by Leslie North
"Okay... we... really..." Soraya was struggling to string a sentence together. Pushing him away, she jumped up from the sofa and cleared her throat. She blinked a few times before she said anything. Amir was still sitting on the sofa looking at her with so much desire in his eyes. "We have to go," Soraya finally managed to say.
"Do we?" Amir asked as he got up from the sofa and walked towards her.
"Yes," she said and ran out of the room. Amir laughed. He was pleased he could affect her so much. Not long ago, it was difficult to get a simple smile out of her. He straightened his tie and slipped his suit jacket back on.
Moments later, Soraya re-entered the room. She had adjusted her makeup and managed to put herself back together. They had to be at Fiddah's charity fundraiser dinner party and were already running late. By the time they arrived, everyone was already seated inside. They joined Sara and Tariq at their table. Amir kissed Sara on both cheeks before he took Leylah in his arms. Her face lit up when Amir picked her up. He kissed her and she laughed in response.
"You guys are so late," Sara pointed out.
"Blame him," Soraya said. Amir raised an eyebrow at her. Sara laughed.
"She just threw you under the bus," Sara said.
Malik joined them at the table. He greeted everyone before he pulled out his chair and sat down. He pinched Leylah's rosy cheeks. Turning his attention to Amir and Soraya, "Why so late?" he asked.
"Traffic," Amir said.
The waiters served the starters. Sara frowned and pushed her bowl of soup away. Tariq held her arm gently and asked her if she was okay. "Smells awful!" she complained. Tariq laughed softly and asked the waiter to remove both their bowls.
"And the pregnant journey begins once again," Amir said as he smiled at Sara. He enjoyed teasing her over how soon she became pregnant after having Leylah. Seemed like her and Tariq could not take a break from each other. Sara rolled her eyes. Some moments were not so pretty about being pregnant. She was not looking forward to it at all. Then there was her supercharged sex drive. It was ridiculous how she was easily aroused when she was pregnant. That was Tariq's favourite part. He liked seeing her in that state and begging for attention.
"How are you coping so far?" Soraya asked Sara.
"Morning sickness is already screwing me over," Sara complained. She sighed and reached for her glass and drank from it. Malik gave her a sympathetic look and rubbed her hand.
Halfway through dinner, Fiddah made a speech to thank all the donors. They had managed to raise a lot of money. She also informed them about future charity events. She delivered the speech with such poise and elegance. Everyone clapped their hands after her speech.
Music filled the room and people started dancing. Sara got up to make her third trip to the bathroom within the hour. Tariq rubbed her back before she left. He turned his attention to Amir who was still holding Leylah.
"I'll take her, you and Soraya go dance," Tariq said to Amir. Amir looked at him wondering what he was up to. "Ley," Tariq called out. She turned her head in his direction and smiled as she stretched out her arms toward him. He took her from Amir and kissed her. She smiled and touched his face.
"She's so adorable," Soraya said as she smiled.
"We can have an adorable one too," Amir said and winked at her. Malik and Soraya both frowned at him.
"Slow down," Malik said. Tariq couldn't help but laugh. His brother's humour wasn't always warranted. Amir simply smiled and held out his hand to Soraya.
"May I have this dance?" he asked her. She did not respond right away. She looked up, as if she was thinking about it. Amir kissed her on the cheek. "She always makes me work for it," he said before he helped her to her feet.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Soraya said.
"As if you don't want to dance."
"I don't."
"Lies."
Snaking his arm around her waist, he guided her to the dance floor. Giving him a sour look, she placed one hand on his shoulder and the other in his palm. Their bodies moved to the rhythm. Amir was looking at her with such intensity. Being so close to her set him off. She was so beautiful and everything he wanted in a woman. He could not stay away from her.
Soraya avoided his gaze. She acted all tough but the truth was that she melted in his presence. She tried to hide it from him but she was not always successful.
"What are you thinking about?" Amir whispered in her ear.
"Nothing," Soraya replied.
"You're thinking of me."
"Absolutely not," she lied. All she could ever think about these days was him.
* * * *
"Sheik Amir, there is someone here to see you," the servant said.
"Who is it?" Amir asked.
"She would prefer to tell you herself."
Amir raised an eyebrow, as it sounded rather dodgy. Sara looked up, she was suddenly curious. Why so cryptic? Amir motioned to have the guest join them in the courtyard. Sara's jaw dropped open when she saw the green-eyed woman from the restaurant. She was wearing a white silk camisole with a see-through lace back, high waist beige shorts and black shoes with red soles. Her hair was tied up in a high messy bun. Amir looked up, he recognised her immediately.
He had not seen her for years and was not sure what kind of response to give. She stood in front of him and said, "Hello, Amir." Her voice was calm and seductive. Sara raised her eyebrows. Soraya and Aaliyah were looking at the green-eyed woman with curiosity.
