by Holly Rayner
“This is really beautiful,” Amity said, addressing the limo driver. Surely, he knew where he was taking them? She needed answers. “I can’t wait to see where we’re staying.”
But the driver only cleared his throat, not offering a single word.
To Amity’s right, Flora let out a dramatic sigh, and Amity spun to face her, her PR brain attempting to take over. “Flora. You have the calendar and notebook on you, don’t you?” She figured they could begin to plan their strategy, or at least set up a schedule.
But Flora just shrugged her shoulders. “I know you don’t even know who this client is. Can’t we wait until we get to the hotel—or whatever?” The words were blasé, bored. Amity couldn’t really blame her. So much was up in the air.
All at once, the limo veered off the highway. The smooth, tar road suddenly petered out into a gravel track that wound through the desert, through the mighty dunes. Amity pressed close to the window, catching views of the city between the dunes. It seemed as if they were moving further and further away from civilization. Fear began to fizzle through her.
The limo skirted right, then left, each time without slowing down properly. Flora nearly flew on top of Amity at one point, before Amity forced her to buckle herself in. “Be careful!” she hissed.
“Whatever, Mom,” Flora said, rolling her eyes.
Amity couldn’t care. She flipped her long hair, and reminded herself that once she got through this assignment, she could move to New York and find another intern.
The limo skirted still further from the city, suddenly coming to an abrupt halt between two massive, gleaming sand dunes. Around them, the dust ruffled through the air. Amity blinked wildly, searching around her. “Are we there?” she inquired.
The driver suddenly appeared before her, opening her door and gesturing outward, toward the desert. Amity frowned.
“Go,” the man said, his voice stern. “Go up there.”
In the distance, Amity could just make out a table that had been set down in the shade between two dunes. Around it she could make out the shapes of three large men, each of them cast in shadow.
“Is this really it?” Amity whispered.
“Go along,” the driver said again, his accent thick. “They’re waiting for you.”
Amity turned toward Flora. “I’ll bring my intern with me.”
But the limo driver raised a single finger into the air and shook it left, then right. “Just you, Miss Winters. She waits here.”
Flora flung her head back against the leather cushion and closed her eyes, clearly relieved.
Amity gave her intern another brief glance before stepping out onto the sand, feeling her shoes sink a full inch into the ground. She tugged at her blazer and swiped at her makeup. She’d expected to have time to prepare her appearance before this initial meeting. This was a little much.
She gave the driver a brave smile before proceeding toward the table, taking discreet peeks around her. It was clear that they’d driven far from any kind of civilization—and that people didn’t often drive down this road. The temperature had elevated astronomically, taking them to near 90 already. She felt sweat forming in her armpits, trickling down her back; she felt her hands grow damp.
As she neared the men, she realized, at once, that the three men at the table were not created equally. The men on either side were large, with broad, football player shoulders. They wore vests stocked with weapons, and dark sunglasses that hid their eyes.
Between them, a man sat in an immaculate suit. He was sat with his ankle atop his knee, and he jiggled his leg lightly as he waited. His hands were folded over his stomach, and his mouth was a thin line beneath his sunglasses. He wore no vest, no hat. And yet, beside his two massive bodyguards, he was much more intimidating. Amity could not place why.
Amity proceeded to offer the three of them a bright smile as she approached. When she grew close enough, she raised a hand and waved to them, wiggling her fingers with an overt, American-style greeting. “Hi,” she said. She flipped her long, brown hair and righted her posture.
Finally, the man in the center rose to his feet. He beckoned toward the empty seat before him. When she stood before him, he brought his hand, dagger-like, toward her.
She shook it, flashing those bright white teeth once more. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Amity Winters,” she said confidently.
“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Winters. I hope your flight wasn’t too unpleasant?”
“Not at all,” Amity said, still wearing that smile. “And please, call me Amity.”
She felt hesitant as she sat on the chair, which sank deeper into the sand as she gave it her full weight. She placed her hands in her lap, still waiting for this man to introduce himself. The two muscled bodyguards beside him hadn’t made a single motion to greet her. They reminded her of the Taylor brothers back at the agency. She attempted to project her professional, PR persona. “It’s wonderful to be here. I’m ready to get started, if you are.”
The man brought his fingers to his sunglasses, then, and swiped them up and over his forehead. All at once, the motion revealed that he was not just attractive, but the stuff of Hollywood; of music legends. Amity didn’t allow her shock to show. She cleared her throat.
“I do apologize,” he said suddenly. “I’ve dragged you out into the middle of the desert, and I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Sheikh Aziz al Arin.”
Ah, so this was the Sheikh; the incredibly important man whose image was on the line. Amity’s professional brain began to buzz, and she breathed a small sigh of relief—it was far easier to deal with an attractive man in the “image rehabilitation” realm. People love good-looking people; they’re far more forgiving and open to their antics.
“Sheikh Aziz. It’s marvelous to finally know what I’m working with,” she replied, her voice in that confident, PR-rep mode.
“And it’s good to finally meet you,” he agreed. “Trust me, it’s been a hard road, as far as my image goes.”
