by Holly Rayner
She stood on the corner of the block with her hand up and hailed a cab, sitting in silence as she was driven back to her apartment. When she opened the door, the familiar scent of home filled her senses, and she allowed herself to feel comforted. She made quick business of changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth before collapsing into bed. She had made a friend in her new boss, that night, and his words had been like a balm to her aching soul. She hadn’t realized how good it felt to be told she wasn’t alone, and that if she needed help, she had somewhere to go.
It was with that thought that she fell into a deep, blissfully dreamless sleep, and didn’t wake up again until seven the next morning.
SIXTEEN
By 8:30 AM, Nicole was back at her desk, poring over documents. Will and a few other partners knocked on the door, ready to do some work as a team as Nicole continued to get acclimated to the case and their office culture. Surrounded by older men, Nicole held her own when speaking about the legal processes they could take as they approached the hearing.
Nicole was writing furiously on a notepad when she was startled by the slamming of a pile of papers on her desk. When she looked up, her eyes widened.
It was Bahir. His eyes were like fire, though the dark shadows beneath them gave him away. He’d been just as sleepless as she had—though Nicole doubted that had anything to do with her. Around them her new team stared in bewilderment.
“Is that…Bahir Al-Jabbar?” one of them asked in a whisper.
Blinking, Nicole realized that they had an audience. “Gentlemen, would you please excuse us?” she asked, not breaking eye contact with Bahir.
“Of course,” Will said, pointedly. He rose, signaling the others to follow him, and after ushering them out he closed the door quietly.
Bahir and Nicole stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity. Then, finally, she glanced down at the papers.
“What is this?” she asked, her voice cold.
Bahir sat down in one of the sofas opposite her desk. She noticed that he looked disheveled and unkempt. His chin was peppered with stubble. His hair was tousled. His clothing was wrinkled, even though it was a nice suit.
“They’re divorce papers,” Bahir said, his voice rough. “You would have known that if you’d answered my phone calls.”
Nicole’s breath sucked straight from her lungs as she looked at the signed divorce papers. For a time, she had allowed herself to forget that she had been married to this man. She let herself pretend that it wasn’t legally binding, but simply a make-believe trip to some faraway island; that no one would ever know. How could she have believed that this wouldn’t have to happen?
“I need air,” she said.
“You can’t run away from me, Nicole. Not this time.”
“Fine, but let’s go to the roof, then. I can’t talk about this in here,” she said, breathing heavily.
Bahir nodded and followed her out of the office and up the staircase to a large door, which opened to a view of the Seattle landscape.
Nicole kept her back to him for a moment before turning back to look at him, ready to fight.
“I’m sorry,” Bahir said, instantly taking the wind from her sails.
“You’re what?” she asked, not sure she’d heard correctly.
Bahir kept his distance from her, as though afraid he would scare her off. “I’m sorry, for everything. I’m sorry that you were put in a situation that you didn’t want to be in. I’m sorry for the way I handled the aftermath of that situation. And I’m sorry I didn’t remember about your brother, even though I managed to right that wrong, at least.”
Nicole gaped at him. “What?”
Bahir’s eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at her. “You don’t know? Your brother interviewed with Futurescapes before we even got back from Dubai. He’d already been hired. I thought he would have told you.”
Nicole frowned. The truth was, Ryan had been calling her too. Not as often as Bahir had, but she couldn’t seem to make herself answer the phone. She couldn’t hear the disappointment in his voice again. She didn’t want to hear him tell her how much he was struggling while she had failed to do what she could to help.
“You’re telling me you hired my brother without knowing you did it?”
Bahir shrugged. “I’m the CEO of a multinational conglomerate, Nicole. Sometimes I drop the ball. I’m standing here saying that I’m sorry about that.”
Bahir rubbed a hand across his eyes, clearly exhausted. Nicole certainly knew how he felt.
“Anyway, you saw the signed divorce papers down in your office. All you need to do is sign them yourself and we can be done with this whole mess.”
Nicole hesitated. Then she asked, “But what will happen with your visa?”
Bahir stared at the ground. “I don’t know, but it’s not your problem, and I never should have made it so. You’re a good person, Nicole. I am not, but I want to be better, and you deserve some compensation for what you went through, so please accept this as a token of my gratitude.”
Bahir pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.
With trembling fingers, Nicole took it and pulled it apart. It was a check for five hundred thousand dollars. She stared at the expensive piece of paper for a few moments before meeting Bahir’s gaze and holding it back out to him.
