“Dostet darum.” I love you.
“I love you back,” she said. I could hear the smile in her words.
“And be careful.”
“I will. And one more thing. Don’t tell your parents who he is. If they need to know, it should come from me.”
“Okay.”We hung up.
THE LAWN OUTSIDE the American embassy in Islamabad was neatly mowed, dotted with circular clusters of flowers, bordered by razor-straight hedges. The building itself was like a lot of buildings in Islamabad: flat and white. We passed through several road blocks to get there and three different security officials conducted a body search on me after the wires in my jaws set off the metal detectors. When we finally stepped in from the heat, the airconditioning hit my face like a splash of ice water. The secretary in the lobby, a fifty-something, lean-faced blond woman, smiled when I gave her my name. She wore a beige blouse and black slacks--the first woman I’d seen in weeks dressed in something other than a burqa or a shalwar-kameez. She looked me up on the appointment list, tapping the eraser end of her pencil on the desk. She found my name and asked me to take a seat.
“Would you like some lemonade?” she asked.
“None for me, thanks,” I said.
“How about your son?”
“Excuse me?”
“The handsome young gentleman,” she said, smiling at Sohrab.
“Oh. That’d be nice, thank you.”Sohrab and I sat on the black leather sofa across the reception desk, next to a tall American flag. Sohrab picked up a magazine from the glass-top coffee table. He flipped the pages, not really looking at the pictures.
“What?” Sohrab said.
“Sorry?”
“You’re smiling.”
“I was thinking about you,” I said. He gave a nervous smile. Picked up another magazine and flipped through it in under thirty seconds.
“Don’t be afraid,” I said, touching his arm. “These people are friendly. Relax.” I could have used my own advice. I kept shifting in my seat, untying and retying my shoelaces. The secretary placed a tall glass of lemonade with ice on the coffee table. “There you go.”Sohrab smiled shyly. “Thank you very much,” he said in English. It came out as “Tank you wery match.” It was the only English he knew, he’d told me, that and “Have a nice day.”
She laughed. “You’re most welcome.” She walked back to her desk, high heels clicking on the floor.
“Have a nice day,” Sohrab said.
“我爱你。”
“我也爱你。”她说。我听得见她话里的笑意，
“小心点。”
“我会的。还有，别告诉你父母他是谁。如果他们想知道，应该让我来说。”
“好的。”我们挂上电话。
伊斯兰堡美国大使馆外面的草坪修剪齐整，点缀着一圈圈花儿，四周是挺直的篱笆。房子本身跟伊斯兰堡很多建筑很相像：白色的平房。我们穿过几个街区，到达那儿，三个不同的安检人员搜我的身，因为我下巴缝着的线弄响了金属探测器。我们最终从热浪中走进去，空调的冷风扑面而来，好像冰水泼在脸上。接待室的秘书是个五十来岁的金发妇女，脸庞瘦削。我自报家门，她微微一笑。她穿着米色的罩衫和黑色的休闲裤——她是我数个星期来见到的第一个没有穿着蒙脸长袍或者棉袍的女人。她在预约单上查找我的名字，用铅笔带橡皮擦那头敲着办公桌。她找到我的名字，让我坐下。
“你们想来杯柠檬汁吗？”她问。
“我不要，谢谢。”
“你儿子要吗？”
“什么？”
“那个英俊的小绅士，”她说，朝索拉博笑着。
“哦，好的，谢谢你。”索拉博和我坐在黑色的皮沙发上，就在接待柜台对面，挨着一面高高的美国国旗。索拉博从玻璃桌面的咖啡桌挑起一本杂志。他翻阅着，心不在焉地看着图片。
“怎么啦？”索拉博说。
“什么？”
“你在微笑。”
“我在想着你的事情呢。”我说。他露出紧张的微笑。挑起另外一本杂志，还不到三十秒就翻完了。
“别害怕。”我碰碰他的手臂说，“这些人很友善，放松点。”我自己才应该听从这个建议。我在座位上不停挪动身子，解开鞋带，又系上。秘书将一大杯混有冰块的柠檬汁放在咖啡桌上。“请用。”索拉博羞涩一笑。“非常谢谢。”他用英语说，听起来像“灰常歇歇。”他跟我说过，他只懂得这句英语，还有“祝你今天愉快”。
她笑起来：“别客气。”她走回办公桌，高跟鞋在地板上敲响。
“祝你今天愉快。”索拉博说。