by Sarah Croix
How could you have missed him?!
Oh, because maybe by going there, we wouldn’t really be here for the art. We’d be here for him.
Oh well.
Aziz had probably seen us, considering he was at least a head taller than everyone else in the room. I gave him a weak wave as we walked up to the bar, closer to the side of the room and wedged in. He came up to us as Muriel and I stood at the bar counter.
"Hey, love, fancy seeing you in a place like this," he said, flashing me a roguish smile. Had he not been sent at the suggestion of my mother, my panties would have most likely been soaked and I would have given up my V-card right then and there. But he had been specifically sent so that he would be around me and I would be a calming influence, so that just meant my panties were soaked.
"Hey, Aziz," I said and paused, looking into his eyes. His eyes were gazing at me and for a moment I let myself get lost in them, the voices of the people in the bar receding to the point where I could no longer hear them. I forgot where I was as I imagined falling from the balcony and his strong hands catching me, wearing Dad's shirt with a tattoo poking out. I wondered what so many other girls must have thought to themselves when falling for Sheikh Sex.
No, Natalie! You're not falling for this man! This cannot be happening!
I jerked out of my reverie. "Aziz, this is my friend Muriel," I said gesturing towards her before turning to the other girls behind me. "And this is Lizzie and Beth."
"So pleased to meet you fine ladies," Aziz said with a grin. The smile on Muriel's face was priceless. If someone had come over and told her that all the problems in the world were solved, she wouldn't be happier than she was at that moment. It didn't help when Aziz took her hand as it hung limply at the bar, picked it up, and kissed it. Muriel looked like she was about to faint. "I know just the thing for four perfect ladies such as yourselves," he said and stepped away.
"OMG Natalie!" Lizzie said the moment he was gone.
"That is one fine piece of man," Beth concurred.
"I would do anything for him," Muriel capped it off. "He just needs to tell me what."
I rolled my eyes and looked at my phone. Sheikh Smooth was up to his old ways again. Why was I so upset by this, though? Muriel was my very good friend since we were little and what was it that I felt when I saw his lips on her hand? Anger? Jealousy?
"You ladies from around here?" a voice called from my side. I turned around and saw a tall man, roughly mid to late twenties standing there with a Bud Light. He was well-built, and looked like he had just gotten out from some job at an office. The clientele in this establishment was primarily young, college-graduated or a few years out, single, and upwardly mobile.
"We live around here, yeah," I said with a smile before looking back.
"Cool," he said, undeterred. "My buddies and I were wondering if we could buy you ladies a drink?"
I looked over. Two other guys had come up behind Lizzie and Beth and one more guy came up behind the one I was talking to.
I smiled mischievously, "What, you guys hunt in packs or something?" I asked with a small laugh.
The man just took a drink from his bottle and smirked. "Something like that," he said, his eyes never leaving my chest.
I wasn't getting good vibes from the guy, and his friends, seeming to stand there silently were starting to creep me out. I looked at Lizzie and Beth and they both seemed to be slightly unsure of what to make with the two guys standing behind them. Muriel was looking at me, her interest obviously nonexistent in talking to the guys who had approached us.
Giving my best sorry-not-tonight smile, I tried to let them down easy, "We're just looking for a quiet night tonight, maybe some other time," I said to the guy. His expression remained unchanged as he stared at me, holding his Bud Light. "Thanks."
I turned around, rolling my eyes at Muriel, as if to ask her if she could believe the nerve of the guy.
I was just about to try to restart the conversation when I felt an arm grab my shoulder. Muriel's eyes went wide and I turned around, angry. There was that face again, and this time the guy leaned closer.
"I don't think you understood us, honey," the guy said and I could smell beer on his breath. "We want to buy you girls a drink."
"Look, just leave us alone, okay?!" Muriel yelled at the guy coming closer. I was looking at where his hands held my shoulder, feeling the rough edges of his fingers. There was nothing suave about him anymore and I noticed that he hadn't shaved in a while and his clothes were a bit dirty.
