The Sheikh's American Daughter (9 page)

***

The next morning, Olivia helped Daya pack her clothes and then escorted her to the airport. Sheikh Solomon had his driver take them.

Olivia and Daya walked into the airport with their arms linked. Olivia felt sad that Daya was leaving. It wasn’t going to be easy without her. She was going to have to argue with her evil half-sisters by herself. She was also not going to be able to see Daya’s father. She prayed that he would get a donor soon.

“Have a safe journey back,” Olivia said to Daya.

“Have a safe stay here,” Daya joked. “That house is like a battlefield.”

Olivia laughed. 

“It’s Rania and Marina that need to be scared of me. I grew up in Atlanta, and you don’t mess with a woman from the South,” she said and smiled. Daya laughed.

“I know,” she said and snapped her fingers. Daya and Olivia hugged once more. Daya went off to board her plane.

Olivia walked out of the airport. As she was heading towards Sheikh Solomon’s car, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and saw Jasmine. Olivia raised her eyebrows. Jasmine was the last person she expected to run into. Olivia smiled and waved.

Jasmine was much taller than Olivia. She was slim but her figure was curvy. She wore a pair of white trousers and a sky-blue blouse. Her long silky hair was not tied up. Jasmine was quite beautiful. She approached Olivia and stood in front of her. “Hello Olivia,” she said.

“Hi, Jasmine,” Olivia replied.

“Are you here to meet someone?”

“No. My friend was leaving for Atlanta.”

“Daya?”

“You remember her name.” Olivia smiled. Jasmine returned her smile.

“Are you in a rush?” she asked.

“No, why?”

“Let’s have some coffee,” Jasmine said and started walking into the airport. Olivia took a deep breath before she followed. She wondered why Jasmine wanted to have coffee with her. So far, none of the females that Olivia had met in Lebanon had been friendly to her.

Olivia and Jasmine went into a small café inside the airport. They ordered their coffee before they sat down. The café was nice. Each table was a different color. There were paintings hung on the wall. It was an interesting café.

“So, how are you?” Jasmine asked.

“I’m well. How are you?” Olivia was just waiting for Jasmine to tell her why she wanted to talk.

“I’m fine.” Jasmine smiled. She took a sip of her coffee.

“Are you meeting someone?” Olivia attempted to make small talk.

“No, I am going back to Egypt.”

“Do you live there?”

Jasmine smiled and shook her head. “I like traveling and doing volunteer work. I only came back because I wanted to see what you looked like,” she said. Olivia’s eyes widened.

“You wanted to see what I looked like?” she asked. Jasmine nodded.

“I already knew that Joseph wanted to marry you. I wanted to see what you looked like and I wanted to see what your character was like. Unfortunately, we haven’t had time to get to know each other.” 

Olivia was surprised at the fact that Joseph had told her. “Are you his sister?” she asked.

“Cousin,” she replied. Olivia nodded.

“And the other guy?”

“Amir, he’s my twin.”

“Oh I see.” Olivia took a sip of her coffee. “I guess he knows about –” She stopped speaking. Jasmine nodded.

“Only Amir and I know about Joseph’s interest in you.”

Interest – Olivia would have phrased it differently. “I turned his offer down, did he tell you?” she asked.

“You did?” Jasmine looked shocked. “How come?” she asked.

“Shouldn’t you know and love someone before you propose to them?”

Jasmine nodded. “I agree. It’s just Joseph. No woman has ever turned him down,” she replied. Olivia wanted to point out that he was not a god. It was possible for someone to turn him down.

“He is a handsome man. However, we met in the weirdest circumstances,” she said politely.

“Please explain,” said Jasmine.

“He was meant to choose between Rania and Marina but he ended up choosing me. I was not part of it. He shouldn’t have chosen me.”

“Now it’s awkward between yourself and your sisters.”

Sisters – she did not consider them to be her sisters. “It’s more than awkward. We fight every day and it’s just too much for me,” said Olivia. Jasmine laughed a little.

“I understand. I don’t want an arranged marriage either. I want to marry the man I love.”

“Please explain that to Joseph,” Olivia joked.

“You call him Joseph?”

“He told me not to but I still call him by his first name. Calling him Sheikh Boutros is just too long.” 

“And he lets you call him by his name?” Jasmine asked. Olivia nodded. She did not see the big deal. “Wow, he really does have a soft spot for you,” Jasmine added.

“It’s just his first name.”

