“Well, not lately. Chloe says you live in New York now.” Liya sat and waved for a waitress. “I’m so glad to be done with traffic today. It was brutal.”
“I hear you.” Ben sat across from her and examined Dr. Liya. She was beautiful, like so many Ethiopian women were, with a heart-shaped face and medium brown skin. Her mouth was bow-shaped and quick to smile. “We’re in New York now,” he continued, “but we both went to high school in Los Angeles. Most of my family is still there.”
“Mine too,” Chloe said. “Though we’re still not really speaking.”
“Oh my God, and my family calls me every day.” Liya laughed. “My parents were both born here in Addis, so they’re happy I’m working here now—and I love it, obviously—but they call every day.”
Ben smiled. She had an infectious smile and an easy personality. It didn’t surprise Ben at all that Chloe and she had hit it off.
“I tell them,” she said, “if you’re missing Ethiopia so much, then come for a visit. It’s a long way, but they’re both retired now.” She threw up her hands. “What can I say? They’re stubborn.”
“Can I ask why they moved to the States?” Ben asked.
“For work. My mother is a doctor and was invited to work in the US. My father was a commercial pilot, so he was able to work anywhere. They moved when my oldest sister was about three years old.”
“They must be proud that you’re back here, huh?” Ben waited for the waitress to set down a beer for Liya. “Chloe said you’re an archaeologist.”
Liya nodded. “I am. I grew up hearing all the stories about Ethiopian history and being in love with Indiana Jones, so I don’t think anyone was surprised.”
Chloe said, “But who wasn’t in love with Indiana Jones?”
“Exactly!” Liya laughed. “Don’t get jealous, Ben.”
“Why?” Ben looked at Chloe, who was sitting on the same side of the table as he was, and wondered if Liya might have gotten the wrong impression. “Oh, we’re not together.”
Liya’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, I’m sorry. I assumed—”
“We dated in high school,” Chloe said. “But my boyfriend is Scottish and much cuter than Ben.” Chloe winked at him.
“Thanks.” He pretended to scowl. “My…” Fuck, what was he supposed to call Tenzin? “…partner is here in Addis, but she’d already made plans tonight.” To play Minecraft with Sadia. “Chloe’s boyfriend may end up flying over though, right?”
As in actually flying since Gavin Wallace was a wind vampire like Ben.
“We thought he might, but his business stuff is taking longer than he originally thought,” Chloe said. “He does nightclub development, so he’s overseeing the final details on a new place his company is opening in Lagos right now.”
“I’ve never been to Lagos,” Liya said. “I know it’s huge, right? Like three times the size of Addis?”
“Something like that,” Chloe said. “I just know Gavin is kind of over it. Right now it’s just another place that needs a lot of work. Hopefully we can visit again when everything is done and have a little more fun.”
“I can definitely understand that.” Liya looked between Chloe and Ben. “But speaking of fun, what are your plans in Ethiopia? What are you going to see?”
“Lalibela for sure,” Ben said. “We’re flying up there next week.”
Liya kissed her fingertips. “You have to. The churches are amazing.”
“I’ve seen the pictures,” Chloe said. “I’m really excited to go.”
Which was not an exaggeration. Chloe had been talking about it for weeks.
“And I’d like to go farther north,” Ben said. “But it’ll depend on how much time we have.”
Liya was nodding. “Gondar is amazing. And I’m sure you’ll fly through Bahir Dar, and that has the island monasteries that are so fascinating and beautiful. Lot of mosquitos by Lake Tana though, so I hope you brought bug spray. It’s hard to find here; ask me how I know.” She grimaced.
“You must know a lot about the north,” Ben said. “Being an archaeologist and everything.”
“I know quite a bit.” Her smile was a little crooked. “To be honest, most of the funded expeditions in Ethiopia are in that area, so it’s well known. Of course, most of that funding goes to foreign teams and not local ones.”
Ben’s eyes went wide. “Really?” Opportunity was sounding an alarm in his head. “That seems backward. What about you? Are you considered foreign or local here?”
“I mean, I’m not strictly Ethiopian; I’m diaspora, but having a doctorate from UCLA definitely helps when it comes to getting funding because a lot of it comes from Europe or America. But I want to bring an Ethiopian perspective to Ethiopian archaeology, you know? It’s been dominated by people outside the country for a century.” Liya’s smile was rueful. “In the current climate, if I wanted to excavate up in the north at one of the traditional sites, I could probably get funding” —she snapped her fingers— “like that.”
Chloe asked, “But that’s not your area of interest?”
“Nope.” She spread her hands. “What can I say? I know people like the flashy stuff like gold artifacts and manuscripts, but I want to go dig around in mud.” She laughed. “I’m trying to get funding together for an excavation at an early human site along the Blue Nile, but it’s not looking too good.”
“Really?” Ben asked. “I’m surprised.”
“It’s like I said, the flashy stuff gets the attention. Finding out how early humans lived isn’t quite as exciting as gold artifacts. But I’ll make it!” she said. “It might just take a little longer. I have a grant application in with the cultural preservation agency right now, so I’m hopeful.”
Ben raised a glass, ecstatic that he’d found his way in. “Hear, hear. To Liya and to the mud along the Nile.”
Chloe joined him. “May you find lots of interesting things and maybe even your very own Indiana Jones partner.”
Liya raised her glass. “I will toast to that.”
Ben and Chloe took a cab back to the compound, only to find an unexpected altercation happening just inside the gate when they arrived.
Daniel Rathmore was pushed up against the stone wall, and Dema had a knife slightly smaller than a machete against his neck. Far from looking angry, the lanky Englishman looked delighted.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were working in California?” He turned his head to the sound of the gate opening. “Ben! Good to see you.”
Chloe turned and saw the pair. She let out a slight “Eep!” and put a hand over her mouth.
Ben didn’t make a move to help Daniel. He had no idea what the Englishman had done, but he probably deserved Dema’s knife. “Dan, how’s it going?”
“Really great. Fantastic actually. Absolutely thrilled to be working on this project with you. Why didn’t you tell me Dema was working for Giovanni?”