Chloé smiled at him holding Lily closely and nodded. She walked with him toward the front door. He glanced at his watch and then showed her. It was a little after 7 in the morning.
"No chance that you'd not be getting a full blast," she said. He laughed at her nervously, then inhaled deeply in preparation.
"Moment of truth," he whispered. He reached for the door and held onto the knob. "Count for me."
"Okay, 3 ... 2 ... 1."
With that he pulled the door open. Though Kemal and Chloé weren't facing west, the rays of the sun were still brilliant. Slowly, they both walked onto the first concrete step.
When he threw his hands up to block the sun, Chloé tried to pull him back inside, but then he smiled at her squinting.
"Oh, no, I'm not burning. It's just super bright. Do you have any sunglasses?" Chloé grinned and went inside to get him a couple of nearby pairs to choose from. One was purple and the other was pink. Lily grabbed at them.