The Longest Night
One week later
The street lights were already on. The cold December air hit Maya's face the second she was outside.
She pushed through her building's front door. Phone in hand. Running late.
"Maya."
She looked up. Froze.
Shayan. Standing on the sidewalk. In a long peacoat. Collar up against the cold.
He took a step towards her. His eyes dropped. Her heels. The dress under her coat. Back to her face.
He blinked. "You look beautiful."
"Sean."
He flinched. "I'm back to Sean now?"
"I meant Shayan." She gripped her phone. "It's just...I haven't seen you in a while."
"I know." He walked up to her. Slowly.
She put up her hand. "I have to go."
"Wait." He stepped in front of her. "Please."
Someone pushed through the door behind her. They stepped aside.
"Seriously? After you ghosted." She met his eyes. "After everything. You just disappeared."
"I know."
"Stop saying 'I know.'" Maya's voice was sharp now. "Why are you here?"
"I know you heard. About my job."
She shifted her weight on her heels. Nodded.
"I've been trying to figure it out." He paused. "Every time I think about what's next, it starts with you."
Their breath was visible between them.
She looked away.
"I have to go out of town. To help a friend. But when I get back—"
"You know what's funny? I thought we knew what was next." She turned to him. "We had a plan. We wrote it together. Months ago."
He didn't move. "You're right."
"But we were just playing pretend, right? It was just a fantasy."
"No," he almost reached for her. "It was never a fantasy."
"You called it one. 'A freedom tech fantasy.' That's exactly what you called it." She pointed down the street. "Right there."
He winced.
"Everything we planned. Everything we were working towards." Maya pulled her coat tighter. "Like none of it was real."
A couple holding hands walked past them. They waited.
"It was always real. I just..." He took a deep breath. "I couldn't see myself leaving. But I could always see it working. I could always see you in it."
Maya looked away from him again. "NextBlock can't work unless you leave. You were always supposed to leave."
"When I was ready." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. I don't have anything to leave."
"Right. Free agent. Not my business partner." She crossed her arms.
"Maya."
Her phone buzzed in her hand. She ignored it. "I really have to go. I'm already late."
She turned. Started walking.
"Please."
She stopped. Kept her back to him.
He took one step closer.
"Asking me to quit wasn't another condition. I apologize for saying that."
She didn't move.
"You were trying to give me something I couldn't even want for myself."
She looked at the ground.
"And I got angry at you." He swallowed. "Because it was easier than admitting you were right."
Her head tilted.
"I'm sorry, Maya. I'm so sorry. If I could go back and quit I would."
"You can't. You made your choice then. Everyone knows—"
"I don't care what anyone thinks. I didn't care what anyone thought when I met a girl in Vegas. The smartest person I'd ever met. Who asked me to build her idea with her. Who would only date me if I first started a company with her."
She rolled her eyes. Still didn't move.
He exhaled.
"I chose you a long time ago." Shayan's voice steadied. "I thought you knew that. So when you questioned it...Maya, it hurt."
She closed her eyes. Turned around.
"But I've been patient. I've been happy to wait. So please, go do what you need to do tonight. Go on a date if that's where you're going."
She started to smile. Stopped herself.
"But we also get a turn."
She finally met his eyes.
"I want you to celebrate the winter solstice with me. Yalda. The longest night of the year." His eyes locked on hers.
Maya stood there. The cold on her face had turned her cheeks red.
Her phone buzzed again.
"Come to my place. December 21st. I'll cook."
"The 21st?" She raised an eyebrow. "Why not just wait until New Year's?"
"My boss. Old boss. He's moving his family to Colorado. I'm driving their second car out for them."
"Oh."
"I'll be gone for a while. But I had to try to see you. Before I leave tomorrow."
She just stood there. Looking at him.
He smiled. "I'll let you go."
She shook her head slowly. Then smiled.
He stepped back. Gave her room.
Maya turned and started walking away. Her heels clicked against the sidewalk. Without looking back, she raised her hand. "Bye, Shayan."
He watched her until she turned the corner. Exhaled.
12 minutes later
Maya rushed inside the restaurant. Gave her coat to L'Ardente's hostess. Found their candlelit table. The waiter pulled out her chair and she sat.
"I'm so sorry I'm late."
"It's okay. Sorry for all the texts. I ordered for us." Leyla looked her up and down. "Damn girl. You look great."
"Yeah." Maya ran her hands over her dress. "That's what Shayan said too."
Leyla dropped her bread.
Maya let out a sigh. "He was waiting outside my building. He came to apologize."
"Exactly what was his excuse for disappearing for so long?"
"I dunno. He said a lot of things. He's going out of town." Maya rubbed her fingers against her temples. "I can't believe that just happened."
"And when you looked this hot!"
They both laughed. Louder than they meant to.
"So where is he going?" Leyla broke off a piece of bread.
