The car she was in felt tight and stuffy because she had to ride with Taheem. His presence made her feel vulnerable, made her feel like a prey caught by a hunter's trap and left out in the open for the predators picking, so when the car continued driving past the car Omar was in, heading to the back of the mansion, she panicked.
"Get down." Taheem had said when the car came to a stop as he himself got down, but Megan who had been thinking up the different ways they could butcher and hide her body, hadn't heard him at first.
They would let me live for Omar's sake. I can't...no, can't be killed. The Sheikh had promised. I'm not.... where is Omar!
Her mind swam wildly and her heart beat was so loud she felt she would have a heart attack. She panicked, she needed to breathe and there was no air in the car, her hand came to the window as she struggled to find the handle.
Taheem, who had stepped out since and was already heading for the back door, stopped when he noticed the American wasn't following him. He turned back to the car and from the windscreen, he could see her still seated in the car. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could drag her by her hair and out the car. He rounded the car and came to the other side, throwing the door open.
"Out!" She heard him this time because his hand was squeezing her arm and pulling her out of the car. She obeyed in a rush, bumping her head as she tried to get out. She rubbed on the spot.
When Taheem had yanked her from the car and into the house from the back door, she had expected to be shoved into a dark cell, with damp cold floors and mice and lizards and crawling insects for companion. She had expected to be locked up with no blanket for warmth and given stale bread to eat and water to drink. So when he had led her upstairs and into this room, she had stood rooted and scared, wrapping her arms around her body and eyeing him from the corner of her eyes. What was he going to do?
"The Sheikh wants you here, the doors won't be locked but you are not allowed to step out. Consider the Sheikh's kindness as something rare to come by and do not expend it." He began to walk out the room.
"Ermm.. excuse me." She called.
Taheem paused and fixed his eyes on the girl, he wasn't supposed to engage her in talks but he wanted to know what she had to say.
"I am sorry but am I to ermm... To stay in here? In this room as a prisoner?"
Taheem narrowed his eyes on the American, was she deaf? Did she not hear what he had taken his time to explain? And as much as he understood her concerns about bring kept in this lavish room despite being a prisoner, he did not see any reason why he should have to explain any more to her.
Megan shuddered under his gaze and bowed her head in apology. She had heard what he had said but she was a bit confused and fully grateful that she wasn't locked up in a cell.
"I'm sorry, but..." But the room was too large and quite too fine for a prisoner to be kept in.
And now that she thought of it, she couldn't believe she was now a prisoner in another man's house and in a foreign land. She half expected the strict looking man to maybe caution her but he only walked out and shut the door behind him.
Megan stood a while without moving, afraid that he mighg return soon but the only person who came back was a servant who walked in to bring her dinner.
"Excuse me, but could I get a change of clothes?" Her clothes clung to her body, wet from all the sweating caused by the desert's heat and she desperately needed to bathe and change into something else.
"There are clothes you can change into in that wardrobe over there." The servant pointed to the large wardrobe that stood in the corner which Megan hadn't taken notice of. She thanked the servant and watched her leave the room.
Megan took her time to shower and change, she stepped out of the bathroom refreshed and into the room. She walked to a corner of the room and looked out the window, surely things hadn't gone as she had planned and she felt like she should have known. This wasn't America after all where freedom of choice was as common as the air one breathed.
Studying her new surrounding, she came to sit on the bed which was king sized and rubbed a hand over the fine soft covering. She smiled, if she was to be a prisoner here, then at least she was sure to be having sound sleeps and waking up without cramps. Her eyes landed on the food which she had left untouched in the middle of the table, she had decided not to eat for fear of poisoning, but her grumbling stomach and the rich aroma that constantly assaulted her nostrils was just about enough temptation.
She groaned and sat down at the table, picking at the food with the fork and turning it around in the plate.
"You're overthinking this Megan It's not poisoned, it couldn't possibly be poisoned." She repeatedly told herself but still she just could not bring the food to her mouth.
