by Leslie North
Going up on her toes to read his watch, she appeared to be about to say something when she frowned. Sighing, “Well I am here now,” she finally answered not looking or sounding excited.
Taleb looked at Claire from head to toe. He did not recall her being this short, as he realized that when he met her yesterday, she was sitting down. Looking at her attire, his nostrils flared slightly as he took in her baggy jeans, t-shirt and ponytail.
How was it that this woman graduated Harvard when she looked like she was in high school, he wondered as his gaze swept over her casual attire. He did not understand why the Dean thought she would be an appropriate guide when it was clear that she did not want to be there. The last guides that the Dean tried to stick him with were far more enthusiastic.
Continuing to stare at her, he took in her long brunette hair, which looked soft to the touch and her warm hazel eyes, which currently appeared to be shooting daggers at him. Sighing inwardly, he decided to get the meeting over with so that he could move on to more important things, like finding my bride.
While he had yet to find someone suitable, he had at least narrowed down the criteria: tall, blonde, slim, from a reputable family, appropriate attire, as he continued to mentally tick off the list, he sized Claire up.
No, she would not do. She was everything he wasn’t looking for in a wife: short, plump and definitely not interested in her appearance.
“You know Kim, your brother's fiancée?” Claire asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Stalking my family?” he asked.
“No.” Claire rolled her eyes. “Kim is my best friend.”
“Is that so? I see no similarities.” Taleb got along with Kim very well. She was amazing, in fact and the best thing that had ever happened to his brother.
“What similarities? We’re not sisters. We’re friends.”
She talks too much; Taleb thought to himself. “I mean that you seem to have different personality traits,” he pointed out.
“How would you know, you just met me.”
“I assume that you will go to the wedding?”
Claire nodded, “Of course, I’m the maid of honor,” she said with a big smile on her face.
“She is a good woman,” Taleb said, dipping his hands into his pockets.
Tilting her head, Claire looked at him, “I’m glad you approve.”
Taleb glanced down at his watch again. “I have a meeting at one. Let’s find a café so that we can sit down to discuss a schedule.” If he was going to be forced to participate in this activity, they would do so his way.
“Okay, I know a place,” Claire replied eagerly as she turned to walk back the way she had come.
“We will take my car,” he interrupted as he started walking in a different direction.
“It isn’t a far walk or if you prefer, we could take the bus.”
“The bus?” Taleb asked incredulously. She was seriously suggesting that he ride the bus? He had never ridden on public transport in his entire life and he was not about to start now.
“Yes, why not? It’s the fastest way to tour parts of the campus and the surrounding neighborhood.”
Taleb raised his dark eyebrows. She was not selling it very well. There was nothing appealing about public transport. “I can see the city from my car,” he said to her as he placed his hands on his hips and stared at her. Claire tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Okay, I guess we can take your car,” Claire began as Taleb took his phone out and pressed a contact.
“Malil, we are leaving campus for a coffee shop or café, please find something suitable,” he spoke into the phone before disconnecting the call and putting his phone back in his pocket. “Come, by the time we get to the car, he will have texted me with a location.”
“Erm, okay,” she replied slowly as Taleb turned on his heel and strode toward what Claire assumed was his car.
So much for me being the one to provide the tour, she thought as she trailed along behind him.
As they walked towards the car, Taleb could not help but think about his bridal issue. He was definitely eager to find himself a bride. It was a shame that Claire did not fit the profile. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on but he did not have time to speculate on her now. He had to keep to the plan. He would find his future bride.
Chapter 4
Claire stared at the silver-colored Aston Martin in shock. She had never been so close to such an expensive car before. She heard the click of the lock as the door popped open. Staring at the door, she realized that it didn’t have handles. It looked like a sleek, shiny space pod.
Taleb stood by the open passenger door as Claire’s focus shifted to the interior, which looked like the inside of what she imagined a space pod would look like. A luxurious one. The sound of a throat clearing caught her attention as she realized that Taleb was still waiting for her to get into the car. Blushing, she quickly slid into the passenger seat before he shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
Reaching for her seatbelt, Claire leaned back against the leather seats as she felt her body melt into the seat, which seemed made for her. Looking around the interior, the high tech electronics on the dashboard coupled with the leather and wood trim made her feel as though she were cocooned inside a sex machine.
Everywhere she looked, the car seemed to be begging her to touch it. Unable to resist, she ran her fingers lightly over the dashboard as she trailed her fingers along the supple leather as if it were a person.
She imagined her fingertips gliding down Taleb’s arms and across his chest, as her own fingers explored the car’s interior.
