The sun lit up the kitchen, making the slowly moving older woman into a shadow of her former self. Liyah watched quietly from her spot in the doorway as Sahaar dutifully stirred the pot of boiling water on the stove. Sahaar was different than Liyah remembered from the last time she had been here. Five years ago, her exchange family had been bubbly and laughing. There had always been something happening in the small household, and whether filled with music or peals of laughter, the house had never been quiet.

With the exception of the bubbly sound of the simmering water, the house was achingly quiet. Liyah’s exchange-mother had lost her husband several years earlier, and the sadness was still etched into Sahaar's face. Her skin was drawn and paler than Liyah remembered, and the older woman moved as though she were trudging through sand.

Liyah was only too sorry that she hadn’t learned of Ibrahim’s death until after the funeral arrangements. Not that she would have been able to fly back and see them—she’d been in over her head studying for her finals, but she would have found a way to communicate with Sahaar, even all the way from Connecticut.

Straightening, Sahaar suddenly turned her head and narrowed her eyes. “Liyah! What are you doing? You should be resting after such a long trip.”

Liyah had only flown into Dubai twelve hours ago, and the plane trip, as usual, had been grueling. Despite craving the excitement of an exotic city, Liyah was still uncomfortable around crowds. “I’ve been resting,” she said with a warm smile as she enveloped her exchange-mother in a hug. “Let me help.”

During her senior year of high school, Liyah had been afforded the opportunity to join a studies abroad program for three months. Living with her single mother, Liyah had never even been outside her state, and she couldn’t resist the call to adventure. The trip had been mesmerizing, and Sahaar and Ibrahim had made her feel right at home. Now, five years later, she knew she had to return—if for no other reason than to step out of her comfort zone once again while she decided what to do with the rest of her life.

“You’ve come here to relax and enjoy yourself,” Sahaar chided. “You did not come here to wait on me. Now go, go, go.”

It was nice to have someone fuss over her, but Liyah wanted to help Sahaar as much as Sahaar had helped her five years ago. “Yes, but this time I am not your exchange student. I am a guest in your home, and I will help out, even if I have to annoy you to do it!”

A small smile crinkled over Sahaar's face as she gave in and handed Liyah a knife to slice the pita on the counter. While she set the oven, the older women swept critical eyes over Liyah. “You’ve lost weight,” she fussed. “Please tell me that you have not been on one of those ridiculous Western diets that all you drink is dandelion tea and lemon slices.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Liyah said with a chuckle. “And I assure you, I have not been dieting.” She didn’t point out that Sahaar herself had lost some weight.

“Then it is stress, and that will simply not do,” Sahaar declared. “Mila has been here three months. Took like a duck to water; she’ll bring you around. You should be having fun at your age,” the older woman assured her, eyes on the boiling pot of chickpeas. Liyah licked her lips at the thought of homemade hummus. For five years, she had tried the store-bought brands, and she had even tried making it herself, but for some reason, it didn’t compare to Sahaar's delicious dip. Between that and the moujedhra, Liyah might never leave.

As if the independent woman had heard them talking about her, Mila threw open the door and rushed in. Liyah barely had time to brace herself before her old friend wrapped her in a bear hug. “You’re here!” Mila shrieked in her ear.

“Of course I’m here,” Liyah laughed. “You picked me up from the airport!”

“Yes, but you were half-dead, and I was afraid that if I hugged you too tightly, you’d just pass out. And then you were sleeping, and then I had to go to work—but now I can greet you properly!” Mila released her and took a step back to eye her critically, and Liyah knew that her friend was seeing her the same way that Sahaar did.

It wasn’t that she meant to lose the weight. It was just that her life wasn’t exactly following the plans that she’d so carefully laid out for herself four years ago when she’d started college. She had met Mila during her previous trip to Dubai, and Mila had always planned to return. Even though the past five years had separated them, she and Mila had kept in touch, and it was Mila who’d suggested that she take some time and return to Dubai where the temperature was hot enough and the sights gorgeous enough to steal her breath away.

It hadn’t taken much arm-twisting.

“Are you rested?”

