by Leslie North
“Basri, you can’t be serious,” Tarek said, his eyes wide.
“This is a nightmare,” another board member moaned.
Over the groans and chatter, Basri held up his hand. The room quieted. “Solira was always meant to be used as a bargaining chip for new corporate relationships. And Acumen was always supposed to be about reaching the greatest number of children in need. This program cannot complete that function if it’s priced to recoup costs.”
Juliette swallowed hard, the murmurs of dissent making her nervous, like the board might riot and literally toss Basri out on his ass.
“What the hell are you thinking?” Tarek demanded.
“I’m thinking,” Basri enunciated, his voice getting a hard edge, “That it would be morally reprehensible for us to hold the power to change the world, to change the future, and to limit that access to the smallest margin of wealthy private schools. I cannot sleep at night knowing that my company and namesake is denying such a valuable resource to children in areas where the education isn’t only awful, it’s abysmal.”
Excitement shivered through her. Basri was sexy when he got on these idealistic rants, even though it made the rest of the room want to launch a spear at him.
“I would be sorely disappointed if any of you could sleep at night knowing that we’re preventing such a desperately needed educational evolution simply because it didn’t work with our bottom line.” Basri shook his head, stuffing his papers back into his folder. “We will make up the profits elsewhere. That, I can assure you. And it is all I have to say on the matter.”
Basri stood, and she watched him walk toward the door as if he were a celebrity leaving the award stage. He nodded at her from the doorway, beckoning her to follow him. She pushed herself up and stumbled after him, leaving the heated conversations of the board members behind her.
In the hall, Basri grinned at her. “So, how did I do?”
She blinked at him, unable to decide if she loved him or hated him. He’d just given away billions of dollars. And maybe also saved the world. Either she was failing miserably at her job or she’d been reading this guy wrong from the beginning.
“I think it was great,” she said, her voice a breathy whisper.
“Let me know if you’re in for Friday,” Basri said, his dark eyes drawing her in like a vortex. It was all she could do to prevent herself from nodding. “We will enjoy some time in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains. What do you think?”
The use of the word “we” made it plain. This wasn’t just a casual suggestion anymore. It was something he’d been thinking about as much as she had.
She opened her mouth, but no words were waiting. She had to take this one to counsel before answering. Because no matter how badly she wanted to say yes, she knew it was for all the wrong reasons.
4
Safiyah beamed at Juliette from behind her desk, the sunset of Beirut a goldenrod blaze behind her through the bay windows.
“Thanks for meeting with me,” Juliette said, sitting exactly where she’d accepted the job—and now exactly where she needed the most pressing advice of her career. “I know it was last minute, but I have only a quick thing to ask you.”
“Oh, of course. Anything for you.” Safiyah grinned like she knew a secret, but Juliette suspected that was something of her standard grin as well. Maybe the older woman had a secret peek into everyone’s heads and nobody knew about it.
Just as Juliette began to speak, the office door creaked open. She turned to look—a man entered the office, someone who looked eerily similar to Basri.
“Oh, Asim! Do come in.” Safiyah ushered the newcomer inside, gesturing to Juliette. “Juliette, this is my middle son, Asim. He runs the European division. Asim, please meet Juliette.”
Asim came to her side, offering his hand. His smile was warm and familiar, but he looked far more clean-cut than Basri. “Juliette, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I do hope I’m not interrupting. I’ve only stopped to leave my mother with a quick message.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, jerking her eyes away from Asim. This family was hot, but Asim had nothing on his younger brother.
“Juliette is Basri’s new personal assistant,” Safiyah said, receiving an envelope that Asim pressed into her hands. “She’s been working out very nicely.”
“Ah, the new personal assistant.” Asim’s smile hardened. “He must be the biggest challenge of your career. Have you managed to get him to tie his shoes every day?”
Juliette stilled, unsure how to respond. The underbelly of his comment was caustic, despite technically joking. “That hasn’t been much of a problem, no.”
Asim laughed. “Well, thank god. My brother can be quite immature, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
Irritation licked at her. She hadn’t come here to talk shit about Basri with his family. She just wanted advice. “I’ve noticed plenty of things. And one of them is the reason I came here to talk to you today, Safiyah.”
She lifted a brow. “Go on.”
“Basri has scheduled a trip soon, one that is unexpected and unauthorized. He didn’t clear it with me or even have me help him schedule it.”
Asim sighed. “Typical Basri.”
Juliette pursed her lips. “I find Basri to be an amazing, soulful part of the company. Truly, he is an inspiration.” The defense seemed warranted in the face of Asim’s brazen disdain. “But how should I navigate this situation?”
Safiyah nodded. “Yes, this is very common for my youngest. He gets this from his father, you see. Basri’s father wasn’t as inclined toward the risky endeavors, but he did often require solitude.”
Juliette gnawed at the inside of her lip. “Well…he invited me to go along.”
Asim laughed. “Did he, now?”
Safiyah’s eyed widened slightly. Juliette suspected Safiyah wasn’t often surprised. “Well, you should go then.”