“Um, what are you doing?” Taleb asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Shaking her head and laughing at herself, “This car exudes sex,” she admitted, as he gave her a strange look. “What? You didn’t buy it for its sex appeal?”
“It has more than five hundred horsepower and can reach speeds of up to two hundred miles per hour,” he responded stiffly.
Snorting in response, “Yeah, that’s useful in the city,” Claire replied as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.
“So how do you know Kim?” Taleb asked as he drove.
“We grew up together,” she replied. When Claire’s family moved after her father was remarried, Kim was the first friend she made and they quickly became inseparable. It was only once Kim moved permanently to the Middle East that Claire truly felt the loss of her friend in her life. Granted, she could always video chat with her on Skype, but it wasn’t the same as having her friend sitting by her side when she was feeling her worst.
Lost in thought, Claire realized that Taleb was already pulling to the curb. Looking up, they were in a part of town that she didn’t normally frequent as it was far too upscale for her wallet.
“How did you find this place?”
“Malil texted me the address. He says it’s one of the best. Have you been here?”
Shaking her head no, Claire released her seatbelt and was about to open the door when Taleb was already there holding it open for her. Stepping out, she murmured a thank you, as she followed him in. She was supposed to be the one providing the tour but Taleb had quickly taken over and Claire realized that she needed to put things back on track.
As they walked inside, Claire noticed that most of the customers were dressed in suits. A blonde-haired server greeted them and introduced herself as Linda. She smiled at Taleb who ignored her, before showing them to a table.
Sitting down, Claire couldn’t help but see the looks Taleb was receiving from the women in the café. She watched two women leaving the café; they both stared at him waiting for him to acknowledge them before they both smiled and flipped their hair.
Claire was not surprised that they were staring at him like that, he was a very attractive man. If she hadn’t been blackmailed by the Dean to serve as his guide, she would have never been seen with him.
Handsome men like Ta
leb did not look at plain Janes like Claire. Linda approached them with their order. Taleb had ordered Turkish coffee, which he proceeded to sip without any milk in it. Shaking her head, Claire took a sip of her extra chocolately mocha before diving in to her banana nut muffin with relish.
“So you are a librarian at the law library?” Taleb asked her.
Nodding her head as she sipped her mocha, “Yes, I started there over the summer after graduation. What about you? What brings you to Harvard?” Claire asked.
“I am looking for a wife,” Taleb replied as Claire choked on her drink. Before she could say anything, Linda popped around again.
“Is there anything I can get you?” she asked Taleb while completely ignoring Claire who stared in amusement as he barely looked at her.
“No, I do not require anything else,” he told her dismissively.
“Okay.” Linda tucked a blonde lock of hair behind her ear, smiled and walked off. She would definitely join Taleb's fan club; Claire thought to herself. She looked at Taleb.
“A wife?” she asked. She had definitely not forgotten what they had been talking about before Linda and her batting eyelashes had interrupted them.
“Yes, I am looking for a wife.” He leaned back in his chair and looked at Claire. His grey gaze seemed to see right through her.
“Here in the US?”
“Yes. I want a western woman to be precise.”
“You do? Why?” Claire could barely hide her shock.
“I see the Tazeems so happy with their western women,” Taleb explained. Claire did not know who the Tazeems were but she was not going to ask about that. “Even my brother, he is so happy with Kim.”
“That is because Kim is such an amazing person. It has nothing to with where she was raised,” Claire replied as she resumed eating.
“That may be the case but she is still a westerner.”
“I don’t get how you are looking for a wife. I mean don't you need to date someone for a while before thinking about marriage?” That was the way normal people acted.
“I came here with the sole purpose of looking for a wife and I am going to accomplish that goal in the next week or so.”
“Wait, I thought you were here to attend law school?”
Waving his hand dismissively, “That’s what my brother and father think. Otherwise, they would not have allowed me to come here.”
“So…how exactly are you going to accomplish this impossible goal of yours?” Not only was it impossible, it was also ludicrous.
“I will have to meet with different women and see which ones meet my criteria.” Taleb replied. He sat there in his chair looking so comfortable and relaxed, as he drank his coffee and acted as if what they were discussing was normal.
“Criteria?” Claire asked, puzzled.
“Of course, they must meet my requirements.”
Setting her mocha down and sliding her partially-eaten muffin out of the way, Claire set her elbows on the table and stared at Taleb. “So, what exactly are your requirements?”
As Taleb methodically counted off his requirements, Claire felt herself inwardly shrinking. She wasn’t blonde, she wasn’t tall, she wasn’t slim, she didn’t come from a well to do family.
