I pick up my phone from the bedside table and quickly draft a text to Chaewon and Jess about my idea. But my fingers hover over the send button. I read the message over and over again, feeling my heart beat hard in my chest.

What if they hate the idea? What if they reject it?

I delete the text as quickly as I had written it. Instead, I pull up Skype and call Nanu.

She picks up after it rings for a good few minutes, when I’m almost ready to hang up, dejected.

“Nishat?” she asks, her face appearing on screen. She looks tired. There are bags under her eyes and her skin looks blotchy. I realize I must have woken her up; I didn’t even think about the time difference before placing the call.

“Assalam Alaikum,” I say. “Did I wake you? Sorry. I forgot about the time difference.”

She smiles, though it’s a tired sort of smile. I’ve never considered Nanu old before; I mean, yes she’s old. She’s my grandmother. But compared to other grandmothers I’ve seen, with wrinkles all over their faces and walking sticks and everything, I’ve always thought of Nanu as young and healthy. But today, she seems different altogether. Like I’ve caught her in a moment that I’m not really meant to see.

“It’s okay. Is something wrong?”

“No …” I mumble, feeling deflated. I can’t believe I’ve woken Nanu up and made her worry for pretty much nothing. I could have filled her in during the weekend when we can call during regular hours. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just … I’m starting to make my own henna designs, Nanu. I’m going to start my own business.”

Nanu’s whole face changes at that. She leans closer to the camera.

“Really?” she asks.

I nod, some of my previous excited energy coming back to me. I reach for my notebook and hold it up for her to see the design.

“That’s the first one. I’ve been working on it all evening. What … what do you think?”

Nanu’s eyes roam over the page I’m holding out. I can see her eyes moving, taking in all of it. Slowly and steadily.

“It’s beautiful, Jannu.” Her voice is soft. Quiet. Like she can’t quite believe I’m the one to have done this. “It’s your first one? It’s amazing.”

I feel pride swelling up in my chest.

“You really think so?” My voice is barely more than a whisper.