Chapter Five
As promised, Gabrielle answered her door to find an attendant with a luggage cart piled high with Louis Vuitton cases. Behind him stood two women in neat maid outfits smiling. “We’re here to pack you up, Miss,” said one in a very British accent. Gabrielle nodded and stood back to let them in. She felt a bit awkward and didn’t know whether she should sit nearby on the bed and keep an eye on them, or leave the room so they could work unsupervised. She reasoned that Arran wouldn’t have sent anyone he didn’t trust so she grabbed her bag and headed downstairs to the restaurant to have some dinner.
She had no sooner ordered when a shadow appeared next to her. She looked up and saw Carl Smithers, grinning with his sallow face and rotted teeth. “Leave me alone!” she cried out, edging back against the wall in the booth. No more were the words out of her mouth than Carl’s expression changed suddenly as he found his arms twisted back in a firm hold and he was being propelled out the room by a very stern and very capable Serra.
A few moments later Serra was back. “You are unharmed?” she asked with minimal emotion.
“I’m fine, but I never saw you.”
“Yes, Miss, that’s the idea. I watch but you will appear unaccompanied. This way you maintain your privacy but I will still be sure you are safe.”
Gabrielle’s meal arrived then and Serra gave a short bow and backed away, as if from a throne. Gabrielle felt foolish for having over-reacted, but it had been instinctive. She picked up her fork and began to eat when suddenly there was a new shadow at her side and she looked up to see Arran.
“May I sit down?” he asked politely, even as he slid into the opposite side of the booth. He motioned to the waitress, pointing to Gabrielle’s dinner and was immediately served the identical meal.
“I understand you have a bothersome fly,” he said by way of opening conversation.
Well, it didn’t take Serra long to report in, she thought.
“A fly is a good description, actually. He won’t bother me, though. He’s a coward.”
“Stupidity and cowardice are often lethal combinations,” he commented, picking up the hot sauce on the table and adding it to his plate. “American food…” he muttered.
Gabrielle watched him and smiled to herself as she resumed eating. “Don’t worry, Serra swatted him away,” she reassured him.
“Perhaps it would be better if the fly suddenly found its life shortened,” he offered again and this made Gabrielle shiver.
“No. I don’t even want to hear a mention of something like that again. It’s wrong, no matter how bad a person is.” Her voice was stern and her opinion fixed.
“Very well. As you wish. In my country…” he began and she cut him off.
“This isn’t your country,” she reminded him. “Here, we have laws against that sort of thing.”
“Indeed?” Arran looked at her. “It may interest you to know that some of the most notorious assassinations in history were orchestrated by the people in your country.”
“I don’t want to argue over this. He may be an ass, but I won’t have anything like that on my conscience. Give me your word, Arran.” She looked up at him but he continued to eat as if nothing had been said. “Give me your word,” she repeated in short syllables.
He nodded and that was as good as she was going to get. He finished his dinner and was wiping at his moustache. “Please meet me in the bar when you’ve finished.” With this, he left.
Gabrielle began to wonder what she’d gotten herself into. She finished her dinner and went off to find Arran. He was sitting on his normal stool. This time, she took the one next to him.
“Your dinner was agreeable?” he asked, looking into her eyes. She realized this was the closest she’d ever sat to him. She nodded. “You have very unusual eyes, Gabrielle,” he said, his voice intimate in tone.
“Not sure how to answer that… thank you?”
“Indeed, it was a compliment. You are quite lovely.”
Gabrielle lapsed into an awkward silence, waiting for him to fill her in on what he wanted to talk about.
“The staff arrived to pack your things?” he confirmed.
“Yes, they were doing it as I left for dinner. I left them with my apartment key and address as well, as you told me to.”
“Very good. Tomorrow I would like you to drive your car to our compound early in the morning. You shall have your pick of the suites; just direct the workers to take your things where you’d like them. Take the day to get settled in and in the evening, I’d like you to join me for dinner.”
Gabrielle nodded. “That’s no problem. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. How will I get in through the gates?”
“The security code is your birthdate.”
“My birthdate? How do you know what that is?” Gabrielle felt her privacy had been invaded.
“Do you believe I would ask you to be my assistant without some kind of background information? Surely, even after our brief acquaintance, you can tell I’m a thorough man.”
“What I believe is that you should have asked my permission before doing it. You had no right to check out anything about me until I agreed to come to work for you. Then, by all means, have me fill out a form; let me fill in the details. But at least get my permission. I’m not sure that what you did is even legal.”
“Why so alarmed, Gabrielle? You have nothing to hide, remember?”
“That doesn’t justify disrespecting my right to privacy. What else did you check out? My medical history? How often I’ve been to the dentist? Parking tickets?”
“You’re completely healthy, have an allergy to penicillin and have one filling in your third molar, right side. No parking tickets.” His voice was dead calm and Gabrielle began to get a chilled feeling about what she’d gotten into. He had everything there was to know about her.
“I don’t like this. It’s not what I bargained for.” She looked around and spotted Ben. “Ben, have you filled my job yet?” she called out, motioning to him.
Ben shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Good, because I’m back. I’ve changed my mind about my career advancement. Sheikh, if you don’t mind, please give me back my key to my apartment and ask them not to touch anything there. You have everything you’ve given me. I paid for my dinner out of my own money. I’m giving you notice immediately. Thank you and goodbye,” she finished and slid off the stool. Holding out her hand she said, “The key, please?”
Arran could feel a flush coming over him. He wasn’t certain whether it was anger or fear of losing her, but he knew now was not the time to define it. He reached into his pocket and handed her the key. “You have my apologies and I welcome you to change your mind.”
Gabrielle pocketed the key and nodded, but left the bar. She went up to her room and found everything neatly aligned and waiting for transport. She managed to isolate her own belongings and called downstairs for a bus boy and cart. Together they carted everything down to Gabrielle’s car and packed it tightly enough that the trunk lid would shut.
She had changed into her work uniform and went back inside to begin a shift. She didn’t get twenty feet before Carl was blocking her path. “Going to work?” he asked her and her skin crawled.
“Get out of my way,” she growled and looked toward a plain clothes security officer of the hotel. He came close and she said, “This man is accosting me,” in a cold, calculating voice. The security officer advanced on Carl, but he’d already turned and was headed out the door. “Thank you,” Gabrielle told the guard and headed back into the bar.
Arran’s stool was empty and Alahan was nowhere in sight.
Gabrielle worked her shift and there had been no further sign of Carl. Exhausted, she walked out of the hotel and found Serra standing under the portico, next to the red Ferrari. “Sheikh Muhalla asked me to meet you,” she said politely. “He has asked me to tell you that he expects you at the compound tomorrow morning, as scheduled. He said you may continue to live where you prefer, but he will not release you from his employ.”
Gabrielle opened her mouth to protest when she spotted Carl standing off to one side in the shade of some hedges. Fear shot through her. “Tell Sheikh Muhalla I will be there on time,” she said abruptly and climbed into the waiting car.
Gabrielle absolutely detested the effect and control that Carl exercised over her. Who was he to her? There was no legal connection. She was an adult now. The child’s fear of being rejected no longer came into play. There was nothing he could do to her. She knew she was doing it to herself. It came from a place of insecurity – of knowing you were alone in the world and the only familiar person in your sphere was toxic and dangerous to you. Does Arran represent this same sort of threat to me? she had to ask herself. Her inner voice was screaming, “Yes, yes!” Being aware of something is only the beginning of being able to control it. It would simply take time. The river of trust need not be the width of the Mississippi; it could be as narrow as a trickle, if you let it.