“That’s right. My director couldn’t tell me so much prior to my arrival.” Her chat with Charlie felt like it was years ago, rather than just two days before. “Please, Aziz. Get me up to speed, if you don’t mind.”
The Sheikh glanced briefly at both of his bodyguards. He cleared his throat. “I suppose, to begin, you have to know that I’m one of the richest men in Al-Mabbar. I became a billionaire when I inherited my family’s oil business—Arin Petroleum. You probably know by now that Al-Mabbar is almost exclusively oil rich.”
Amity nodded, scribbling notes in her book. She wished, abstractly, that Flora were there to help her remember everything.
“My father was well-loved in Al-Mabbar, and by much of the world, in fact. Aside from his work in the oil industry, he was a famous philanthropist and has been credited as helping thousands and thousands of lesser-off people. He was a constant figure at the Al-Mabbar hospital, for example.
“As I’m sure you can imagine,” Aziz continued, “it’s been a struggle escaping my father’s shadow since he died. The people loved him, but they did not pass along that love to me. In fact, in my teenage years, I might have had a handle in creating this lackluster image of a—ahem—a kind of playboy, a party animal. A spoiled son of a billionaire, you know.”
“It can happen,” Amity said, nodding once more. Spoiled billionaire’s son who appeared to party constantly and live the life of a hedonist. It was nothing new to her. She’d seen so much worse. And yet—something about the man before her gave her pause. He seemed genuinely concerned; he seemed to care, deeply, about his countrymen and his father’s memory.
“I loved my father,” Aziz continued. “He truly cared for this country and for this world. But of course, as a teenager, I couldn’t quite see it that way. And that’s something I regret every single day.”
To the Sheikh’s left, one bodyguard shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with how heartfelt the conversation seemed to be. Amity wanted to grin, but she hel
d back.
“Anyway. I’m hoping you will help my country to see me as myself—as the man I actually am—a person who is quite similar to my father and to my father’s father. I come from a long line of important men. And although I do like to do my fair share of partying—”
“Don’t tell me that,” Amity teased. She tapped her pen against the notebook, glancing around her once more. The air was nearly impenetrable with the heat of the sun.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I brought you out here,” Aziz said. He snapped his fingers, then, and one of the bodyguards stood, reaching beneath the table and producing a pot of tea and several plates of Middle-Eastern breakfast foods—pita breads with feta cheeses and olives. He placed the plates in front of Aziz and Amity, and Amity rubbed her palms together. She was famished.
“I did think it a little…eccentric,” Amity said, accepting a fork. “But I didn’t want to say anything. Perhaps this is how you always operate.”
The Sheikh gave her a half smile, tilting his head slightly. “Well, Amity. Now that you’ve agreed to help me, I can tell you: the setting for this meeting is a metaphor.”
“I didn’t know you worked in metaphors here in the Middle East,” she said.
“The first and last time, I can assure you,” Aziz laughed. “You see, out here, under the sun, between the dunes—this is what every American pictures when they picture the Middle East. Am I incorrect in saying that?”
Amity considered this for a moment, remembering the image she’d had in her mind mere days before, when she’d first learned of this life-altering commitment. She nodded. “I suppose this is what we imagine, yes. We know so very little of your world. It’s rather sad, isn’t it?”
Aziz waved his hand. “People imagine what they want to imagine, which is why so many of my countrymen imagine me as a hedonistic, playboy billionaire. It’s a romantic notion—that they should hate the son of the man they loved. Don’t you think so?”
“I think people like to create drama,” Amity murmured, placing her fork on the table. She still hadn’t eaten a single morsel. “I think that’s why PR is so important. To turn that drama on its head. To allow people to imagine something else.”
“Exactly, Amity,” Aziz said. “Westerners, they imagine this world with sandy dunes, hot sun and a dearth of culture. Once they arrive, however, they find so much more to Al-Mabbar than they could ever dream of. They find complex people; they find stunning vistas. They are allowed to grow from their preconceptions and really understand the world around them. And in the same way, I hope that you’ll come to think of me differently,” he said, averting his eyes to the table. For a moment, he didn’t appear so confident. He seemed earnest, hopeful that he could become the kind of man he dreamed of being. “I hope you will come to think of me as more than my terrible reputation. I hope that you will see this and translate this to the rest of my people.”
Amity’s heart pitter-pattered in the silence that followed. She didn’t know what to say. Her other clients with awful images, who were often involved in hedonistic parties or terrible divorces or this or that, never really cared how she saw them. They generally treated her like garbage and expected her to pick up the pieces of their reputations, without remorse.
And yet: this first meeting with Aziz confused her, spun her on her head. Here was a billionaire who truly cared about his countrymen, about his deceased father’s image, about his future. And furthermore: he cared about what she, the PR rep, thought of him. She felt cold chills spike up her arms, despite the 90-degree heat, and she rubbed at them with absent fingers.
“I understand,” she finally spoke, her voice meek. “And I appreciate the metaphor.”
“I had a good feeling about you,” Aziz said warmly. He gestured toward the plates, then, trying to wade through the awkward waters he’d drawn for them. “Eat up, Amity. Trust me, it’s going to be a difficult couple of days, readjusting to the schedule here. I’ve flown from Los Angeles one too many times; the jet-lag is not an easy one to crack.”