“I don’t want it,” she said, her voice trembling. When he didn’t reach out to take it, she let it fall to the ground.
“Don’t you understand, Bahir? I make plenty of money. I didn’t marry you because of the financial rewards. I married you because…” she faltered, choking back a sob.
“I did it because I loved you,” she whispered finally, wiping tears from her eyes. “And when we made love, it was the most magical moment of my life. I thought I could die happy then and there. Then the next morning you were so cold, and it was so clear all you’d wanted was to consummate the marriage for legal purposes, task completed,” she said, the bitterness seeping through her words. “I could have loved you forever, Bahir.”
When she finally braved a look at him, she was surprised to see his own eyes brimming with tears. She had never, ever seen Bahir cry. He’d never even come close to showing that much emotion. His voice was hoarse as he spoke.
“You think I made love to you simply to cover my own ass? Nicole, that night was one of the best of my life! You saw me, really saw me. No one else can see past the money and the power, but you did, and you liked me better for it. As for the next morning…I was scared. When I woke up with you in my arms, I realized I’d found a woman I could truly love, and it terrified me. I’ve been taught all my life that love is a weakness, but I know now that not having love is a greater weakness. I’ve been a wreck without you, Nicole. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I have no reason to live without you by my side, and now I’ve ruined it.”
Nicole watched as a single tear streaked down Bahir’s face. In that moment she forgot all her anger as she approached him and gently wiped that tear from his cheek. She allowed her hand to rest there as she stared into his golden eyes, which shimmered with tears and emotion.
“I love you, Nicole. Please, can you forgive me, one last time?”
As she gazed up at Bahir, Nicole’s guard melted away. She realized she’d been foolish, and, if she were honest with herself, childish. Her smile wobbled a little.
“Yes. And I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have ignored you like that. I was just angry and—”
Bahir placed two fingers against her lips. “You have no reason to apologize. It is I who will spend my life making this all up to you, that is, if you’ll allow me?”
With that, he knelt down on one knee and pulled a small box from his left pocket. When he cracked it open, an enormous diamond ring glinted in the sunlight, winking at Nicole. She held a hand to her mouth in shock.
“Marry me, Nicole. Be my wife—not because of some green card agreement, but because I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of y
our life. I will do everything in my power to ensure your happiness, if you just give me one more chance.”
Nicole glanced from the ring and back to Bahir, a man who for so long she had been forcefully trying to convince herself that she hated. As she stared down at him in that moment, though, her whole world flipped over. Everything that had been wrong righted itself, and she was ready to take on the world again, with him by her side.
“Yes,” she whispered. Then, a little louder, she said, “Yes!” and began to laugh.
Bahir joined her, rising up to capture her lips in a sacred kiss, sealing the promise they had already made. He twirled her around in a circle, and she clung to his shoulders as he whipped her around. When he stopped, she pressed herself against him, savoring the feel of his strong body against hers.
“Tell me that you love me,” Bahir said. It was a request, and Nicole willingly obliged.
“I love you now. I love you always,” she said, and he kissed her again, deeply.
When they broke apart, Nicole grinned at him, not releasing him from her grip. “What kind of man shows up with divorce papers and an engagement ring?”
Bahir grinned. “The kind who never gives up hope, even when all seems lost.”
“Mmm,” she said, kissing him again. “That is one smart man.”
“So what do we do now?” Bahir asked.
Nicole scrunched her eyebrows, thinking. “Well, it looks like we could both use some sleep. And I’ve got a fireplace at my apartment back home. I’d say we have some kindling sitting on my desk that we really need to burn.”
Bahir’s grin was roguish. “And after we burn the papers?”
Nicole smirked. “We’ll just have to see what happens, won’t we, Mr. Al-Jabbar?”
“I suppose we will, Mrs. Al-Jabbar.”
“Not yet,” she said. “Legally I’m still a Calvert.”
“Would you like to become an Al-Jabbar?” he asked.
Nicole pondered that for a moment.
“I believe I would. But this time, let’s do it in front of family and friends. Then we’ll really be held accountable for our actions.”
Bahir placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“That’s a deal,” he said.
That night, the two of them held a glorious bonfire in Nicole’s apartment before they made passionate love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. This time when Nicole awoke, Bahir was right by her side.
She knew then that she would be safe with him for the rest of their lives.
The End