“It’s different here. Since he is a sheikh, he must always be referred to by his title. Even I call him by his title when we are in public,” she explained. Olivia didn’t agree with the fuss but she said nothing more on the matter.

“I see,” she said simply.

“He’s a good guy. Once you get to know him, you will like him.”

Olivia’s subconscious screamed that she was already starting to like him but Olivia was not ready to admit to that yet. “I am sure he is,” she replied. “But we are from different worlds. Even if I did agree to marry him, I do not think his mother would agree.”

“Aunt Esther was not pleased when she found out about you,” said Jasmine. “I am sorry that you had to witness that side of her.”

“It’s fine. I was not offended.” It was true. Olivia was not offended. As long as she was not going to marry Joseph, she did not care what his parents thought of her.

“What do you do in Atlanta?” Jasmine asked. Olivia told her about her life back home. The two of them talked as they drank their coffee. Olivia was pleased that Jasmine was quite nice to her. It made her feel at ease.

The last call for the flight to Egypt was announced. Jasmine looked at her watch. “That’s my flight,” she said. Olivia nodded. They both rose to their feet.

“Have a safe journey,” Olivia said to her. Jasmine quickly hugged her.

“We’ll talk more when I return.”

Olivia nodded with a smile. “Take care,” she said.

“I’m glad you decided to stay,” Sheikh Solomon said to Olivia as they headed upstairs together.

“Your family won’t be pleased,” she replied.

“I hope that one day we will get to live happily together.”

Olivia burst into laughter. “It’s probably not going to happy anytime soon,” she replied. Sheikh Solomon smiled.

“I had the maids prepare a room for you,” he said.

“I have a room already.” Olivia was confused. Sheikh Solomon shook his head.

“That was a guest room. This room will be yours.” He led the way and Olivia followed. The room was not too far from her old room.

When they arrived, the maid opened the door for them. Sheikh Solomon let Olivia walk in first. The room was much bigger. The wooden walls were shiny and clean. There were large windows opposite her bed and there was a sitting area at the far end of the room. The room had its own bathroom. It was nice and clean. Olivia was impressed.

“Do you like it?” Sheikh Solomon nervously waited for her response. He looked like a schoolboy. Olivia could see that he desperately wanted her to like the room. He had probably put a lot of effort in getting the room fixed up for her.

“Yes, I do,” Olivia said with a smile. She wasn’t picky. The room was much bigger and nicer than her bedroom in Atlanta. “Thank you.”  

“I have one more thing for you.” He searched his pockets and pulled out a small photograph and hand it to her.

“Mom?” She gasped when she saw the picture. It was a picture of her mother when she was younger. “You still had this?”

“I found it among my things.”

Olivia looked at the sheikh and then at the photo. He still had a photo of her mother when she was younger. She could not believe that he still had a photo of her mother.

“When was this taken?” she asked looking at the photo. Her mother was wearing a T-shirt and baggy jeans. She had boots on. She had some oil smudges on her face and arms.

“We shared our first kiss after this photo was taken,” he said. Olivia frowned.

“Ew, that was an image I did not need,” she said. Sheikh Solomon started laughing.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. A maid walked in with a house phone receiver. “Excuse me, Miss Olivia, you have a call,” she said. Olivia crossed her eyebrows.

“Me?” she asked. “Who is it?”

“Sheikh Boutros.”

Sheikh Solomon looked at Olivia with his eyebrows raised. “Are things advancing that fast between the two of you?” he asked.

“No!” Olivia protested. The maid handed her the phone.

“I will speak to you later.” Sheikh Solomon happily left her to take the call. Olivia sighed and shook her head. The maid scurried out of the room and shut the door behind her.

“Sheikh Boutros,” Olivia said into the phone. Joseph started laughing.

“Good evening, Miss Grant,” he replied.

“Why are you calling me?” 

“I can’t call you?”

Olivia started walking towards her bed. “We have never called each other. Therefore, it’s natural to assume that there was something urgent,” she said as she threw herself onto her new bed. Fortunately, her suitcase had already been moved into her new room. So she did not have to go get it.

“The urgency is my need to see you,” he replied. His voice sounded even deeper over the phone.

“We saw each other yesterday, not by choice, on my part anyway.”

“That was more than twenty-four hours ago,” he complained. Olivia laughed. She could not tell if he was genuine, creepy or just playing her. Her lack of experience with men made it hard for her to interpret the situation.

“I saw Jasmine at the airport today,” she said.

“What were you doing at the airport?” he spat out.

