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The pilot threw up his hands. “I’m sorry, but we’re employed by the Al-Basir family, and if they tell me not to leave, I’m not leave.”
“I am an Al-Basir, she grumbled. “I’m Jada Al-Basir. Who in this country outranks me?”
“I do.”
Jada froze. Glaring at the pilot, she shook her head. He shrugged and pushed past them. “What are you doing here?”
Kamal gently touched her hair, but she couldn’t turn around. “You are my wife, and you are not leaving this country until we talk.”
“We did talk.”
“You talked and then you ran. I did not sleep with Sara.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She turned to face him, and she was proud when the tears didn’t fall. “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t sleep with her. You are going to be Sheikh one day, and you can do whatever you want. You can sleep with whomever you want. I am your wife, but this is an arranged marriage. I can admit that I was hurt, but we’ve only been married for a couple of months. You’re the only man that I’ve ever been with, so yes. I’m a little hurt. But we’re not in love. And we’re never going to be in love. So you do you, and I’ll do me.”
She felt the intensity of his gaze as he searched her, but she held her ground. She wasn’t going to let him know how she felt. That was the only way that she was going to get through this. She would pretend that the marriage didn’t mean anything, and he could be happy. She could pretend to be happy, and maybe one day she would actually be happy.
“Jada, I’m sorry. I’m not going to sleep with Sara. I know you think that…”
“Just stop. I’ve already said that we don’t have to do this. So let’s just make this easier on both of us and not do this. Now if you really want to make it up to me, you’ll tell the pilot to take me home. And I will let you finish your work here completely uninterrupted. Okay?”
He reached out and stroked her cheek. “Jada, you’ve been crying.”
“Like I’ve said. We’ve been married a few months, and I wanted it to be perfect. It’s a reality check. Now I want to go home.” She pulled away from him and crossed her arms.
She thought she saw a shadow of pain in his face, but it was gone. “Okay. Okay, I’ll make sure you get home. And I’m going to call you later.”
There was an immediately wave of pain and relief as he turned to speak to the pilot. She settled down in the seat and closed her eyes. Finally, she was going home.
* * *
It took all of three hours before his phone started blowing up. It didn’t matter. He’d been staring at the papers for hours without really even seeing them. His mind was on Jada, and he felt like his heart had just been ripped out.
“Mother,” he said tiredly as he answered the phone.
“What the hell happened? Your wife went there to surprise you, and now she’s back, and she’s not speaking to anyone. She locked herself in her suite, and I can see that she’s been crying for hours. So what the hell did you do?”
“Do not speak to me like that,” he hissed. She immediately felt sorry, and he sighed. Never before did he speak to his mother like that. “I’m sorry. I should not have said that.”
“Kamal, let’s be honest. You’ve not been yourself since you came back from America. You’re married to a beautiful woman, and you leave her the first chance that you get. I know it wasn’t a love match, but she is your family. And whether you like it or not, you have to think of her. I’m not saying that you did anything wrong, Kamal, but whatever you did, you weren’t thinking of her.”
“No.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. “I was thinking of her, but I was thinking of her too late. I saw Sara.”
“Sara? And I suppose Sara is the reason that you’ve been moping around all this time? Did you cheat on your wife before you even reached your six month anniversary? Kamal Al-Basir, I will come down there myself and…”
“I didn’t sleep with her,” Kamal interrupted. “And when Jada came in, she heard Sara talking. Sara wanted to be together, and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it because I didn’t want to be with her. But Sara kissed me, and I kissed her back, and Jada saw it.”
“Kamal.” He heard the frustration in her voice. “Why did you kiss her back, baby?”
“I’ve spent so long thinking that she was one. I wanted to validate that time. I wanted to believe that I hadn’t wasted that part of my life.”
“And how did you feel when you kissed her?”
“Nothing,” Kamal said softly. “I didn’t feel a damn thing, and Jada saw it.”
Ameena inhaled sharply. “She’s not leaving you, Kamal. She’s not leaving you. You just need to tell her what happened. It’s going to be rough, but you’re going to get past this.”
Rocking back in the chair, he ran his hands through his hair. He knew that his mother was disappointed in him, but there was nothing he could do to change the past. “She made it clear that it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t love me. I don’t love her. We’ll just live our married lives separate and being happy.”