"It sounded like a road trip. To help his boss' family move. Well, old boss."
"Fuck. That's depressing."
Their waitress arrived with their drinks.
"He seemed ok," Maya sipped her martini. "Actually, he thought I was going on a date."
"How do you know?"
"Well," Maya adjusted the napkin in her lap, "Shayan said to go on this date, but he wants to take me on one when he's back."
Leyla put down her drink. "Hold on. Hold on. What are we talking about here? You'll date him now?"
"I don't know. He tried to trick me into it." Maya's eyes narrowed. "I didn't say yes. Dude ghosted for weeks."
"I know."
"We're supposed to build a company together, Leyla. I have money moving on this."
Leyla sipped her drink.
"Such a guy move to just fucking check out." Maya popped her martini's olive in her mouth. "How can he when we're this committed?"
Leyla gave her a look.
"What?" She stopped chewing.
"Babe."
"What?"
"Can we not pretend you don't want to date this man? This man you say you're already so committed to."
Maya reached again for her martini.
"Be for real." Leyla continued. "You guys are making this more complicated than it needs to be."
She shook her head. "No, that was him. He acted like I was the enemy. When I was trying to save his dignity."
Leyla scrunched her nose. "I think he just needed to cool down. It sounded like an intense fight. Couples fight."
The waitress came with the food. Cacio e pepe. The lasagna Maya read eight reviews about. A caesar salad.
Maya twirled her fork into the pasta. "He's so smart Leyla. He thinks about everything. And he cares about doing it right. He doesn't cut corners. Or rush."
"Mmhmm." Leyla ran her finger along the rim of her glass.
"What?"
"Nothing. Keep going."
Maya slid down her seat. "No. I'm done."
Leyla tilted her head. "Can I ask a question?"
Maya nodded.
"You were so hung up on him after Vegas."
Maya sucked her teeth. "Liking him was never the problem."
"Then what is the problem?"
Maya looked at her plate. "You don't understand my career. What I've dealt with." She pushed her pasta around. "And what I went through with my first start-up."
Leyla sat back in her chair. Swirled her wine. Let her talk.
"I finally had an idea. The best idea I've ever had. And then he shows up. Makes it better. And then half of my idea was his."
A fork clinked against a plate somewhere behind them.
"It was like a partner fell into my lap."
Leyla raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. That's exactly what happened."
Maya kept going. "If we didn't click after a while, the business could maybe still work. But if we dated first..."
"If something went wrong, a fight could stop everything?"
"It was all working." Maya sighed. "Until I said something."
"Yeah, cause you got impatient."
"Fuck." Maya covered her face with her hands. "I really like him."
"You don't say!"
"I know he likes me." Maya was pouting.
"Girl." Leyla stared at her. "Everyone knows he likes you."
"But does he? Yeah, he wants to date me. Getting a guy's attention isn't hard. At first. But keeping it after—"
Leyla cut her off. "After he sees how much attention you actually need?"
"Well yeah. Cause I'm fucking interesting. And curious. And I have big dreams." She picked up her glass. "I see the world the way I see the world."
"Damn straight!"
"And until him, I hadn't met anyone who could keep up with me." She snapped her fingers. "He wasn't missing a beat."
"Until he did." Leyla sipped her wine. "Is he allowed to make one mistake?"
Maya sat back. Took a deep breath.
Her eyes drifted to a couple three tables away. Holding hands. "I just don't understand how he could be with me like that. Almost every day. And then just walk away."
"So what did he say?"
"About what?" Maya looked back at Leyla.
"What was his defense?"
"Oh, yes counselor." Maya sat up. Cleared her throat. "He said that I was trying to give him something he couldn't even want for himself. That he couldn't picture himself leaving."
"Well." Leyla reached for the lasagna. "The universe took care of that for you."
"But it wasn't his choice." Maya stared at her plate. "When I said that to him, he said he chose me a long time ago."
Leyla grabbed the table. "Are you kidding me?"
Maya rolled her eyes. "You're too easy. This is all easy for him to say now."
Leyla looked at her. "Shayan is an honest guy. He's a good guy."
"Yeah. I thought so too."
"And I loved working with him at the charity." Leyla set down her fork. "He's stepped back from that. For you. Did you know that?"
Maya looked up from her plate. "He did?"
"The Fall is usually our busiest time. He passed off his duties to someone else back in September."
"We don't know that was for me."
"Girl. Don't we usually ditch everyone and everything when we meet someone we like?"
Maya grinned. "Cough cough. Salma."
"Oh my god." Leyla threw her head back. "What is going on with them? I haven't seen her in weeks."
"I mean, it sucks that she's gone all the time. But I'm happy for her." Maya took another sip of her martini. "Gabriel is great. He actually really believes in NextBlock. Him and Shayan get along."
Leyla slumped in her seat. "Well damn. I'm about to be the last single person in this crew."
