Days passed. She needed to call him. She needed to find out one way or another if he still cared about her, if he still wanted her. She made lists of all of the things she just needed to finish before she gave Asra a call. Clean the litter box. Update her Christmas card list. Take her winter coat to the dry cleaners. They were urgent things. If she finished her list, she would definitely call Asra. Immediately.

She knew for certain she still had very strong feelings for him. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her. The man made his own chocolate. Few could seriously compete with that. She just needed to pick up the phone. She needed to call him and find out if they still had a chance.

At work she told Annah about it. “What do you have to lose?” she said. “So he says no, it means you stay where you are. If he says yes then, imagine how wonderful that would be.”

Annah was right, sensible, sensible Annah so unlike her. She had nothing to lose, nothing at all. She decided there and then before she lost her nerve again to contact him. She wrote him an email, a bit cowardly, but it was the best she could manage.

Dear Asra,

I hope you’ve had a lovely summer. You told me to contact you once I was over Will. Well I’ve spent the summer working at just that and I think I can honestly say I am finally over Will and ready to move on with my life. I have a feeling I might be too late, I’m sure you’ve moved on with your life. But I thought maybe, just in case you hadn’t, I’d let you know.

Yours

Kendra.

She pressed send before she could talk herself out of it and waited. Some minutes passed. Then an hour. Another. There was no answer that day. And then another, and by the weekend she hadn’t heard anything at all. By Monday she had accepted the inevitable. She’d taken too long and Asra was gone. She needed to move on.

She sat down at her desk, took a sip of her coffee while watching her computer boot. “Anything come over the weekend?” Annah asked from the tea corner.

“Nope,” Kendra said.

She clicked her email and watched her inbox fill up with messages from Facebook, her daily horoscope, an advert for Viagra, and then… an email from Asra! Her hand shook on the mouse as she clicked on the email. She felt sick to her stomach. She wasn’t sure she was ready to read it but she sucked it up and read.

Dear Kendra

You can’t know how happy I was to receive your email. I’m so pleased you’re ready to start again. I suggest we begin where we started, in Egypt. Can you meet me in Cairo the first week of September? If you can get two weeks off, I’d like to show you my Egypt.

Love

Asra

Kendra shot up from her desk and looked at her computer as if it was on fire.

“”What is it?” Annah asked alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

Kendra smiled. “Nothing’s wrong, everything is right, absolutely incredibly right! I’m meeting Asra in Egypt! We’re going to start all over again.”