The Sheikh's Purchased Bride

by Holly Rayner

FIVE

  The next morning, however, Zoey woke up to a very long text from Blake, explaining where he had been the previous night. As it turned out, about two hours before the date, he had discovered the Facebook page of a woman he used to know, named Elmyra. In high school, Blake had allegedly carried a torch for the girl, but he’d never had the courage to tell her so. He had messaged her, and the two had talked for several hours. It had been long past midnight when the conversation ended, and only then had he remembered his rendezvous with Zoey. He apologized for standing her up, but even more, he was sorry to report he and Elmyra had decided to go out on a date.

  Zoey’s face crumpled as she read the message. She had been forgotten. Just plain forgotten, and dumped via text message. She couldn’t decide whether to cry or break everything within reach, so she settled for swearing furiously every few moments. She called the agency and told her mother she was sick because she didn’t think she could face looking at another human being.

  Zoey remained at home all that day and the next one, seething at being so horribly cast away. Her phone lay on the floor in several pieces—she had thrown it against the wall when Blake texted to ask if she could recommend a good hookah bar for him and Elmyra to meet at.

  By the morning of the third day, Zoey felt reasonably sure she could get back to work without breaking down at her desk, so she got ready and hopped on the subway.

  She would have been stuck standing the entire way to Manhattan, except the five-year-old kid from a few days ago was there again, and she talked her into taking her seat. Half a dozen people praised the girl for doing what any of them easily could have, and she took the accolades in her stride, giving most of the credit to her mother for teaching her manners.

  Zoey thought about what her mother was teaching her: cynicism, deception, apathy and greed. She had to admit that Melinda had been a much more loving person a long time ago, before her relationship with Zoey’s father had started to go south. But Zoey didn’t want to spend her commute thinking about relationships—she would have enough of that to do when she got to work.

  She picked up her smartphone and went to her favorite news site. Almost immediately, she saw something among the top stories that made her sigh.

  “Spotted at the city’s exclusive Three Rivers restaurant: real estate magnate Stelios Zakiridis and reality television star Brie Hudson. Speculation is that the pair are dating, though neither could be reached for comment.”

  The article was accompanied by several paparazzi photographs of Stelios and Brie in the vicinity of the restaurant. Zoey couldn’t help noting that her client wasn’t smiling in any of them.

  “Melinda Forde strikes again,” she muttered. “Well, at the very least this will get my mother off my back for a while. She might even be in a good mood for once.”

  And yet, Zoey felt a nameless sort of worry, like another boot was about to drop. She tried to ignore it, instead focusing on the old guy a few seats down. He was singing an old soul ballad in an effort to try and woo a woman half his age. She was listening politely, but it was obvious it wasn’t working. Nearby, two teenagers were filming the whole thing for YouTube. Zoey briefly toyed with the idea of belting out the old Carmen Sandiego theme, but in the end she decided she had enough problems already without a train full of people looking at her awkwardly.

  When Zoey arrived at work, it was to find a very conspicuous looking black town car in front of the building. The moment she saw it, she had an ominous feeling, and when she went inside, it grew stronger still. Her office door was open and she could hear an animated conversation going on inside. Her mother was talking to someone, and there were no prizes for guessing who it was.

  Tentatively, Zoey stepped inside.

  “Oh, there you are, Zoey dear. We’ve just been talking about you. Mr. Zakiridis has some concerns he would like you to address. I think I shall just leave you to it. Have a pleasant day, Mr. Zakiridis.”

  Before Zoey could utter a word of protest, Melinda was gone. Zoey saw the bottle of champagne she kept in her fridge was on her desk. It was nearly halfway gone.

  She turned to Stelios, who looked very disgruntled indeed. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were a little wild.

  Seeing her staring, he smoothed his hair back and took a breath. “Let me see,” he began in a voice he was clearly trying to keep even, “if I can convey to you what happened to me last night…”

  “Mr. Zakiridis…”

  “She sounded sweet enough on the phone, and even sweeter when she found out who I was, and why I was calling. We set up the date, and she asked me to send a limousine for her because she had been feeling a little down lately and thought a little pomp and circumstance would help her feel better.”

  Zoey nodded, listening intently.

  “I bought that story, and I picked her up. I suggested we see a Broadway play. The moment I said that, I regretted it. All she would talk about afterward was her own experiences onstage. She went on about her former music group until we got to the theater, and started on her reality career until the play started. She whispered all the way through, trying to explain acting techniques and critiquing the actors’ performances until the intermission. When we stepped into the bar, we were told we would not be welcome at the second half.”