"I'm still here with you."
"Please. Shayan took you off the market the day I pulled him into the cafe to—" She made air quotes, "'meet' you."
Maya half-smiled. Looked down.
"Honey. You could've given him more time. You were kinda pressuring him." Leyla pointed her fork at Maya. "An ultimatum was never gonna work on a man."
Maya picked at the pasta. "It just slipped out."
"And somehow you're still getting what you wanted. He's yours now. Full time. If you want him." Leyla picked up her glass. "So when's the date?"
Maya straightened herself in her seat. "He invited me to his place. I've never been."
"This whole time?" Leyla side-eyed her. "You've never gone over? Aren't you dying to snoop?"
Maya shrugged. "It's just felt safer at mine. Usually Salma is there so nothing can happen."
"Oh." Leyla planted her elbows on the table. "So something's finally gonna happen?"
"I don't know." Maya sighed. "We either have to figure this out, or burn it all down. Right?"
"Girl. Why does this have to be so do or die! Let it breathe."
"Well, I have no choice. He's giving it two more weeks to breathe. He wants to have it on the winter solstice. Cook for me."
Leyla put her glass down. "You mean for Yalda?"
Maya nodded. "I think so?"
Leyla bit her bottom lip.
"What's Yalda?"
"The longest night of the year." Leyla winked.
"Oh god." Maya groaned. "Girl."
They both lost it.
The waitress cleared their plates. "That was so good." Maya patted her stomach. "Who needs a man when my girl takes me to places like this?"
"Right? I've been wanting to try it for months." Leyla looked around. "We're coming back."
"Okay. Wait." Maya caught her breath. "Where's the fire. Why were you blowing up my phone?"
Leyla looked around slowly. Then back at Maya. "I'm going to tell you something and you need to chill."
Maya leaned in. "What is it! Who's here?"
"Don't move. You'll bring attention to our table."
"Tell me!"
"Okay." Leyla took a deep breath. "It's Nima. He's over there, in that last booth. On a date."
Maya turned her head slowly.
"See him?"
"Yeah." Maya spotted him. Turned back to her. "But I'm okay. This isn't awkward."
"No. I haven't told you it yet."
Maya stared at Leyla. "I'm on the edge of my seat babe."
"We matched a few weeks ago."
Maya's eyes widened. Mouth dropped.
Leyla put up her hand. "Nothing's happened."
She craned to peek at him.
"Since when? YOU swiped on him." Maya snatched Leyla's phone off the table. "On purpose?"
"Fine. But don't read the messages." Leyla started biting her nails.
Maya scrolled through. "He is pretty handsome."
Maya turned back to look at Nima. "Well. We do know you're not the only girl he's messaging on there."
"The date isn't going well." Leyla blocked her face with her drink. "I don't want him to see me."
"So what's in the messages?" Maya handed the phone back to her. "Has he asked you out?"
"No." Leyla looked down. "We've just talked about how he can't ask me out."
"And why can't he?"
"I just thought this would make things more complicated for you. We matched like a day before your fight."
"Oh." Maya tapped the table with her fingernails. "But since when did you like Nima? Leyla, he hates me."
"That's not true."
"Why can't I see the messages then? Did he say anything about me?"
"Just that he's rooting for you guys to figure it out. We both are. Obviously. So we can—"
"We? Ya'll a 'we' now? What is going on tonight!" Maya finished her martini. "Where are our drinks? I need another one to process this."
"I'm not doing anything." Leyla waved down their server. "Sort out your shit with Shayan. Nima hasn't even asked for my number. Or added me on IG."
"I guess these guys both know how to be patient." Maya finished her plate.
"Too bad we're not." Leyla laughed.
"But when did this start? At the festival? Or at your birthday? When else have you seen him?"
"Girl, I haven't. Relax." Leyla looked over at Nima. "I am interested. Now. We'll see. Let him have a few more bad dates until he gets to go out with me."
Their drinks came. Then the tiramisu, finished tableside.
They watched Nima's date end early. He left without spotting them.
Maya laughed with Leyla more than she had in three weeks.
Two weeks later
Maya checked her phone again in the elevator.
Looked at herself in the elevator mirror. She took off her coat. Straightened her dress.
The doors opened. Onions. Garlic. Spices.
She followed her nose to 810.
She could hear voices. Through the door. More than one.
She froze.
Looked down at her dress. Pressed her ear to the door.
The voices stopped.
Footsteps.
She stood back.
Maya pressed her hand to her chest. To quiet her heart.
The door opened.
She wasn't ready. He didn't care.
Their eyes met.
"Hi." Shayan was leaning against the doorframe. "You're here."
Maya took him in. His hand in his wet hair. The collar open. Sleeves rolled up. His forearms.
"I am." She pushed hair away from her face.
He stepped back. Reached for her coat. "You look beautiful."
