They stood together, the cascading sunset glorious behind them, holding hands quietly.
“I wish things could be different,” Steph said.
Mehdi nodded. “I wish I had known about you sooner. I might have considered an arranged marriage myself,” he said with a small grin.
Steph smiled. “I’d have liked that very much.”
“I can have you flown back in the helicopter and driven back to your hotel,” Mehdi said, and Steph sighed.
The spell was broken. It was time to face the music.
They walked back, still holding hands, to the cabana, where Steph dressed once again and then followed Mehdi toward the main building as stars began to twinkle overhead. Steph waited as Mehdi called the helicopter pilot and arranged for a car to meet her when she returned to El Farah’s mainland. Then he turned to her and led the way to the helicopter pad.
When they reached the helicopter, Mehdi faced Steph once again.
“If you change your mind, Steph, I will wait for you. I will wait on the beach just outside the city tomorrow at sunset.”
Unable to hold back, Steph stood on her tiptoes and kissed him one last time.
The helicopter pilot arrived, ending their final moment together. Mehdi released Steph’s hand finger by finger before she stepped into the helicopter and strapped herself in, watching him from the window as they took off. Mehdi stood on the ground, his head lifted as he watched her fly out of sight.
Steph watched until the Sheikh became a tiny dot that eventually disappeared. Then, she looked toward the El Farahn skyline and tried not to cry.
***
The noise of the helicopter was all she heard until the pilot landed with a gentle touch. A car was already waiting on the tarmac for her, and Steph nodded to the driver as she stepped inside. He already knew where to go, so she sat back, alternating between thinking about what she would say to her parents and trying not to think about it at all.
The streets of El Farah’s capital city glowed with muted lights, and the world continued on as though nothing had happened at all. Meanwhile, Steph’s entire world had been turned upside down and then tossed from side to side. She tried to wrap her mind around the events of the past few days, but as her car pulled up to the front of the hotel, all she felt was cold dread in the pit of her stomach.
There was nothing for it. She would have to face her parents’ wrath and be done with it. Would they disown her for such an offence? Who could tell? She had, in traditional El Farahn culture, effectively shamed her mother for all eternity. No one would want her after this.
Was that such a bad thing, though? Steph thought about Mehdi’s comment about opening a boutique, about charting her own course. Then again, it was easy to say that when one didn’t have to worry about finances.
Steph sat in the car until the driver came around and opened the door, forcing her into action. She stepped out and thanked him, swallowing as she looked up at the beautiful dome of the hotel. The place had nothing on Mehdi’s palace, but, she supposed, that was the point.
Stepping into the lobby, no one seemed to notice her. She walked up to the concierge and told them she had lost her room key, which was true, and the woman happily supplied her with a new one. She stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor with a trembling finger. She wondered if acting out had really been worth it in the end. She had never been more scared than she was in that moment, preparing to face her parents.
There was no way she could find her fiancé so she could talk to him first, which was a shame, really. Perhaps if she could have gotten him to see things her way, she would have had a stronger argument with her parents.
The elevator door dinged, and the doors opened. Steph took several tremulous steps out into the hallway and stopped several feet from the closed door, working up her courage.
She could do this. She could face the consequences of her actions. Each step she took felt like she was walking through molasses. Finally, she reached the door and slid her key into the lock, unlocking the door with a click.
Pushing it open, Steph breathed in deeply, expecting to see her mother’s scowling face as she walked in the door. Instead, she was met with silence, as the suite was completely empty, and clean. She wondered if her parents had checked out, but then she heard footsteps coming from the direction of her parents’ room.