Juliette blinked. “Seriously?”
“Of course. Adventure is good for the soul. And Basri is a dedicated adventurer.”
“Among other things,” Asim added.
Safiyah’s eyes narrowed on Asim. “Be kind to your brother.”
Juliette looked between Asim and Safiyah, unsure which of the two devils on her shoulder to listen to. “Well, I suppose I’ll think about it. It could be good to know more about his process…and a trip might help us connect that way.”
Safiyah nodded, her grin spreading. “Excellent idea, my girl.”
Later that evening, after a stop for lamb on her way home, Juliette couldn’t fight the urge to call her sister any longer. The unresolved decision about the wilderness getaway weighed on her too much to face it without her most trusted advisor. Her sister would be at work, but Juliette hoped she wouldn’t mind the interruption.
She called as soon as she set foot in her apartment. Annabel picked up on the third ring.
“You’re calling me outside of our scheduled time,” Annabel said. “This must be big.”
“I need your advice.” Juliette opened the glass sliding door to her balcony, letting in a draft of air to circulate through the stuffy apartment. “I am still very confused about my boss.”
Juliette recapped the Acumen presentation that day, complete with his graceful offer to cut his own salary and try to save the world, alongside his repeated request for the getaway. When she’d finished explaining, Annabel gave a long “hmm.”
“So where’s the confusion?” her sister asked.
Juliette creased a brow. “I mean…it’s inappropriate to ask me to go on a non-business trip with him.” She swallowed. “Right?”
“I don’t know. But I do know that if my spontaneous, super-interesting, travel-loving, good-hearted, brilliant, successful CEO and engineer boss asked me to go somewhere with him, I’d be first in line!”
Juliette sighed. “Annabel—”
“You don’t just need to go with him on this trip, you need to marry him.”
“That’s ridiculous!” The idea throbbed through her like a long-forgotten memory, something that she’d recognized but forced herself to avoid thinking about. Basri was a catch. He was a strange, infuriating, complex, and fascinating catch.
“Why is it so ridiculous?”
“Because he’s my boss,” Juliette said. “And he’s completely irresponsible. The last thing I need is a child to take care of.”
Juliette’s words fell hard in the silence between them. She swallowed back a knot of emotion and quickly added, “I mean, it’s a saying. He can’t take care of himself very well. I would never…”
“I know,” Annabel said, her voice softer. “I know what you mean, sis.”
Juliette pinched her eyes shut, willing away the tears. In the past few years, she’d gotten good at avoiding this topic. Making it creep back into the shadows so she might never have to see it again. But slips like these—colloquial norms, turns of phrase, something so simple that sliced down into her very core—made the beast come roaring back to the forefront.
She drew a shaky breath, trying to stabilize her thoughts. Children had always been the first thing she wanted. Then she’d discovered, after a medical problem in her early twenties, that children would never be a possibility from her body.
“So you think I should go?” Juliette cleared her throat, wiping away a tear that had spilled. Strange how even after years of living with this truth, simply thinking the word barren could push her to the brink of emotional collapse. She wanted to be over it by now. She wanted her career to be the only thing that mattered. When would her heart catch up to this?
“I think you should go and not even think twice,” Annabel said. “This will be the adventure of a lifetime. Besides, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t go.”
Juliette nodded. “You’re right. I suppose I’ll go. It’ll be nice to get away from work for a bit…even though Basri always leaves plenty more work to finish.”
Annabel laughed. “Well, this is a boss-sanctioned getaway. And you better get on it.”
The sisters hung up and Juliette curled up on the couch, the heavy hand of the past pressing into her. Part of her had thought that coming to Lebanon might have served as a clean start, a way to forget that having a family had ever been a fantasy of hers.
But memories of Paul came crashing back—her first and only serious relationship, the man who’d left her once the truth came out about her ovaries. The scar of their parting didn’t hurt as much as it used to, but every now and then she’d think of what she could have had, things she’d envisioned so many times they felt like memories. She and Paul had been set up to have it all. Great jobs, a cute house in the suburbs, ready and raring to have as many children as possible.
And now, here she was—alone, halfway across the world, crying on a couch in Beirut.
She was silly to think anything romantic about Basri. Not only because he was her boss, but also because she’d never be able to give him what his traditional, image-conscious family would of course expect.
And if she’d learned anything in the years since her diagnosis, it was better to nip these situations in the bud early. Before they blossomed into something that only hurt worse down the road.
5
Basri paced the small waiting room of the private airport, checking his watch for the fifteenth time. Juliette was only a few minutes late, but every passing second confirmed the fear that she’d decided to opt out and hadn’t told him.
Part of him worried it was because of his family. His mother had mentioned a meeting with Juliette earlier that week, yet refused to give details. “A check-in meeting,” she’d called it. And ever since, Juliette had appeared distracted and distant at work. Methodical and effective as ever, but without that regular spark he’d come to adore.
The doors to the waiting area creaked open, and a suitcase appeared in the doorway. A moment later, Juliette’s head poked through the doorway. Relief flooded him, and he froze, unable to react.
“You wanna help me?”
