Sidra was writing as fast as possible, but there were so many rules! The regulations, the hierarchy within the palace, the assistants’ names, the advisors’ names, the various agencies, the laws and culture of the country, it was all drilled into Sidra throughout the day. Lunch was brought in, Debra’s secretary was also brought in to type up all the notes as Debra relayed them.
It was after midnight when Debra finally stopped and Sidra looked up, half asleep and half of her panicking like she’d never panicked before. “I think that should cover it. I want daily reports on your progress. My home and cell phone number will be included in the materials Tara will send over to you. If you have any problems at all, you must call me immediately.”
Debra leaned over so that Sidra was looking at her boss in the eyes. “Understand something, Sidra. You’ve been requested personally by a king. That happens once in a lifetime. If you succeed here with this project, you can write your own ticket anywhere, set your own price.” She waited a moment to let that sink in before she continued. “If you mess this up in any way, you won’t be hired by any firm, anywhere in the world. You’ll be considered taboo with bad karma.” Another heartbeat passed while Sidra’s eyes widened. “Don’t mess up,” she finally said.
Sidra nodded her head, terrified of even falling asleep tonight for fear that she might dream something incorrectly after that warning.
She went home that night and it was eerily quiet on the streets. She felt like she was going to be sick with all of the instructions Debra had given to her. It as an odd feeling to be out so late, or more specifically, so early. She thought she was being followed at one point but when she turned into her apartment complex, the headlights that had been behind her for a while continued on. As soon as she entered her apartment, she made a cup of chamomile tea and then she went through several relaxation techniques.
It was about one o’clock in the morning when she finally relaxed enough to consider falling asleep. Unfortunately, her day wasn’t over. She still had to pack, hadn’t come up with a single idea for Rashid’s home besides the general layout she’d given to Debra about fourteen hours ago, or his palace or whatever it was that he lived in, and the rules Debra had drilled into her going over and over in her mind.
She set her alarm for seven o’clock in the morning and fell into bed about three o’clock, her bags packed and ready by the door, her passport in her purse and an overwhelming sense of doom coming over her. Why was Rashid doing this? She was pretty sure he didn’t need his home redecorated, and even if he did, why did he want her to do this? Was it retribution? Was he angry that he’d seen her with another man? But they hadn’t done anything, barely even spoke since Tim had done all the talking about his law cases or Mindy had regaled the foursome with her bubbly personality dominating the conversation.
By five o’clock, she gave up trying to sleep and got up, showering and changing into her favorite suit. The dark brown color made her skin look softer and her hair shinier while the shape of the jacket tucked in at her waist, making her feel sophisticated and elegant. She took the outlines of the rooms and started making notes about some ideas, just in case Rashid was serious about redecorating and this wasn’t some sort of punishment.
Debra’s secretary had printed out the flight schedule and directions to the airstrip where the private planes took off so when she opened her door at seven o’clock to head to the airport, she was startled to find a large man outside her door staring at her.
With a yelp, she slammed her door shut and leaned against it, wondering why a large, bulky man would be standing outside her apartment door. Her fingers were shaking as she reached for her phone to dial nine one but before she finished pressing the second one, her phone rang once again.
She answered it, uncaring of who might be calling, just so she could have a connection to another human being. “Sidra?” Rashid’s voice came over the line.
“Rashid? What are you doing calling me?” she gasped. “It doesn’t matter. I have to hang up. There’s a large, scary man standing outside my door. I need to call the police.”
“Don’t hang up, Sidra,” he warned, his voice calm and his firm voice stopped her.
She’d been just about to press the red button when she heard his voice. She brought her cell phone back to her ear and listened, wondering why he was so adamant about her not calling the police. “Are you kidding me?”
“Not at all. The man standing outside your door is part of my security team. He’s there to bring you to the airport. Be there in an hour and don’t be late,” he said smoothly before hanging up the phone.
Sidra stared at the phone, wondering if he’d misunderstood. Then her fuzzy, sleep deprived mind started to process the words he’d said. She slowly opened the door and peered outside. The man was still standing there with a phone to his ear. He bowed slightly when he saw her, said something foreign to the phone and shut it off. “May I help you with your bags, ma’am?” he asked gently. Or as gently as a man that large could come across.
Sidra could only nod her head and step back as the scary looking man with a scar across his cheek stepped into her apartment and picked up her two heavy bags, easily carrying them as if they were no heavier than her purse, while she’d had trouble just rolling them to the door because of their weight.
With a sigh, she shook her head, checked to make sure she had her passport, then followed the man out the door, making sure her door was locked behind her.
The ride to the airport was quiet since she was the only person in the limousine. She felt very conspicuous as they drove through the secured gates and straight up to the plane that was standing by with a staircase leading up to the very large plane. This wasn’t a private plane. This was a double decker jumbo jet with people milling all around, some with automatic rifles and bullet proof vests, others with just large bulges under their suit jackets. The idea of this much security terrified her. Where had all of these men been when she and Rashid had been by the creek? She would have started asking questions if she’d seen so many armed guards surrounding him at that point.
And if she’d asked a few more questions, she might not feel as foolish as she did now.
“This way, ma’am,” the body guard explained to her. Someone else rushed over to the trunk of the limousine and pulled her bags out of the trunk, taking them to some sort of machine towards the back of the plane.