"Not until we get what we want," the man said taking a step closer. I looked around frantically, but the crowd that was around us, seemed to have been blocked off Beer-breath and his friends.
"Look," I said raising my voice, and trying to wriggle my arm out of his grip, “Just leave us alone, okay? We’re not interested tonight.”
“I still don’t think you understand, honey,” the man said gripping onto my shoulder tighter. I looked back at Muriel and another guy had come up. He was awfully close to Muriel and she was struggling as he ran his hands up and down her arms. Lizzie and Beth were looking at me and casting fearful looks behind them as the two guys blocked out the rest of the party.
What the fuck is going on? How is this even happening?
I looked to my right for any server or waiter, but there was no one. It was a venue; with wood paneled walls the place was darker than expected. All of a sudden, the homey feeling of a this party didn’t feel so homey anymore.
“That’s right baby,” the man said, swigging the last of his beer and bringing his hand to my waist. “Learn to love it.”
I looked around desperately for Aziz, or anyone as I cringed at the touch of the man’s hands as he pinned me in place with one hand and brought the other to my back, slowly bringing it down towards my ass.
7
Aziz
Fucking hell, wasn’t I allowed a moment’s rest?
My plan was perfect: finish the event as loaded on booze as I could get and then head somewhere with a hot piece of ass for some indecent action. It had been one fucking month playing platonic house with my gorgeous host. I was going to go crazy. And have no sheets left. But, no, I wasn’t allowed that: Natalie had to stroll through and accept the invitation I had given her and ruin it. It was already hard to take her out of my mind when she wasn’t around… When she was, it was just impossible. And to top it all off, she looked amazing. She had decided to wear a short black skirt that revealed her perfect slender legs, and a black tank top that fit to her body in a way that was enough to make me salivate.
Of course, the moment she saw me she had to do a beeline straight to the counter. I tried my best to keep my cool and played the charming Sheikh for her friends, even going as far as throwing a kiss in the back of the hand of one of her friends.
I went to the back of the bar under the pretence of getting some drinks, but all I really needed was to catch my breath and rearrange my thoughts. Natalie, untouchable. Disowning. Let it go, Aziz, you let it fucking go.
As I mixed Natalie and her friends a pretty tame combination of whisky and coke, I was already cursing under my breath the moment Bill had pulled me out from the storage room and had me pouring drinks. Drinks in hand, I made my way back to where the girls stood. There was no use in complaining, I had to face the music.
My eyes immediately darted to a hand firmly nestled on Natalie’s lower back. My heart kicked against my chest, as if I had been stabbed there with a needle. But then I saw the look on her face: wide eyes that met mine, her lips a straight line of terror. By instinct I looked around, seeing three more guys circling Natalie and her friends like a pack of hyenas.
I slammed the drinks against the counter, drawing the attention of the guy that was all over her. He looked me at with spite in his eyes, as if I was interrupting whatever he thought he was doing. I could already see by the look on his eyes that there were a few drinks more than recommended on his system.
“Something wrong, ladie
s?” I asked, my eyes not leaving the damn creep.
“Mind your fucking business, Mustafa,” he almost spit at me, squinting his eyes in a manner that I guess he believed to be menacing.
“My company party, my fucking business,” I whispered in his direction, placing both my hands on the counter and leaning in his direction. “Now leave the ladies alone.”
He let go of Natalie and took a step towards the counter. I could already smell beer on his breath, and his posture told me that he wouldn’t let the matter drop easily.
“Or what, sand-nigger?” he said, grinning at me as a challenge.
Moving quickly, I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into me. His eyes widened in surprise, and I took my mouth to his ear. “You don’t wanna know,” I whispered.
He took his hands to my chest and pushed me back, spilling the four drinks all over the counter. The guy wouldn’t let go, and I was in no mood for a fight. Security was nowhere in sight, so I just jumped the counter and approached him. He was almost as tall as me, and he looked like he packed some serious muscle under his shirt. Perfect, a roided-out drunk asshole looking for a fight - my days was going downhill fast.