“Relax, I was not trying to board the plane. I am not leaving yet. Daya was leaving.”

“Oh.” He sounded relieved. “Why was she leaving?”

Olivia told Joseph about Daya’s father. Strangely she just told him as if she was used to telling him everything that happened in her life. Joseph listened to her and offered a few words of comfort. Olivia found herself thinking about what Jasmine had said about him – that was he was a good guy. Jacob and Sheikh Solomon had also said the same.

The topic changed from Daya’s father to Olivia’s childhood. They talked about where she grew up, petty fights she had, all her part-time jobs, how her mother worked two jobs. She opened up to him, even more than she had to her father.

“Tell me something about yourself,” Olivia said to Joseph. They had barely spoken about him.

“Well.” He paused for a moment. “I am out of town on business right now.” It was not what Olivia wanted to know.

“What do you do?” she asked. She only knew that he was in the oil business but she did not know his role in the company.

“Before the drilling begins, all geology plans have to go through me. I have to inspect the oil rigs before drilling, during drilling and after. I have to meet with our clients and sell them the oil.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“It is.”

“Do you like your job?”

“I do.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-nine.”

She had assumed that he was twenty-eight. She was not far off. Olivia groaned as she rose from the bed. She peeled back the covers.

“What are you doing?” Joseph asked her.

“Getting into bed,” she replied. She got into the bed and pulled the covers up to her waist.

“You can’t be going to sleep already,” he said. “We only just started speaking.”

“I am not.”

“I want to see you when I return from my trip.”

“Oh that’s nice,” Olivia said sarcastically, even though she liked the fact that he wanted to see her. It made her smile.

“Olivia,” Joseph said seductively. Her heart almost fell out of her chest.

“Yes, Joseph.” 

“When I can come back, come to my house for dinner.” 

“You are telling me to come, and not asking me?” she said.

Joseph laughed gently. 

“I don’t ask for things.”

“Well, you better start now. That is if you want to see me.” Olivia smiled and ran her hand through her hair. It was her first time teasing him and she liked it.

Joseph groaned in response.

“Can…” He stopped speaking, then tried again. “I want to see you… please,” he said.

Olivia started giggling. 

“Close enough,” she replied. It was obviously hard for him but at least he was trying. It was funny.

“I’ll send a car for you.”

“When are you coming back?”

“On Thursday.”

That was only a day and a half away. She had seen him on Sunday and Monday, and now she was going to see him on Thursday. She was seeing him a little too often.

“I am not going to wear a dress,” Olivia said to Joseph before he could demand that she wear a dress. He had some kind of obsession with dresses.

Joseph laughed before he responded. “What do you have against dresses?” 

“Nothing. I wear them at weddings and cocktail parties, not that I really go to cocktail parties but you catch my drift.”

“You’re a woman.”

“And you’re a man. Why are we stating the obvious?”

“You should dress accordingly.”

“What is wrong with what I wear?” Olivia turned to lie on her stomach. The bed was nice and comfortable.

“You dress as though you do not care for yourself,” Joseph replied. Olivia burst into laughter.

“It’s not that bad,” she said. Olivia was not bothered about wearing dresses and skirts but her clothes did not suggest that she did not care about herself. Joseph was just from a different world.

“My wife has to dress like a sophisticated woman.” 

“Boatneck dresses and pearls?”

“Exactly.”

“Joseph, I’m twenty-three, not fifty-three.”

“You would only need to dress like that when we are outside. When we are at home, you don’t have to wear anything,” he said in such a seductive tone.

“What?” Olivia snorted. “Don’t start picturing me undressed.”

“I was not but I am now.”

“Your choice, but just to let you know I have cellulite and stretch marks.” She lied to put him off. Granted her skin was not perfection just like any other normal woman but she did not have stretch marks.

“So what?” he replied.

“You don’t mind cellulite and stretch marks?”

“No, I am not bothered.”

Olivia was pleasantly surprised. She thought that he was the type of man to want a perfect woman with flawless skin. Suddenly the phone beeped. She looked at the receiver, it was low on battery. She gasped when she saw the time.

“What’s wrong?” Joseph asked.

“I have been speaking to you for the past three hours.” She had not even realized that she had been on the phone that long. Usually she could only speak to Daya for that long.

“Really?” Joseph was taken by surprise also.

“Yes and now I have to hang up. The phone is low on battery,” she said.

“It still has battery. Speak to me until the battery has run out,” he demanded as always. This time Olivia did not argue with him about the matter. She stayed on the phone until the battery ran out.