by Lara Hunter
Tracey flipped through her file to entertain herself, half listening as the man blathered on about independent studies showing his franchise's positive impact on local economies. That caught her attention, reminding her of something in the file.
"Um…" She'd spoken and raised her hand before she realized what she was doing. She immediately froze in horror, but it was too late now.
"I'll be answering questions after the presentation," the man said quickly, eager to dismiss her and continue.
"Sorry." Tracey pushed on, her heart hammering. "It's just a quibble with your facts. You said that study was independent, but I have it here. It was done by United Bearing Metrics, who list you as a major contributor to their funding. I would say that's a significant bias."
The man's face turned red, then purple, and then he forced a smile, looking at Adil.
"Sheikh Adil, your assistant certainly is enthusiastic," he said with a forced laugh.
"Yes, she is," Adil replied without humor. "She's also correct."
The man cleared his throat and tried to continue.
"Regardless, the data is sound," the man said. "Multiple other studies confirm we outstrip all our peers in this."
"Actually"—Tracey interrupted again, emboldened by Adil's support—"I only have one study here by a nominally unbiased source, according to which you aren't significantly better or worse than any of your nearest competitors."
"Maybe you should stick to fetching coffee, miss," the man replied, ice in his tone.
"Maybe you should wrap up this farce so we can eat," the Sheikh countered, and if the man was ice, then Adil was fire. There was a murmur of irritable agreement from the rest of the table. The man, cowed, finished his presentation in fewer sentences than your average picture book contained and retreated. With clear relief, the meeting broke for lunch.
Tracey took lunch orders from the Sheikh and a few other men at the table, surprised to find that her time spent waitressing was coming in handy. After what had happened with the coffee, several of the other PAs followed her this time, and she was happy to lead them to a local place, of quality but relatively unknown, that she knew could use the business. The Sheikh and the other investors were clearly pleased with the choice when she returned, first again.
"You have a talent for this," Adil said as they ate around the conference table. "I might have to hire you permanently."
Tracey chuckled. "It's not talent. Just practice. I didn't expect being a personal assistant to be so similar to being a maid."
"I'm inclined to think you are just far smarter and more competent than you think you are," Adil replied, smiling at her. "You should give yourself more credit."
Tracey felt nearly dizzy with his praise. Why was it that everything he said affected her so strongly?
As lunch wrapped up, Tracey gathered take-out containers and other trash and disposed of it, tidying up before things resumed. One of the investors, an older man with a meticulously manicured goatee, raised his coffee to her gratefully as she took his leftovers.
"Thank you," he said. "I don't know what the Sheikh is paying you, but he should give you a raise. You're miles better than his last PA. I swear that girl spent the entire time on her phone."
"I'm just temporary," Tracey said with a modest shrug. "I don't really know what I'm doing, to be honest."
"What you're doing is a fantastic job," the man said. "It's a rare assistant who is so quick with paperwork and errands but keeps things neat as well."
"Ah, well, that's just habit," Tracey said with an embarrassed laugh. Then she realized she'd slipped up.
"Habit?" the man repeated, confused. Tracey scrambled for an excuse but couldn't think of one. She'd always been terrible at lying.
"I'm..." She hesitated, flustered. "I'm actually the Sheikh's maid. His real PA quit last minute, and I was the only person available."
The man laughed, amused, and shook his head.
"Well, then he should hire you full time!"
"You don't think it's weird?" Tracey asked, self-conscious.
"Not at all." The man stroked his goatee thoughtfully. "In fact, if all maids make as good assistants as you, I might have to invite my own next time."
Tracey, baffled but delighted, couldn't stop smiling as the meeting resumed. She continued working hard the next two hours, through multiple coffee runs and a papercut for every finger. By the end of the pitches, she was as exhausted as she'd ever been from housekeeping, but proud.
The meeting ran long, the Sheikh and the other investors debating which franchises should be included. Adil ferociously defended his anti-gentrification position against the others, who tended to be concerned with profit first. Tracey, frantically reading through the materials in her file, backed him up with relevant data about the benefits of raising the income and quality of life of the existing population instead of displacing it and taking the gamble of bringing in a whole new demographic. It was a hard-fought argument, but by the end, Tracey felt like they'd won. The building project was moving forward, and it looked like the Sheikh's insistence on responsible building would be listened to.
When the meeting ended, the Sheikh shook hands and personally thanked the investors as they left, until it was only him and Tracey left in the boardroom. As the door closed behind the last investor, he turned to her with a grin. She yelped in delighted surprise when he swooped down on her, picking her up by the waist and spinning her around.
"You were fantastic!" he declared. "This is going to work, finally! And it's thanks to you!"
Tracey was still laughing joyously when he put her down. He set her on her feet in front of him, and then he hesitated, his hands still on her waist, as their eyes met.
