past him and walked down a side street that looked like it headed in the direction of our hotel. I just wanted to get back there and find a place to sit and think. I didn't want to be around him right now.

I made it to the end of the block and saw the ocean to my right. There were people down by the beach, but the trail to the hotel was deserted. He caught up to me again red-faced and breathing heavily.

"Noah, stop please!!" Navid yelled.

I stopped and turned to him, wiping my face with my sleeve.

"You think I embarrassed for you! How you can ever think this? Please don't cry, it is knife to my heart to see your tears, my precious prince," Navid begged. He balanced the bag of gifts in one hand and used the other to lift my chin to look at him.

"Please, I do anything for you stop crying. Come sit for me here?" Navid pointed to a bench in a little alcove off the trail that overlooked a cliff-drop down to the sand. I sat down and wiped my face with the sleeves of my shirt.

"Noah... I never am embarrass for you," Navid said as he squatted down in front of me and put his hands on my thighs. I knew he was conscientious of people seeing us like this, but he needed to touch me.

The little town we had just walked through had a half-dozen rainbow flags and there was a good amount of gay and lesbian couples walking the streets, but he didn't take note of that.

"Everyone I care about who meets you know you are too good for me. My father even say you should not put up with me!" Navid laughed as I sniffled a half smile.

"Just last night though. You got embarrassed and tense to be with me in front of those strangers. We're supposed to be here celebrating our first year together... our love," I said.

"Is not for you! Is embarrass of myself that I care too much what they think. Is never for your fault. My baby, never think this!" Navid was squatted between my legs and laid his head on my thigh. He didn't care who was watching. He wanted to comfort me, comfort himself with my touch.

"You can't let other people shape how you live your life... I'm pretty sure you told me that as advice! Besides, this is California, gays run this place! If anyone said anything rude to us in LA there would be ten angry strangers taking up for us and shaming them. Even my father would jump in," I laughed.

"You will forgive me?" Navid asked humbly and kissed my knee. He widened his eyes and batted those long, black lashes sheepishly.

"If you forgive me... I'm never embarrassed of you. I just... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings at the store. I just wanted to feel good about getting something for your mother. She's so warm and sweet to me... I wanted to get her something nice to say thank you," I said.

"You did, my love. She will wear it so pretty," Navid assured and scraped his beard back and forth against my knee. I pushed his dark, fluffy hair back.

"You're so handsome," I whispered.

"I am hot? I am irresistible sex machine for you?," Navid nodded sheepishly.

I laughed, nodded, leaned down, and his lips raised to meet mine.

"We had a fight. We never fight," I said.

"I hate it. Make my stomach twist in a knot to see you upset and feel upset to you," Navid shook his head. "Is not possible to fight with prince who holds my heart."

"Well we can makeup if you want... maybe have some sex," I said with the sudden realization that I needed to be naked with him to feel back to normal.

"We can go back to hotel now and have make-better sex?" Navid asked with eager lips.

"Always," I laughed. He got to his feet and took my hand. He carried the bag in one hand and held mine with the other. We headed back to the hotel to finish our weekend.

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We were almost home when my cousin called which was odd since she hadn't called me in years and I hadn't seen her since the last time my dad took me to my aunt's house for dinner. We were just getting back into the city when I answered.

"Noah! Oh thank God! I need your help," she said with panicked breath. I thought someone must have died, but she told me she had a bridal shower in LA and my aunt was supposed to watch her son. An emergency had come up and her trusted friends were going to the shower too so she had no one to sit with Dylan for the night. We didn't know where his father was.

I put her on mute to ask Navid what he thought.

"She is family, Noah! You never get the chance to help. How can we say no? Tell her of course we help!" he insisted. We didn't have plans so I told her sure.

I don't know why she asked me. Dylan was three and I usually entertained him when we visited, but it wasn't like we saw each other regularly. She must have been desperate for help. She had always been nice to me and was happy for me when I had told her I was dating Navid.

I was glad that I left the house clean. Everything looked ok when we got home, but I still rushed around to straighten up. She showed up thirty minutes later and deposited the shy boy on our couch with a bag of toys and clothes.

"Thank you guys so much! You are a lifesaver! What a beautiful place! Oh Noah he's very handsome!" She said and made flirty eyes at Navid.

"If there's any problem at all just call me and I'll come rushing back. He's a good sleeper and he'll eat whatever you make for dinner. I promise he won't be any trouble," she said. I turned to Dylan who looked around with apprehension.

"He will be fine! We'll take care of him. I'll make something special for dinner!" I put on a brave smile. Navid had younger siblings, but there were women to take care of them. He hadn't been solely responsible for them.

She went through a quick list of information with us and then gave Dylan a hug and told him she would see him tomorrow.

"Tomorrow?" I asked not realizing it was an overnight event.

"No, tonight! It's just that he will be asleep by the time I come to pick him up tonight! If I tell him tonight then he won't go to sleep and he'll be cranky when I get here... I'm already late for the first event! Lunch in Beverly Hills! Thank you! Be good, Dylan!" She yelled and ran off to catch her friends.

"Is there a game you like?" Navid said to Dylan, but the boy turned his head to me and stretched out his arms.

"He's really shy," I offered and went to give Dylan a hug and see what toys his mother had sent in the big bag.

Navid just shrugged. He had some business emails to catch up on so he sat at the table on his laptop while I helped Dylan unpack a box of Legos on the floor. I put on a cartoon channel and helped him build a stack of the plastic blocks.

When Navid finished his work, I asked him to sit with Dylan while I went to make lunch. He reluctantly sat on the carpet while I headed off to the kitchen. I found a box of macaroni in the pantry and made some turkey meatballs to go with it. It seemed kid friendly.