She looked past him. Heard soft music. Saw no one else.
"I'm sorry." She stayed in the doorway. "I didn't realize other people were coming."
"Other people?"
He stared at her. Took her coat. Walked inside to hang it up.
She followed him in.
He started laughing. Turned around. "No. This is all for you."
He stepped aside. The apartment opened up in front of her.
Dark hardwood floors covered in rugs. Built-in shelves along the far wall with posters and plants everywhere. A Persian rug mounted on the wall like a painting, deep red and gold.
Pots hanging above his kitchen island. The smell was everywhere.
And his coffee table, low to the ground, surrounded by pillows. Set for two.
A spread with watermelon cut open in the center, pomegranates cracked in half, stuffed dates, pistachios, dried fruit. More than two people could eat.
Candles. Not just on the table. On the shelves. On the windowsill. The lights weren't on but the room was illuminated.
Shayan watched her discover his home. She touched things. Smelled them. Took her time.
So did he.
He walked over with two martinis. Handed her one. "Happy Yalda."
She took a sip. "Is this pomegranate?"
He nodded.
She looked back at the table. "This is just too much. How long did it take to set this all up?"
He waved her off. "Dinner will be ready soon."
She popped a date into her mouth. "You have a serious problem."
He pushed the pistachios closer to her. "I like feeding you."
She let her eyes meet his. For a moment. Then she looked at the TV. On but muted.
"Wait," Maya walked over. "Were you watching 'What We Do in the Shadows'?"
"Yeah, these were the party guests you overheard me talking to."
"Oh. Is this traditional Yalda viewing?" She took another sip of her drink.
"In this home. Yes." He grabbed the remote. "I love the Nandor episodes. You know he's an ancient Persian warrior. It's not that historically inaccurate."
Maya laughed. "Right. Except for the part that he's a vampire."
"That could be accurate. How do we really know?" He turned off the TV.
"So." She started pacing by his shelves. Inspecting his books. "How long have you been here? Did you build these?"
"Yeah. Took me a whole summer." He was standing by the kitchen island. Watching her.
Her fingers traced the edges of the shelves. The framed photos of family and friends. "How did you convince your landlord to let you do all this?"
"No landlord." He crossed his arms. Propped himself against the kitchen counter. "I bought this place. The end of 2020."
She turned around. "Wow. You bought during COVID?"
"Locked in right before the rates went up."
"Oh, so you're never moving."
He checked the stove. "I know I'm lucky." Turned back. "And I pay my mortgage in Bitcoin. It gets cheaper every year."
She set her drink on the shelf. "So really you could've quit even before I did."
He didn't say anything. Just looked at her.
She held his gaze.
"Maya." He started walking towards her.
She pressed her back to the wall. Looked down. "I've been so mad at you."
"I know." He was closer now.
"It didn't help that we weren't talking." She shook her head. "Or maybe it did."
He turned. Walked to his desk. "Can I show you something?"
She pushed herself off the wall. Followed him.
He pulled out the chair behind his desk for her.
She sat down. Accidentally pushed her feet too hard against the floor. Rolled away from him.
"Whoa," Shayan caught the chair. Pulled her back towards the desk. And him. "Don't run away from me yet."
He moved to open his laptop on the desk. Maya reached past his hand and closed it.
"Shayan," she spoke slowly. "I'm sorry I pushed you away. You were right. It was the first time you said no to me."
He froze. His hand came off the desk.
"From the beginning you've been game for whatever I threw at you. You supported my ideas that no one else even seems to understand. I was excited. To have a real partner."
Shayan didn't move. But the corner of his mouth curled.
"I actually think if you were with me when I was doing Responder, it would've worked."
He brought himself to the ground. Crossed his legs. Looked up at her. "I would have loved to work on that with you."
Maya tipped toward him. "We would've fixed 911 dispatch together."
"I bet we would've." He rocked back on his hands.
"I was so inspired. Working with you. I thought you wanted it as much as I did."
Shayan opened his mouth to speak.
Maya raised her hand to stop him. "It did feel like you were my muse. I was so motivated. We were getting so much done. Then I asked you to quit and you looked at me like I was insane."
He kept quiet. Waited.
"Suddenly it felt like I had imagined it all. And you had no intention to ever join me for real. Be with me in this. I didn't know if you were lying to me or yourself. But I questioned ever trusting you were committed."
He sat up. "I am very committed."
His eyes didn't move.
She looked down at him. "But to all of it? All of me?"
"Maya." He exhaled. "When did I ever ask for half of you?"
"You didn't but the way you choose to live—"
"Maya, you live that way too. You're in the capital of the fiat world. Like a ten minute walk from the literal money printers."
"Yeah but I'm trying to build a different future. For myself."
She was looking right at him.
"That world is built on systems that can take everything from us. I want to remove myself from as much of it as I can. I have Bitcoin. I discovered Nostr. I can build anything you can think of. But you were jumping back in."