“Alright. I’m going to ask you to leave,” I looked over his shoulder and pointed with my head. “You and your friends.”
He squinted his eyes at me, as if he was truly seeing me for the first me. Then it dawned on him.
“I know you…” he said, that drunken grin reappearing on his face. “You’re that rich Middle Eastern playboy Shekih, aren’t you? So you think you can just come here and boss us around, uh? Well, welcome to fucking America, Osama. You think you own the world, but you’re nothing but shit. Fuck off now or I’ll wipe the floor with you, camel jockey.”
He wasn’t backing down. I sighed, ready to put his neck in an arm-lock and drag his ass outside. I took one step forward but Natalie jumped between us, arms outstretched.
“No, please…” she started. “There’s no need for this kind of --”
And then the fucking bastard signed his death sentence. He raised his hand and slapped Natalie hard, knocking her out to the floor. “Stay out of the fucking way, bitch,” he said, her blood on the back of his hand.
I saw red.
One fast step forward and I buried my fist in his face, feeling the small bones in his nose shattering. He fell to the floor, clutching his face and kicking wildly with his legs, blood everywhere. I turned on my heels as I sensed someone approaching - by the corner of my eyes I saw one guy with his arm raised in the air, a glass aimed at the back of my head. I stepped to the side, catching him off balance, and planted a knee right in his stomach. He bent over and fell to the ground, fighting for air.
One of the bastards came behind me and tried to grab me, holding me steady for his friend to punch me. I threw my head back, ramming it hard against his nose as I kicked the other guy, sending him back. I grabbed the arm of the closest guy and, with a fast turn of my hips, made him roll over my back and sent him flying to the floor.
I noticed something flashing in the hands of the guy I had kicked and jumped back by instinct as he lunged at me. When he went by me, failing his attack, I saw the contour of a blade; I twisted my whole body and grabbed him mid-lunge, one hand holding him by the back of his neck as the other held his wrist tightly. I kicked his shins hard, throwing him off balance, and pushed him to the ground. His face met the floor with a sickening wet sound and he finally stayed put.
I looked around, readying myself for the next guy that tried to take a swing at me, but there was no one else. The whole crowd was staring at me and, aside from the low key music, silence was the theme. My nails were buried deep in the palm of my hand and I breathed out, trying to calm myself. For a moment I was back in Afghanistan, going down a cramped hallway and seeing everything unfold through the scope of my M4A1 assault rifle. I had reacted by sheer instinct, taking them down one by one as if they were goddamn insurgents. I just hoped they were still alive.
Three of the guys were crying in pain, trashing on the floor as if they were fishes pulled out from the ocean. But one of them wasn’t moving - I kneeled by his side and checked his pulse. Thankfully, he was still with the living. Sure, the guy was a damn idiot, but he didn’t deserve to die.
I gritted my teeth, knowing too damn well that I had been too close to the edge. It was almost pure luck that I hadn’t killed the four of them. I could have handled them calmly, but as soon as the guy hit Natalie… I lost it, I just did. And that raging beast that lived inside me since Afghanistan rattled its cage and begged for its freedom. I didn’t know how I had managed to keep it at bay.
I took my cell phone out of my pocket and dialled 911, calling for an ambulance. The police were probably coming as well, but I was in no mood to be interrogated. In fact, I was in no mood for anything. The whole place seemed to be closing in on me, and I was finding it hard to breathe.
I had to get out of there.
But first there was still something I had to do. I looked around the crowd and, spotting Natalie, went to her. She seemed terrified and there was a small cut on her lip but, aside from that, she seemed alright. I was ready to turn around and leave the place when I realized I simply couldn’t do it - not with Natalie still there. I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her with me across the bar, the crowd parting to let us pass.
