The Sheikh's Assistant

by Emily Walters

  “This is a report done by a low-level researcher,” said Sofian. “She was able to find something that none of you were able to.”

  The managers looked at each other. “Sheikh, what do you mean?” one of them asked.

  “Take a look for yourself,” Sofian replied. The manager sitting to his right reached out for the report and started reading it.

  Sofian looked at Joe Smith. “I remember you at the meeting trying to shut that girl up.”

  “Sheikh, it was not her place to speak,” said Joe.

  “And yet she was correct to do so.”

  “Sheikh?”

  “She was the only person that noticed that the medicine would have such side effects. Look at the report for yourself.”

  Joe took the report from the other manager and looked at it. His eyes flew open when he started reading it. He looked at the results and the graphs that Morgan had prepared. “Impossible,” he mumbled.

  “This is so disappointing,” said Sofian. “I wonder if you are at all worthy of your jobs.”

  Sofian did not tolerate mistakes. He was a perfectionist and was quite strict with his staff. He was in the pharmaceutical industry. This involved making medicine. No mistakes could be made. Sofian was not happy with the fact that no one had noticed the side effects except for Morgan, a low-level researcher.

  “Please forgive us for not noticing the side effects,” said Paul Davis, one of the other managers. Sofian looked at him.

  “Did you not think to retest the drug?” Sofian asked him.

  “We conducted different tests on it.”

  “Clearly not enough was done. Otherwise we would not be having this discussion right now.” Sofian slightly raised his voice. He was getting even more annoyed with the fact that they were giving excuses. He hated excuses so much.

  “Please do not be upset with us. We will do more testing,” said one of the other managers.

  “What annoys me even more, is the fact that when Morgan spoke up, none of you even considered the possibility. Instead you ignored her and tried to shut her up.”

  “We were wrong,” said Joe.

  “Of course you were wrong. A low-level researcher does a better job than all of you.”

  “Please–”

  Before Joe finished speaking, Sofian dismissed him with his hand. “I should fire you really but we will just move forward. More testing needs to be done. This drug has to be safe for pregnant women. It must not harm the woman or the baby,” said Sofian. The new drug they were creating was to help women with morning sickness.

  “Yes, sir,” said Paul.

  “You must eradicate all side effects. I will not tolerate any mistakes this time around,” Sofian warned.

  “Yes, sheikh,” the managers chorused. Sofian shook his head as he stood up. The managers also stood up.

  “Thank you for your mercy,” said Paul. Sofian offered no response. He just walked out of the room. All he needed from that point was results. He did not want any more mistakes, nor did he want any excuses.

  ***

  Days had passed since Morgan had given the sheikh the laboratory report. Joe Smith was not particularly pleased with Morgan. He felt that she had embarrassed him in front of the sheikh. He felt that she should have passed the results to him first. Morgan was annoyed because she actually did try to approach him about it initially, but he shut her down.

  “I can't believe Joe is still giving you grief about all of this,” said Brooke as they sat down for lunch in the company cafeteria.

  “Tell me about it,” Morgan replied. She shook her head before she bit into her burger. Her mother had been asking her to eat better. She knew that she had to cut back on the junk foods but she loved eating too much.

  “I can’t believe that sheikh did not even give you a reward or anything.”

  Morgan laughed before she responded. “I guess keeping my job is a good reward,” she replied.

  “Why would he fire you?”

  “That man is unpredictable.” Morgan sighed. She had only spoken to him on two different occasions but it was enough to form an opinion of him. He was simply an arrogant, cold man. He definitely was not friendly or humble.

  “Excuse me, Morgan?” a voice sounded. Both Morgan and Brooke turned towards the voice. Morgan recognized the person instantly, it was the sheikh’s assistant.

  “Hi,” Morgan greeted her with food in her mouth. Brooke frowned at her for being so unladylike.

  “The sheikh wants to see you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “I do not know but he asks that you come at once.”

  “Okay.” Morgan stood up. “I’ll see you later,” she said to Brooke and then followed Sofian's assistant back to his office. Morgan still had her burger in her hand as they walked. She made sure to finish it before they reached the sheikh’s office.

  The sheikh was leaning on his desk when Morgan arrived. “You asked to see me?” she said awkwardly as she walked in.

  He did not respond straight away. Instead he just looked at her.

  “I did,” he finally said. “Come here.”

  Morgan did as told. He handed her a folder. “What is it?” she asked him.

  “Look at it,” he ordered. Morgan opened the folder. There was a list of ingredients for a child-friendly painkiller. She looked at the sheikh quizzically. She did not understand why he was giving her that information.