"Hello, Tariq," she greeted him. Sara whipped her head in Tariq's direction. His face wasn't expressionless for once. He looked awkward.
"Hello," Tariq replied. Sara narrowed her gaze at him and returned her attention to the mysterious woman.
"It has been a while," she said to Amir. He stood up to greet her, as he kissed her on both cheeks.
"I trust you have been well?" Amir asked. She gave him a small smile.
"How have you been, Tariq?" she asked. Sara was curious and uncomfortable. This woman was beautiful and the Botros brothers were completely awkward in her presence. Of course they would be, as she was beautiful. She also spoke to them informally, which meant that she was quite familiar with them.
"He is fine," Sara answered and stood up from the table. The woman looked down at Sara. She was much taller than she was. "I am Sara, his wife," Sara added. The woman laughed.
"Wow, Tariq, you actually got married. Congratulations." She crossed her arms over her chest and poked her hip out. Tariq laughed softly. "Oh my, Malik? You have changed," she said. She walked over to them. She kissed both Tariq and Malik on both cheeks. Sara felt dismissed. The woman clearly had not gotten her point when she introduced herself as his wife.
"I have not changed that much," Malik said with a smile.
"Who are you?" Sara could not help but be blunt. No one else was asking and the guys seemed to know her very well. The woman turned and looked at Sara.
"An old friend," she replied. Sara was about two seconds from browbeating her or physically beating her. She was being cryptic and it was working her nerves. Sara turned and looked at Amir with a you-better-talk-now expression.
"Her name is Faiza," Amir said. Soraya and Aaliyah continued to watch the interactions. They were as curious as Sara was. Who was she and why was she all mysterious.
Excerpt from ‘The Sheikh's Demanding Fiancée’ (The Botros Brothers Series)
Excerpt From ‘The Sheikh’s Accidental Pregnancy’ (Download Today)
“She's adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He was watching her walk with his usual blank face. He turned to look at Fiddah.
“Amir keeps saying that. I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. Fiddah laughed.
“This is you we are talking about.”
He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “I am not the problem here,” he defended himself. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was watching him and blushing whilst he was speaking to her. Fiddah watched the waitress turn red.
“What brought this on?” He was confused with her sudden change of topic even though it was not the first time she had questioned him about marriage.
“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you notice women.”
Tariq sighed before he replied. He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it did not even faze him anymore. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. Tariq sunk in his chair and watched her. She noticed him looking at her and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow. He waited for her to leave before he commented.
“Marriage is not for me and even if it was, she would not be my type,” he said and took a sip from his glass. Fiddah shook her head. For years, she had been trying to convince him to marry but failed.
“So what, you will bury yourself in the company until your death bed?”
“I like my job.”
“Too much! You need a life outside your job. You need a family.”
“I have one.”
“Of your own! I want great grandchildren. Do not deny me that!”
Tariq was never going to win this argument. Fiddah was tenacious. This was not their first time discussing his love life and it was certainly not going to be their last.
“How about you pick a wife for me?” Tariq said and grinned at her.
“Does that even make sense? Is it so hard to court a woman?” Tariq laughed gently.
Sara heard Tariq laugh. So it's capable of laughing, she said to herself. She turned her attention back to her food. It surprised her to hear him laugh. She had never heard it and never thought she would. He was so uptight and mean.
“Can you see me courting a woman?” Tariq asked Fiddah.
“There is no hope for you,” she replied. He grinned at her. “Don't you want love?” she asked.
“No.”
“What?”
“It doesn't exist.” Tariq was determined to stick to his beliefs. In his eyes, love did not exist. It was simply heightened infatuation. As he took a sip from his glass, he noticed Sara attempt to eat an olive but it fell back on the plate. No table manners even? She could not walk like a normal person. She talked too much. She had poor dress sense. And now this! What other weird trait was she going to exhibit? He watched her eat. He could tell that she was really enjoying her food. She sat up and licked her lips, then took a sip of her drink. When she was not eating, she was talking. It's as if she never stops. Tariq shook his head and looked away from her.
Sara was finally done with her delicious lunch. Food made her happy. As they were leaving, she made sure not to make eye contact with Tariq. It was not the case for Keira and Kaleena. They both stared at Tariq as they walked past. Tariq chewed slowly and watched them, watching him.
“Please stop staring at him,” Sara said feeling awkward.
“He's so handsome,” Keira said.
* * * * * *
There was a lot of work that needed to be done to get the new field up and running. Sara's workload tripled faster than she anticipated. Amir told her that they had to pull some long nights. Sara walked into his office to brief him on a report she had been working on. To her surprise, Tariq and Amir were both sitting on the sofa discussing the appropriate barrels to use. They both looked up when she walked in. It was the first time she had seen him since that Saturday at the mall. She bowed to them. Only Amir responded.
