by Holly Rayner
ELEVEN
Steph
Steph grinned at Mehdi before dashing over to the caves, continuing their race. She heard him laugh behind her before he easily caught up, jogging alongside her. When they reached the cave’s entrance, Steph stopped.
“Is it safe to go in there?” she asked. As much as she had longed for an adventure just like this, she was still a cautious person. Wasn’t she?
Mehdi nodded, allaying her fears. “Perfectly. Come on,” he said, reaching for her hand as he stepped forward into the cave.
Inside, the clear blue waters turned translucent beneath the cave ceiling, which was glowing a neon cyan that sparkled above the reflection of the water.
“What is this?” Steph said, amazed.
Mehdi gazed around them, his eyes bright in the glowing light.
“It’s a type of algae that’s particular to this region. The salt from the water evaporates into the air, causing the unique glow.”
They stood hand in hand, staring in wonder at the beauty of nature. After the initial shock passed, Steph became acutely aware that she was holding the Sheikh’s hand, and she suddenly felt awkward about it. Should she let go? She knew better than to let things go too far.
Taking a breath, she tried to focus on the magnificence of the cave around them. Overthinking would just dispel the dream that much faster.
“Would you like to take a dip?” Mehdi asked.
Steph nodded, taking that opening to release his hand, which she did with great reluctance.
They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in warm waters, alternating between the cave and the open ocean, talking about nothing in particular. Mehdi continued his lessons on El Farahn culture and life, doing the best he could to help prepare her for living there, if she chose to do so. Steph realized then that the Sheikh had given her that choice back. With no marriage, she could easily head back to Vermont and live her life there…but did she really want to?
As the afternoon wound down, Steph found herself feeling famished, so Mehdi proposed they return to their cabana for dinner. Rather than racing, they swam back to the main island at a leisurely pace. Back in the cabana, Steph pulled her towel from a chair and sat down while Mehdi headed to the main building for a few minutes. When he returned, he was followed by two staffers, who quickly set up a table on the beach before making a swift exit.
“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing toward the table.
“Of course,” Steph said, beyond ready to eat.
Mehdi opened the fridge, and together they loaded up the table with fruits, cheeses, cold meats and a bottle of sparkling white wine. Steph filled her plate as Mehdi popped the cork and filled their glasses before he raised his.
“To a perfect day,” he said, a glint in his eye.
Steph wanted to meet him there. She wanted to indulge in feeling the way her heart and her body clearly wanted to. Her mind was tugging at her, nudging her, reminding her quietly that there was a world outside this island that she would have to go back to. As she told that voice to shut up, she raised her own glass and clinked it against Mehdi’s.
“To a perfect day,” she agreed, and they both took a sip.
“You haven’t told me much about what you did at the bank,” Mehdi said.
Steph took another sip before she answered. “It wasn’t exactly exciting,” she said.
“Oh, I don’t know. I hear finance can be very exciting.”
Steph laughed. “Hardly. Maybe if I had gone into investment, like my dad, it might have been exciting, but I have no interest in any of it, really.”
“Then what are you interested in, Steph?”
“Fashion. I love designing clothes, and I would love to run my own line someday.”
“Why don’t you?”
Steph hesitated. She hadn’t even asked herself that question. It had always just seemed so impossible.
“After the market crashed and we lost everything, my parents didn’t have the money to put me through school. They didn’t want me to get into loads of debt, so my dad finagled the bank position as a way for me to take care of myself until I could settle down. I guess the truth is that I don’t have the education for it.”
“How many actors go to college for acting? How many professional surfers go to college for surfing? It is not always necessary, if you have the talent.”
“Perhaps,” Steph said, not entirely believing that.
Mehdi placed a hand on top of hers, his eyes intent. “Steph, an arranged marriage is not the only answer for you. You could open up a boutique here in El Farah. Fashion is huge here! The women adore couture.”
Steph grinned at his enthusiasm. “You haven’t even seen anything I’ve designed. That’s quite a bit of confidence you have there.”
“I have perfect faith that you are the most talented designer the world has yet to know. You simply need to take a chance on yourself.”
Mehdi sat back, removing his hand from hers. They ate in silence for a moment, and Steph thought about how she had gotten there.
“The truth is, the only reason I agreed to the marriage was to have an adventure,” she said, her voice small.
“Don’t you think you could make your own adventure?” he asked.
Steph looked up from the table and into his eyes. Even with the sun setting next to them, she could still catch those sprinkles of green. He was the perfect man…who had shown up at the wrong time.
Wasn’t that always the case?