I could spot a few guys filming me with their raised cell phones. The tabloids would go absolutely insane over this, probably painting the whole situation as one crazy and probably criminal antic from the drunk Qumari Sheikh. I didn’t give a fuck.
Already in the parking lot, I stopped and looked at Natalie. She still seemed shocked by everything; I rested my hand against her cheek, feeling her warm skin under my fingers.
“Hey, you okay, love?” I whispered, her beautiful eyes sinking their hooks on me. She simply nodded and I noticed she was shaking, her skin prickled. I took my jacket and placed it over her shoulders. “It’s alright, I’m here.”
“Just take me home,” she whispered, leaning into me and resting her head against my chest. I held her tight, feeling the rise and fall of her chest and savouring every moment of it.
I took her by the hand and guided her towards the spot where I had parked my motorbike. I lifted the seat and removed my helmet from its place. “Take this,” I told her as I lowered it over her head. It looked comical on her, and it was probably a bit big for her, but it would do on the ride home.
“Where’s yours?”
“That’s mine. You can take it. I don’t need it... “
“Are you sure?” She asked, anxious to go home but still not wanting to break the rules.
“Yeah, love, it’s fine. It’s not that far anyway.”
Natalie simply nodded in agreement, and I hopped on the bike. She climbed on the back clumsily, and I revved up the engine as I waited for her to be settled. Breathing in deeply as she laced me with her arms, my heart kicked as the palms of her hands pressed against my stomach. I wasn’t sure if all the adrenaline that still coursed through my body was due to the fight or to her being so close to me.
Either way, I needed the open road. I could feel my mind cooling down as the harsh wind beat against my face, lashing at me as I cut through the night fast. I could feel the growl of the engine between my legs, Natalie's body tightly pressed against mine, the vastness of the open road unfolding before me… It was a perfect moment, more perfect than everything that had happened for a long, long time.
I wished for it to never end, for the road to stretch under me for endless miles. But good things always come to an end, and soon I was halting to a stop behind Natalie’s house. She hopped off the bike and took the helmet off as I killed the engine, a strange sadness taking over me as the silence of the night embraced us both.
“Thank you, Aziz,” Natalie said, looking into my eyes and almost making my heart stop. I could see she still wasn’t herself, and I found myself hoping that she wasn’t scared of me. I had beaten four g
rown men into a pulp - that’s usually not something that most women appreciate, as it’s probably revealing of some darker nature lurking deep beneath the surface. And the worst of it was that it was true. There was a beast full of rage inside me, and it relished every time I set it free. It pained me that Natalie had to see it.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, love. Just try and get some sleep. I…” I stopped for a while, lost in her eyes. “I’ll stay outside just a bit, to gather my thoughts.”
She nodded, whispering me good night and leaving me in the dark, alone with my memories of long ago. It seemed that they had chased me from Qumar to the other side of the ocean.
I sighed - there was no escaping the past. Much in the same way that there seemed to be no escape from Natalie - the moment the drunk asshole hit her, I lost all control. There was no denying it, I cared for her way more than I should.
Fuck, I wanted her bad.
8
Natalie
I sat on the edge of my bed, my heart still galloping inside my chest. What the hell had happened? How had a night supposed to be a regular one turned into a complete and utter mess? I was only out for a drink or two and, before I knew it, I had dragged Aziz into a damn fight. I couldn’t help but relive that moment, my heart tightening each time I recalled the look in his face. He didn’t seem like a playboy sheikh in that moment… Instead, he looked like someone you certainly wouldn’t want to mess with. It was scary but, in a way, knowing that he had done it to protect me… I had to admit that, even though it was scary, it was also endearing in a dangerous way.
Aziz had remained calm even when the other guy had been confrontational - only when he hit me did Aziz unleash that dark and violent side of him. I didn’t exactly enjoy seeing him like that, but feeling his protectiveness towards me had been… good. In my life, I had never felt like that. It was somewhat weird to think of it but, in the ride back home, my arms firmly embracing Aziz as he drove, I knew he would always be there for me.