He kept still.
"I'm constantly confused by how people think this'll all play out. My best friends even. And yours. Sit and complain about the mass layoffs, inflation, the never ending road to retirement. They have no plan."
He was nodding.
"These are people watching the same world unfold as me. And maybe a part of me had given up on them. But you. Not you."
Maya cleared her throat.
"Shayan. That day. Walking home. You suddenly became one of those people right in front of me."
He looked up. "Betrayed by your own muse."
She let out a small chuckle. "I'm not just building a startup. I'm building a life that no one can take from me."
Shayan pushed himself off the floor. Knelt before her.
"And this won't work if you don't want to live in the same world as me." She eased back in the chair.
He grabbed both arms of the chair. Pulled himself up to her eyes.
"I see everything you see, Maya. I do."
She breathed slowly.
"But I need you to be patient with me. I won't always be ready when you're ready. That doesn't mean I'm not coming."
The chair rocked them both in place.
"I will always be sorry that I got angry with you that day." His eyes stayed on hers. "We were both frustrated for me."
She looked down at her hands. "I was very frustrated for you."
"And maybe a little impatient."
"Maybe a little."
He let go of the chair. Was still kneeling. "Even though I don't think that was ghosting, I won't do that again."
"It wasn't?"
"Ghosting means you've reached out and there's no response." Shayan grinned.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Disappearing is tacky."
"Hey." He grabbed onto the desk to pull himself up. "I existed. Go see all my comments flying on the tickets in Notion."
Her eyes went to the laptop. "Shit. You're right, I turned those notifications off months ago."
"Nice. I was hoping you hadn't checked." He turned the screen to her.
"What is this?"
Shayan cleared his throat. "I think I figured out how we're going to launch. Actually, I know I figured it out."
"With Billboard?"
He shook his head. "Forget Billboard for a second. We launch the Block first."
"The Block?"
"Remember the city? Districts. Neighborhoods. The corner. The whole thing we drew." He nodded at the screen. "This is the block. Everyone gets one. Their own address on the internet. A photo taking up the whole screen. Their links. Everything in one place."
Maya pulled the laptop closer.
"And a Lightning address. So anyone can pay them. From anywhere. Whether or not they're signed up with us."
She was trying to keep up. "And this is how we launch?"
"Not everyone is going to care about getting paid to watch ads. Or even want Bitcoin. But most people online need a digital business card."
"You mean like LinkedIn?"
"No. Like Linktree. Like all these link-in-bio services that charge people to store just a couple links. But ours is free. And completely customizable."
She scrolled.
"We give this away. Every citizen gets one. They set up their Block, they're in line for Billboard early access. When we launch, the city already has people in it."
"How is this all already done?"
"Oh maybe because no one had to approve it." He smirked. "The idea hit me a few days after our fight. I was gonna try to prove to you I could do both."
Her eyes were jumping around the screen.
"Then I got fired and had even more free time." He half-sat on the edge of the desk. "So you were right. I see more clearly without the distraction of work."
She looked up at him. "And the distraction of me."
"No. You were very missed." He tapped the edge of the laptop. "Keep looking at it. I'm going to finish setting up dinner."
Later that night
They were on the floor. Across from each other. The table between them.
The tahdig was nearly gone. Golden, cracked open between them like a crown. Rice stained yellow with saffron beside fesenjan, a stew thick with pomegranate and crushed walnut. Most of it eaten.
Maya scraped the last piece off the plate.
Shayan was resting on his elbow. Watching her over his wine.
"This food is incredible." She kept chewing. "Why have you been holding out on me?"
He leaned back on his pillow. "I've been trying to get you to come over for months."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she looked around. Pretended to check her pockets. Patted herself down. "I must've lost the invitations."
Shayan leaned over. Refilled her wine. "You had to be ready first."
She took a sip. "All that takeout was a distraction. I could've been here, not having to share my food with Salma."
"Speaking of your friends..." He sat back. "Can we talk about Nima and Leyla?"
"Yes!" Maya sat up. "What the hell? Did you know?"
He put his hands up. "No. What do you even know?"
She narrowed her eyes. "What do you know?"
He laughed. "Just that they matched. And suddenly Nima was your biggest fan."
Maya put her hand on her chest. Mouthed me?
"He basically told me to get over myself and call you."
"Well then. Maybe I'm Nima's biggest fan now."
"Sorry. Leyla's about to take that spot."
"So you're in favor of this?"
"They are two consenting adults. Matching on a dating app."
"But is he a good guy?" She squinted at him. "Like what does he actually want?"
"My guess is... he's met a very interesting woman who he can't get out of his head. And he's ready to pursue it. You know, without any unnecessary drama clouding the courtship."
She tried to hide her smile behind her wine. Unsuccessfully.
"Well good for him then." She raised her glass. "To no unnecessary drama. For Leyla and Nima."
