6| The Plan

Tequila sat in the dark room and she had no energy whatsoever left to stand up to switch on the light or maybe the darkness enthralled her. She wanted the floor to open up and maybe swallow her because the sheikh has been blatantly ignoring her or the fact that she felt extremely worthless for letting him sleep with her again. She hasn’t reached out to Dream and told her sister about the raging madness going on here and hoped she had been right about Ali being related to her baby daddy. This whole madness that was going on was pissing her off and making her more confused.

Someone knocked on her door gently and she sat up straight even in the darkness, she wasn't expecting anyone and the sheik rarely knocked. Maybe his guards would announce his presence but they rarely did that anymore and she wondered who it could be. She refused to say a word and the knock came again, this time a little louder than the last one. She heard shuffling of feet and she was waiting for the person to leave instead the person knocked again. She was getting irritated at this point so she just sighed before asking the person to come in.

The door opened and what the person did was to switch on the light, Tequila shut her eyes almost immediately at the intensity of the light and she opened them back slowly as her eyes got used to the light that illuminated her room. All traces of irritation disappeared from her face as she found out who came to visit her, it was Aliyah and her sister. She thought the sheik was punishing them but they didn’t look like who went through all the punishment tequila had imagined in her head.

“Oh my God, are you two really okay? I’m sorry for letting the sheikh punish you for my sake and I feel so terrible.” She rambled in one breath and Aaliyah flashed her a reassuring smile before they both walked closer. If one thing, Tequila enjoyed their company more than anybody else in the whole of Ikram and that was on a mary has a little lamb. She dropped her legs down from the sitting position she had confined herself to and she got down to embrace her. The girls smiled before wrapping them around themselves. Tequila was a really nice person and that was why they kept coming back.

“We didn’t get punished but the sheikh warned us strictly though and he allowed us to come back here on one condition, that we look after you properly and never let you out of our sight.” Aaliyah filled her in and Tequila nodded her absentmindedly. Why the Sheikh refused to punish them still remained a mystery to her and why he allowed them to come back to her. He even threatened them to look after her properly. The gesture made her heart warm and she shook their hands before returning back to her position on the bed.

“So you are stuck here?” Aliyah asked and Tequila nodded sadly, it was the sad truth and the earlier she realized and accepted it the better for her. Her sister tsked before sitting beside her and taking her hand to squeeze in reassurance. Tequila was grateful for that tiny gesture and she had no idea it would help her feel better. Realizing that deep inside the desert here, she had real people who had her back. Maybe she needed to start looking for the good part here and ignore the bad part.

Someone announced the coming of the sheikh and the girls stood up abruptly from the way they were sitting so casually and they moved to stand beside the door and they kept their heads bowed. Tequila didn’t even bother to adjust the cover clothes to cover her legs or sit properly like someone that was expecting an important person of this country. She continued to whistle while she looked at her hands as if they were the most important thing in the world. It took a moment and Sheikh Uthman strolled in like he owned the place, she couldn't blame him because he did.

His eyes zeroed in on her long legs and how the shirt she was wearing did nothing to conceal the beauty. He swallowed the lump in his throat and he had no idea how they were supposed to have a decent conversation with the way her whole body was distracting him, he closed his eyes before muttering some words. He turned back to look at Aliyah and Aishah. He said something in his thick arabian accent and they both scurried out of the room. She continued focusing on her hands as if they were the most important things in the world. He had no idea how they were supposed to have a decent conversation with the way she was ignoring him and the way she acted like he didn’t exist and he wasn’t in the same room with her.

“Tequila…” He drawled out and she still refused to look up. This was the first time he was addressing her by her real name since they met again and she hated to admit how sexy it sounded. This man would be the end of her if she wasn’t being careful. He counted up to ten in his own head and he waited for a response, when he was sure that it wasn’t forthcoming, he decided to tell her the news anyways.

“I gave you an ultimatum, it was either you left Ikram or you stayed back to be my bride. Well, I guess the choice has been made itself and We do have a wedding to plan. I have reached out to your sister and she would be flying here after her shift, don’t worry everything at the wedding would be to your taste. The planning team would reach out to you and all the sole decisions depend on you. Have a good day my love” He ended his short speech before breezing out of the room just like he had come. Tequila knew he was probably bluffing and he wouldn’t dare do such a thing. This was the 21st century for crying out loud, why would she marry a man she has no interest in marrying. A forced marriage to a sheikh.