The Sheikh's American Daughter (6 page)

There was a knock on Joseph’s office door. “Come in,” Joseph called out. The door opened and his cousin Amir
walked in. The two of them had been so close growing up. Joseph welcomed him with a warm smile.

“Joseph Boutros,” Amir said as he walked into the clinically clean office. Joseph was very smart and particular about his work, so everything had to be clean and tidy. His office had a beautiful grey décor. It had big windows. 

“How was your trip?” Joseph asked Amir.

“It was productive.” Amir sat in the grey tufted chair at Joseph’s desk. “So, you met with the Solomon girls?”

Joseph narrowed his gaze at Amir. “That had to be the first thing you had to mention,” he said to him.

“Of course. You need to be married soon.”

Joseph ran his hand through his hair and leaned back into his chair. Amir was right. He needed to be married before he turned thirty years old. That was the condition that his father had stipulated. Joseph was to be married by age thirty if he wanted to inherit his father’s oil business. His father wanted him to settle down and have a family. Joseph wasn’t the settling down type. He enjoyed his bachelor lifestyle too much. To make matters worse, his mother wanted him to marry one of Sheikh Solomon’s daughters.

“I have about three months to get married,” said Joseph.

“That is plenty of time. Your mother has already provided you with choices. You just have to pick one and then that’s it,” said Amir.

“I went to Sheikh Solomon’s house and found out that he had another daughter.”

“Other than Rania and Marina?”

“Yes. He has an illegitimate child.”

Amir’s eyes opened wide. “How did he manage to keep her hidden for so long?” 

“He only just found out about her.”

“Well, that makes sense. So who did you pick between Rania and Marina?”

“Neither one of them.”

Amir raised an eyebrow. “You did not?” He looked so confused.

“I told Sheikh Solomon that I wanted to marry his illegitimate daughter Olivia,” said Joseph.

Amir leaned forward.

“What?” he asked. He ran his hand through his wavy brown hair.

“She is much better-looking than the other two.”

“Is that wise? You know how traditional your parents are,” Amir pointed out. He was quite right. Joseph’s parents were traditional. They were not going to like Joseph’s decision to marry Olivia.

“My mother said to marry one of Sheikh Solomon’s daughters. Olivia is one of Sheikh Solomon’s daughters.”

Amir started laughing. “You want to use her words against her,” he said. Joseph smiled. “But do tell, how much better-looking is Olivia than the other two?” Amir asked.

“She has a much curvier figure.”

“That sounds indulging,” Amir said mischievously.

Joseph chuckled a little. 

“I admit her body is quite tempting. She is also beautiful but the problem is her dressing.” Joseph could not lie that the thought of her naked body on his bed had not crossed his mind. She had an amazing body.

“Is she Arabic?” Amir asked.

“Half-Arabic.”

“That is even worse! Your mother will not stand for that.”

“I know. Anyway the marriage will not last long.” Joseph was not all that bothered. He just wanted to get married and inherit his father’s company. His plan was to get married and then get divorced after three years.

“What if you fell in love with her?” Amir asked. Joseph raised his eyebrows before bursting into laughter. Amir laughed also. “Of course, this is you we are talking about,” he added. Joseph thought love was frivolous. He did not want to waste his time on such things. In the past, all the women that had claimed to love him only wanted his money.

“Exactly, that will not happen,” said Joseph.

“What if you have a baby?”

“That is even better. If we have a child, then my parents will know that I tried. I will also have an heir.”

Amir shook his head.

“The Solomons are going over to my parents’ house on Sunday,” said Joseph.

“This Sunday?” Amir asked.

“Yes and you should come.”

“Of course I will come. I want to see your new bride. She will be there, right?”

Joseph nodded. “Sheikh Solomon told me that he will bring her so that he can introduce her to my parents.”

“There will be fireworks,” said Amir. It was not a secret how strict Joseph’s parents were. They had an impeccable reputation. They were definitely not going to agree with the idea of their only son marrying an illegitimate child that wasn’t even full Arabic.

“We have a meeting soon. We should eat before then,” Joseph suggested as he rose to his feet. Amir also worked at the Boutros oil company. Both Amir and Joseph had studied oil and gas engineering. They oversaw all the projects at the company. It was their duty to make sure that everything went smoothly from the drilling to the exporting.