"For Leyla and Nima." His glass met hers.
They drank. The night pressed against the windows.
"So," she pushed food around her plate. "Are you going to tell me about your trip?"
"My trip?" He paused. "Oh. The drive to Colorado? It was great. Long."
"But you like driving."
"Yeah, when Luis asked for the favor, it felt like perfect timing. I could clear my head and get away from everything."
"Away from us."
"Maya, no." He shook his head. "Just from my old life. It's been a lot. And I wanted to be there for him. For his family."
"Why did they move so quickly?"
"There's nothing left for them here. Even if he got another job, who knows what's gonna happen the next four years. His family's out there. They'll figure it out."
He set his wine on the table. "The whole way there, I kept thinking how much control our jobs had over us. Just the return to office policy alone. He was only seeing his kids two hours a day."
"Miserable people who hate their families. Those are the only ones who want everyone back in the office."
"Exactly. He loves his family. I hope he gets to actually be with them now."
He stood up. Started clearing plates. Maya handed hers to him.
"I'm stuffed. I couldn't eat another thing."
He didn't listen. Came back with two small bowls and sat beside her.
"What's that?"
"Bastani. Saffron ice cream."
She looked at it. Pistachios. Cream. Yellow from the saffron.
"You're not serious." She took the bowl.
He took a bite of his. Closed his eyes for a moment. "Try it."
She did. "Oh my god."
"Right?"
She took another bite. Then another.
"Driving out there," he took a deep breath, "I kept thinking how lucky I was to have NextBlock just there for me to fall back on. All because of you."
"Not just me."
He looked down. "You know, I'm realizing there's this thing in my brain. That makes me feel like I need someone else to let me do these things."
"Do what?"
"Honestly. Anything. Everything. All this," he waved his hand, "It's tradition. Not my idea. My career path. Education. And even NextBlock, you decided we should do it."
"Yeah, but you agreed. None of it would've happened if you didn't decide it would."
"Maybe. It's just..." He turned his glass in his hands. "I just need to stop waiting for permission."
"Damn straight." She scraped the bowl.
"You made quitting look easy. But I needed permission. And it couldn't come from you."
"Yeah." Maya set her bowl down. "Nobody else can give you that."
"Right. Well." He nodded to himself. "Making the Block was good practice for me. Just taking an idea and seeing it through."
"You figured out something I wasn't even thinking about. And it shows off the freedom technology."
"Without anyone realizing what we're using." He smirked.
"It gives people something to use immediately when they join. I love it, Shayan So much."
He sat up. "And you checked it? It should all work, right? I couldn't see why we'd limit the text or links someone wants to show. And let them accept direct payments."
"We can do all of it. It's very cheap to hold that data." She sipped her wine. "There is no technical reason other companies can't let profile pages have more information. They just want to keep you in their app."
"Right." He picked up his glass. "Here's to exposing another dark pattern."
Their glasses clinked together. Softer this time.
The music was still playing. The candles had melted into pools. The light closer to the ground. Closer to them.
Maya looked at the rug on his wall. Ran her thumb along the edge of her glass.
"You know what I couldn't do while you were gone?"
"What?"
"Look at your drawings on my whiteboard."
He was quiet.
"I was so pissed at you. I couldn't work on NextBlock. I couldn't look at any of it." She pulled a pillow into her lap. "So I stopped."
"That's fair."
"I started looking back into my other research. About my family." She was looking at the rug again. "There's stuff my older cousins used to say about my grandmother. Things that never added up."
"Like what?"
"Like where we're actually from. What we actually are." She paused. "I'm Native, Shayan. My family. I found out we're Indigenous. The government reclassified people. Changed the records. Whole identities erased."
"What?"
"Yeah."
"When did you find this out?"
"A few weeks ago. I actually hired a genealogist. She pulled some records. It's all true."
"Maya." He set his glass on the floor. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. I'm more than okay. I'm angry. But I'm okay." She picked a pomegranate seed from the bowl between them. Then another.
"But how could they do this without your family realizing?"
She turned to face him. "The government literally changed what people were. Gave new identities to whole communities. If you were Native, suddenly you were Mulatto on paper. Then Black. Or white. Or just... nothing. And after enough generations, people forgot."
"But wait. What do you mean? You're not Black?"
She pulled the pillow tighter. "What even is Black? A box I've been told to check. It's not a place. It's not a language. It's just made up."
"Just like money," he said under his breath.
"Fiat identity." She almost chuckled.
He tilted his head at her.
She continued. "Now I'm finding out that maybe even my Cape Verdean side could have also originally been Native...there is just so much research I have to connect to figure it out."
He poured himself water. Didn't drink it. "I want to say I'm surprised but nothing surprises me in this country anymore."