  “New medicine?” she asked.

  Sofian nodded. “What are your thoughts on the ingredients?”

  “I am confused,” said Morgan. It did not make sense to her why he would ask for her thoughts on ingredients.

  “I want a child-friendly painkiller, and these are the ingredients I want to include.”

  Morgan looked at the list again. “Well, if you are aiming for children, I think you should use less chemicals. The more natural the better. Also something flavored would be good,” she said. She put the list back in the folder and handed it back to him.

  Sofian kept a blank expression. He gave nothing away. “I think you are wrong. This list is just fine,” he said.

  Morgan raised her eyebrows. “Sheikh Bukhari, most of those chemicals and herbs do not go well together,” she said in the most respectful tone she could muster. It surprised her that a man of his talents would make such a simple error.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “I am.” Morgan nodded. Sofian threw the folder in the small office waste bin by his desk. Morgan frowned. She was even more confused.

  “Starting from tomorrow you will no longer be a researcher.”

  “What?” Morgan spat out.

  “You will be working up here as my assistant instead.”

  “What?”

  “I do not like to repeat myself.”

  “I am confused,” Morgan said. Sofian narrowed his gaze at her. “Am I being promoted?”

  “You cannot be this slow,” said Sofian.

  “Well, you are not being particularly clear.”

  Sofian sighed with frustration. “Morgan, I want you to work as my personal assistant, for more compensation, of course.”

  “But you already have an assistant.”

  “She can work on something else. Report here at 9 a.m. sharp tomorrow. Do not be late. I know you have a tendency for tardiness.”

  “I was late just once.” Was he still going on about it? Morgan asked herself.

  “You may leave.”

  “Thank you.” Morgan turned on her heel to leave. She stopped at the door and looked at Sofian. “You were testing me,” she said to him.

  “What?”

  “That bogus list you gave me. You were testing me.”

  Sofian shrugged his shoulders in response. It made sense that he was testing her. She had thought that it was strange for him to make such an error. Morgan just opened the door and left his office. She wondered if she had failed his test, whether he would still have promoted her.

  Chapter 4

  Sofian sat in
his office reading over some paperwork. He looked at the gold Rolex sitting on his wrist. There were only five minutes left till 9 o’clock. It would be a shame if Morgan arrived late on her first day working for him. He had hired her to replace his current assistant because he could see a lot of potential in Morgan. She was smart. He was impressed by her laboratory findings in regards to the drug.

  Morgan was also not afraid to point out what she thought. She had not been afraid to speak up in the conference meeting. And he had shown her that fake list. She was quick to spot the errors and speak out about it. He told her that the list was correct, and she was not afraid to disagree with him. He needed a candid assistant. He did not want a “yes sir, no sir” type of assistant.

  “Good morning, Sheikh Bukhari,” Morgan said as she walked into his office. Sofian looked at the time. There was only a minute left.

  “You are on time,” Sofian said to Morgan.

  “I am.”

  He could not help but study her outfit. Anyone working closely with him needed to be dressed well. She was not dressed badly. She wore a high-waisted blue skirt and a white blouse. Her clothes showed off her hourglass figure. Her curly hair was neatly tucked into a high bun. She wore small studs.

  Sofian rose from his desk and approached Morgan. She was so much shorter than he was, especially since she was in flats. Her head reached his chest. “Come with me,” he said to her.

  “Okay.” Morgan nodded her head. She followed him out of the office. They stopped at the reception area outside his office.

  “This will be your work space,” he told her.

  “What happened to your assistant?”

  “What does that have to do with you?”

  “I am just curious if I am taking her job or not.”

  Sofian raised his eyebrows. Usually a person would be happy to be promoted. He could not understand why Morgan was so curious about it. She had mentioned it the day before.

  “I have moved her to a different department,” he said. Morgan stared at him blankly. “You do not believe me.”

  “I never said that.” Morgan shifted awkwardly.

  “But you thought it.”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Well, she is working in the sales department, if you wish to look for her.” Sofian did not understand why he was even explaining himself. He was never one to do so. Morgan opened her mouth to speak but Sofian raised his hand to stop her. “You will be responsible for my schedule,” he began. He told her what her duties were going to be. He already had some work for her that he needed her to get through.

  “Okay,” Morgan said. Her tone suggested doubt.

  “Are you not confident that you can meet my expectations?” he asked her.

  “No, Sheikh. I can definitely meet them.”

  “Good.”