“Barrels for gasoline or crude oil?” Sara asked. They both looked at her and she realised that she had jumped into their conversation.
“Both,” Amir replied.
She pointed at one of the pictures and said, “Those carry more oil.” Amir turned his attention to the picture and picked it up. Tariq was still wondering why she had included herself in the conversation.
“Is that so?” Amir asked her. Sara smiled and nodded.
“Oh, I actually came in to brief you on this report,” she said as she handed him a file. She made eye contact with Tariq. He wore an expressionless look as always, which annoyed her. She could never guess what he was thinking. She looked away first, as she was getting uncomfortable in his presence.
“An estimation of 400 gallons of crude oil can be produced in the El-Sultari region,” Sara said.
“That is not a lot of oil,” Amir said. Tariq leaned back in his chair. He was wondering where Sara was taking this. Did she have a point or was she rambling again?
“True, but it's worth looking into. You never know.”
“Actually, we do know. We have been doing this for years,” Tariq interrupted.
“I meant that it's worth learning more about this field. It might prove to be a good investment.”
“Or it might be a fruitless endeavour and we would have wasted a lot of time and resources,” shot back Tariq.
Amir lifted his head from the file and looked at the both of them. They were both making good points but there was nothing friendly about their conversation. He knew that his brother and his assistant would never get along. He simply hoped it wouldn’t get much worse.
“Sara, if you can find more information about the field, then we'll go from there,” Amir told her.
“Do not give her false hope,” Tariq said. Sara bit the inside of her lip. She wanted to hurl curse words at him but she would not do that. Why did he find it so difficult to be nice to her?
“Sheik Amir, that is fair, thank you.” Sara bowed to him and left the room. Tariq narrowed his gaze. She deliberately thanked Amir so she could make it obvious that she was ignoring him, just as she had done at the mall when Fiddah was there. He watched her walk out of the office. His eyes could not help but rest on her bottom as he contemplated what she looked like without her clothes on. He looked away before Amir caught him. He wouldn't know how to explain it. He started talking about his lunch with Fiddah. Amir laughed. He knew his brother's views on love. The world had failed to convince him otherwise.
Adiva walked in with a tray of refreshments. She placed it on the table and asked if they needed anything else. Amir told her that he did not want anything. Tariq did not offer a response. He simply grunted instead.
Sara returned to her office and started researching El-Sultari. She wanted to prove Tariq wrong. There was potential and it was worth checking it out. Tariq probably shut down the idea because it came from her. She really wanted to prove him wrong. She wanted to visit the field but she knew she could not do that herself. Amir would authorise it but would not let her go alone. She smiled at the thought of Malik. He was the perfect person to go with her. After all, he was in charge of the oil fields.
* * * *
It was finally Friday. The last day of the workweek and the last late work night! Sara was happy. She was not used to working such late nights and it was exhausting. She could not wait to get the work over and done with so that she could start her weekend, kick back and relax.
She had worked with Amir every night and he laughed at how tired she got. He kept saying that she was too cute. Sara never understood how she was cute but it didn't bother her. That Friday, Amir had a mysterious appointment he needed to go to. Sara manned his appointments and she was unaware of this one.
“Sir, you're being too secretive,” Sara said to Amir. He laughed and ruffled her hair.
“I am not,” he said.
“Then why do I not know about this appointment? And why aren't I coming along?”
“You're working late,” Amir replied as he kept inching towards the door. Sara placed her hands on her hips and stared at him.
“A date?” Sara asked him.
“I shall see you on Monday,” Amir smiled mischievously. Sara laughed and bid him farewell. She knew that he was going on a date. He seemed to be quite the ladies man. She was going to grill him about him it on Monday. She took the files she needed from his desk and locked his door before she headed bac
k to her office.
After what seemed like hours and hours of work, Sara decided to walk around the building. She needed to stretch and relax for a bit. The place was deserted. The only people who were there were the security guards. Even Adiva was not working late. Sara frowned. She wished that she were home or out with the twins.
Sara dragged her feet as she walked around the building. She didn't even care what she looked like, nobody was there to see her. She was wearing a black knee-length, pencil skirt and a white camisole that was not tucked in. Her hair was not tied up and her long curly hair rested on her back. She had taken her heels off. She turned a corner and saw the light on in the conference room. She growled silently. Who had not bothered to switch the light off? She dragged her feet and headed towards the conference room to switch the light off. She walked into the room and towards the light switch. She was in her own world looking at the ground.
“Can I help you with something?” A deep voice sounded from behind her. It startled her as she squealed and turned around quickly.
“Oh gosh,” she sighed with relief. It was Tariq leaning on the table reading some paperwork. He was wearing grey pants and a white shirt. A couple of buttons were unbuttoned, revealing the top of his chest. “You scared me,” she scolded.