The Stationery Shop

Bahman writes to Roya about the political upheaval in Tehran. These events remind him of the 1953 coup. The war intensifies over the years, especially when Saddam Hussein attacks. He and his family live in fear. He has lost many friends to the conflict, including Jahangir.

Roya and Zari have their weekly FaceTime conversation. The technology always annoys Roya, but she’s glad to see her sister.

Meanwhile, Walter follows current events. Roya finds it difficult to watch the news, especially the reports of the war in the Middle East. She tries to put her past life behind her. Nevertheless, she has never stopped thinking about Marigold. When she turned 42, she had a second child, Kyle. She fell in love with him, and he “became her world,” but he also reminded her of her first child. Over the years, her sorrow faded as she invested more in Kyle. The years passed, and he grew into a man. Now in her seventies, Roya keeps herself grounded by taking long walks. Despite her efforts to forget Bahman, she thinks of him often, especially after visiting a local stationery store with Walter. The place reminds her of Mr. Fakhri’s shop in Tehran. Everything in the store is a throwback to her past.

A week later, Roya drops Walter off at an orthopedic clinic. She explores the town while waiting. The weather is ideal for walking. Eventually, she comes upon a small stationery shop that is even more reminiscent of Mr. Fakhri’s shop in Tehran. She explores the space, dizzy with memories. When the young clerk addresses her, his Persian accent surprises her. They chat in Farsi. Eventually, the man admits that the shop was his dad’s vision. He and his twin sister have run it since his dad’s health began to wane. Roya asks his dad’s name, shocked to learn that it’s Bahman.

On her way back to meet Walter, Roya replays her encounter with Bahman’s son, Omid. He told Roya that Bahman now resides at the Duxton Senior Center and offered to tell his father that he ran into one of his old friends from Iran. Even after she and Walter return home, Roya is breathless with excitement. She excuses herself to use the bathroom, but instead hides in the other room and googles Bahman, confirming that he’s at the Center. She chastises herself for never looking him up before.

Roya rejoins Walter for coffee downstairs. She wonders if she should tell him about Omid’s shop. She decides not to tell Walter and to go visit Bahman while her husband is at his next podiatry appointment.

Roya enters Bahman’s room at the Center. Almost immediately upon seeing her, Bahman admits that he has been anxiously waiting for her. She sits by his side and tells him she forgives him for breaking his promise to her and choosing to marry Shahla instead. Confused, Bahman insists that he waited for her at the square that day, but she never showed up. The conversation goes in circles as the two repeatedly reference their sides of the story, and Roya ultimately dismisses the matter, insisting that Bahman tell her about his life in the present instead.

The two chat about their parents and children. Bahman admits that he has often looked up Roya online and knows about her husband and son. He also tells her he has been comfortable at the Center since he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Eventually, he returns to his version of that day in the square in 1953. Roya initially doesn’t understand why Bahman asserts that he lost her when (from her perspective) he abandoned her for Shahla. Bahman reiterates that he was at the Baharestan Square, where he promised to meet her. Feeling frazzled, Roya insists that he told her to go to Sepah Square, and she moves to leave. However, Bahman begs her to stay so that he can set the story straight.

Roya receives a letter from Bahman in the mail. While “waiting for Walter to come home from the grocery store” (268), Roya tears open the note, which details everything that happened in 1953.

After the engagement party, Bahman felt guilty for how Badri treated Roya and wanted to make amends. However, his mother remained agitated, and her condition intensified over the following weeks. No matter what he did to comfort her, Badri’s upset wouldn’t abate. One night, Bahman overheard Badri telling his father that she wouldn’t stand for their son to marry Roya. His father tried to calm her down, but did little to protest when Badri stormed out. Bahman chased after her.

