by Leslie North
“Really? You're in charge of the company fields?” she asked him. A million questions immediately flooded her head.
“Yes.” Malik gave her a warm smile.
“That's awesome. I’ve always wanted to know how things work around here.”
“She's a talker.” Tariq said in Arabic. Malik laughed softly. Sara was confused. She had not understood anything but she knew it was about her.
“Have you already written her off?” Malik asked Tariq in Arabic.
“You know what he is like,” Amir replied.
Sara awkwardly scratched the back of her head. They were having a conversation in Arabic. It made her uncomfortable. She knew she should have learnt Arabic but it was hard to learn. It was not like Spanish. Spanish was easier. She looked into the distance and noticed a setup of an oil well. There were men working on the machines. Her eyes immediately went moon-sized.
“Let's go look at the oil wells,” Malik said when he saw Sara's face light up. Tariq could see her out of the corner of his eye. He shook his head and did not say anything. “We are still setting up the machines. We're hoping to start drilling in a week,” he added.
“How long does it take to set up everything?” Sara asked.
“Couple of days,” Malik replied.
“We'll resume the question and answer session at a later date,” Tariq interrupted. He could see that Sara had more questions she wanted to ask and indeed, she did. She crossed her eyes when he interrupted for the second time. Amir buried his face in his hands and shook his head. His short-tempered brother was already irritated with Sara. He looked up; he wanted to see how she was going to react to his obvious attempt at shutting her up.
“I would like to familiarise myself with everything that goes on in an oil field,” Sara replied. She could only bite her tongue for so long.
“Now is not the time,” Tariq replied.
First time he responded to me, Sara thought to herself. She did not understand why he acted like that towards her. She had not done anything to him but she was not going to let him treat her that way. She was raised to treat everyone as equal and she was not going to be disrespected simply because he didn’t approve of her.
“We should start the testing,” Amir quickly said before Sara could say anything else.
“Good idea,” Malik said. He too knew what Tariq was like. He had grown up with the two of them and he knew Tariq better than most.
They walked closer to the wells. Malik signalled for one of the workers to do a test drill. Sara was still a bit annoyed with Tariq but she was more interested in watching the test drill.
The man drilled a bit and stopped. Then he and Malik started checking for oil. Sara could hardly stand still. She too wanted to check for oil but she suspected that it would annoy Tariq further, so she stayed put.
“There isn't much oil here,” Malik said.
“Try a different location,” Tariq suggested.
Sara turned her attention to him. His appearance and personality matched. Good-looking men were usually full of crap. Their personalities weren't appealing. She hated to admit that he was attractive, but he really was. He stood at about six feet four inches, easily a foot taller than she was. He was well built, muscle-wise. He had jet-black hair and dark eyes. His skin was almond colour. He had a straight nose and full lips.
Sara frowned and looked away. It would suit him better if he was a bit nicer. Amir resembled his brother but he was much nicer and easier going and he treated her more like a little sister than his assistant. They were very different. The silence between the three of them was tense. Sara had no choice but to break it. She hated awkward silences.
“I'm craving shawarma,” Sara said. It was the most random thing she had ever said around Amir and he burst out laughing. Tariq narrowed his eyes.
“Sara, you make me laugh,” Amir said, still laughing. Sara laughed a little. She had no idea why she said it. Sometimes heavy silences became overwhelming and she would say the first thing that popped into her head. “I have not indulged in some for quite some time,” he added.
“Me, neither.”
“Although iced tea would be more appropriate right now.”
“Iced tea sounds wonderful,” Sara said and turned to look at Amir.
“There is oil here!” Malik called out. Tariq immediately walked towards him. He was glad he spoke when he did. It was not pleasing to stand there listening to Sara talking non-stop, about food of all things! His brother even encouraged her too.
Amir and Sara followed. Malik showed them where he had found oil. He suggested that they start drilling as soon as everything was set up but he was not optimistic about how much oil they would find. He then showed them the rest of the oil field and shared his plans. Sara asked a few questions here and there. She tried not to bombard him with too many.
It was finally time to leave. Sara was dreading the ride back to the office. She had to sit in the car with the two of them again. She sighed heavily before she got into the car. Tariq was not so pleased about it either. He even entertained the idea of giving her money to take a cab home but he knew Amir would not have it.
Chapter 6
Sara was glad to arrive back at the office. It was already time to go home, so she bowed to them both and took her leave. As she was walking, she tripped over her own foot and stumbled. “Dammit,” she cursed silently. She had a feeling they both saw her and she did not dare check. She had already almost fallen in front of Amir and he had to catch her. She really did not want to fall in front of Tariq; it would probably make his day.
