Chapter 10
Abdul felt it was amazing to hear Emily’s voice on the other end of the phone when she called to tell him that she wanted to open her bakery with him as her partner. Granted it did put a slight damper on the whole thing when she made the clear distinction that she was going to be leaving the day to day operations to Kara so he wouldn’t be dealing with Emily much herself, but it did feel good to know at the very least he didn’t have to say goodbye to her yet.
When Nora arrived from her flight, Abdul was feeling in a fantastic mood. She however was not feeling as happy.
“God that plane ride really couldn’t have been more of a nightmare. Babies crying constantly, the cost of Wi-Fi to watch a bad movie, and sitting so close to people you can barely breathe.”
Abdul grabbed her hand out of a reflex and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“I’ll be so happy when I can stop taking these ridiculous rides to see you every couple of weekends.”
Abdul agreed with her. Life would be a lot easier once she was in one place with him. In fact, that was probably the reason he enjoyed his time with Emily so much. He could admit that he did feel lonely when he was alone and he enjoyed the company and conversation that Emily gave him. That was probably his attraction anyway. He probably felt so much for her to compensate for being lonely. Once Nora was there he’d have no reason to feel so lonely and would be able to easily transition to only being her friend and business partner, nothing more.
“Yes, when you’re here things will be much easier.”
Nora stopped in her tracks.
“Here?” She looked up at him puzzled. “What do you mean here’? After the wedding we’re going back home. You have responsibilities as a sheikh to your family and that is where we are going to raise our family.”
Suddenly Abdul’s whole world tilted on an axis. Leave the states? He hadn’t even considered something like that. As far as he was concerned his life was in Florida and that’s where he planned to stay. He didn’t much care for his title of royalty and would rather enjoy just living a good life in the sunshine state. He hadn’t any idea that she had been thinking about going back to their parents. It had seemed that she was just as happy in Florida as she was. Why hadn’t they discussed this? Panic swept through him as he thought about everything he’d have to give up after he got married. Gently he tried to argue the topic
“I don’t really think I want to leave Florida. I didn’t know you really did either since we’re both successful and happy here. Why don’t we just live here for a while after the wedding and see how we feel?”
That was as gently as he could put it. Part of him knew that he should probably have been tougher on the matter, but it came down to the simple fact that he hated arguing with Nora. Strong willed and strong headed, she became very frustrating for him to deal with when she had her mind set. Sure enough she waved her hand in the air, dismissing his idea as if it were nothing.
“No, we need to go back home. That’s simply the way it needs to be.”
Once he was dismissed he couldn’t find a way to argue with her. When she made her mind up on something that was usually it. There was no wiggle room for discussions or even a debate. That would be that. He would need to move back home where his life as a sheikh was all that mattered to anyone. But what could he do? In a few short months she was going to be his wife and honoring her was going to be his duty. If she wanted to raise her children around their parents and family then what argument could he make against it?
Abdul couldn’t help the dark cloud that followed him during Nora’s visit. It was a feeling he couldn’t shake, one that made him feel moody and frustrated. Nora didn’t seem to notice a bit which was just fine for him, he didn’t want to talk about what was bugging him. He wanted to just silently brood about it, frustrated that he felt trapped even more than he had before. But Nora just kept plugging away at the wedding plans, making phone calls and appointments with everyone that was involved in the wedding. Abdul begged off going to almost every appointment that she demanded. He kept telling her that he had to work or had other things to take care of. When she pouted he reminded her that she had sprung the visit on him. When she continued to pout about not getting her way, he stroked her ego by telling her that she could take care of it all on her own. That made her feel better, that and the fact that she had his account numbers memorized.
The only appointment he made sure to go to was the one to Emily’s bakery.
“You’ve been busy for every appointment I’ve had so far, why can you come to this one?” A hint of suspicion twinged her voice and he knew he had to come up with a good enough reason to appease her.
“This one has cupcakes, delicious cupcakes, and you know how I feel about getting fed.” He wrapped his arm around her and hope she believed his response.
“Well I just hope you’re not eating too many of those cupcake while I’m gone. You’re starting to feel a little puffy.” She gave a little laugh to let him know she was joking. But he couldn’t help that her comment stung just a bit, even if he knew eating Emily’s bakery goods every day for weeks probably had made him a little puffy. But every morsel of her mouthwatering food had been worth it.
Immediately something struck his mind and he had no idea why he hadn’t thought of it before. He should have been worrying about it ever since Nora had made her big announcement about going across the world. He had just agreed to a large business venture with Emily. Of course the money he was about to put into it was hardly a drop in a hat for him but to Emily this deal was about to change her whole life. He couldn’t walk away from that, he’d refuse to. He would have to tell Nora that he wasn’t leaving, and that was final.