by Holly Rayner
THIRTEEN
After fixing a very late lunch and spending some overdue quality time with Princess, Ella plopped herself in front of her computer and began checking her emails. She saw several from the vendors she had lined up for the football player’s wedding and a few from stores she had contacted about Hannah’s shower.
After dealing with her emails she glanced at the planner on her desk to double check if she had any other urgent tasks to deal with that day. She suddenly noticed that she had promised the florist that she would get confirmation on the table arrangements for Karim and Nadia’s wedding.
“Shoot,” Ella said, cursing herself for forgetting. With the photo shoot and then the Plaza appointment, she felt like she had already had a full day. She let her head fall back against her chair and closed her eyes as Princess jumped up on her lap.
“Oh Princess, I don’t want to do this. The last thing I want to do is see Karim again.”
“Well,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at the cat. “That’s not exactly true. I do want to see him again; I just don’t know that I can handle that right now.”
Ella’s emotions had been on a roller coaster for the past few days. She had talked things through with Hannah and even mentioned it to her mother and both of them had said that perhaps she needed to step back and take a break for a while; that she needed to be careful.
Ella looked back down at the appointment and made up her mind. She put Princess on the floor and went to her bedroom to quickly freshen up. Twenty minutes later, she was at the florist with the sample arrangement in hand. She texted Karim from the store and he told her to come straight to his apartment and sent her the address.
The rain had given way to a beautiful blue spring sky. Ella hopped into a cab and arrived at Karim’s high-rise a few minutes later. She stepped out into the cool air and the doorman smiled and tipped his hat to her.
“Madam,” he said. “Are you here to see His Highness?”
Ella nodded, surprised at the greeting. She hadn’t been to Karim’s apartment building before and she didn’t know what to expect. She laughed, thinking she probably should have expected the royal treatment.
The doorman escorted her inside the lavish building and put her on the elevator to the top floor, the penthouse suite. Ella checked her reflection in the mirrored doors as the elevator made its way up. When it stopped, the doors opened and Ella stepped out into a narrow hall. There was one set of double doors on the right and a single door on the left. She looked at the single door and saw it was actually an entrance to the staff quarters.
“Of course,” Ella said quietly as she made her way over to the double doors to the left.
As she approached the doors, she heard raised voices, one of them shrill, female and spite-filled; Nadia. The sound was all too familiar. It was a repeat from the week before. Ella remembered how it ended last time, with Karim being cold and distant. After everything that had happened between them that day, she didn’t want them to grow even further apart.
Ella walked straight back to the elevator and punched the button. The doors opened and she stepped inside, taking the car right back down to the lobby. She walked out the doors and hurried past the doorman.
“Ma’am? Is everything alright?” the doorman asked, surprised to see her return so quickly.
“Um, yes, fine,” Ella said as she stood on the sidewalk, looking around. “I just forgot something,” she lied.
She spotted a little tavern across the street and ran across the road. She slipped into the bar and found a seat in the corner by the window. She ordered a drink and sat with her flower arrangement, quietly watching the building over the road.
Several minutes later, she saw Nadia emerge with a look of pure rage on her face. Her long, black hair flowed out behind her as she stood impatiently, her large dark glasses covering her eyes. A second later, a sleek limousine pulled up and the driver whisked the heiress inside before the car took off.
Ella watched the building to see if Karim would follow. Seconds turned into minutes and when Ella’s drink was gone, she was satisfied that Karim was not coming out. She looked at the flower arrangement. Lilies. That’s what she had chosen for the centerpieces. It was a classic choice, and like the architecture at the Plaza, Ella loved classic.
The bartender came over to refill her drink and Ella refused politely. She paid her tab and gathered up the flower arrangement. Moments later, she was back in the elevator, heading to the penthouse suite.
“Just go in, deliver the arrangement, and leave,” she said to herself as the elevator climbed the floors. “No getting close, no touching, and for goodness' sake, no hugging!”
She inhaled and exhaled deeply, readying herself. “Just drop the flowers off. That’s all you have to do. You don’t even have to go to the door. When the elevator opens, just put them on the floor and someone will find them. You never even have to get out of the elevator!”
Ella had just about convinced herself that she could do it when the doors opened and Karim appeared in front of her, and all of her resolve immediately vanished.
She stepped out of the elevator and stood in front of him, smelling the distinctive aroma of whisky over the scent of the lilies. His eyes were rimmed with red and his features looked worn.
