Mated

Four

Ahsha

"So you two are dating?" I asked Tyla and Cairo. "Yeah, we've been together forever now," Cairo said looking at Tyla with so much love and adoration. "Hello." This redhead said walking up to Isa. "Isaac, Ahsha this is my cousin Veronica." Tyla said. Isaac smiled waving at her. She gave him a sweet smile before she looked at me. Her face was smiling but her eyes definitely said something else. I shook my head and turned back towards Tyla and Cairo to see them talking with a man.

He turned and looked at me and my eyes widened in shock. It was the man from the lobby. "It's you," I said as he smiled. He chuckled holding his hand out. "And it's you." He said smiling. "You two know each other?" Cairo asked. "We ran into each other the other day at the hotel." He said. "It's nice to see you again." He said with a smile.

"This is my brother Malik," Cairo said. "Whatever he's told you about me is a lie unless it was good," Malik said with an adorable smile. I laughed shaking my head. "Wow," I said. "That was unbelievably corny," Alex said shaking his head only making me laugh more. "I didn't catch your name though," Malik said staring into my eyes. "Ahsha," I said holding my hand out. He grabbed it and kissed the back of it looking up into my eyes. "Ahsha, that is a very beautiful name." He said smiling.

My legs almost gave out when he said my name slowly. Then it happened again, his once green eyes flickered between green and black. "Malik, Ahsha and her brother are from America," Tyla said breaking our little stare down. "America?" He asked. "Yeah Texas to be specific," I said. "Actually, its Dallas to be specific," Isa said finally joining the conversation as he leaned on my shoulder. "So what is there to do out here. My sister and I have a couple of weeks before we start classes and we want to explore a little." Isa said looking at the group.

"How old are you two?" Veronica asked. "17," Isa said. "You're babies." She said which made us look at them confused. "How old are yall?" I asked. Tyla smiled and looked at Cairo. "I love their accents. Yall." She sang sounding funny which made us laugh. "Well, we just turned 19," Tyla said gesturing between her and Cairo once she stopped laughing. "I'm 18," Veronica said. "I'm 20," Jericho said. "21." Alex chimed in as he looked at his phone. I looked at Malik waiting for his answer. "I'm 21, also." He said. "Damn yall old as hell," Isa said making us all laugh. "How about we go hang out inside?" Malik suggested.

Malik

I had to come to find out that Isaac was very blunt but very funny. He and Cairo were so much alike they could almost be the same person. My laughter calmed down as Isaac and Cairo began to debate when I noticed that Ahsha was nowhere to be found. I got up to look for her only to find her walking towards the hall of family portraits. I followed her to see she was looking at some of my older family members. "That's my great-great-great-grandfather, Sirus," I said walking up behind her. She jumped turning to look up at me as I tried to hide my laughter. "I didn't mean to scare you," I said as my laughter died down to a chuckle. "It's not funny." She said with a playful eye roll.

"Malik who is this?" My mom said interrupting us. "This is Ahsha. Ali and Mia's daughter." I said. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you. I'm Malik's mother, Emilia." My mom said with a bright smile. "It's nice to meet you as well." Ahsha smiled. "I'll let you two finish, talking then." She said kissing my cheek. "She's cute." She barely whispered which caused Ahsha to laugh. "Wow," I said shaking my head. "Your mom is funny." She said with a smile. I couldn't help but stare at her as she laughed.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked. "Sure," I said. "Your eyes...." She paused as I stared down into her eyes. I stepped closer to her. "Yes?" I asked. "Nothing." She said shaking her head walking around me and down the hall. I turned watching as she rounded the corner disappearing. I closed my eyes taking a deep breath so I could calm down before I followed the same path she took. I watched as Ahsha's little sister walked up to her.

Ahsha

"Did you have fun Nunu?" I asked as Nuri came running over to me wrapping her arms around me. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Daddy said there's going to be a ball." She sang happily. "A ball?" I asked looking at my parents. "Malik is taking over his father's business. So they're kind of having a  week of events that will lead up to a passing of the torch ceremony and we got invited. It's really just a fancy party." My dad said. "Which means we need to go shopping." My mom cheered.

Isaac walked over to us with Veronica behind him. "What's happening?" He asked me. "There's a party at the end of the week," I said. "If you want we can take you shopping. Then do a little sightseeing." Tyla suggested. I looked at my mom who was smiling. "Sounds like a great idea. Y'all should go." She sang. "What about you Nunu?" I asked. "Can Isa come?" She asked. "Of course, I'm coming." He said smiling as he scooped her up.