"Megan..." She cautioned again but she still couldn't. Her tummy grumbled again, loudly this time.
The door was suddenly thrown open and she flinched, moving her gaze towards the door. Omar stood at the door for a second as his gaze scanned the room briefly before they landed on her, she stood up when he walked in and he rushed to grab her in his arms. She sprang forward from her seating position, running into his open arms and melting into his hug. She began to cry.
"Hush now." He patted her head.
"Omar, I am so scared."
"I'm here now, am I not? Nothing to be scared of."
"You are here now but for how long? You will not be here forever, you are going to marry her! What am I to do?"
"Hey, you do not have to do anything."
"I don't have to do anything? Nothing?" She pushed him away, her eyes stung and her anger built. "What can I do anyway? I stay here and watch you get married to the goddamn princess and then what next?? Huh?"
"Megan..." Omar called, stretching his hand towards her. She swatted it away.
"No!"
"Just listen, please."
"Listen to what?!"
"Do you regret coming to Saudi Arabia with me?"
"I..." No, she didn't. She couldn't possibly regret it but this was a bit too much. "No, I don't."
He reached out and pulled her gently to him. "I need you to trust me, do you trust me Megan?"
"I..." She shook her head and looked down.
"Megan, look at me. Do you?"
"Omar," she looked into his eyes, darting from one eye ball to the other and then back. "I love you, I trust you, but this... It's not something I'm used to, not something I want to get used to."
"Me neither." He held her close and lowered his voice. "Father has set the engagement and marriage eight days from now."
"Oh Omar..." She wept into his chest.
"Shhh... I promise you I won't let that happen."
"What will you do? What can you do? He is using me as bait. I can't help but feel helpless, I've made you helpless."
"No Megan, you haven't. Just trust me. I love you."
"I love you too."
She hugged him tighter, never wanting to let go and Omar held her in that position till she calmed down.
"You haven't touched the food yet?" He asked.
She shook her head negatively.
"Why?"
"I'm afraid that it might be poisoned." She sniffed.
Omar broke out into a laugh and disengaged from the hug, holding his stomach. Megan looked away in embarrassment.
"Ohh my, you're so cute! Come on, we will eat it together, I'm starving as it is."
He sat her down and pulled up another chair for himself opposite her and they ate together with Megan telling him of how she had twirled the food around in the plate, thinking it was poisoned. Omar laughed at her silliness, assuring her of her safety. He stayed a while before he left and Megan went to sleep with the hope of an something changing. She prayed for Omar, prayed strength for him, she prayed for herself patience and she prayed that the Sheikh would have a change of heart or a heart attack.
The day came too fast and Omar was up and ready even before his father was but he remained in his room. Today he would be going to the palace with his father, to be introduced to his bride to be. He was to behave sensibly and maturely to get the approval of the king to be his daughter's groom. He could not help but feel like a ram being led into the market to be sold, and honestly that was what it was. He was literally being sold off and this marriage was the payment.The only person gaining from this was his father, the Sheikh and Omar couldn't help but feel that there was more to this. He knew that his father was a greedy person and his greed had always been for power and he was hard to satisfy. The man always craved for more and his marriage to the princess was that more that the Sheikh had been yearning for.Omar wondered for how long his father had nursed this in his heart, for how long he had planned for him to get married to the princess. The plan was
Mariam was dressed exceptionally heavy in anticipation of her would be groom and father in law. She knew nothing about them asides from the fact that the man she was to marry was Omar bin Khalid, the only son of the Sheikh, his father Khalid bin Aaban. Omar, as she was told by Parvina who had gathered information from the rumors circulating, had lived most of his life abroad, getting his Masters degree, bachelor's degree and Ph.D, but the rumors that went round boasted more of his fine looks and physique than of his intelligence.She scoffed, such people were bound to be proud and arrogant. She knew that because he would not be the first of his kind to come for her hand in marriage, each one was prouder than the last man before him and absolutely none of them had impressed the King. Absolutely none of them had impressed her.Being the only Saudi princess to His Highness King Jaan, it was of utmost importance that the man impressed the King and not just by the amoun