“I am actually quite famished,” said Amir as he rose to his feet also. The two of them headed out of Joseph’s office. Amir was about two inches shorter than Joseph. They had similar muscular physiques. Amir’s hair was a few inches longer than Joseph’s. Also Joseph had jet-black hair and Amir had dark brown hair. Their mothers were sisters but they looked like each other a lot. People often thought they were brothers.

“Hold my calls. I will be going out for lunch,” Joseph said to his assistant Tamar.

“Yes sir,” she replied. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” she asked. She looked too eager to do something for him.

“No.” Joseph slid in his hands in his pockets and walked off. Amir walked off with him.

“Are you sleeping with her?” Amir asked Joseph.

“Am I sleeping with who?” Joseph asked.

“Your assistant.”

“Tamar? No, I am not sleeping with her.”

“Then why does she look at you with hearts in her eyes?”

Joseph chuckled a little. “Every woman that isn’t related to me looks at me with hearts in her eyes,” he said.

“Does Olivia?” Amir asked.

“She is a different type of woman. She actually had the nerve to stand me up.” Joseph was not pleased about that. He was both intrigued and annoyed by it.

Amir whipped his head in Joseph’s direction.

“She stood you up? Really?” Amir was clearly shocked. “No woman has ever done that.”

“Exactly.”

“I am even more interested in meeting her.”

Two women walked past Amir and Joseph. They had their eyes glued on Joseph with big smiles across their faces. Joseph barely looked at them. He just walked past them. Having women stare at him was nothing new. He was used to it.

It was Friday and Olivia was bored. She did not want to spend the day inside the house, especially since Rania and Marina were at home. It was just so uncomfortable being around them. They always ended up being in some kind of argument. So Olivia suggested that she and Daya go to explore Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon.

Olivia and Daya walked out of Sheikh Solomon’s mansion and out into the warm Middle Eastern sun. Jacob was leaning against his black Bentley. He had his phone in his hand. He looked up from his phone and saw Olivia and Daya walking out of the house.

“Where are you two off to?” he asked.

“Sightseeing,” Olivia replied. She was not quite sure about how she felt about Jacob. He hadn’t been as nasty as his sisters had been to Olivia.

“I thought you were going shopping.”

“Why shopping?”

“You will be seeing your husband-to-be in two days.”

Olivia narrowed her gaze at Jacob. “He is not going to be my husband,” she replied.

Jacob slid his phone in his pocket. 

“Why not? There are tons of women dying to be his wife, my sisters included,” he said.

Olivia rolled her big hazel eyes. 

“Then he can choose a wife from all those women. I myself am not interested in marrying a man I know nothing about,” said Olivia.

“He is a good man,” said Jacob.

“So you also think I should marry him.” Olivia narrowed her gaze at Jacob.

“No, I am just pointing out good things about him.”

“Shouldn’t you be trying get him hitched to one your sisters?” Olivia asked. If Joseph was a good man as Jacob said he was, then surely he would want one of his sisters to marry him.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. “Of course it would be good if he married Rania or Marina but frankly I do not care about all of that,” said Jacob. He pulled out his phone and looked at it.

“You seem rather amused by all of this actually,” Daya pointed out.

Jacob smiled. 

“I am,” he admitted.

“Are you going into the city?” Olivia asked.

“Um –”

Before Jacob could say anything else, Olivia cut him off. “Ah, that’s good. Perhaps you could give us a lift,” she said with a big grin plastered across her face.

Jacob raised his dark eyebrows.

“Why would I do that?” he asked.

“Because you are the kindest of the Solomons.”

“I will have my driver take you where you need to go. I have matters to attend to,” said Jacob.

“Matters that concern the person you are messaging,” Olivia said cheekily. He slid his phone back into his pocket and looked at Olivia. He said nothing as he walked off.

The driver appeared moments later. He unlocked the door for Olivia and Daya. The two of them climbed into the backseat. Olivia sat comfortably in the beige leather seat. It was so comfortable and spacious inside the car. Inside Jacob’s car. She had asked him to drive her and Daya into the city to see how he would react. She was unsure of his position in regards to her.

They reached the city no more than ten minutes later. Sheikh Solomon lived just on the outskirts of Beirut. The driver dropped off Olivia and Daya outside a large shopping mall. The mall was massive and clean. There were small palm trees in the mall. Olivia had never seen trees in a mall but it was nice. The mall was different from malls in Atlanta.

“We should go eat first,” Olivia said to Daya.

Her friend laughed. 