“Rested enough to be bothering me,” Sahaar complained with a smile. “Mila, won’t you please take her out of here so she can have some fun? I want to see a bronze sheen on that pale skin and hear some laughter in that girl’s voice.”

“You heard her,” Mila said, her whole face lighting up. “Come on. We’ll walk through the market bazaar. They’ve got the most gorgeous things there, today.”

“They have the most gorgeous things there every day,” Liyah laughed, but she grabbed her bag from the counter. “Sahaar, we can go later, if you want me to finish helping you here.”

“Nonsense. You two young ladies have fun, and this hummus will be ready and waiting for you when you return!”

There were no other excuses, so Liyah quietly followed Mila out. It was a quick walk to the main road where Mila expertly hailed a cab. The driver greeted them with an enthusiastic grin, probably hoping that they were just tourists who wouldn’t know if he took the long way around. Mila exchanged a small smile with Liyah and gave him specific instructions to their destination.

Happy to let Mila take charge, Liyah settled back and tried to get comfortable on the hot leather. It would appear that most of the cabs here still didn’t have air conditioning.

As though her friend knew that she was still getting acclimated, Mila talked a mile a minute about what she’d been doing for the past three months. “The lounge is obviously not my dream job, but it helps me get to know the locals,” she chattered. “Plus, it’s been great to catch up on the gossip. My language skills are still a bit rusty, but when they discover that you’re American, they assume that you don’t know it at all and speak freely in front of you. Girl, I have heard the most salacious stories.”

Mila’s giggle was infectious, and even Liyah cracked a smile. After leaving the cab, Liyah tried to relax as they walked through the marketplace. Everything felt so alive. Men and women alike talked over each other, some excitedly and others in intense haggling with the merchants. Smells mingled in the air from the sweet fragrances of perfumes to the tangy aromas of spices. For a moment, she felt a little lost. The marketplace was so vibrant and loud, and she felt so small. Vaguely, she realized that Mila was asking her a question. “Hm?”

“I was asking what kind of job you were hoping to get here. Liyah, you must tell me what’s wrong. This isn’t like you at all.”

Liyah looked away from her friend, pretending to be interested in a table full of jewelry. “Nothing is wrong. I was just admiring the craftsmanship of this bracelet,” she lied, and she picked up smooth silver links attaching blue and green crystals.

Not so much a lie, after all. The bracelet was beautiful, held against her wrist. She looked up to meet the salesman’s beaming smile. It was something that she could afford—but she needed to save her money in case it took her longer than she’d first thought to find work. She shook her head—with a regretful smile for the merchant’s sake—and put the bracelet down, taking Mila’s arm to resume walking. “I’m going to start with the local libraries. Even if I can’t get a job there, I might be able to find some tutoring positions, either for English or literature studies.”

Mila reached out and grabbed her hand. “Liyah, I want to help you, but I’m not sure what to do.”

What could she tell her friend? It wasn’t some horrible fate that had sent her running back to Dubai. It wasn’t a broken heart or a terrifying nightmare. It was just the knowledge that Liyah had accomplished nothing in five whole years. Sure, she’d gotten a degree and even a teaching job, but she hadn’t been able to connect with anyone. The more she tried to get past her comfort zone, the more she ended up walling herself in. There had been weeks when the only time she’d left her apartment was to go to work and run errands. She hadn’t had a date in a year. She wondered what Mila would say about that. She’d made no real friends since college. She felt like she was just existing rather than living.

But someone like Mila, who thrived on life, would never understand, and it was humiliating to admit as much. Swallowing hard, Liyah shook her head.

“Fine,” Mila said with a long-suffering sigh. “But you will have a good time here if I have to drag you out every day and every night to do it!”

“I want to enjoy myself,” Liyah assured her. “So drag away.”

They had wandered around the market for some time longer when a table on the edge caught her eye. Beautiful jewels sparkled in the sunlight, displayed in the most intricately carved wooden boxes she’d ever seen. Unable to help herself, she reached out a hand. She didn’t dare touch the jewels; instead, she ran her fingers along the curves of the darkly stained wood.