“As long as I can get a nap in later, I’ll be fine,” Amity said, opting once more for her professional voice. “Would it be possible for the limo to take my intern to the hotel while we eat? I’m sure she’s ready to sleep in a bed by now.”
“Of course,” Aziz said, gesturing to his right-hand bodyguard, who then rushed off to tell the driver to leave. “You can ride with me. We can eat here before heading into the city—if that suits you, of course.”
Amity agreed and watched as the limo containing Flora spun tires from the scene and rushed back towards the city, winding down that dune road. “I assume our accommodations are close to yours?”
“Your intern’s hotel is located directly across from my apartment block,” Aziz confirmed. “I’ve booked her the presidential suite. You won’t have to interact with each other unless you’re meeting on business.”
“That’s perfect,” Amity said. “And I’ll be staying at that hotel, as well?”
The Sheikh hesitated, his eyes searching the horizon. “Actually, I’ve arranged different accommodations for you. I’ll need to work with you incredibly closely, you understand. I want this to be a swift process, which means we’ll need to work together basically every day.”
“And what does that mean for my accommodations?” Amity asked hesitantly.
“You’ll be staying in my downtown mansion. Fear not, it’s big enough for two—several floors, not a studio like you might be used to in Los Angeles,” he offered. She could tell his voice was genuine, not attempting to brag.
“Anyway. You’ll have a suite of rooms all to yourself, with plenty of time to work. I’ll show you when we arrive.”
Amity looked down, her heart beating strangely in her chest. Why did it excite her to be staying in the same mansion as this man? It never normally excited her to speak to a client. Pure business. That was her mantra. Pure. Business.
The pair finished their breakfast, and Aziz stood up, adjusting his suit. He looked so suave, it nearly took Amity’s breath away.
She stood as well, donning her sunglasses. “I don’t know how you handle this heat all the time.”
“Not so different from L.A., now, is it? Maybe fewer tourists…” he said, winking before sliding his sunglasses over his eyes. He lifted his elbow to her and she accepted it, walking alongside him as they descended from the dune.
The bodyguards flanked them until they reached the second limo. Aziz cracked the door and allowed her to enter. She leaned her head against the rest, taking a deep inhale of the air conditioning.
“All right,” Aziz said, cracking her another smile. “Let’s get into the city. I want to show you what this place is really about.”
Chapter 5
The limo spun its wheels, making clouds in the sand, much like the car that had whisked Flora away. Amity wrung her hands together, gazing out at the dunes. The beauty of the scenery was unimaginable, truly—a world she couldn’t yet comprehend. She couldn’t find the correct words to say to Aziz, so she sat in silence, her brain humming.
But Aziz continued speaking, telling her about his life in the city and what it was like growing up there. “My mother died when I was eight,” he explained, bowing his head. “I suppose I went a little crazy after that. My father left me alone often, given that he was so busy with the company and then with his charity work. That was really when the city was booming. We were competing with so many other countries, but the money just kept streaming in. Oh, look. This is the best view of the city.”
Amity’s gaze zipped toward the window again and she caught the view: dozens of skyscrapers rocketing into the sky, sprawling apartment blocks, and towering palm trees. The beauty was staggering, and yet, she tried to stay nonchalant. After all, she was meant to be the yuppie from L.A. Nothing was meant to distract her; nothing was meant to seem “bigger” than her.
“So,” Aziz began, his voice warm. “When did you arrive in Los Angeles? I assume you aren’t from there.
You don’t seem like a born and bred California girl, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
Amity raised her eyebrows. Clients rarely wanted to discuss her personal life. And really, what kind of personal life did she have, anyway? “Um, you’re correct, actually! I’m from the Midwest. Minnesota.”
“But California called your name?”
“At least for a while,” Amity admitted. She felt bizarre, already divulging this information. But she kept her chipper, professional demeanor. “I’m planning to open a New York office quite soon. I’ve longed to travel for a long time. This opportunity to come to Al-Mabbar—well, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“I’m so glad to hear it,” Aziz said.
The limo took a left then, and led them down a massive shopping avenue. The ambiance could not have been less like L.A., Amity thought.
Glancing around her, she was nearly speechless. Gorgeous, olive-skinned people sat outside cafés, their chins pointed toward the immense blue sky. They sipped coffees and teas and ate breakfasts similar to the one she’d just enjoyed in the desert. The skyscrapers eked closer to that turquoise water, which gleamed so brightly, Amity couldn’t quite look at it straight-on.
“My city is quite beautiful,” Aziz said in a whisper, as if he could sense what she was feeling. But Amity couldn’t answer. She could hardly open her mouth.
Finally, after a few minutes more, the limo pulled over in front of a large downtown mansion, just a few blocks away from the largest skyscraper. It was clear that the mansion was older than the city that had been built around it.
The limo driver scurried from his position up front and opened the door for Amity, lending her his hand. She accepted it graciously and emerged into the sprawling, frenetic street. Taxis and motorcars whizzed past her. She walked over to the entrance, Aziz following close behind.
