Desert cave

Megan only left the tent when Omar had asked her to and that was when he had been called by his father.

"I'll need you to wait a few minutes first before you head out." He had said.

"Head out, but why? Is there anything wrong? Why am I to leave?"

"You're not leaving dummy." He laughed and caressed the back of her hand. "I want to take you out!"

"Take me out? Out where?" 

"Shhhh..." He hushed her. "It is a surprise."

"You don't tell me you want to take me out and say it's a surprise Omar." She laughed.

"Ok, then it's a secret place."

She had been confused. "There is nothing but sand out there." 

"Remember the small cave I had showed you yesterday? You still know how to get there?"

She nodded.

"Head to that place, after I must have finished with my father, I'll come meet you there then we can go sight seeing, how about that?"

She smiled and closed her hand together in excitement. "Really? I would definitely love that Omar!"

"But don't let anyone see you ok? Shhh..." He giggled and winked.

But Megan knew why he wanted her out of the place and it wasn't so he could take her sight seeing, she knew his father was not in support of their relationship and Omar was just trying to keep her safe. For a moment, her heart had melted in fear but when Omar held her close, she felt safe. Soon after he went to his tent where his father was, she sneaked out.

She knew where she needed to go to, there were no roads, no trees, no nothing save for the scorching sun that burned brightly above her head. She had been to Saudi Arabia once before, on one of her many expeditions. She had come here to make a story on the lives of the people living in this extreme heat and from here she had gone on into Africa. 

She liked Africa, although she had only been in three African countries but she had had a wonderful experience, in the end the stories she had carved out of her experiences had won her an award. She smiled. 

The heat here reminded her of her summer in Johannesburg, she thought of the cool water at the beaches she had visited and suddenly became thirsty. She ran her wet tongue over her parched lips and wished it would suddenly rain but then she groaned at the thought, it never rained in the desert. She rolled her head and jumped in frustration, upsetting the sand beneath her feet, sending dust particles up in the air.

She looked down to her shadow and stretched her hands out on either side of her, studying it and finding out in which direction was east and which was west. She was to head north, north was straight ahead. She looked up and smiled briefly, grateful that she had taken geography class seriously when she was in high school then. 

Holding on to her neck, she tried to clear her throat, the cough was dry and her throat ached, she licked her tongue round the insides of her mouth and swallowing her saliva, she pressed on. Omar had spoken to her of his father's temperament before they had gotten on the plane to Saudi Arabia, he had also promised to stand by her in all but now she was alone and felt like a lone butterfly in this jungle of soft sand. 

When Omar had shown her the tiny cave-like structure hidden in the sand, she had admired the well crafted hand work by who ever had done it, she didn't think she would be heading back to the place barely a day after. She knew in what direction to go, what she didn't remember was how long it would take. Omar would find her. 

He just had to.

Omar tried to hurry, he knew where Megan was, or at least where he hoped she would be. He only prayed that she remembered the way to the little cave he had shown her. If she was there, he would find her and get her back to America then he would deal with his father knowing that she was out of danger. Danger, something he had bought her directly into without meaning to. 

He knew the kind of man his father was, he had watched him raise his sisters in his strict and brutal ways. One thing he didn't do was to beat them so hard because he knew that a woman's skin was to be kept untouched, unscaved and as smooth as possible so he never beat them with the whip but there was a time he broke that rule. It was for A'shadieeyan. 

Omar had never seen his father so angry as he had seen him that day and he hadn't stopped his discipline until his mother threw herself upon his sister to protect her. Omar didn't know what had caused his father to act in that manner because A'shadieeyan left the next day, back to her husband's house and he had never seen her again after that.

He knew his father could never treat Megan in such a manner, she was neither his daughter nor was she an Arabian or someone he knew closely but still he couldn't exactly predict his father's actions. She was an American and he knew how America worked and how much they valued their citizens, her death would bring a huge catastrophe on not just his father alone but to Saudi Arabia when an investigation would be carried out following her death. 

The records would show that she had left American to Saudi Arabia in the company of a man, Omar bin Khalid, a first class graduate of the Cambridge University and only son of the Sheikh Khalid bin Aaban. 

The trace was easy because Omar was also an American citizen by naturalization. His father wasn't just an ordinary man, he was the Sheikh and the Sheikh wielded just enough Saudi power, killing her would be welcoming trouble to his door step and he knew his father was smarter than that. She wouldn't be killed. But that didn't guarantee her total safety. He shrugged. 

The sun blared down on him and to prevent the sands from assaulting his face, he pulled the ghutra over his face and looked down to his shadow, he remembered the little trick Megan had taught him about using your shadow to discern the East from the West, it brought a smile to his lips but he didn't need that, this was his territory, he knew the area like the back of his palm. He edged on, praying that Megan still be safe. 

And she was, safe in the little cave only big enough to squeeze in two people. She crawled out of the cave and jumped into his waiting arms when she saw him, squeezing his neck in her hug.

"You look like a mess." He teased.

"The hottest mess you've seen so far." She smiled and he pulled her up so she stood on her toes before planting a kiss on her parched lips, running his tongue over them and into her mouth. She gave him entrance as they locked in a passionate kiss, momentarily forgetting that they were in the hot open desert. She giggled into his mouth when he squeezed her waist and they disengaged.

"I'm sorry." Omar apologized, his eyes were fixed on hers, cupping her face in the palm of his hands. She smiled and shook her head.

"Well you told me of your father's temperament. I chose to come with you."

"But now you can not stay longer and you will have to go back." 

"I knew that was the reason you wanted me out here." She smiled. 

"Megan... I wanted this to go smoothly and perfectly." He smiled sadly, tearing the ghutra from his head as he looked away. He was clearly frustrated. "This is not how I had imagined the introduction would go, I mean I knew he would not have approved of us immediately but..."

Megan hushed him with a finger to his lips, she held on to his shoulder and lifted herself up to plant a light kiss on his lips and he smiled at her, how much he loved this woman. He held her steady in that position with an arm wrapped around her waist and kissed her passionately. When they broke the kiss, his eyes lingered on her lips for a while before he ruffled her hair and she slapped his hand away in protest.

"Hey!" She stepped away and tried fruitlessly to arrange her hair back. Hopeless, it was a complete mess.

"Omar! Look what you've done! Oh my hair is a total mess!"

"You are a total mess, not just your hair."

"Oh, like you are any cleaner mister. You should take a look at yourself in the mirror first."

"You are just too cute." He laughed and pulled her to him.

They stood in each other's arms until a loud voice yelled. 

"Omar bin Khalid!"