“The letter s was like a wave of the sea, a carnation flower, the wings of a bird… his heart beat with affection for his language” (124). This is a turning point for Lamis in his decision between two companies. She walks the line between the new and the sexy and what she knows to be real and true. Later, Lamis refuses to move in with Nicholas due to his complicated family life and cultural ideals. She also refuses to let him meet her son. He then accuses her of only wanting a sexual relationship. While that might be true if it was just about wanting a sexual relationship, the main reason they weren't working at that time was because she didn't want to mix her two cultures yet. Eventually, Lamis realizes how much she still loves about her Iraqi culture and she stops thinking that “being Arab was an obstacle in her life” (125). She even ends up thinking she's stupid for trying to choose between two different cultures and societies, when she now knows she can mix the two. She realizes how serious it was to abandon her culture: "If she had ever really considered substituting them for others and eliminating her heritage, of no longer seeing, hearing, speaking, and therefore stop breathing.?”