  Sofian returned to his office. Morgan was left standing by the reception area. She was shocked at how fussy the sheikh was. He wanted everything done right and on time, which was fine but he was specific about the things he wanted. He had explained how she was to organize any reports given to him. The alignment was to be perfect. He even explained what he liked to eat and what he did not want to eat. She was to be responsible for getting his lunch also.

  Morgan was not quite sure about the promotion anymore. She liked working in the lab. Now she was to do paperwork and be a waitress for the sheikh. She sighed as she walked behind the desk. She started moving things around and just reorganizing. She needed it to be more her style.

  “What are you doing?” Morgan heard Sofian’s voice. He caught her off guard, she almost jumped out of her skin. She turned to face him. She found him leaning in the doorway of his office, looking at her.

  “Oh, you scared me,” she mumbled.

  “Why do you look like you were caught stealing?” He looked amused.

  “I am just fixing the desk.”

  “Because?”

  “Just so I know where everything is.” Morgan looked around. “Now it feels more like my style.”

  Sofian raised an eyebrow. “Okay, then.”

  “Was there anything that I could do for you, sir?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes, some green tea.”

  “How would you like it?”

  “Green.”

  A small smile appeared on Morgan’s face. She did not understand whether Sofian was joking or being serious. He had said something sarcastic but he barely changed his facial expression. He did not laugh or anything.

  “Oh, okay, because I was going to make it purple. Do you take sugar or honey?” Morgan could not help but return the sarcasm. She could almost hear Brooke telling her that it was a bad move. Brooke often told Morgan to cut back on her sarcasm and perhaps bite her tongue in most situations. Morgan knew that this was the time she should have taken Brooke’s advice. She barely knew the sheikh to be sarcastic towards him. Besides he was her boss. He had her job in his hands. She had to be careful.

  “Neither. Just make it strong,” said Sofian. He turned on his heel and returned to his office. Morgan felt relieved that he did not comment on her sarcasm. She rushed off to the kitchen to make the tea.

  When lunchtime arrived, Morgan welcomed it eagerly. She had spent the morning photocopying documents, making phone calls and organizing the sheikh’s schedule for the week. She brought the sheikh his food before she went to meet with Brooke for lunch.

  “Here she comes,” Brooke said as Morgan approached her. She seemed so excited to see Morgan.

  “Hey,” Morgan said with no emotion.

  “How is it so far?”

  “Boring.”

  “What? You are working for the sheikh, a prince of Kaslan! How could that be boring?”

  “I am doing a lot of paperwork. That stuff is boring. I miss working in the lab with you guys.” Morgan pouted.

  Brooke raised an eyebrow. “If I was in your position, I would not be thinking of the lab or anyone in it.”

  Morgan narrowed her gaze at Brooke. “It’s really not that great working for him, you know,” she said before she bit into her sandwich.

  “Why not?”

  “He’s so fussy, and there are these weird moments when he is looking at me and not saying anything. It’s so scary because I do not know what he is thinking. I am always on edge.”

  Brooke threw her head backwards and started laughing. “Morgan, you are so dramatic,” she said and started laughing again.

  “What?”

  “You have only been working for him for like four hours.”

  “So?”

  “How are you always on edge?”

  “Well in those four hours I was on edge.” Morgan laughed a little. She too knew that she was being so dramatic about it. However she could not help how the sheikh had made her feel.

  “Most people are dying to be in your position.”

  “I have to admit that I was curious about him before I met him. Now that I have, I see that he is an arrogant man. Of course he would be, he is a prince.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Also he is unpredictable. He made a sarcastic comment earlier but didn’t laugh or anything. It was weird.”

  “So he’s like you?”

  “What?” Morgan almost spat out her drink.

  “You are both sarcastic and weird.” Brooke grinned. Morgan frowned.

  “I am not weird,” Morgan protested. Brooke just looked at her. “Okay, maybe a little.” Morgan burst into laughter.

  “Does he smell nice?” Brooke asked her.

  “Now that is weird!”

  “I am just curious about him, just like any normal woman would be.”

  “It’s not like I was sniffing him.”

  “Well, do so next time.” Brooke giggled a little. Morgan laughed with her. She knew that Brooke liked men that smelled nice. It was one of the things that turned her on. So naturally she would be curious about it. The two of them continued having lunch together and talking about all sorts of things.

  Chapter 5


  The next day, Morgan was sitting at her desk when the sheikh arrived. He was dressed in a black pair of trousers and a navy-blue shirt. Such a simple outfit complemented his muscular physique and highlighted his impressive height. Morgan rose from her desk to greet him as he approached.