Amir smiled and suppressed the urge to laugh at her. Tariq put his hands in his pockets. This was the second time he had seen her trip over her own foot. Tariq turned on his heel and walked towards his car. He was pleased that the day was finally over. That girl was too strange. Everything about her irritated him. She was not suited to be an assistant for any member of the Botros family.
Tariq stopped and called out to Amir. “Brother, take me up on my offer to hire you an impeccable assistant.”
“What is wrong with the one I currently have?” Amir said as he approached Tariq.
“She's like that,” Tariq was not quite sure how to describe her. There was so much wrong with her but no words escaped his mouth.
“You have not even given her a chance yet.”
“She falls below standards.”
“Mine or yours?”
“You should raise yours.”
“She is competent, intelligent and adorable.”
“There's nothing adorable about her.”
“Give her time,” Amir smiled but Tariq did not return his smile.
“You know me well; do you really think she will grow on me?”
Amir did not respond. He knew that Sara was never going to grow on Tariq. He was very stiff and uptight. Amir could not help but want to keep Sara more because his brother did not approve. The fact that Sara was willing to stand her ground earlier showed that she did not scare easily. She was the only non-family member that dared to stand up to him. He was willing to see how far she would go.
* * * *
Sara was happy that it was the weekend. She really needed a break from work. She decided to go to lunch with her neighbours, Keira and Kaleena. She had been lucky to get on with them; otherwise, it would have been lonely for her. Keira and Kaleena were twenty-four-year-old non-identical twins. They were fond of Sara since the first day they met her.
The twins knocked on Sara’s door when they were ready to leave. Sara slipped into her plimsolls and opened the door. She hugged the twins. She was glad to see them. Finally, she could have a non-work day. Amir worked her hard every day and she still wasn’t used to such a heavy workload. She went from dealing with very important matters regarding the company to dealing with what Amir eats for lunch. It was a lot for her.
Living so close to the town centre meant that the shopping mall was an easy ten-minute walk. They immediately went to buy cold drinks as i
t was very hot outside and Sara was still not used to the weather. Keira and Kaleena bought their drinks and waited for Sara by the entrance. Sara bought herself a large drink and stuck her straw inside immediately.
“He's so attractive,” Kaleena said. Sara approached them and stood between them.
“Who's the eye candy?” Sara asked.
“Him,” Keira pointed. Sara nearly choked on her drink when she realised who they were talking about.
“You okay?” Kaleena asked Sara.
“Are you kidding me? You think he is attractive? Him?” Sara was finding it hard to believe.
“Tariq Botros is the perfect man,” Kaleena said. Sara frowned even more. Keira agreed with her sister.
“He's a jerk,” Sara said and drank her cold drink. She quickly touched her forehead. “Brain freeze,” she said.
“Oh yeah, you work for his company,” Keira said and turned to face Sara.
“You're so lucky! You get to see him all the time,” Kaleena said. Sara could not help but roll her eyes. She looked up at him. He was wearing a white polo shirt and beige trousers. For once, he was not in a suit. He was looking down at his phone. She wondered what he was doing at the mall. She noticed women eyeing him as they walked past. A woman tried to speak to him and he did not respond to her.
“Ha, typical,” Sara said. It was like him to be so rude. “Let's go, our reservation is for 1:10 and that's five minutes away,” Sara added.
“Oh no,” Keira complained. She wanted to stay and watch Tariq some more. Sara linked her arm and pulled her along. Sara wanted to enjoy her weekend. As they walked past, Tariq looked up. Sara was facing forward. She was hoping to walk past him without him making eye contact. Tariq creased his brows when he recognised Sara. He noticed that she was wearing shorts. How could she easily parade her bare legs? Tariq thought to himself. There was not one thing that was lady-like or graceful about her.
“He's looking at you,” Kaleena whispered to Sara.
“I am not going to greet him if that's what he thinks. Let's walk faster,” Sara whispered back. She did not want to have an awkward conversation with him. It would not even be a conversation. It would be her greeting him and him ignoring her like he always did. She finally reached the safety of the restaurant and sighed with relief when she sat down. Keira and Kaleena joined her. They were still talking about Tariq's good looks.
“Amir is very appealing too,” Keira said.
“He's much nicer,” Sara replied.
“That's who you work for right?” Kaleena asked and leaned forward in her seat.
“What's he like?” Keira asked with a big smile on her face.
Sara laughed. The twins were too into the Botros family but it did not seem like it was only them. The whole town was going crazy at the sight of Tariq. Sara started talking about Amir and what it was like working for him.
