Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban was a man of relatively calm nature, and being a Sheikh wasn't a position for the weak. He wasn't weak, he knew that. He was like the calm just before the storm. He was patient and he was understanding, but only when he needed to be and at the same time he was strict and he was brutal but still he believed in tampering justice with mercy until mercy was exhausted. And his mercies didn't usually last long, he never let them to. He relished the fear in people's eyes for him when he was around or when his name was mentioned, it made him feel powerful, and powerful was all he wanted to feel.
This time, his mercy towards the simple American was wearing thin but still, he was calm, having not done anything drastic towards her. At some point, he began to wonder if he was softening up. He felt he was giving her and most especially his son too much freedom that they did as they pleased and he knew he had to do something about it. He would do something about it.
Standing outside his room, he let his eyes follow Omar as he walked out of the room where the American was held, carrying with him a food tray. This would turn out to be a problem in the future if he allowed this behavior to continue, he had to separate them, move her away to a place where Omar wouldn't know of, at least not until the marriage between him and Mariam had taken place, he would have to use her as Omar's weakness to get him into agreeing fully to the marriage. The boy was just too adamant, he remembered the conversation they had on their way back which had sparked an argument.
"It is good that you are getting along well with the princess." He had said, full of smiles.
"Hmm.. yes, we are getting along pretty well." Omar smirked, it had caused Khalid to worry and he looked long and hard at his son.
"You took her away privately, I am sure it was to get to know each other better?"
"We had quite a talk and I can say we understand each other much better now."
"Ohh then that is good."
Omar sighed. "I told her how I felt towards this marriage."
Khalid stiffened. "What do you mean? Told her what?"
Omar looked at his father as he spoke. "I told her I want nothing of this marriage. That I don't like her."
"Omar!" Khalid was furious.
"And funny enough, she felt the same way. We do not like each other and this marriage will not happen." Omar looked away, tapping his fingers impatiently on his lap.
Khalid breathed. "As I said before, love is not important right now. Whether the both of you like each other or not, whatever feelings you have towards each other, be it resent, hate, or whatnot, the marriage will take place!"
The car came to a halt in the compound and they both got down.
"I will not partake in this your greed for power!" Omar yelled.
"Call it greed, but if wanting the best for my son's future is greed then so be it!"
"The best for me? You are doing this for yourself! Why don't you marry her yourself then!"
"Omar! Watch your words carefully."
"I will not get tangled up in this!"
"You have no choice! Omar, you are my son, and you are to do as I say!"
"You...!" Omar stopped and turned away from him, walking into the house in annoyance.
Khalid signaled to the nearest guard to come into his room but before he could shut the doors, a messenger ran to him. He was having an August visitor.
Samir Watr-il-Dharah stepped out of the car alongside his brother, they had come to the Sheikh's place for important business, a business he had given all his heart to. He didn't smile when they exchanged pleasantries with the messenger who received them as they stepped down from the car. The new project was tight and he could not afford to make any slip-up, he needed the Sheikh's assistant and as soon as he was done with that, he would head back to the office.
Before he could go in, his phone rang and he told his brother to go in without him. The call was important and he had to take it. Sliding on the receive icon, he brought the phone to his ear.
"Hello, Mr. Jang."
As he talked, he leaned on the car and let his eyes wander around the premises, the place was vastly spaced with a fountain positioned in the middle and the workers still managed to always keep it neat and spotless.
"Oh we got it all thanks to you and I would like to treat you to lunch any time you are back to Saudi Arabia to show my appreciation and discuss a few tight details with you as well."
He put a hand into his pocket and paced along the side of the car, looking down to his very polished shoes and admired how much they shone under the sun's harsh rays. He had gotten them on his last visit to Italy and the quality was unmatched.
"The suggestion was adopted by the board in a downslide vote and we have begun the process of implementing it. Although it will take some time which we do not have available to us."
He had been to the Sheikh's home countless times mostly on business-related issues and the last time he was here was barely a week ago and then there were no guests which the Sheikh had to accommodate but now he saw one, leaning out the window of the third floor. He paused in his steps.
"He couldn't make it in time because his flight was delayed so we had to move the meeting online via teleconference but it was not so convenient and he had to mark absent so we chose to reschedule." He spoke into the phone.
His gaze was up to the window of the third floor, where a young woman leaned out of, enjoying the breeze and obviously lost in thoughts. She looked calm and distant and rather oblivious to her surrounding or to the fact that someone was watching her from downstairs.
"He is after all an important part of the project and his imputation is most vital, we will need the funding his company will offer in the collaboration. Never the less we will be strict in our method of handling the business."
He knew the woman. He knew her too well as the vibrant and young American woman, whom he had been together with once and had fallen in love with. She was no doubt his ex-girlfriend, he could recognize her anywhere as Megan Walker.
"Yes thank you, we will be sure to do just that. Let us discuss this at a later time. I have a pressing matter to deal with here." He listened a while before he hung up.
He kept his attention on her, how long had it been? And now he was seeing her again, but here? How is she here?
"She is a guest here." Samir broke from his gaze and turned his attention to the messenger whom he had not realized had come back for him.
The messenger, noticing the way Samir had been staring at the woman decided to tell him who she was. Every other worker in the house knew of her as a guest and they had not been told her name, the only people who knew of the real reason why she was in the house were Omar, the Sheikh, and Taheem.
"Please come, let's go inside." The messenger ushered Samir in.
As Samir walked in, he began to wonder what would have brought her here and for how long she had been here. How long had it been since he last saw her? She still looked as young and as beautiful as he remembered her to be.
How was she a guest of the Sheikh? Did she perhaps come here to make research on a documentary? He remembered that being a photographer, she was mostly traveling for work purposes. It was something she enjoyed doing with all her heart and he had fallen in love with her free-spirited nature. If she was here to document something, then how did she come across the Sheikh? Most importantly, how is she a guest in his house? Is her documentary about him?
Many questions ran through his mind, questions he couldn't just ask the Sheikh but they were still questions he needed answers to nonetheless.
He had broken up with her in America to come here on his father's orders, he was a dying eighty-seven-year-old man and Samir had to fulfill his rights as the first son, he had to take over the business after his father died. Now seeing her, a fire rekindled in his heartwarming him up, it felt good and it made him bubble. Now that he could, he would try to get her back.
He smiled as he greeted the Sheikh, now he would focus on his purpose for coming here, get done with work then he would find out more about Megan's purpose in coming to Saudi Arabia and how she had ended up being a guest in the Sheikh's mansion.
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