Bahman wanted to find Roya but was consumed by worry for Badri. He followed her through the streets, ending up at Mr. Fakhri’s shop. He found her inside, holding a knife to Mr. Fakhri’s throat and blaming him for setting Bahman up with Roya. She demanded that he profess his love for her, but Mr. Fakhri only begged her to calm down. When Bahman opened the door, Badri stabbed herself in the neck, but Bahman kept her from hurting herself more severely. As Badri lay bleeding, she looked up at Bahman, accusing him of hurting her. Through tears, she revealed that she had lost many children before his birth. She also revealed that she and Mr. Fakhri had been lovers and that one of the children she lost was his: She terminated the pregnancy when she learned that he was marrying Atieh. She had several miscarriages thereafter.

Jahangir suggested that Bahman’s family go and stay at the villa up north after he learned of Badri’s injury and condition. They were there throughout the weeks that Bahman was allegedly in hiding. After seeing Roya at the Center, Bahman realized that Badri must have intercepted and altered their letters to thwart their engagement. He now thinks that Mr. Fakhri must have sent letters (on Badri’s behalf) from Bahman to Roya, saying he couldn’t marry her and vice versa. Bahman guesses that Mr. Fakhri would have obliged Badri’s request because he felt indebted to her for abandoning her years earlier. He also would have known how to mimic the academic penmanship that Bahman and Roya both used.

Throughout his time at the villa, Bahman grew increasingly frustrated and miserable. Badri was unstable throughout the family’s stay and became obsessed with Bahman ending his and Roya’s engagement and marrying Shahla instead. Bahman tried to rebel against her by going to the square to meet Roya, but Badri had already thwarted their plans. Sometime thereafter, he received a letter from Roya (which Mr. Fakhri had altered for Badri) saying she couldn’t marry him because of his mother. Despite the letter, he never stopped loving her and still loves her now.

Reeling from Bahman’s letter, Roya calls the Center about arranging another visit with Bahman. Claire informs her that Bahman’s condition has suddenly worsened, and he doesn’t have long to live. Roya races to his side. Inside his dim room, Roya laments Bahman’s waning health. She wishes she had visited sooner. She climbs onto his bed, and the two lie side by side, talking intimately. Roya feels the way she did when they first fell in love. She kisses Bahman’s face and body, overwhelmed by emotion. She stays by his side until he passes away. She’s consumed by sorrow but thankful for the time they did have.

Roya talks to Claire about Bahman’s funeral arrangements. Roya insists that she can’t go but ends up attending the service with Claire. Roya is shocked when the minister reads a Rumi poem that she and Bahman shared as young lovers. Hearing his children and friends talk, Roya realizes how short their love affair actually was.

After the service, Roya attends the reception and chats with Bahman’s family, surprised by how much she still knows about him. Afterward, Claire drives Roya home, and Roya invites her inside. Over tea, Claire gives Roya a blue Danish butter cookie tin. She explains that Bahman left the tin for her and wanted her to have the contents. Inside the tin, Roya is shocked to find all the letters she wrote to Bahman years earlier.

Roya and Claire visit for a long time, sharing stories about Bahman, past and present. When Claire mentions Bahman’s favorite Persian dish, Roya offers to show her how to make it. They spend the afternoon cooking together. Kyle stops by, and Walter appears. They all have dinner together.

After Claire leaves, Roya sits upstairs in her room, reflecting on the past. She opens the letter box and sifts through its contents. Over the years, she’ll continue revisiting it. Right now, however, she realizes how much she loves Walter.

Ali Fakhri is upset when Badri demands that he change Bahman’s and Roya’s letters. He opened his shop to help young people like Bahman and Roya, caught in forbidden romances. He has always hidden their love letters in the books and helped them connect through literature. He doesn’t want to oblige Badri, but still loves her and feels guilty for abandoning her.

Mr. Fakhri fulfills Badri’s demands, but soon realizes his error and knows he must tell the young people what he did. He races to Sepah Square to find Roya and tell her the truth. Just as he finds her, shots ring out, and he’s hit. He falls to the ground, all his regrets racing through his mind. Despite it all, he still loves Badri.