Nope. Nope. And definitely nope. Wow, I’m rejected without even trying, that’s a first, she thought to herself.
Chapter 5
During their meeting yesterday, Claire and Taleb settled on a schedule for him to tour areas of Cambridge and the Harvard campus. Since his primary focus was to find a wife, Claire suggested places that might serve as a good location to meet someone based on the requirements he wanted while still fulfilling the Dean’s expectations.
The next morning, they met outside the Harvard Arts Museum. Claire showed up in her usual baggy pants and a t-shirt. She preferred comfort over style, plus it was easier than spending time worrying about what she was going to wear and taking the extra time to put on makeup when she could sleep those extra few minutes.
Mounting the steps to where Taleb waited, she saw that he was dressed in tailored khaki trousers and a fitted polo shirt, which set off his toned physique well. He still sported his short beard and today he was wearing dark sunglasses, giving him a mysterious look. His expensive Rolex sat loosely on his wrist as he glanced at it at what Claire assumed was impatience but since she couldn’t see his eyes, she couldn’t be sure.
“Hey, ready to look at the museum?” Claire asked.
“Yes, I’ve heard much about your museums and I’m looking forward to seeing the exhibits.” Claire nodded and gestured for him to follow her into the building.
Entering the first exhibit room, Taleb surged forward as he excitedly walked around the room to view the different artefacts. Claire trailed along behind him but she didn’t have much interest. Looking over his shoulder, Taleb realized that she wasn’t paying attention.
“This is not of interest to you?” he questioned.
Shrugging her shoulders, “It’s a bunch of old things dug from the ground.”
Taleb reached out and grabbed her wrist drawing her closer to him. Claire resisted the urge to snatch her wrist away from the tingling sensations that seemed to echo in other parts of her body simply by his touch.
“Look there,” he told her gesturing to the small statues. “Those statues once stood guard over someone’s body. They’ve resided buried in earth for more than four thousand years and probably look close to what they did when they were first buried.”
“So, you like old things,” Claire replied finding it difficult to concentrate with his hand still on her wrist.
Sliding his hand down to her waist, Taleb guided Claire to the next exhibit, as he stood behind her and talked with his head against her ear. “It is not about old things. We are looking at ancient art that was never meant to be seen again. These are phenomenal finds that cultures today cannot appreciate their value.”
“You mean money?” It had become difficult to speak with his hand on her body. The warmth that he created was growing and beginning to churn inside her in ways that never happened with Daniel.
“Not everything is about money,” Taleb replied.
“Says the man driving an Aston Martin.”
Ignoring her comment, Taleb continued, as he guided Claire to the next exhibit. “Look there,” he told her, as he pointed to the smaller and simpler items in the glass case. His arm brushed up against her body causing Claire to close her eyes at the mini fireworks shooting off in her body.
“Those are items that were found inside the graves of average people. While they are not overly ornate or covered in gold, they tell a story as to who they were. America is a very young country that is a mix of cultures and religions. While it is something that I can appreciate, you also seem to lack any sort of appreciation for old things, as you put it.”
The combination of his deep voice and touch was too much for Claire as she felt herself falling down that rabbit hole. She swore to herself that she would not fall for someone unattainable again. Much less so soon.
He’s arrogant and you don’t fit his profile, she reminded herself as she stepped out of the shelter of his arms under the pretense of looking at the items in the case. Resting her hands on the cool glass, she tried not to think about the sudden feeling of loss she felt at no longer being so close to him.
As they walked around the museum, Claire couldn’t resist asking, “What is wrong with other types of women?”
“They don't do it for me.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was true that everyone had their preferred type in terms of whom they were attracted to, but his seemed way too specific. They paused in front of a painting of a couple standing at the water’s edge on the beach.
“But what about commonalities?” she asked.
“What?”
“Things in common. Simply because a woman is tall and blonde doesn’t mean that you will like the same things.”
“Well, she will like what I li
ke,” Taleb answered arrogantly.
Claire’s mouth dropped open as she turned to stare at him. Catching a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, she punched him lightly in the arm as he turned to stare at her.
“You know, Malil has killed men for doing far less,” he told her solemnly. Before Claire could utter an apology, he burst out laughing. “Oh, I wish I had taken a picture of that look on your face to send to Kim,” he told her as he continued to laugh.
“Not funny,” Claire pouted.
“It was a little funny,” he teased.
Exiting the museum, Claire saw an ice cream truck. “Ice cream!” Claire called out excitedly as she rushed toward it with Taleb following behind.