When she didn’t answer him, Mehdi cleared his throat. Their meal finished, he looked out at the sunset. Steph looked out, too, thinking about her parents. They were probably beside themselves with worry. And what about her fiancé? Even though he didn’t know her, he had to have been a little worried when she didn’t show up. What must he think of her? She needed a chance to explain herself. There was so much she had to atone for, even though she would never for a second regret it.
“Shall we get our feet wet one more time?” Mehdi asked, and Steph nodded; the longer she could prolong this perfect fantasy, the better.
They stood and stepped into the gently lapping waves, the water the perfect temperature in contrast to the air around it. The sun melted into the shimmering water, causing the sky to bloom with purples, pinks, and oranges as a cool breeze came in off the sea. Steph shivered.
Noticing this, Mehdi turned her to him, rubbing along her arms to warm her up. She gazed up at him, and he stopped his hands along hers. Unable to resist, he lowered his head that forbidden distance, claiming her lips in a kiss.
It was wonderful and terrible all at once. Mehdi’s lips fit perfectly against hers, like a missing puzzle piece at long last found, but Steph’s mind spun with guilt as she thought about everything she needed to get back to.
When Mehdi lifted his head, ending the kiss, he ran a thumb along her chin, his eyes concerned.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
Steph did her best to memorize every detail of his face in that moment. He looked so deeply concerned, so caring. So handsome. Mehdi was everything a man ought to be, which made it all the more terrible that she had to leave him behind.
“My family,” she said. “I have to get back to them, Mehdi. It wasn’t right, what I did. I’ll never regret these last few days, but I have to go make things right with them.”
Mehdi nodded. “Of course you do. I would never hold you back from doing what you feel is right.”
They stood together, the cascading sunset glorious behind them, holding hands quietly.
“I wish things could be different,” Steph said.
Mehdi nodded. “I wish I had known about you sooner. I might have considered an arranged marriage myself,” he said with a small grin.
Steph smiled. “I’d have liked that very much.”
“I can have you flown back in the helicopter and driven back to your hotel,” Mehdi said, and Steph sighed.
The spell was broken. It was time to face the music.
They
walked back, still holding hands, to the cabana, where Steph dressed once again and then followed Mehdi toward the main building as stars began to twinkle overhead. Steph waited as Mehdi called the helicopter pilot and arranged for a car to meet her when she returned to El Farah’s mainland. Then he turned to her and led the way to the helicopter pad.
When they reached the helicopter, Mehdi faced Steph once again.
“If you change your mind, Steph, I will wait for you. I will wait on the beach just outside the city tomorrow at sunset.”
Unable to hold back, Steph stood on her tiptoes and kissed him one last time.
The helicopter pilot arrived, ending their final moment together. Mehdi released Steph’s hand finger by finger before she stepped into the helicopter and strapped herself in, watching him from the window as they took off. Mehdi stood on the ground, his head lifted as he watched her fly out of sight.
Steph watched until the Sheikh became a tiny dot that eventually disappeared. Then, she looked toward the El Farahn skyline and tried not to cry.
***
The noise of the helicopter was all she heard until the pilot landed with a gentle touch. A car was already waiting on the tarmac for her, and Steph nodded to the driver as she stepped inside. He already knew where to go, so she sat back, alternating between thinking about what she would say to her parents and trying not to think about it at all.
The streets of El Farah’s capital city glowed with muted lights, and the world continued on as though nothing had happened at all. Meanwhile, Steph’s entire world had been turned upside down and then tossed from side to side. She tried to wrap her mind around the events of the past few days, but as her car pulled up to the front of the hotel, all she felt was cold dread in the pit of her stomach.
There was nothing for it. She would have to face her parents’ wrath and be done with it. Would they disown her for such an offence? Who could tell? She had, in traditional El Farahn culture, effectively shamed her mother for all eternity. No one would want her after this.
Was that such a bad thing, though? Steph thought about Mehdi’s comment about opening a boutique, about charting her own course. Then again, it was easy to say that when one didn’t have to worry about finances.
Steph sat in the car until the driver came around and opened the door, forcing her into action. She stepped out and thanked him, swallowing as she looked up at the beautiful dome of the hotel. The place had nothing on Mehdi’s palace, but, she supposed, that was the point.
Stepping into the lobby, no one seemed to notice her. She walked up to the concierge and told them she had lost her room key, which was true, and the woman happily supplied her with a new one. She stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor with a trembling finger. She wondered if acting out had really been worth it in the end. She had never been more scared than she was in that moment, preparing to face her parents.