  Zoey nodded empathetically, the knot in her stomach tightening.

  “When Brie discovered this, she made such a fuss that the theater ushers called in security. I had to make a huge donation to the theater, and promise to keep Brie silent, in order to see the remainder of the play. She apologized so convincingly, and remained so quiet throughout the second half that, remembering your recommendation,” he said the last word somewhat resentfully, “I gave her a second chance. I asked her to pick a restaurant and of course she picks The Three Rivers. One of the most expensive restaurants in the city. Its waiting list is legendary. But I had already agreed to take her out, and I really wanted to try and make the evening work.

  So we head to the restaurant and manage to get a table after I have an expensive little talk with the management. The wait staff is slow because the place is packed, and Brie quickly loses all patience. She’s admonishing the poor staff members, criticizing the chef, at one point she threw a glass of wine in a server’s face. The poor woman just snapped and leaped at Brie. I spent the next ten minutes trying to keep them from killing each other. They caused hundreds of dollars’ worth of damage. Customers and staff were running all over the place until security came in to restore order. I’ve been threatened with several…”

  “Mr. Zakiridis!” Zoey interrupted.

  She couldn’t listen anymore. She felt sorry for the guy, sure, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to spare him everything he had gone through. It was unfair that she was on the hot seat for something her mother had forced her to do. Her mind was whirling at a mile a minute, desperately trying to think of something she could say that wouldn’t get her fired.

  “Look, I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. Sometimes our profiles…”

  “I’d rather not hear about profiles right now. The entire story will be in the gossip columns later today. I’ll be asked about the incident, and when I am, I’ll be bound to mention Melinda Forde. But I won’t do that if you’ll do one thing for me.”

  Zoey didn’t like the sound of that at all, but if Stelios followed through with his threat, it could ruin her mother, and maybe cost her her job in the process.

  “What is it that you would like me to do?” she asked tentatively.

  “I want you to agree to go on a date with me, Ms. Forde. After all, it was your recommendation that started all this. Brie Hudson was an unparalleled disaster, the likes of which I hope to never see again. I really think this is the best way for you to make up for it, don’t you?” he asked, folding his arms, and eyeing her slyly.

  Zoey was stunned into silence, unable to think of an appropriate response. In her mind, she struggled to discern what was motivating St
elios to do this. She was certain it wasn’t really to make up for sending him out with Brie Hudson. What’s more, he was a client. He was attractive—there was no denying that—but he was still a client. On top of everything, she was an average woman who worked in an office and mostly made things up for a living. What on earth did a billionaire who had most likely been to every corner of the world want with a woman who had spent nearly her entire life within the confines of one city?

  After a few moments, Zoey found her voice and prepared to use it to refuse the offer, as tempting as it was. Just at that moment, however, her office door flew open.

  “Hello again. I just thought I ought to check on you two.”

  Zoey sighed inwardly. It was her mother.

  “Have you worked everything out?” Melinda asked, giving her daughter a significant look. “We always strive to give our clients the best experience possible.”

  “I think we may have hit on an acceptable solution,” Stelios answered her. “In fact, we were just discussing that when you walked in, weren’t we, Ms. Forde?”

  Zoey found herself under a full court press. Between her mother and her client, there was simply no way out of it that she could see.

  “Yes, we were,” Zoey finally replied, fighting to arrange her features into a smile. “Mr. Zakiridis thinks he might enjoy a date with me, and I’m happy to give it a try.”

  “Well!” Melinda exclaimed, exuding surprise, though if Zoey knew her mother at all, she had doubtless been in the hallway, listening the entire time. “That’s absolutely wonderful. When is this happening?”

  “I have an opening in my schedule tomorrow at six. If that works for you I can pick you up at your home.”

  That would be fine,” Zoey replied, a little stiffly. “I look forward it.”

  “So do I,” replied Stelios. “I’d better go now. I’m glad we had the opportunity to work through this.”

  So saying, the Greek quickly walked out of the office. Moments later, Zoey and Melinda watched through the window as he left the building and jumped into the black town car.

  Glaring darkly at her mother, Zoey sat down at her desk and went to work.

  For what might have been the first time ever, Zoey truly appreciated her job because it kept her from thinking about Blake or Stelios, or just what the enigmatic Greek billionaire could be planning for the rest of the day. She spent the next few hours going through her profiles, answering emails, and matching her clients, happy to be able to escape from her thoughts.

  All too soon, the workday came to an end, and Zoey marched toward the subway with a hopeful air about her. This time, no one bothered to offer her a seat, so she gripped a pole and let her thoughts wash over her as she made her way back to Brooklyn.