There was a moment, suspended almost forever like dew on spider silk, where they looked at one another, their emotions rushing in the excitement and their hearts racing. Then Adil pulled her close and kissed her. Tracey didn't think before she threw her arms around him and kissed him back, their lips moving together in tender warmth that left Tracey shivering.
His hand slid down her back, leaving tingles in the wake of his fingers. She felt the muscles of his shoulders through his robe, the way they tensed and relaxed as he pulled her against him and held her, the kiss slowly softening from exuberant joy to patient, passionate recognition. This wasn't a momentary whim, but something far more significant.
Slowly, they separated to breathe, and Tracey opened her eyes to see him staring at her, wonder and desire and trepidation in his eyes. His arms loosened around her and she stepped back, anxiety and embarrassment beginning to creep back in. Had she made a mistake? This shouldn't be happening. She should have just stayed at the mansion and cleaned today. But as she stepped back, Adil caught her hand. He raised it to press a gentle kiss to the backs of her fingers, gazing at her with a patient smile. He didn't push her any further.
He offered his arm as they left the building. Tracey took it, her heart still beating like a hummingbird's wings in her chest. As hard as she'd railed against the thought of giving in to her crush on him, knowing he might feel the same way felt like winning the lottery on Christmas. She felt less like she was walking and more like she was floating as they descended the stairs, gliding down from heaven on cloud-bound feet. Had it not been for Adil's arm in hers, she probably would have drifted right out into traffic. All at once, anything and everything seemed not just possible, but within reach.
Her only reservation, and it didn't even occur to her until later that night as she lay in bed, playing the events of the day over and over in her mind, was how little she really knew about Adil. She knew he was kind, generous, handsome, patient. Silly sometimes, occasionally forgetful. He loved swimming and good Greek food. But beyond that? He intentionally dodged all questions about his past and his family. She remembered the way he had stiffened during dinner the other night when she'd asked about his childhood. Despite all his warmth and genuine kindness, he was closed off. She knew nothing deeper than his base pe
rsonality and his favorite food, and that worried her.
After what had happened with Derrek, she couldn't afford to fall for another man with secrets. Her ex-husband had hidden his gambling all through the time they'd dated and well after, until they were in enough debt to ruin their lives.
Still, she thought, rolling over in bed and pulling her blankets up to her chin with a giddy smile. To feel romance again was wonderful. She wouldn't dare call it love yet, but that there was anything there at all was cause for celebration.
EIGHT
The following week was a busy one. It was edging toward summer now, and the Sheikh was pushing ahead with his building project. Things were moving faster, the planning almost wrapped up, and as a consequence, he was constantly in meetings or pouring over paperwork and planning documents. Tracey, as she'd promised, stopped to say hello whenever they met, but there was often little time for him to do more than greet her before they both had to run on. She saw the regret in his eyes during these brief encounters, and she felt it too. She worried her chance, however slim, might have been slipping away.
So she found other reasons to see him, bringing him coffee and meals when he was shut up in his office working. The first time she'd appeared with coffee, he'd looked up from his work in dazzled surprise, smiling as she handed it to him.
"Thank you, Tracey," he said gratefully, his fingers brushing the back of her hand as he took the mug. "You don't have to do that."
"Of course I do," Tracey said, returning his smile. "I'm your personal assistant, right?"
She winked and he chuckled, but she didn't linger, not wanting to get in the way of his work. Still, even those brief moments seemed to lift her spirits more than she could express.
Near the end of the week, Adil looked particularly frazzled. He was rubbing tiredly at his temples as Tracey knocked on the door and entered with some coffee. Seeing he was preoccupied, she set the tray on his desk and started to leave silently.
"Wait a moment," he said as she turned toward the door. He looked up, tired but smiling at the sight of her. "This is sudden, I know, but are you free this weekend?"
Tracey considered it for a moment, caught off guard. Aside from the usual chores, cleaning house and grocery shopping, she didn't have anything big planned for this weekend.
"Yes," she said, sitting down in the chair near his desk. "Why do you ask?"
"I need to get away from all this for a while," he said. "And forgive my forwardness, but being around you relaxes me. Would you like to go on a trip with me?"
"Right now?" Tracey asked, her eyes wide with surprise and her heart stuttering a little at his words.
"Yes," he said. "Right now, today. Just for the weekend. Anywhere you’d like. Paris. Tokyo. Hawaii!"
Tracey's face lit up at the mention of Hawaii. Then it fell as she realized it was impossible.
"I could never find a babysitter in time," Tracey said. "Detta, my regular sitter, she doesn't work on weekends."
"That's fine," Adil said immediately, standing up. "Charlie can come with us!"
"Really?" Tracey asked, standing to meet him.
"Really!" he said, taking her by the arms. "So you'll come?"
