Katia had arranged a team of makeup artists and hair stylists and soon the three of them were looking gorgeous with expertly fashioned tendrils of hair surrounding their beautifully made-up faces. They laughed at the contrast of their pajamas and slippers with their now perfect faces and hair. It was time for the dress!
Frey had chosen an elegant ivory gown which hugged her figure and swept stylishly to the floor with a small train stretching out behind her, glittering with tiny specks of golden silk woven into the lace embroidery. Her shoulders were covered with a tiny silk shrug and only a hint of cleavage could be detected leaving her looking modest and demure but still exuding innocent beauty. Her luscious dark hair cascaded down her back in loose waves, the top part secured on top of her head to give volume and elegance. With her eyes skillfully accentuated with dark eye liner and lashings of mascara, and a touch of blush on her cheeks, she thought to herself she had never looked this good in her entire life.
“My Egyptian princess!” her mother exclaimed with a tear in her eye, and Frey couldn’t help but agree when she admired her reflection. “You’re way more Princess Jasmine than I ever was!” Katia added smiling.
The final touch was an exquisite golden headpiece which the sheikh had sent to her in a beautiful carved wooden box. It was accompanied with a card explaining that it was the first of many wedding gifts that she could expect. It was covered with a delicate lace veil which was very traditional for Egyptian brides but which could easily be removed after the ceremony.
Katia was wearing a lilac floor-length gown and Frey’s mother had chosen a trouser suit in the same color, made of the finest Egyptian silk. They chatted and sipped on champagne until a couple of smiling robed staff members came to escort them down to the ballroom where the ceremony was to take place. Frey’s heart pounded with excitement and nervousness for the day ahead as she made her way slowly down the huge staircase with her mother and Katia at each side. Her father was waiting for her outside the ballroom and he gave her an encouraging smile and hug and told her how much he loved her. They walked down the aisle together, Katia and Frey’s mother following.
The room was filled with excited chatter but it soon quietened to a hushed silence as everyone turned to admire the beautiful bride. Frey felt intimidated by all the stares and clung to her father. However as soon as she got a glimpse of her handsome smiling sheikh waiting for her at the front of the room her fear turned to joy and her heart felt like it would burst with happiness and pride.
It was a brief but touching ceremony and everyone cheered when they shared their first kiss as a married couple. Frey was struggling to control her emotions and even the sheikh’s eyes were glinting with moisture. After they had signed the register and been congratulated by the guests one-by-one it was time for photographs and to drink a special rose-water beverage called Sharpat before the real celebrations could begin. The sheikh presented her with her second gift of the day which was a beautiful white grand piano, exactly like the one they had played in Cairo on their first date. He sat at the stool and treated her and the crowd to a performance of Chopin’s Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, the same piece that she had performed for him all that time ago.
Everyone then moved into a huge marquee which had been put up in the grounds of the house. There were colorfully-dressed tables and chairs surrounding the outskirts of the room, allowing a large area for the entertainment and dancing. They watched belly dancers and musicians, jugglers and flamethrowers, and finally the spectacular Candelabra dance where the girls were adorned with elaborate candle stick holders on their heads. It was a magnificent show and everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves.
Now that the scary bit was over Frey too could really relax. She smiled and laughed with her new husband and her closest friends and family and feasted on delicious sweet and savory treats. They drank far too much champagne and whirled around the dancefloor grinning and laughing and not giving a second thought to some of the more stuck-up guests from the sheikh’s side of the family. She was his wife now, and that was all that mattered. They’d have to accept her.
Katia had gone back to the house for an outfit change as she’d wanted something sexier for the evening and she returned hastily and out-of-breath in a revealing cocktail dress, looking rather distressed about something. Whatever is it now, thought Frey. She certainly didn’t want any unneeded drama on her special day and it was all going so well so far.
“You’ll never guess who I saw making out with one of the servants!” she cried to Frey.
“Not Ali?” she replied, fearing the worst and starting to console her friend.
“No!” said Katia, moving away and looking a little annoyed, “It’s your father-in-law! I went past his bedroom to get changed and the door was open. He was kissing one of the female staff!”
“No way!” exclaimed Frey, putting two and two together and wondering if it could be possible. The sheikh’s mother had been in attendance disguised as a servant. Could he have recognized her? She thought they hated each other.
She brushed the matte off and told her friend that she heard he was a bit of a womanizer, but then went straight to find her sheikh.
“Faisal!” she whispered, “I need to talk to you urgently!”
The sheikh was tipsy and happy and when she told him what she thought Katia had seen he was amused rather than angry.