Omar had been to the palace on several occasions and mostly in the company of his father but this was just the second time he would be seeing the King. He sat on the soft cushioned sofa, leaning on an elbow which dug into the arm rest and with his legs crossed. Khalid sat upright with his back straight, his focus towards the stair way which the King with emerge from."Omar, sit properly!" Khalid cautioned."I am sitting comfortably."Khalid turned to his son. "I've gone this far for you, it's up to you to...""I do not know why you bother when the marriage has already been finalized, or hasn't it?" Omar cut him off.Khalid frowned and he glared at Omar. This boy. "Omar, you will need the...""Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Highness King Jaan bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia." The messenger's announcement interrupted Khalid's talk. The two men rose to greet the King."Assalaam 'alaikum your highness." Kh
It had not been long since Mariam had been excused from the discussion between her father the King, Omar and the Sheikh, she had returned back to her room in anger and just plopped herself down on the bed. The men would still be downstairs talking of the marriage and what not, she didn't want to be stuck in a marriage with the proud and pompous Omar bin Khalid bin Aaban, only son of the Sheikh.She laid down on her bed staring up at the ceiling and not paying any attention to the chattering of Saadiya and Parvina. They had been talking non stop of Omar, most especially Parvina who had made her intentions crystal clear about him; if the marriage didn't work out between him and Mariam, she would convince her mother to talk to her father about the matter. She was after all the daughter of the Queen's step brother, so she stood with just enough chance of getting him as Mariam."So Mariam, what happened? How did it go?" Parvina asked excitedly."Went well." Mariam kept
Megan paced the room, she had been in here for two days without stepping out and was bored already, she really just wanted to leave not just this room but the house as well and possibly leave Saudi Arabia. Was she really going to be locked in here until after Omar's marriage to the princess was completed? The wedding was now only seven days away. She wondered if Omar was really going to marry her? What if he refused and didn't go through with it, what would the Sheikh do to him? More still, what would he do to her?What could he do anyway, being an American citizen had its perks, but she still could not help the fear that claimed her heart whenever the Sheikh was near. She held her chest to feel her heart beat and knew that just by thinking of the Sheikh, it had accelerated a bit. She managed to smile weakly and crashed on the bed tiredly.She just wished Omar would come and assure her that all was well and that he would never leave her. Call her clingy or whatever
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.
Since her last meeting with Omar, Mariam had been unable to keep him out of her thoughts. And she hated it. She hated thinking about him, she hated the sound of his voice revibrating in her thoughts, she hated his image constantly flashing in her memories whenever she closed her eyes. And right now, she hated the fact that she wished to see him. Yes she hated him, at least that was what she told herself and she wanted to believe that. She chose to.The man was witful, handsome and his sense of pride was not actually all that annoying now that she thought of it. It was kind of impressive to have someone praise himself so daringly and without fear. Some of the other suitors before him had either been quite timid before her or they boasted of what they had, what they could acquire and the number of women they had or could get, but Omar hadn't.With his looks and intelligence, Mariam knew for a definite fact that he was well sorted after, she knew that he was aware of that f
Samir Watr-il-Dharah stood on the balcony of the second floor, leaning over the railing and gazing out over the perfectly mowed garden with both hands shoved deep into his pockets. He listened though a pair of bluetooth earpiece to the person on the other end of the line and he smiled a little."I wouldn't want to stress you so much Mr. Hung." He began to pace. "You only entered the country yesterday."As much as Samir wanted to get this project finalized and kicked off soonest, he really didn't want to put others in a position where they felt pressured. Pressure was not exactly good for business, pressure made it easy to make mistakes and he didn't want any mistakes with this project."If you are fully rested then it is no problem, where is your hotel? I will come meet you at the restaurant there so it will be easier for you and we can talk."If he could wrap this up within the week, it would get the burden off him for a while. The funding Mr. Hung would be