"Of course!" she said, his excitement spreading to her. He pulled her closer and kissed her. It was brief but warm with his delight, and it was only by clinging to him that Tracey's knees didn't give out.
"I'll call the airport and make the arrangements," he said. "You run home and get Charlie and your things."
"What about work?" Tracey looked back as though she imagined Lorraine would be there, waiting to spoil things. She'd not been happy about Tracey taking the day off to play personal assistant to Adil.
"I'll call the maid service and take care of it," he said. "I promise you won't get in any trouble."
"Okay." Tracey smiled, practically humming with excitement now. "Okay! I'll see you soon!"
She stood on her toes to kiss him, a quick peck, just to prove to herself she was brave enough to do it. Then she turned and hurried out, waving to him as she left.
She rushed home, explaining things briefly to Detta as she collected Charlie. Charlie, who'd been woken from his nap, looked rumpled and confused.
"What's going on?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"We're going on a vacation, Charlie!" she told him, grinning. "We're going to Hawaii!"
"What?" Charlie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, his voice squeaking with excitement. "Hawaii! Holy cow, yeah!"
From there he dissolved into mostly incoherent yelling and bouncing in excitement. Tracey herded him back to the house and started packing, throwing a few changes of clothes and a swimsuit into her bag before helping Charlie with his. Once she'd convinced him that bringing all of his toys was unnecessary but more than one change of clothing was probably wise, they rushed to the car and hurried back to the Sheikh's mansion.
Adil was waiting on the front steps for them. He hugged Tracey as soon as she got out of the car, all of them caught up in the whirlwind excitement of the spontaneous vacation. They moved their bags quickly into Adil's sleek black town car, and just like that they were off to a private airstrip where Adil had a jet waiting for them.
It was just the three of them who settled into the beyond-first-class seats of the private jet—they were more like plush leather armchairs than anything else. An attractive stewardess strolled up the wide champagne-carpeted aisle to bring Charlie fresh-squeezed orange juice. Adil and Tracey sat facing each other over a small table, sipping mimosas as though they were at a café rather than about to take off. Tracey had changed out of her uniform into a simple T-shirt and jeans. She felt oddly underdressed for the luxury of the airplane, but from the way Adil looked at her, Tracey had a feeling he thought she looked fine.
"I've never been out of the continental U.S. before," she told him as the plane climbed higher into the air. Charlie was strapped in on the other side of the aisle, his face pressed to the window, watching the world vanish below with undisguised awe. "Charlie has never even flown."
"If you enjoy this trip," Adil said, "perhaps we could take others? I would love to show you some of my favorite places. That café in Florence. A villa in Tuscany where they make the most incredible wine. Perhaps a trip to Florida for Charlie?"
Tracey laughed. "Don't say that too loud. He'll make us turn the plane around."
"I'm serious." Adil leaned toward her, smiling. "You make me happy. I want to spend more time with you."
"You make me happy too," Tracey confessed, flustered. "And I think Charlie is going to adore you after this."
"He's a wonderful boy," Adil said, smiling at Charlie, who was still watching out the window. "He's lucky to have such a hardworking mother."
"I'm pretty sure it's the other way around." Tracey's smile turned wistful as she looked at her son. "He's been so patient with everything, and he's stayed so bright and happy, even after losing his dad. I don't think I could have made it without him."
"His father, with the gambling, right?" Adil asked. "Any sign of him lately?"
Tracey shook her head.
"Charlie asks about him sometimes," she said, "but I think even he understands by now that Derek isn't coming back. If there's one thing he was good at, it was hiding things. I guess that includes himself. You know he hid the gambling from me for almost four years? He insisted on paying all the bills and handling all the money so I wouldn't see. Acted like everything was fine right up until they were cutting the power off. I can't ever be with anyone who hides something like that, not again."
Adil looked away for a moment. Then he reached out for her hand, squeezing it gently.
"Let's forget all that for now," he said. "It doesn't matter where we're going. For just this weekend, nothing matters except that we relax and enjoy ourselves as much as possible. The rest of the world can wait."
"You're right," she said, smiling and squeezing his hand. "This is all that matters."
They continued to talk w
hile Charlie colored or watched cartoons on the in-flight TV. They talked about what they would do in Hawaii, their favorite vacation activities, favorite movies—anything, Tracey noticed, except Adil's past. She tried to subtly steer the conversation that way more than once. She brought up her favorite childhood vacation, hoping he would answer with his own, but he dodged it effortlessly, turning the conversation to trips Charlie would like with ease. Once or twice Tracey would have understood, but he wouldn't talk about anything that had happened before the past few years. It was beginning to make her nervous.
***
The plane landed in Hawaii around sunset. The greeting party draped leis of fresh flowers around their necks as they stared out at the vibrant scarlets and oranges and pinks splashed like paint across the sky.