The Desert Prince and The Dreamer

Chapter 13

Monsieur Saif, enchante." She turned to the new comer and his other partner with a big smile. She led them to their seats and the other board members started filling the room. In minutes they were ready to commence. The secretaries came in with refreshments and Lailah and Zayn sat next to eachother. She made introductions to the visitors in French then introduced the two men to the board in English. The meeting started.

Thirty minutes later, they signed a contract between the two companies, one in French and another one in English. All people shook hands with Mr. Saif as more refreshments came in. Lailah made herself busy by organising the papers one after the other. This wasn't her job but she could sense eyes on her, so she wanted to avoid talking to the others, especially the older men, they scared her shitless. Zayn also had been observing her throughout the whole meeting. Duh, you were the interpreter, what did you expect? her conscious told her. Yeah, probably that was the reason, She sighed in relief.

"Mademoiselle Nassir. Puis - je avoir un mot avec vous, sil vous plait?" Mr. Saif appeared before her and She turned smiling at him.

"Mais oui Monsieur Saif." She replied then noticed Zayn coming closer. He probably thought there were more business matters to discuss. Mr. Saif smiled at Zayn then turned again to Lailah.

"I'm sorry to ask, but are you married?"

"Umm, No Sir."

"That's amazing. You're a bright young woman and you have a bright future ahead of you."

"Thank you Sir, that's so encouraging to hear." Lailah nodded her head with a smile.

"Don't you need to interprete that?" Zayn suddenly said closer to her now making Lailah tense.

"No, we are not talking business. He was rather complementing me on my wisdom." Lailah looked smug as She told Zayn who scowled.

"Isn't he a married man, why is he complimenting you?"

"He's a Moslem man Zayn and he can marry four women if he wants." Lailah said and turned back smiling at Mr. Saif. "Pardon." She apologised converting back to French.

"It's okay, that young man must be taken by you." he said nodding at Zayn's retreating back. "He's definitely jealous."

"Oh No, he's not. We are not together. He's the Prince, I'm just a common girl." Lailah shrugged.

"Never underestimate yourself. The road ahead of you is big and has many more choices. Choose wisely and above your level." he patted her shoulder, "Enchante mademoiselle. Ou revoir." he bowed a little then turned to look for his partner.

Lailah watched as he bed goodbye to the rest and left the building. She smiled to herself, "Never underestimate yourself." She said quietly then grinned and looked up. Her eyes clashed with Zayn who was openely glaring at her from across the room. She sighed then turned and left the room back to her office. She just didn't want to let him get to her, She would avoid him at all cost.

Zayn watched her back as she retreated. He didn't even know why he was mad, She was a no body and had no reputation to lose. She could flirt with all the men she wanted. He thought then marched to his office in determination to avoid her. She just infuriated him even without doing anything.

The day went by normally until it was time to go home. Everyone returned to their homes while Lailah stayed for a while to finish up some things. Thirty minutes later she took the lift downstairs to the parking lot. On reaching downstairs, she checked her bag for the keys but couldn't find them. She rushed back to the elevator and pressed the fifteenth floor, the elevator started going up then there was a shake and suddenly it stopped and everything went dark. Lailah screamed in fear and backed herself into a corner. What was happening! She has never been in the dark all her life, most especially in an elevator. What was going to happen? She had seen movies, was she going to fall to her death? Was She going to spend a night here and suffocate to her death? She clasped her hands, closed her eyes and prayed to Allah. She was too young to die right now, She still had big dreams ahead of her. She promised never to leave work late ever again.

Meanwhile in his office Zayn was throwing profanities around. This had never happened before ever since he started working here, even before. A black out can never happen. He got out his phone and dialled security. After a minute, a guard picked up.

"What the hell is happening at the company? If I find out you have something to do with this blackout, I'll throw you out on the streets. Same thing will happen if I lose any of the work on my computer you fool. Do your Job immediately and find out what's going on." he didn't give the guard time to reply but switched off the phone and cursed. He always stayed late and this has never happened, was he the only one at the office? Probably, because he was always the last one to leave incase he stayed late. He sat back in his chair and leaned back waiting, he would give the guard five minutes tops.

Mahhad, the security guard was also in shock. This kind of thing has never happened before. He switched on his torch light and walked towards the electrical room. He had the keys to all doors so he moved swiftly to the room and was surprised to find the door ajar. He was the only one left plus Prince Zayn ofcoarse, so who else could access the room? He directed the phone light inside and looked closely, slowing his steps. "Hello." he called out but no one replied, he pushed the door widely open and entered fully. Everything seemed to be in place, he walked over to the fuse and his eyes widened. A wire had been cut. How? Why? He quickly found gloves , turned off the main switch then fixed the wire. In no time light was back on, he sighed and removed his phone and dialled. Prince Zayn picked at the first ring.

"What happened?" he said.

"My Prince, so Sorry for the inconvenience but someone cut the wire." Mahhad said. There was silence on the other end, the Prince was probably also wondering.

"Thank you Mahhad." he said and switched off his phone then packed up his stuff and left his office heading to the elevators.

Lailah was still praying and sitting in the corner of the elevator when there was a sudden quake. She immediately opened her eyes and saw the light was back on and the elevator started ascending. She was so shaken she didn't notice she was crying. She was too relieved to even care, all She wanted was her Mommy. She wanted to go home and cuddle with her Mom. She remained in the corner squatting there as the elevator moved, She didn't trust herself to stand up. She counted the floors as the elevator moved, all she wanted was for it to reach and she would sprint out any chance she got. In no time, there was a ding and the elevator doors opened only to reveal Zayn. Her eyes widened as he looked at her strangely in shock. She felt so vulnerable, no one apart from her Mother has ever seen this part of her. She immediately stood up and ran out of the elevator, past him.