Of all the places I’d been to, this sky seemed to have the most stars. They looked so close, too. I felt like I could reach out and touch them. A wave of emotion hit me as I stood there with my face raised to the night sky. Unbidden, a tear rolled down my cheek as I thought about my parents. Had they been to this hotel when they lived here? Had they taken walks in this same garden together? As I struggled to recall my father’s face, the frantic fear that one day I’d completely forget him resurfaced, making my heart gallop in my chest. The truth was that every year my memories of him dimmed a little more, but here I felt connected to him in a way I hadn’t in a long time.

I heard someone approach, so I quickly brushed my tears away and turned to see Elias walking toward me. He was wearing a thicker bright orange fleece this time, and the contrast of that fiery color against his brown skin made me a little breathless.

“Jet lag?” he called out to me as he approached.

I nodded and walked over to meet him halfway. “Yeah, I’m still all out of whack. What’re you still doing up?”

He shrugged as he looked up at the sky. “I couldn’t sleep. When I drive all day, my body takes some time to slow down. I like to take a walk before bed.”

“Well, we can keep each other company while we try to summon the sleep gods.”

The sleep gods? Who the hell talked like that?

He just smiled and kept walking with me as I hurried to make small talk. “I assume going for a run in the morning won’t be an issue?” I asked with a smirk, expecting him to make some comment about Ethiopian runners and their greatness.

“Of course. There’ll be people out there starting at dawn. We’re serious about our running in this part of the world.” He winked, and a swell of butterflies swerved inside my chest. “It’s easier to run here too; the air isn’t as thin as Addis’s.”

I nodded at his statement. Not being up seven thousand feet would make it less treacherous to go for a run.

Elias lifted his hand as he gave me directions. “You just make a left when you get out to the road and keep going until the roundabout, then come back. The whole loop is about three miles. I run that way when I’m here.”

“Perfect.” I wanted to ask if he’d go with me, but I just thanked him instead, and kept walking at his side.