Promise This (English Version)

26. Regrets

He stared at her for a moment. "It kills me but I have to fire you."

No, it was not a joke, she could see Salem was being serious, not to mention he was not the joking kind. Her mind frantically searched for a reason. Was it about Hamdan? It could not be.

"Why?" She breathed.

Salem unfolded the piece of paper that he was still holding and placed it in front of her. Sarah gasped when she saw the golden engraved sheet with the falcon government logo in the top middle part. Her eyes roamed the paper praying that it was not what she was thinking. Everything came crashing down over her when she found Sheikh Mohammed's signature at the bottom of the letter. Words left her and the only thing she could do was cover her face with both hands at the distress and embarrassment she was going through.

"Sarah, I don't think Hamdan knows about this. I've been trying to call him before talking to you, but I couldn't reach him," Salem's voice sounded distant but when her hands slid down her face, she realized he was on the same spot. "I hope you understand that I have no choice, I must follow this order," he added.

Her head was throbbing as she tried to grasp on the situation. Yes, maybe Hamdan did not know about it, but not only Sheikh Mohammed knew about what was happening between them, he was making sure she knew how much he despised it. Being treated with so much disdain by a man she not only admired, but was the father of the man she loved, was more than she could handle. She needed to leave before tears started pouring down.

"I'm so sorry, Salem. I'll go," she managed to utter.

"Listen," he stopped her before she could turn to the door. "I like you, you're a nice girl, excellent rider..."

Salem was not helping to restrain her eyes from weeping.

"I'm telling you this as a friend, please don't be foolish. Don't ruin your career."

She nodded, unable to look him in the eye. When she pushed the door, she stopped once more and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Thank you, Salem. For everything."

---

"Still nothing?" Ahmed asked.

"Straight to voice mail," Hamdan replied, clenching the phone in his hand.

He knew something was wrong when he saw all the missed calls from Salem, but he never imagined how bad things could be. After talking to Salem, he decided to skip lunch and immediately called Sarah, but her phone was off. It was then when his anger reached its peak and he decided to confront Sheikh Mohammed. Ahmed insisted on coming home with him after seeing how upset he was about the argument with their father. The brothers had spent the last three days together, on the Government Summit, that thankfully ended that day.

Hamdan rubbed his face with his hands as he walked up and down the terrace. Ahmed was sitting on one of the wicker couches resting the elbows on his knees.

"Why don't you sit down," his brother suggested.

"I can't! Salem said she left around nine, it's past five now... and I don't know where she is! She's not home..."

"How do you know?" Ahmed wondered.

"I sent Saeed and some people there," Hamdan stated casually while sending another unreceived message, begging her to tell him where she was.

"But come on... she's not really fired," Ahmed tried to comfort him, leaning against the backrest.

"No, but she doesn't know that. She's probably thinking... I don't know what she's thinking! But it's obviously not good because she doesn't want to talk to me," he glanced at the phone, less than three minutes had passed since he last tried to call but he tried again anyway. "And it's freaking Valentine's day!" He added scoffing.