There was no way she could find her fiancé so she could talk to him first, which was a shame, really. Perhaps if she could have gotten him to see things her way, she would have had a stronger argument with her parents.
The elevator door dinged, and the doors opened. Steph took several tremulous steps out into the hallway and stopped several feet from the closed door, working up her courage.
She could do this. She could face the consequences of her actions. Each step she took felt like she was walking through molasses. Finally, she reached the door and slid her key into the lock, unlocking the door with a click.
Pushing it open, Steph breathed in deeply, expecting to see her mother’s scowling face as she walked in the door. Instead, she was met with silence, as the suite was completely empty, and clean. She wondered if her parents had checked out, but then she heard footsteps coming from the direction of her parents’ room.
Steph kept her eyes glued to their door until her father walked out and their gazes met. Jerry’s blue eyes, so much like her own, widened in surprise and shock, and he froze in place, staring at her.
“Steph?” he said.
Steph could hardly breathe as she waited for her mother to come out and berate her for what she had done. After several moments, it seemed clear that that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, her father walked a few steps closer until he was facing her directly.
“Where’s Mom?” she asked, her eyes darting behind his shoulder to see if Elora would arrive and break this frozen tableau of anticipation.
Jerry glanced behind him as though he would find his wife there before he turned back to Steph.
“She’s not here,” he said.
“Oh,” Steph said.
It was an awkward moment, where father and daughter stared at one another as though they were complete strangers, before finally Jerry’s face melted into a mask of relief and he wrapped his arms tightly around his daughter.
“Thank God you’re safe,” he breathed, holding her close.
It was hardly the welcome Steph had thought she would receive, though she knew her father’s relief would soon be replaced by anger. After a moment, she pulled back and looked earnestly into his eyes.
“Dad, we need to talk.”
TWELVE
Steph
Jerry stepped back and gestured toward the plush living room sofas. Steph walked over and took a seat, her father sitting across from her with his elbows on his knees, his expression anxious.
Steph took a breath and plunged in.
“So I guess I made my point about not wanting to go through with this,” she said.
Jerry sighed. He looked tired and worried, the lines on his face etched a little deeper. Steph felt a pang of guilt, knowing she was the probable cause of many of those lines.
“What happened, Steph? You were all ready to go, and then when you never came back, we didn’t know what to do. Then we get a text from a strange number saying you’re okay but giving us no other information? We’ve had nothing to do but sit here and wait. Your mother is visiting some relatives on the other side of town as we speak, trying to figure out how to determine where that call came from so we could find you.”
Steph stared resolutely at the coffee table, unable to meet her father’s gaze as he poured out days of worry and stress and frustration.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I know,” he said, and she glanced up in surprise.
“I get it, Steph. It was unfair of us to try to push you in this direction. We just wanted you to be safe and happy. I know an arranged marriage isn’t conventional, but we’ve seen it work time and time again, with your mother and me and with many of her friends, too. It’s okay to have doubts. I just wish you would have come to me before running away.”
The disappointment in his tone was like a knife to Steph’s heart. A tear escaped her eye before she hastily wiped it away.
“I understand,” she said.
“Where have you been?” he asked, his gaze searching hers for answers.
Steph couldn’t think of what to tell him. Where had she been? Gallivanting with the Sheikh of El Farah, a man who had expressed an interest in marrying her. Perhaps if she told him the truth, he could tell her mother there was an even better suitor in sight than any man they could ever pick for her.
That still didn’t solve the problem of her jilted fiancé, though.
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, what I need to do is find my fiancé and apologize to him in person. I can’t do that without his information, though. Will you help me?”
Her father hesitated. Steph knew if he gave up that information he would be digging them into an even deeper hole of shame. Not only had Steph run away from the wedding, but to see the groom after the fact, before they became man and wife?
There was no help for it. Steph had to face him. He deserved to know why she had run.
After a moment’s consideration, Jerry heaved another heavy sigh and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and removing a crisp, white business card.
“This is him,�
� he said, hesitating before holding the card out to her.
Steph took it, staring at the name. Sadiq Al Jabal. Looking at it, she felt nothing. Should she have felt excitement or nerves, or something? Instead all she could think about was Mehdi, standing on a beach, waiting for her. Two men, waiting for her at the same time.
It had been an interesting week.
Steph stood, leaning over her father and kissing him on the head. “Thank you, Dad,” she said before running to her room and throwing open her suitcase.
She quickly changed out of her beachwear and into a comfortable pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a sweatshirt to stave off the cool night air. She was back in the living room before her father had even had a chance to stand. When he saw her dressed, he looked at her, his expression confused.