"I found these channels online. People recording themselves reading discontinued books that expose this history. And I started organizing it all with AI. Feeding it everything. Videos, articles, old records. It pulls out the connections. Catalogues it."
Shayan smiled. "Of course you did."
"Like a book." She grinned. "I'm turning it into something my family can actually read. Something I can give to them. To prove something that sounds crazy."
"Proof of work."
"Exactly."
His fingers laced together in his lap. "They must be so proud of you."
"I haven't told anyone yet." She looked down. "About any of this. Not even Salma."
"Thank you for telling me."
"You know where you come from, Shayan." She looked around his apartment. The rugs. The food. The book on his coffee table she still couldn't read. "I'm still figuring that out."
Shayan reached for the pillow underneath her. Pulled it towards him.
She slid with it. Looked up.
He opened his arms.
She put her head against his chest.
His arms closed around her. Her hands found the back of his sweater. Held on.
They stayed like that. The candles still burning. The music still playing. The longest night still ahead of them.
Maya lifted her head. "Where's your bathroom?"
He stood and helped her up. Walked her down the hall.
He stopped at the door. "So. My toilet—"
She looked past him. "Is that a bidet?"
"It's a washlet. It's—"
"Oh my god." She pushed past him. "This is incredible."
"It's pretty intuitive. Just—"
The door closed in his face.
From inside, laughter.
He went to his kitchen. Started the kettle. Filled a small pot with loose leaf.
He reached for the high shelf. Two glass cups. Dropped a rock candy stick in each.
He walked back to the living room. Cleared the plates. Wiped down the table.
Then the book. He held it for a second longer than he needed to. Set it on the table between the cups.
Adjusted it. Then left it.
Maya opened the bathroom door. Shayan was in the kitchen.
She could see him from the hallway. Pouring from one pot into another.
He didn't know she was there. She let herself look.
When he looked up, he found her standing in the hallway.
"Hey."
"Hey."
She walked back in. Noticed the cleared table. "I wish you'd let me help clean up."
Shayan came around the kitchen island. Put his hand on her back. Walked her to the pillows.
"Sit."
"Again?"
"Again."
"So." He went back to the kitchen. "What do you know about Yalda?"
"Um. I know it's the winter solstice. After tonight the days get longer." She adjusted her pillow. "And nights get shorter."
"What else?"
"Persians celebrate the seasons changing. Use the lunar calendar. The big one is your new year in the spring. Norouz."
He looked up from the stove. "You know about Norouz?"
"I've celebrated with Leyla's family. A few times."
"Really?"
"What?" She smirked. "You thought you were the first Persian to feed me?"
"Hey." He put his hands up. "I'm happy as long as you're being fed."
Shayan brought the cups over. Handed her one. His fingers brushed hers on the glass.
This time he sat next to her. "So Norouz you know. That's the easy one. Spring. New year. The light already won."
She sipped the tea. Watched the rock candy dissolve.
"Yalda is the other side. Tonight the darkness is at its peak. It's the longest night. And thousands of years ago, on this night, people didn't know if the sun was coming back."
"You're right. Wow. They must have been so scared."
"So they stayed up. Lit fires. Ate. Read poetry. Held onto whoever was next to them." He looked at her. "You don't celebrate Yalda. You survive it. Together."
She wrapped both hands around the glass.
"You know... this could've been the worst year for me." He looked at his tea. "Fired. With no direction. No purpose."
His eyes met hers. "Instead I'm sitting here. With you. Two founders of the coolest tech startup."
He cleared his throat. "That's why I wanted tonight. To talk. About everything. And then we leave the darkness behind."
He took her glass from her hands. Set it on the table next to his.
"It's because of you. All I see ahead is light."
Her hands found the pillow underneath her. She held on.
"There's a world out there I get to figure out now. And no matter what happens, I just know that I'm never, ever using Microsoft Outlook again."
Maya laughed. Actually cackled.
"I mean it." Shayan's laughter joined hers. "I realized it a few days ago. I started crying."
She was still laughing. Wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm so happy for you."
He caught his breath. "I am so happy because of you."
The laughter faded. The candles flickered all around them.
"There's one more thing." Shayan reached for the book on the table. The old one. Persian script on the cover.
"My uncle, he loves poetry. Actually he's kind of a poet himself. But, he gave me this." He turned it over. "He loves Hafez."
She looked at what he was holding. "You can read the Farsi?"
"Sure. At a kindergarten level." He grinned. "This one has English translations."
He handed her the book.
She held it. Heavy in her hands.
"So there's a tradition called Faal-e Hafez." He said it slowly. "You hold a question in your head. Something you want to know. But don't tell me what it is."
She traced the cover of the book with her fingers.
"Then you open it to any page. And whatever you find is your answer."
"So it's fortune telling," Maya teased.
"It's not fortune telling."
"You're asking me to open a random page and let a dead poet answer my question."
"A 700-year-old dead poet. Yes."
