Roya Shams’ reflec­tive chap­ter begins in August 1987, where a ten­der mem­o­ry with Leila stands out. Their first kiss, an expe­ri­ence laden with emo­tion­al weight, is described in a man­ner that evokes feel­ings akin to “heav­en.” This ten­der moment sets the tone for the chap­ter, div­ing deep into the per­son­al con­nec­tion they share. As the sto­ry unfolds, we are intro­duced to a play­ful phone call from Ali and Gil­gamesh, who, from a camp­site, amus­ing­ly check in with their wives. Their cheer­ful con­ver­sa­tion stands in stark con­trast to the more somber, yet inti­mate con­nec­tion Roya and Leila share, reveal­ing an unspo­ken bond that tran­scends mere words. The two women share an under­stand­ing that is com­mu­ni­cat­ed not just through speech but through actions, like Leila rum­mag­ing through Ali’s old rock records. The amuse­ment that Leila express­es toward the music fur­ther high­lights the close­ness they share, mak­ing each inter­ac­tion feel spe­cial.

In the fol­low­ing moments, the nar­ra­tive shifts, reveal­ing a qui­et yet sig­nif­i­cant change in the atmos­phere. Leila, tak­ing the phone from Roya, engages in a pri­vate con­ver­sa­tion with Gil­gamesh, and her body lan­guage speaks vol­umes. A sub­tle shift in her demeanor, marked by a look of deter­mi­na­tion, leads to her select­ing a record on a vin­tage RCA turntable. The ener­gy in the room changes as the evoca­tive sound of Mick Jagger’s voice fills the space. The act of danc­ing togeth­er becomes more than just a phys­i­cal move­ment; it’s a deep explo­ration of their emo­tion­al inti­ma­cy, a reflec­tion of a yearn­ing nei­ther of them had ful­ly acknowl­edged until now. The song’s rhythm and lyrics seem to echo their inter­nal strug­gles, cre­at­ing a moment that tran­scends sim­ple dance and reach­es into their souls.

As the music con­tin­ues to play, Roya begins to open up about her inter­nal strug­gles. She speaks of exhaus­tion, feel­ing the weight of try­ing to main­tain the facade of being “good,” which has become a heavy bur­den for her. Leila, ever empa­thet­ic, lis­tens intent­ly, offer­ing not just words of com­fort, but a true under­stand­ing of what Roya is going through. The song plays on, loop­ing, as Leila’s affec­tion­ate ges­tures bring them clos­er, dis­solv­ing any remain­ing bar­ri­ers between them. The inti­ma­cy they share in this moment is not just phys­i­cal but deeply emo­tion­al, allow­ing them both to expe­ri­ence a con­nec­tion that feels more real than any­thing they have encoun­tered before. Through the music, their mutu­al vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty is laid bare, rein­forc­ing the idea that music, as well as human con­nec­tion, tran­scends words and brings peo­ple clos­er togeth­er.

As the song’s looped rhythm fades, a pro­found silence envelops them, ampli­fy­ing the depth of their con­nec­tion. This silence is not uncom­fort­able, but rather a peace­ful pause, sig­ni­fy­ing their emo­tion­al uni­ty. The music, once a back­drop to their con­nec­tion, becomes a pow­er­ful tool that ampli­fies the feel­ings between them. In this silence, they are no longer bur­dened by exter­nal factors—such as their cul­tur­al iden­ti­ties or the chaos of the out­side world—but are sim­ply present in each other’s com­pa­ny. The tran­quil­i­ty that fol­lows their dance is not just the absence of sound, but the pres­ence of some­thing much more mean­ing­ful: the com­fort of shared under­stand­ing and the warmth of con­nec­tion. This inti­mate moment marks a new chap­ter in their rela­tion­ship, where both women find solace in each oth­er amidst the chaos sur­round­ing them.

As Roya and Leila embrace this silent con­nec­tion, they both under­stand that their bond tran­scends words and shared expe­ri­ences. Their rela­tion­ship, which began with play­ful moments and laugh­ter, has now evolved into some­thing far deep­er, marked by emo­tion­al inti­ma­cy and mutu­al under­stand­ing. In this moment of qui­etude, they have built a space for them­selves that is entire­ly their own, a space free from judg­ment, free from the con­straints of the out­side world, and full of love and under­stand­ing. This chap­ter, then, is not just a reflec­tion on their rela­tion­ship, but a pro­found explo­ration of what it means to tru­ly con­nect with some­one on an emo­tion­al and spir­i­tu­al lev­el. It high­lights the beau­ty of unspo­ken com­mu­ni­ca­tion and the pow­er of shared silence as a foun­da­tion for a deep­er con­nec­tion.