“Of course you would say that,” Daya replied. Olivia always wanted to eat. “I am just going to use the restroom first.” Daya scurried off to the restrooms. Olivia slipped her hands in her jeans and walked towards the railings. She stood there looking around.

“Miss Grant,” a voice sounded from behind Olivia. It startled her a little bit. She turned around sharply and found Joseph standing before her. He was wearing a tab-collared navy-blue shirt and black tailored trousers. He looked good as always.

“Joseph,” Olivia breathed.

Joseph narrowed his gaze at her. 

“You’re still not referring to me as Sheikh Boutros.”

Olivia smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s such a long title,” she said. He did not look all that pleased.

“It’s just two words. Try saying it just once,” he said.

“Sheikh Boutros.” She decided to humor him. He smiled.

“We will work on your pronunciation later.” Joseph spoke seductively or maybe it was just how Olivia was hearing his voice.

“This is why I should keep calling you Joseph.”

“You’re here for shopping?”

“Just sightseeing.”

“I thought you were buying an outfit for when you meet my family on Sunday,” said Joseph.

Olivia raised her eyebrows.

“Who said that I am coming?” she asked. She did not want to go because she did not see the point of her presence.

“Your father.”

“I do not understand why I should I attend.”

Joseph raised his eyebrows slowly. “You will be meeting your future in-laws,” he said.

Olivia burst out laughing. 

“My future in-laws,” she repeated. She shook her head. “I feel as though I stepped into the Twilight Zone or something,” she added.

“What?”

“This is an odd reality. These kinds of marriages are normal to you all but not to me. I am tired of having the same conversation again and again. There will be no marriage. I will not marry you,” she said.

Joseph slipped his hands in his pockets. 

“Dinner tomorrow night,” said Joseph.

Olivia crossed her eyebrows.

“What?”

“We should have dinner tomorrow.”

“I thought you would have learned from last time.”

“It’s just food,” Joseph said as if she was reading too much into the situation.

“It’s food with you,” said Olivia.

“And what is wrong with that?”

Olivia sighed. “I will see you on Sunday, Joseph,” she said to him.

He smiled and took a step closer to her. He dipped his head and moved it closer to Olivia’s face. “What are you doing?” Olivia took a step back.

“I don’t make the habit to ask twice,” he said. His voice was suddenly deeper. It made Olivia a little nervous but intrigued.

“And yet you did,” she replied softly.

Joseph slowly scanned her face before he said anything.

“See you on Sunday,” he said. “Wear a dress.” Joseph turned and walked off. Olivia exhaled loudly. Joseph made her nervous. She hoped that he did not notice. He seemed like he was the type of man to gloat about having an effect on a woman.

Daya suddenly appeared. Olivia had been so consumed in her thoughts about Joseph that she had not seen Daya approaching. “Let’s go find food,” Daya said to Olivia.

“You scared me,” said Olivia.

“Why are you so deep in thought? What’s on your mind?”

“Joseph was just here,” Olivia said as they started walking.

“Joseph? As in Sheikh Boutros?” Daya asked.

“Yes.”

“Why do I keep missing him?”

“Why are you eager to see him?”

“I want to know what he looks like. I want to see why everyone is so obsessed with this man,” said Daya.

“Everyone but me,” Olivia clarified.

“What did you talk about?

Daya and Olivia walked into the food court. “As usual he cut me off when I was saying that I am not going to marry him and started talking about something else,” said Olivia.

“What did he change the subject to?”

“Dinner. He wanted to have dinner tomorrow night.”

“And you said no,” said Daya. They both stopped at a restaurant.

“Of course I did.” Olivia crossed her arms over her chest.

“This entire situation is a bit comedic,” said Daya. “He met you once and now he is so intent on marrying you. I really need to see this man.”

“I guess you will see him on Sunday,” said Olivia. It seemed that there was no way for her to avoid going to meet Joseph’s family. If she was going to go, she was going to need Daya by her side.

“You’ve decided to go?” Daya asked.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders. 

“I don’t want to go but Sheikh Solomon really wants me to go. I guess I can understand why,” she replied. Her father wanted to tell the Boutros family about her. She was surprised that he was quick to accept her as his daughter. Olivia knew that she did not owe Sheikh Solomon anything. Most of her wanted to just go back to Atlanta and forget his existence. However, part of her wanted to know what he was like, what her mother had seen in him and why they had broken up.