She turned the book over in her hands.
He let it go. "You never know what meaning you'll find in poetry."
Maya looked at him. Then at the book.
"Just try it."
She closed her eyes. Held something in her mind. Took a deep breath.
Opened it.
A folded piece of paper fell out. She caught it. Unfolded it.
She saw his handwriting.
Maya gave him a side eye. "What is this?"
"Read it."
She straightened the creases on the paper. "Did you write this?"
He just looked at her.
She read the title under her breath. "Tick Tock."
She looked up. Met his eyes.
He looked at the paper. Back at her. Waited.
She looked down and read:
attention is a sacred wine I dare not steal the cup unless your hand, freely, lifts it up
tick tock block by block the old guard falls we're raising a temple outside their walls
guard what is sacred give only if earned through trust freely given or value returned
She read it again. Then again.
The room was quiet.
He was holding his breath.
She finally looked up.
"Did the poem answer your question?"
She looked back at the paper. Started counting to herself. "One..Three..Eight..Thirteen."
"The whole vision." Maya eyes softened. "How did you describe everything in thirteen lines?"
"It's your vision." His eyes were sharp. "I was actually working on website copy. Somehow this poured out instead."
"You really see it." Almost under her breath.
"We're standing on the first block. This is what we're doing. What we'll give people. How long it'll take."
Her eyes went to his hands. His neck. His lips.
"It's gonna take years. Maybe decades. But I believe in this. I'll help you do this."
"Website copy?" She looked down again at the words. "These read almost like instructions."
"'Unless your hand, freely, lifts it up.'" She bit her lip. Met his eyes.
He waited.
"So," she shifted against the pillow. Held the poem up. "I just have to opt in?"
"We both do."
She ran her thumb across his handwriting.
He was smiling. Watching her.
He finally exhaled. "Maya."
She looked up. Set down the paper.
"You have had my full attention since Vegas." Shayan put his hands on his knees. Leaned towards her. "All I want is to keep giving it to you."
Her eyes locked on his. His dropped to her mouth. Came back up.
Her arms reached out. For the pillow under him.
Her hands tightly gripped the fabric. Slowly pulling herself closer while he didn't move.
He reached his arms over her. Brought her the rest of the way.
Their faces now inches apart.
She finally spoke. "Same."
He let out an unexpected laugh. "Same?"
"You know," she tilted her head back to meet his eyes. "I feel like I'm seeing you for the first time tonight."
The apartment had disappeared.
It was just them. Floating in the air. On two pillows.
"Not Sean. But Shayan. This is who you should always be."
He brought his face down to hers. "You mean you want to make me Persian food every night?"
"No. Yes. But no." Her eyes narrowed on his. "You know what I'm saying. Shayan is who I want."
"Yes ma'am." He pulled her pillow even closer to him. "No more assimilation."
Maya let herself giggle. Her knees were now between his. His breath was warm on her face.
"Thank you. For your poem. For tonight."
His arms tightened around her. His hand slid up her back. Found her neck.
He pulled her face up to his.
He kissed her.
The rock candy still sweet on both their lips.
She sank into him. Her hands pressed to his chest.
His heartbeat under her palms.
She grabbed the front of his sweater. Pulled herself deeper into his arms.
His hands moved down her back. Found her waist.
Her hands went to his face. His jaw. His hair.
He pulled her into his lap and kissed her slower. She let him take his time.
Then he eased back. Looked at her.
His breathing settled. "Hi."
She smiled. "Hi."
He straightened the strap of her dress where it had slipped. His lips followed. Her shoulder. Her collarbone.
He stopped. "Wait. Is this—"
His hand had stayed on her shoulder. He looked at the dress. Then at her.
"It is."
"From the After Party?" His hands slid down to her waist. "How did I not—"
"Yeah! How did you miss it?" She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I thought you paid attention to everything."
He looked around his apartment. "I think I was too busy trying not to mess this up."
She leaned in. Pecked his lips. "I almost didn't wear it."
He pulled back. "Why not?"
"Because you'd know." She kept kissing him. Now on his neck.
He laughed. "Know what?"
Maya cupped her hands on his face. "That you had me before I even walked through your door."
Shayan took one of her hands off his face. Slowly kissed her palm.
"Good." He stared at her hand in his. "Because I'm so tired of calling you my business partner."
She lifted his chin. "What else would you call me?"
His arms pulled her into him closer. "My girlfriend."
She blinked. Her hand was still on his chin. "Your girlfriend?"
He nodded.
She pulled his face to hers.
His arms wrapped around her waist. She let her full weight fall into him. Her hips pressed into his. The pillows shifted beneath them.
He stood up. Took her with him towards the bedroom.
Her legs wrapped around his waist. Her arms tightened around his neck. She held on.
The candles flickered. The music kept playing to an empty room.
Hours later the sun would rise.
But for now, their longest night had just begun.