***
On Wednesday morning, Blake made sure that she arrived at the sheikh’s office early. She had to do everything correctly. She could not afford to make a single mistake. The sheikh had had so many architects already. It showed her that he was a no-nonsense man. He would fire anyone in a heartbeat.
Blake straightened her navy blue dress before she headed into the large building. She walked into the lobby of the office. She walked up to the reception.
“Good morning. My name is Blake Gordon. I am here to see Sheikh Sedarous,” Blake said to the receptionist.
“Good morning, Miss Gordon. Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist replied.
“Yes, I do.”
“Okay, one moment.” The receptionist picked up the phone and called someone. “Hello, I have Miss Gordon at reception. Okay.” She put the phone down and looked at Blake. “Please take the elevator to the tenth floor. The sheikh’s secretary will meet you there and take you to the sheikh’s office,” she said to Blake.
“Okay, thank you,” Blake replied. She walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.
When Blake reached the tenth floor, a tall, neatly dressed woman greeted her. “Hello, my name is Amina. I am the sheikh’s secretary,” she said.
“Hello Amina,” Blake greeted her.
“The sheikh is expecting you. Please follow me this way.”
“Sure.”
Blake followed Amina down the wide, clean hallways. Amina knocked on the door before she opened it for Blake. Blake thanked Amina and then walked in.
“Oh, my God!” Blake spat out as she walked in. There were two Bassems. One wore black trousers and a navy blue shirt. The other was wearing black trousers and a maroon shirt. They both had the same hairstyle and beard. The two men were leaning against the desk talking.
“There’s two of you.” Blake crossed her eyebrows and shifted her gaze from one to the other. She was trying to figure out which one was Bassem.
“Hello Miss Gordon,” said the one in the navy blue shirt.
“We meet again,” the one in the maroon shirt said with a smile. Blake looked at the one in the navy blue shirt.
“You must be Bassem,” she said. She looked at the one in the maroon shirt. “And you are?”
“Basil,” he said with a smile.
“This is crazy.” Blake ran her hand through her hair.
“Yes, I have a brother,” said Bassem.
“This explains a lot.”
“What?”
Blake looked at Basil. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you weren’t Bassem?” she asked him. He flashed a mischievous grin.
“It was funny,” he admitted. Blake’s jaw hung open.
“What is going on?” Bassem asked.
“It was all so weird and frustrating,” said Blake.
“I am sorry,” said Basil.
“Sorry for what?” Bassem asked.
“I met your brother at a nightclub thinking that it was you. You came to my office the next day acting differently. I was wondering why you were pretending not to remember us hanging out,” she explained. Bassem raised his eyebrows.
“Hanging out?” he asked.
“Oh no!” Blake put her hands out to protest. “Nothing sexual,” she added. Basil started laughing.
“My brother and I are so different. You must have had a hard time,” he said.
“Yes, I did,” said Blake. Bassem smiled for the first time since Blake had met him.
“My brother is always up to no good. I apologize for the misunderstanding,” he said.
“It’s okay,” Blake mumbled.
“Miss Gordon is an architect,” Bassem explained to Basil.
“I see,” said Basil. He extended his hand out to Blake. “Well, it is nice to officially meet you, Miss Gordon.”
“Please call me Blake.” Blake shook his hand.
“Okay, Blake.” Basil smiled. “I will leave the two of you alone. I will make it up to you sometime.”
“Yes, you really need to do that because that was a horrible prank. It’s a good thing I did not confront the sheikh about ignoring me and then make a fool out of myself,” she said. Basil laughed.
“That would have been so funny.” He winked at Blake before he headed out of Bassem’s office.
“Would you like to have a seat?” Bassem asked Blake.
“Yes please,” she replied. She sat down on the sofa in his office. Bassem sat down opposite her.
“How many times did you meet my brother?” Bassem asked.
“We met only twice. The first time was at a club and the second time it was outside my apartment and we went for ice cream,” Blake replied.
“Ah, that was why you offered me ice cream.”
“Yeah.” Blake laughed. She felt weird discovering that Bassem had a twin. However, she was glad that that situation had been resolved. It was even better that she had walked in on the two of them together because she had gone to see him with the intention of asking him about the club and the ice cream. If she didn’t ask, it was going to be weird for her to continue working with him.
“You should have told me about it,” Bassem said to her.
“I didn’t know what to say and it was embarrassing,” she replied.
“Why was it embarrassing?”
“I was thinking that you were pretending that nothing ever happened. So me bringing it up was awkward and embarrassing.”
Bassem started laughing at her. Blake raised her eyebrows. He had smiled and laughed in one day. It was shocking. The previous times she had met with him, he had been so serious. It was as if he wasn’t capable of smiling.