He blinked and rushed toward her. “I’m so sorry. Let me get this for you.” He tugged her suitcase through the doorway, his gaze sweeping over her. Her auburn hair was knotted into a bun at the top of her head, and she wore simple exercise clothes, like maybe she’d just shown up from a Pilates class. His jaw tensed—when could hugging become part of their regular greeting?
“I’m happy you came.” His words slid out awkward and soft, as if he were fourteen and inviting a girl to a school dance. “I thought you might not show up.”
Her lips spread into a grin. “Yeah, well, I thought about it. But I figured if the boss wants me to hike the Himalayas or whatever, I better do it.”
He rolled her suitcase toward the wall of windows overlooking the tarmac, where his backpack waited. “On the trip we’re taking, we’re not boss and employee. That only exists inside the office.”
An unknown expression crossed her face. “If you say so.”
He nodded toward the extra bag she had slung over her shoulder. “So, you’re going to haul these bags up the mountains then?”
She narrowed her eyes. “No, I think it’ll just be you. If we’re not boss and employee anymore, then we should revert to gentleman and lady rules, don’t you think?”
Basri grinned. “There’s no way I’m hauling that suitcase up the mountain. I’m not a pack mule.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, what should I do? You didn’t exactly give me much to go on. All I had to prepare for was ‘a surprise.’ What did you expect?”
His grin widened. “I came prepared. I brought an extra pack for you; it’s in the plane.” He slung his own backpack over his shoulders, then grabbed for her suitcase handle. “It’s time to go. You still have a chance to back out if you want.”
Juliette’s mouth thinned to a line, like she was rising to the challenge. “I was a Girl Scout. I think I’ll be just fine.”
He nodded, tugging the suitcase behind him. “Great. Then let’s get out of here.”
Basri pushed through the doors leading to the tarmac, where a blast of hot air and engine noise greeted them. He led them to a small jet, where an extended staircase led into the plane. He lifted the suitcase onto his shoulder and climbed the steps easily, glancing back to see Juliette watching him with a raised brow. He smiled back at her and then pushed inside the plane, the familiar small lounge soothing him. Two sets of plush leather seats hugged each of the four windows in the lounge.
He dropped their luggage near the back of the cabin and then gestured to the seats. “Take your pick.”
She eased into the window seat in the row nearest to her. “I’ve never been on a private jet before. What’s back there?” She pointed to the door leading to the back of the plane.
“That used to be the bedroom,” he said, sliding into the seat next to her. He buckled his seatbelt, viscerally aware of her heat beside him. It rolled off her in waves.
Her eyes widened. “A bedroom on a plane?”
“Not anymore. I converted it into cargo space, basically. For today’s trip, it’s full of old computers and parts that I’ll drop off in Georgia once we land.”
She blinked at him a few times, as if letting the information sink in. “Did you say Georgia?”
He nodded. “That’s where we’re going.”
“Georgia, USA, or…”
“Georgia, the country.” He smiled. He’d never done something like this before—taking his assistant out on a hike with him. He’d never even invited a colleague to do this. Something just felt right about Juliette. “I always take a load of things to donate, whenever I travel.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s very nice of you.”
“So you’re probably wondering about the plan.”
“Uh, yeah. Slightly.”
He laughed. “Well, now that the doors are closing and we’re on our way, I’ll tell you.” The cabin door shut from the outside. A moment later, the overhead speaker dinged softly,
followed by the pilot’s voice in rapid Arabic, announcing their taxiing.
“What did the pilot say?”
“Just that we’re preparing to taxi, flight time should be just under four hours, and there’s a smooth ride ahead of us.”
She relaxed into her seat. “Now tell me where we’re going. This is the weirdest surprise of my life.”
“So the first leg of our journey will take us to Georgia, where we’ll take a helicopter into a more remote region. The remote area is quite sparsely populated—there’s only some mountain villages scattered up there. We’ll use satellite GPS for a three-day hike to the rendezvous point. Then we’ll be picked up and flown back to the airport, so we can come back to Beirut.”
Juliette’s face remained neutral. He liked that she was a little hard to read. “That’s it? That’s the trip?”
He couldn’t keep a grin from covering his face. “It’s a difficult hike. We’ll be setting up our own shelter, making our own fire, things like that. It’s meant to be a challenge.”
She blinked at him.
“I didn’t want to go too hard on you, though,” he continued. “Since I don’t know what you’re capable of yet.”
Her brow furrowed. “You don’t have to worry about that. This barely sounds like a challenge.”
“My apologies.” He spotted the glint of mischief in her eye. “Next time I’ll schedule something harder for us. Maybe rock climbing a cliff without a lead or shooting into outer space.”
She broke, a laugh escaping her. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”
He clutched the armrest as the plane taxied onto the runway. A moment later, the jet straightened and then began accelerating. He looked over at Juliette, who gazed out the window with a soft smile.
His belly somersaulted as the speed picked up, and then slowly the plane tipped back and the wheels lifted off the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut—this was his least favorite part of every plane trip, and no amount of repetition made it easier.