“He was devastated when she left and he’s never been the same since. The stubborn old chap must have recognized her and realized what he’s been missing. They were always both as stubborn as each other to be honest. I can’t believe it, I really can’t! Well it’s their problem now. If he wants to bring her back from the dead he’ll have to think of his own crazy plan. I’ve had enough of secrets and schemes. All I want is a nice quiet life with my beautiful new wife.”
He smiled and took her in his arms, kissing her passionately. “Now let me know when you’ve had enough of all this malarkey because we’ve got a plane waiting to take us to Italy where you’re all mine for the next month. No more drama, just you and me!”
Frey somehow thought that there would always be a certain element of drama with this feisty beautiful man of hers but for now a month in beautiful Italy alone with him was all her heart desired. She grinned and grabbed his hand leading him away. They snuck off quietly leaving one of his trusted security guards to say their goodbyes for them.
THE END
Enjoy the bonus stories!
Seduction
Alissa had worked in Miguel’s law office for about a year before he even noticed that she existed. There were several lawyers at the office and each of them had their own secretaries. Alissa was a receptionist that had worked part time over the previous summer and had been hired on full time right after she had finished high school.
She knew how lucky she was to have gotten such an awesome job and knew that she owed it to the school. Alissa had went through an internship program that was offered at the school, it had been Miguel’s first year taking part in the program because it had become harder and harder for him to find employees that would actually stay. He had decided it was better to take his chances with an internship, getting free work instead of having to pay to train people that would not stay.
Alissa was more than happy when she was offered a full time job after graduation. She would still be able to attend college in the fall in the evening hours and she was making a great income. She knew she was making at least double what her friends from high school were making and that made her proud. More importantly, it got her out of her parents' house.
Alissa had grown up fairly poor. She had lived in a rundown trailer in the worst part of town. She had been made fun of all through school because of where she lived and how she dressed. She had never even been to the dentist as a child and as sad as it is to say, that was one of the things she was most excited about. Her new job offered dental care. She had always done her best to take care of herself even though she was poor. She spent a lot of ti
me focusing on her teeth, making sure they looked as good as possible. She counted herself lucky that she had naturally straight teeth and a beautiful smile.
As she was growing up she remembered getting sick frequently and not being able to go to the doctor. Roaches crawling across the floor and up the walls were one of her worst memories. There were times when she knew she could not even put her plate on a table because if she did roaches would get on her food. Her mother had never been much of a housekeeper and even though she had refused to work while Alissa was growing up she still did not keep their trailer clean.
There were times when Alissa would have to wade through a mountain of dirty laundry just to get to her bedroom, there were times when she was not able to take a bath because the bathroom was so messy and even times when there was no food in the house. In the middle of all of this Alissa’s parents refused to get any help claiming that they had too much pride.
As Alissa waited for her first real pay check she dreamed of having a place of her own that was clean, where the cabinets were full of food, where the laundry and dishes never piled up. A place that she could be proud of. Her boss, Megan had told her that as soon as she got her own place to let her know and she would throw an office housewarming party for her.
Megan knew all too well how Alissa had grown up. She used to be friends with Alissa’s mother and they used to spend a lot of time together. That was until Alissa’s mother began sleeping all day and not taking care of her home. Megan could not stand to see Alissa raised that way so she just quit coming around. It broke her heart, but she did not know what else she could do for Alissa and she was glad that Alissa would finally be getting out of what she called “that mess.”
It was Friday afternoon and Alissa sat at her desk finishing up her work for the week. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect so that she would have a good start the following week. She did not want to worry about anything that she had forgotten to do over the weekend so she checked and double checked her work.
She made sure she had sent all of the messages to the people they needed to go to, she ensured all of the appointments had been booked and that she had returned all of the calls she needed to. She made sure that her desk was perfectly clean and tidy as well.
As Alissa was busying herself with her work a shadow fell on her desk. She looked up and saw Miguel standing in front of her.
“Oh,” Alissa said, startled, “you scared me. Can I help you?”
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he said with a smile, then handed her check to her.
Alissa looked at him a bit confused not knowing what he was talking about.
“I understand that you will be getting a place of your own with this check,” he said seeing her confusion.
Alissa smiled, “I can hope,” she said quietly.
“You know,” Miguel continued, “I know a lot of property owners who are looking for a good renter. I might be able to put in a good word for her.” Alissa swore that he winked as he spoke but brushed it off as her own imagination.
“That would be wonderful,” she said, her eyes lighting up with hope.
“Let me know if you need any furniture too,” he continued, “I have a lot of connections.”
She could tell that he was trying to brag about himself, but it only made her smile. She was just happy to be holding the check in her hand. It was the key to a new life for her.
“I will,” Alissa said, smiling at Miguel, “Honestly, I will take all of the help I can get.”
Miguel smiled and tapped on her desk as he walked away, “We’ll have to get together and see what we can do.”