A waitress approached them and took their orders. Sara was excited to eat. The food on the menu seemed tasty and she was starving. Suddenly Keira nudged her and tilted her head to the side. Sara was confused. “Huh,” Sara said. Keira's eyes widened and then moved to the right. Sara raised one eyebrow. She was not understanding her at all. Before she could say anything, she turned when she heard the waitress say, “Here is your menu Mr Botros. Please call me when you're ready to order.” She giggled a little as she spoke. Sara made eye contact with Tariq when she turned. It was too late for her to look away and act as if she didn't see him. She got up and walked to his table, which was next to hers. She had such bad luck. He was sitting with a much older but very beautiful woman who was elegantly dressed.
“Good afternoon, Sheik,” Sara said and bowed to him. She turned her attention to the woman and smiled. “Good afternoon, Ma'am,” Sara said. The woman returned her smile.
“Good afternoon, dear,” the woman said. Tariq had not even bothered to respond to Sara. He simply stared at her with an expressionless face. Sara hated that look so much, especially when she was waiting for a response.
“Something I can do for you?” Tariq asked her when he realised she was not leaving. Sara frowned at him.
“Since we are sitting at neighbouring tables, I thought I would say hello,” Sara replied. “Obviously that was a bad choice,” she mumbled. The older woman laughed.
“My apologies, dear. My grandson lacks tact,” the woman said. Sara's jaw dropped open.
“Grandson?!” she spat out. The woman raised her eyebrows. “I'm sorry for that,” Sara quickly apologised. She realised that she had just shouted. “It's that you look so young. I would never think you were his grandmother, ever!” she added. Tariq's grandmother laughed and extended her hand.
“Fiddah, what's your name, dear?” she introduced herself.
“Sara,” Sara smiled and shook her hand.
“You're still here?” Tariq asked Sara.
“I am Amir's assistant,” Sara said to Fiddah and deliberately ignored Tariq.
“Oh, you're his new assistant. Marvellous! I wanted to meet his new assistant, seems his past assistants weren't quite what he or the company was looking for.”
“I assure you things are different this time.”
“I hope so.”
Tariq wanted to remove Sara physically from their vicinity. She talked too much. His eyes dropped to her small waist. He noticed that her waist was smaller than her chest and her hips. Unwillingly, his eyes dropped to her back. She had a round bottom.
“Leaving anytime soon?” Tariq asked and quickly looked away from her bottom.
“It was nice to meet you lady Fiddah, I hope we can have a proper conversation one day. Have a nice day,” Sara said and bowed to her. She looked at Tariq and bowed to him. She managed to suppress her words.
“Likewise dear,” Fiddah said to Sara.
Chapter 7
“She's adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He was watching her walk with his usual blank face. He turned to look at Fiddah.
“Amir keeps saying that. I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. Fiddah laughed.
“This is you we are talking about.”
He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “I am not the problem here,” he defended himself. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was watching him and blushing whilst he was speaking to her. Fiddah watched the waitress turn red.
“When do you plan to marry?” Fiddah asked Tariq as soon as the waitress left. Tariq frowned at his grandmother.
“What brought this on?” He was confused with her sudden change of topic even though it was not the first time she had questioned him about marriage.
“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you notice women.”
Tariq sighed before he replied. He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it did not even faze him anymore. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. Tariq sunk in his chair and watched her. She noticed him looking at her and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow. He waited for her to leave before he commented.
“Marriage is not for me and even if it was, she would not be my type,” he said and took a sip from his glass. Fiddah shook her head. For years, she had been trying to convince him to marry but failed.
“So what, you will bury yourself in the company until your death bed?”
“I like my job.”
“Too much! You need a life outside your job. You need a family.”
“I have one.”
“Of your own! I want great grandchildren. Do not deny me that!”
Tariq was never going to win this argument. Fiddah was tenacious. This was not their first time discussing his love life and it was certainly not going to be their last.
“How about you pick a wife for me?” Tariq said and grinned at her.
“Does that even make sense? Is it so hard to court a woman?” Tariq laughed gently.
Sara heard Tariq laugh. So it's capable of laughing, she s
aid to herself. She turned her attention back to her food. It surprised her to hear him laugh. She had never heard it and never thought she would. He was so uptight and mean.
“Can you see me courting a woman?” Tariq asked Fiddah.
“There is no hope for you,” she replied. He grinned at her. “Don't you want love?” she asked.
“No.”
“What?”
“It doesn't exist.” Tariq was determined to stick to his beliefs. In his eyes, love did not exist. It was simply heightened infatuation. As he took a sip from his glass, he noticed Sara attempt to eat an olive but it fell back on the plate. No table manners even? She could not walk like a normal person. She talked too much. She had poor dress sense. And now this! What other weird trait was she going to exhibit? He watched her eat. He could tell that she was really enjoying her food. She sat up and licked her lips, then took a sip of her drink. When she was not eating, she was talking. It's as if she never stops. Tariq shook his head and looked away from her.