“Karim,” she said, taken aback at his appearance. “Are you alright?”
Karim shook his head and gently took the flowers from her. “Not really,” he said, and began to head back to his open door.
Ella stood still, unsure if she should follow. Karim looked deeply unhappy, but she didn’t want to give Nadia any more ammunition by trying to comfort him. Ella cared about Karim, more than she wanted to admit. And she thought he cared about her, too. But he was a client. A client with an amazing body, incredible eyes and a thoughtful, kind personality; a client who was getting married to someone he didn’t love; a client who was standing in front of her, upset and apparently slightly drunk.
She reasoned that she shouldn’t leave him alone in his condition. “I'll just stay for a minute,” she murmured to herself as she walked down the hall toward the doors. “I’ll just make sure he’s okay, and I'll be on my way.”
The doors opened up to a wide living room overlooking the East River. Ella walked straight over to the windows, unable to take her eyes from the breathtaking view. The sun was dipping low behind the buildings, casting long shadows across the river.
“Wow,” Ella said, mesmerized.
“Yeah,” Karim’s deep voice came up behind her.
Ella felt his breath on her neck and quickly moved away. “Um, I’m just here to deliver the flowers.”
Karim smiled and walked over to the bar across the room. “Drink?” he asked, fixing her one before she could answer, then pouring another for himself.
“No,” Ella said from her spot, as far away from him as she could be. Her skin was still prickly from the heat of his breath.
“I don’t think you should have any more,” she said gently.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I know. I wouldn’t want to become a drunk or anything… like my lovely fiancée!”
Ella watched as Karim walked unsteadily over to the sofa, placing both drinks on the glass table before collapsing into the cushions.
“It’s just such a mess,” he said exasperated. “The whole thing is such a mess.”
Ella felt her heart ache and moved across the room, careful to sit on the far end of the sofa. “Then why?” she asked. “Why are you marrying her if it's making you so unhappy?”
Karim looked up at Ella with defeat in his eyes. “Because it’s the logical choice. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what I’m supposed to do for my career, for my family.”
His words came out sloppily and in long breaths; he was obviously quite drunk. Ella wanted desperately to reach out and console him, but she knew it was the last thing she should do. Instead, she got up and grabbed his hand.
“Get up,” she said, shifting gears. She had strong feel
ings for Karim, there was no denying that. But if she couldn’t be with him romantically, then she would be there for him as a friend.
“What? Where are you taking me? I’m about to be a married man, you know,” Karim said, splashing his drink as he stood.
Ella rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, so I’ve heard.” She felt better now that he was joking around.
She led him over to the balcony and stepped outside with him. They stood and looked at the river, the long shadows of the buildings, the lights up coming on up and down the city skyline. Cars and people moved about below like little ants, making the whole scene look like a painting that had come to life.
“Do you see that?” Ella said, pointing over to the business district bustling with early evening traffic.
Karim didn't respond, but nodded as he swayed slightly.
“Do you see all of those people running around like little rats because they want to have successful careers?”
Karim nodded again, steadying himself against the high railing. He stared down and watched the activity below. Even through the alcohol, he knew what Ella was trying to do.
“It’s not just about money! There’s more to life than being successful, Karim.”
Ella turned to look at him and watched as Karim let a tear slip down over the edge of the balcony.
“I know,” he said softly, pulling himself away from the railing. “I know, I do. It’s just…”
Ella looked at him with pangs of regret in her heart. Would she ever be able to get through to him? Would she ever be able to make him understand that life was about more than just getting ahead? Karim already had enough money to last several generations. If only he could see that love was the only thing that mattered.
She walked toward him, hoping to get his attention and make it clear to him that he shouldn’t go through with the wedding. She had the words in mind. She would tell him what she thought about him and Nadia, without mentioning her own feelings for him; she couldn't be responsible for complicating things further.
She opened her mouth to speak just as Karim leaned down, his lips falling softly on hers in a tender kiss.
Ella jumped back, shocked at what just happened. She had kissed a client! She had never, ever crossed that line. It was the one thing she had sworn she would never do.
She stepped back quickly with a look of confusion on her face. Karim opened his mouth as if to say something, to apologize, perhaps, but Ella held her hand up. She turned and ran out of the apartment, into the elevator, diving past the doorman and into a cab as soon as she reached the first floor.