Tsehay, who had been doing something on her phone, popped back into the conversation at my coffee addiction confession. “I’m sorry, but it is true. You have tasted the best now, so everything else will pale in comparison.”

For some reason, I stared at Elias while she said that, and my thoughts veered to tasting something decidedly not coffee-related.

Get it together, Desta Joy.

“So,” I said, desperate for a distraction. “That was a really awkward situation at lunch.”

Tsehay and Elias shared another look that once again made me wonder if there was more to their relationship. Tsehay was the one to answer, though. “Sam’s been on other projects. We’re used to him being…abrupt.”

I smiled at her valiant effort at diplomacy. “He was a jackass, and thankfully you guys were there to intervene.”

They both looked down, clearly refraining from expressing an opinion. I’d been around enough to know how these things went. Sometimes being candid with the expats could backfire spectacularly, and Elias and Tsehay didn’t know me well enough to trust I wouldn’t end up telling on them to their boss. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Elias looked at me, and I could tell he was trying to read what my silence meant, like he was warring with the impulse to trust me.

He exhaled before he spoke, but he seemed determined to say exactly what was on his mind. He ran a hand over his chin, thoughtful as always. “There are people who come to our country and they’ve already made up their mind that they know better than us.” He twisted his mouth in an expression of distaste, and I could see the same fire there as when he’d spoken to Sam earlier. This was not a man to let people walk all over him. He knew his place in the world, even if assholes like Sam could never wise up to it. “Some people can’t be reasoned with. Sam thinks that because he does work in this part of the world, that somehow shields him from having to be a decent person. To see us like his equals.”

He lifted a shoulder then, as if he were too tired to care. “He’s not the first, won’t be the last.”

Tsehay shook her head, and when she spoke her voice was low, careful. “The problem with Sam is that he can be vindictive if he feels like he’s been slighted.” She looked at Elias, her expression serious, but she didn’t say more as they exchanged looks.

I was still puzzled about their relationship, but decided that whatever it was, I needed to calm the fuck down.