On the other side of her was a table that held burning incense, and for a moment, Liyah was enthralled by the scent. Sandalwood and frankincense. She recognized the distinctive odors immediately. They were thought to be a powerful trigger for mystics. A woman covered in the traditional dark hijab stood behind the table, but she was also draped in gorgeous colorful glass beads. Each one caught the sunlight, and Liyah couldn’t help but stare. It seemed that each bead was unique in color and design. Dark eyes stared at her intently from under the woman’s cover, but their owner made no move to approach Liyah or attempt to sell her anything.

“She’s a full-blooded Nawar,” Mila whispered in her ear as she tugged Liyah away. “They’re the gypsies of the Middle Eastern world. Sahaar says they keep to themselves, but I’ve always been curious about them. It’s rare to see them in the center city market. They usually peddle their wares outside the crowds.”

After relenting and purchasing the pretty crystal bracelet that she’d first seen and some cardamom for Sahaar's delicious pudding, Liyah caved and applied for an alcohol license at Mila’s insistence.

“You’ll thank me later,” her friend said with a wink. “You’ll want to be able to drink when you visit me at the lounge.”

Finally, as the sun started to set, Mila hailed a cab to take them home.

Home, Liyah thought as she stared out the window. It was strange, really. Her home used to be the series of small two-bedroom apartments where she grew up, but her mother moved around so much to avoid climbing rent prices that it never really had felt homey. Even her dorm room and the cramped quarters of her rental back in the States hadn’t felt like home—but there was something about this city that called to her.

It wasn’t comfortable. It was hot and loud and messy and everything she shied away from, but she just couldn’t stay away.

Days passed, quiet and uneventful—and unproductive.

Mila hadn’t been able to take any extensive time off work, and Liyah refused to allow Sahaar to show her around since her exchange-mother walked with the pain of arthritis, so she went out on her own. It didn’t surprise her when the locals gave her the cold-shoulder treatment, so she spent most of her time job hunting and reading in a small cafe that was only a few blocks from Sahaar's home. It afforded her a chance to people-watch and get out of the heat. As the tendrils of steam curled above her chai tea, she looked out through the patterned-metal frames to the parts of the city she hadn’t seen. Despite Mila’s insistence, she hadn’t visited the lounge yet, but she knew that she needed to try something new.

Maybe tomorrow, she told herself, but when tomorrow came, she always had an excuse not to go.

Two weeks had passed, and still there were no job prospects. She was about to despair that she’d made a terrible mistake in coming to Dubai when Mila stomped into her bedroom, took a double-fisted grip on the blankets that Liyah was using, and yanked them away. “Sahaar says that you are spending every day in that ridiculous café, reading. You could do that at home! Tonight, you’re going to the lounge—whether you like it or not. The man of your dreams could be there looking for his sheikha. Will you really keep him waiting?”

Unable to help herself, Liyah giggled, then laughed outright. The idea that she’d meet a sheikh was absurd, but when Mila waved the green guest pass around in the air, Liyah reached up and snatched it.

“Fine, I’ll go, but I’m not going just so I can meet a man. Most of them are overrated, anyhow,” she muttered.

Mila rolled her eyes playfully. “But every girl is waiting for her dream man,” she said dramatically and pretended to swoon on the bed. Liyah laughed and moved just in time before her friend could fall on her.

One of the things that had always separated Liyah and Mila was their views on men. Liyah had watched her mother struggle, no thanks to the male segment of the population. The only thing a man ever did for her was to knock her up and abandon her when he realized what having a daughter really meant.

Liyah didn’t want that. Casual hookups had never been her thing, whereas Mila had men following her around wherever she went. Her lively friend was comfortable around the attentions of men, but Liyah knew that she’d never find what she wanted.

The type of love that Liyah dreamed about didn’t exist. A soul mate, the type of connection that she could feel down in her bones, was a thing of the past. Technology had made dating impersonal, and impersonal relationships were the result. Sure, some turned into marriages, but it was more the status of being married that drove the relationship and not that soul-shattering love that Liyah had read about in books.

But that was fiction, and this was the real world.