~

Next day

We had been out all morning and now we were at an observation deck looking at the gorgeous view. "What is this called again?" I asked as Malik stood next to me. "Burj Khalifa." He said. "Like Wiz Khalifa?" Isa said making us laugh. "Yeah like Wiz Khalifa," Malik said shaking his head with a smile. After staying for a little while longer we headed down to our two cars. The girls and I were in one while the boys were in another. We pulled up to this fancy looking shop before heading inside. We all walked in together before we split up and went in our own direction.

"So the party is basically two parts. The first part is the formal part with the elders and the fancy dresses. The second part is the after-party you can change into a more comfortable outfit. We usually just go to a club nothing too serious." I nodded my head as I looked through the racks. "How often do y'all have these parties?" I asked. "Maybe once every two months or so, but this weekend is huge because Malik is taking over for his father's company. Which is a big deal because his dad has one of the biggest companies on this side of the globe." Tyla explained.

I looked at Veronica who had already gotten on my bad side earlier. She kept mugging me and I was getting annoyed. "What's wrong?" Tyla asked. "What's her problem?" I asked as once again the girl was staring at me. "She..." I turned to Veronica and walked over to her. "Do we have a problem?" I asked. "Excuse me?" She questioned. "You've been mugging me since yesterday so what's your problem?" I asked.

"Are you and Isaac dating?" I looked at her like she was stupid. "So you've been showing your ass because you like my brother," I said rolling my eyes. I watched as her eyes widened. "Brother?" She asked. "Yes, her twin brother like I tried to tell you earlier," Tyla said. "I'm so..." She started. "You can keep your sorry for someone who cares," I said walking off to look for my dresses.

"She didn't mean to..." "You don't have to apologize for her. I just want to find my dresses and go back to the hotel." I said as I looked at the racks. Tyla sighed. I came across this black dress. "Wow," I said as I looked at it, taking in how pretty it was. It was a simple dress but still dramatic at the same time. I grabbed it heading to the dressing room.

"Ahsha you look so pretty!! Like an evil queen!!" Nunu sang as her eyes brightened. I chuckled because Nunu and I preferred the evils queens to the princess. "You look good Ahsh." I looked to see Isa standing behind Nunu next to Veronica. "Thank you," I said dryly. He looked at me confused. "I think this is my dress," I said smoothing out the dress. "Are you going to try on any more?" Tyla asked. "Yeah just to make sure I really want this one," I said still staring at myself in the mirror.

~

After leaving the dress shop I headed to the hotel to show my mom the dress I picked out. "Do you like it?" I asked I spun around. "Couldn't you have gotten a different color? Why do you always have to wear black? And it's a little revealing." She asked causing me to roll my eyes. I unzipped my dress and changed into my sweats. "Thanks, mom. I really appreciate the input." I said as I left. I walked up to the elevator waiting for it to come.

Malik

I was walking through the lobby before I stepped on to the elevator. I waited as the elevator ascended higher and higher until it stopped. The doors opened and I saw it was Ahsha holding a black dress bag. "You stay in this hotel?" She asked looking at me as she stepped inside.

"Yeah, something like that," I said smiling. I leaned against the wall across from her looking at her. "Are you enjoying Dubai, so far?" I asked her. "Well having only been to your party and out today so far so it's been fun but I haven't really experienced much of Dubai." She said with a shrug. "You have to go out and explore your new home," I said. "I guess I'm not really excited to be here." She said softly. "Let me take you out and show you how much fun my city can be," I asked. "You really want to be my tour guide, huh?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and smile.

I slowly walked closer to her and she stared up at me trying to figure out what I was going to do next. I found her scent invading my senses the longer we stood in this elevator. "Absolutely," I said as I stared down at her. "Your eyes." She said looking up at me before she reached up to touch my cheek. I grabbed her hand loving the way it felt against my skin. I pressed myself against her pushing her into the wall.

Being near her all day was the calmest yet most tense I had been. I dropped my head into the bend of her neck inhaling her scent before looking at her. She stared at me intently as I looked down at her biting my lip. I brushed my finger across her lip before I pulled her into a kiss.

I was seconds away from kissing her when the elevator dinged. I closed my eyes groaning before stepping away from her. She blinked a couple time snapping out of her daze before looking at me. "This is your floor," I said. She looked up and nodded her head. "Uh-huh." She said before we both stepped off the elevator. I walked down to my door looking back at her as she opened her door. I called her name making her look at me with wide eyes causing me to smile. "Goodnight, Ahsha," I said before walking into my room.