Chapter 4

The elevator doors opened and Blake quickly walked out. There had been an accident on her route to work which caused her to be late. She quickly approached the reception area. “Is the sheikh here?” she asked Tara.

“Yes, he is waiting in your office,” Tara replied.

“Damnit,” Blake muttered as she rushed to her office. She opened the door and walked into her office. Bassem was already sitting at her desk. He was looking at his phone. Blake rushed to her desk.

“Good morning, sheikh, I am so sorry I am late,” she apologized. Bassem looked up from his phone.

“I do not appreciate tardiness,” he said to her.

“I am not usually late. I did leave early but there was an accident. It was beyond my control.”

“I do not appreciate excuses either.” Bassem had such a serious facial expression. It kind of shocked Blake because when she had met him at the club, he wasn’t that serious. He had been smiling at her and was so friendly.

“Noted.” Blake sat down in her chair. She opened her bag and pulled out her laptop and flipped it open.  She opened the BIM software which she had used to create a 3D design of the house for the sheikh.

“Here are the designs,” she said as she turned the laptop to show him. Bassem pulled the laptop closer to him and studied the designs. He took his time studying every detail. Blake could not tell what he was thinking because he kept such an expressionless face. His face gave nothing away. She wondered if he was going to like it or not.

“Did you get home too late last night?” Blake asked him. Bassem looked up from the laptop.

“No,” he replied. He frowned as if he was wondering why Blake was asking him.

“Oh.” Blake had left Bassem at the club and it was after 2 a.m. He had escorted Blake and CJ to get their cab and then paid for the fare. Blake was wondering what time he had gotten home.

“These designs are not bad but there is room for improvement,” said Bassem.

“Okay, what would you need changing?” Blake asked him.

“The drawing room needs to be bigger. There has to be a fireplace somewhere in the room.”

“Okay, I can fix that.” Blake nodded. She was relieved that it was something small that she could easily adjust. She made a note of it in her notepad.

“Change the positions of the sinks in the bathrooms.” Bassem leaned back in his chair. “I also don’t like the location of the guest rooms. There should be a considerable distance from the master bedroom.”

“For privacy purposes?” Blake smiled at Bassem but he did not return her smile. She quickly stopped smiling and just made a note of it in her notepad.

“For the master bedroom, the walk-in closet needs to be bigger,” Bassem added.

Blake nodded. “I will increase the dimensions of the closet,” Blake replied.

“There needs to be an annex building,” said Bassem. Blake looked a little perplexed. He had not mentioned anything about an annex building before. “For staff,” he added.

“I see,” Blake replied.

“It does not need to be that big. I think five en-suite bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room will be enough.”

Not that big? That was a very large building, Blake thought to herself. Annex buildings were usually small. Her apartment was not even that big. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment. She wanted to save up for her own house. Being an architect, she had already designed her dream house and just needed the money to realize her dream.

“I just need a small building for some staff like the head maid, the driver and anyone else I may need at short notice. The rooms do not need to be that big,” said Bassem.

“I see.” Blake nodded. “What do you think of the design of the house?” She wanted to know if he liked her style or not. It was important to keep him happy. Michaela had emphasized it to her.

“It’s not bad,” he said. Blake raised her eyebrows. She wanted more than that. “I must say your work is better than that of your peers. Though it needs some adjustments,” he added. Blake smiled.

“I am pleased that you like my work,” she said even though he had not said that he liked it. He had said that it was not bad. She could only assume that he liked it because he didn’t ask for a new architect nor did he tell her to redo the entire house.

“I never said that I liked it,” said Bassem.

“You never said that you did not like it either.”

Bassem raised his eyebrows. “I have a short business trip to go on. So will I come in on Monday to see the revisions,” said Bassem. He rose to his feet. Blake also rose to her feet.

“Yes, sheikh,” she replied. “I hope you have a safe trip.”

Bassem nodded and then walked out of her office. Blake was left standing in her office feeling rather confused. She had witnessed two different sides of Bassem. He was different outside the office. He was more friendly and fun. In the office, he was strict and serious. She was just grateful that he had not disliked her work and dismissed her from the project.

Blake sat down at her desk. She grabbed a pencil and a blank piece of paper. She often did a quick sketch of the design before she used the BIM software. Once again she had a short amount of time to complete her design. Bassem was not giving her a lot of time. He wanted and expected her to work quickly and perfectly.

When it was lunchtime, CJ barged into Blake’s office with brown paper bags in her hand. “You should knock,” Blake said to her.

“I have food,” she replied with a grin. She held up her brown paper bags.

“Come in.” Blake put her pencil down. CJ quickly approached the desk and sat down on the chair opposite Blake.

“Did Bassem like your work?” CJ opened the brown paper bag and took the food out. She passed Blake her food and a pair of chopsticks.

“He said it was not bad.” Blake inhaled the scent of her noodles. She was quite hungry.

“Not bad? That is the nicest thing he has ever said to anyone in this company.” CJ laughed a little. “He hated everything that I designed for him.” CJ started eating fried rice.

“He wanted a few things to be redone and had a few additions.” Blake took a mouthful of her noodles and chewed.

“That is a good sign. I guess dancing with him last night was a good move.”

“He acted as though last night never happened.”

“What do you mean?” CJ and Blake swapped their food. They always bought different food and then shared it.

“He did not smile at me nor did he say anything about last night.” Blake took a mouthful of CJ’s fried rice.

“That’s weird.” CJ frowned.

“Tell me about it. I asked him if he had gotten home very late and he said no. But the way he answered me, he looked at me as though he was wondering why I was asking,” said Blake.

“He is really a strange man. He was really nice last night, and the two of you spent so much time together,” CJ replied.

“I guess I will just have to forget about last night and focus on my work.”

CJ shook her head. “Rich men are always strange. They’re either workaholics or playboys or have a sex dungeon in their homes,” she said. Blake narrowed her gaze at CJ.

“Sex dungeons?” she questioned. CJ burst into laughter.

“It happens. Rich men always have weird sexual desires,” she said. Blake shook her head.

“I am sure that has nothing to do with being rich. Even men working minimum wage jobs can have weird sexual desires.”

CJ smiled. She looked at her watch. “I have to eat fast. I have a client coming in five minutes,” she said. CJ and Blake swapped their food again.

“You better hurry,” said Blake.