Alissa turned and looked at Miguel as he walked down the hallway. His pinstriped suit looked amazing on him and he walked with such confidence. Alissa lowered her head as she wondered if he would treat her the same way if he knew where she came from.
She had heard about the type of man Miguel was. He was not only an experienced attorney, he was loaded and he only associated with those who were loaded. Alissa had heard that he used to like to ‘slum it’ as the secretaries called it and date girls that were not as wealthy as he was but she was sure that was only a rumor. Looking at him she could tell that he could have any woman he wanted. He had a way of dominating the entire room, demanding all of the attention without even having to say a word. He was the type of man that Alissa had always dreamed of.
She shook her head as she looked down at her check. He was way out of her reach and she knew it. Instead of focusing on the fact that she would never have a man like Miguel she instead chose to focus on her check. Her parents had not idea that she was getting paid, she had told them that she was still doing the internship and she was not going to let them know she had money.
They had experienced amazing windfalls when Alissa was a child, 100 thousand dollars here, 50 thousand there. The same thing happened every time, they would get the money and go on a crazy shopping spree. Within a few months the family was broke and back to eating hotdogs for dinner while her dad tried to sell off the stuff they had bought with the money they had.
Alissa had never known what it was like to live in a real house and that was her goal. She had already contacted a few realty agencies so that she could look at houses that were up for rent. She was going to open a bank account right after work to make sure her parents never found out about the money, then as soon as she found the right place she was going to move in.
Excitement filled her body as she thought about her goals. Her future was filled with all of the possibilities that she could ever imagine and all she had to do was to decide what she really wanted. Alissa watched the last minute of work tick by and then headed out the door with her check in hand. She quickly walked over to the bank and opened up her very first checking account. She was full of pride when she walked out of the bank that day knowing that she was taking the steps she needed to change her future.
Alissa walked home that evening just as she did every other evening. She had never been able to get a car like the other girls when she went to school. Her family could not afford it and it always broke her heart a little when she would see girls getting beautiful cars as gifts from their parents. It was okay with her, though, she knew that she would earn her car and she would love it even more just because she had worked for it.
Alissa’s future seemed bright as she walked home. As she approached her families run down trailer darkness and gloom covered her once again. She was always so happy to get away and could not wait until the next morning when she was supposed to meet the real estate agent. Alissa took a deep breath and headed to the home she had grown up in wishing she could just burn it down.
That night she ate with her family and for the first time it was difficult. She knew that she had her check in her new bank account and it took everything she had not to just leave and go purchase real food. She knew she could not however, because she would be following in her parents' footsteps if she wasted her money and that was something she refused to do.
As they ate dinner that night she began to feel bad for her parents for the first time in her life. Her father looked much older to her, she could see what years of hard physical labor had done to him. She could see the sadness in her mother’s eyes and felt a bit of guilt knowing that she was going to be leaving them in the mess they had created. Just as every other night Alissa could remember she fell asleep listening to her parents scream at each other. She was thankful that she did not have a younger brother or sister to worry about and as she fell asleep, she wondered what it would be like to sleep in a home that was quiet.
The next morning Alissa awoke before her parents. She quickly dressed and made her way out the front door. She had a meeting with the real estate agent at 7:30 that morning and did not want to be late. She had planned on visiting several rentals and really wanted to find her new home.
Alissa had agreed to meet the agent at her office and the two of them were going to ride to the various rental units. She knew that
it did not look good to the agent that she did not have a car and was embarrassed when she had to explain her situation. It seemed like almost everyone in town already knew who she was and how she had grown up, but it was always hard for her to tell people. What was harder was the way people looked at her. Always with pity in their eyes, telling her how sorry they were for her or that they wished there was something they could do. All she wanted was for someone to give her a fair shot. To not judge her because of her past and to not look at her as if she were a neglected puppy.
She could not wait for the day when she did not have to talk about her past. When she could bring people to her home and not have to worry about bugs crawling across their shoes. Alissa had never dated because of the way she was raised. It had impacted every part of her life. She had chosen not to date because she had not been able to shower on a regular basis when she was growing up. It was difficult to take a shower in a bathroom that was filled with laundry and no clean towels to dry off on. Most of the time there wasn’t even hot water and Alissa hated cold showers.
She knew if she ever let anyone get close to her when she was in high school that it would have only given them an open door to tell everyone how she lived. That was what high school was about after all, making fun of those who were less fortunate. She had very few friends and none of them had known about her home life. They had never come over to her house, she always stayed at theirs and she never let them drive her home.
As she approached the realty office, she wondered what it would be like to have friends over and even imagined what it would be like to have a boyfriend or just to date. As she saw the real estate agent, she smiled knowing that her future was within her reach.
The Sheikh's Secret Page 7
