Houssam extended his hand, and Hana placed hers in his, marveling at the difference in size. She resisted a shiver at the warmth that flowed from his skin to hers. He grinned, noticing her reaction, before closing his fingers around hers, and bringing her hand up to his lips. As he brushed a soft kiss across her knuckles, she trembled slightly, and he tilted his head to the side.
"You okay?" he murmured, and she nodded, swallowing deeply as he took a step closer to her.
"Never better." She whispered back, and he smiled, before raising the hand that was intertwined with hers, and stroking a finger down her cheek.
They just stood like that for a few moments, their gazes locked with one another, before he stepped forward, and cupped her face in his hands.
"Can I try something?" he asked softly, and she nodded, afraid to move too much. He bent slowly, oh ever so slowly, and her lips parted in anticipation...
Hana lay in her hospital bed, the covers wrapped tightly around her. She was dreaming one of the most incredible dreams she had ever had and she didn't want it to end. It was also one of the most intense dreams she had ever had, and even though she still had her eyes closed, she could feel her face as red as a fire truck.
She would have loved to find out what happened in the dream, however she heard voices, and thinking it was her brother or sister, she pulled herself out of the dream induced haze, before opening her eyes...and screaming.
Before her stood two women she didn't know both carrying cameras.
"Miss Ismail! Can we get a statement about your relationship with Mr. Shaykh?" one of them asked, the other raising her camera to her face.
Before she could stop her, she had taken a few shots, and Hana quickly punched in the call light. Almost immediately a nurse came in, and upon seeing the two women, her eyes widened.
"Who let you in here!?" she demanded, and one of them shrugged. "Who are you!?"
"Missy Pike of Trash Talk." The other said extending her hand. "And this is my associate Caroline Bing." The nurse ignored their outstretched hands, stepped forward briskly, and ripped the cameras out of their hands. "Hey! You can't take that! It's our private property!"
"And this is a private room! You have no right to be in here without Miss Ismail's permission, and I will be keeping these cameras until the police arrive. Now get out!" she ordered, and the two reporters exchanged glances before slinking out of the room. The nurse turned towards Hana worriedly.
"Are you okay?"
Hana nodded.
"Yes just a little freaked out. I can't believe they had the nerve to come in here!"
The nurse, Wilma, nodded grimly.
"Unfortunately you are a mini celebrity now." She said, and when Hana looked at her in confusion, she reached to turn on the television where the eight o'clock news was playing.
Rumored fiancée of LA Lakers star Houssam Shaykh was in a near fatal car accident yesterday when escaping the paparazzi. She is currently at Meadow Wood Memorial Hospital where Shaykh was spotted yesterday bringing in close to two hundred white daisies. No word yet on when they plan to make their engagement public, but as Shaykh's Coach, Robert Hoffman passed away last night, causing the star to book an immediate flight back to LA, my guess is that they will wait for his return.
As Wilma turned off the screen, Hana stared at her in shock.
"Oh my God." She managed to get out, and the nurse rubbed a hand down her arm sympathetically.
"I know my dear. We will have to get a security guard right away."
Hana felt her stomach sink.
So this would be her life now. The news reporting on her, strange people sneaking around her trying to get her picture, being needed to be guarded by officers?!
It was too much.
***
Houssam stood next to Freddy, waiting in line to pay his respects to Mrs. Hoffman. He was wearing his best black tuxedo, had his hair slicked back into a ponytail, and looked his best. But inside, he was a mess. He couldn't believe Coach was gone, he was such a great man, and had had faith in Houssam when no one else did.
He also wanted to get back to Hana as soon as possible. His heart was hurting to be near her, and as lovesick as it sounded, it was true. All he could think about the entire flight was how much he loved her. He loved her first and foremost as a part of his family. Then as his confidante and friend. But now he was beginning to see her in a new light, as the woman he wanted by his side forever, and while he couldn't exactly say he was in love with her romantically, he was getting there.
As his two teammates in front of them stepped forward to greet Mrs. Hoffman, he pulled out his phone, rereading Hana's last text.
Be strong Houssam. I'm here for you if you need me.
It was simple and short, but just what Houssam needed, and as Freddy nudged him, he put his phone in his pocket, and stepped forward.
Freddy bent to hug Mrs. Hoffman, but Houssam merely nodded at her, placing a hand over his heart.
"I am very sorry to hear what happened Mrs. Hoffman. Coach was like a father figure to all of us, and he will be greatly missed." Houssam said, and the elderly lady smiled at him.
"Thank you Houssam. You know Coach always spoke about you. You were his star, his pride and joy." She turned to look at Freddy. "We weren't blessed to have any children of our own, but whenever anyone asked him how many kids he had, he always answered, quite proudly, that he had twelve. He loved all of you so much."
Houssam swallowed around the lump in his throat, trying to ignore the prickling of tears in the back of his eyes. Tough men didn't cry.
Tough men didn't cry...
Oh shoot now he was crying!
As he and Freddy moved off to the side to allow another teammate to pay their respects, Freddy turned to him, giving him a small smile.
"It's pretty awful isn't it?"
Houssam sighed, and raked a hand through his hair before folding his arms across his chest, watching as Mrs. Hoffman burst into tears as she hugged Eric Brown, the player who had been closest to Coach.
"Yeah it is."
"I need to tell you something Shaykh."
Houssam turned towards his friend in concern.
"What's wrong?"
Freddy shifted uncomfortably.
"I've been in negotiations to transfer to the Rockets."
Houssam's eyebrows lifted in surprise.
"You're moving to Houston!?"
Freddy nodded.
"Yeah. I start in the new season. The only thing that had been holding me back on the Lakers was you and Coach, and well Coach is gone now."
"What about me?" Houssam asked, and Freddy gave him a smile.
"You and I will always be bros. I don't think anyone could take that away from us. As Coach would have said, 'Injallah'." Freddy said with a smile, and Houssam laughed, feeling the tears creep back again.
"InshaAllah. When do you leave?"
"Two weeks. They already have a house for me down there, and the pay is amazing. Two million more then I made with the Lakers."
"Wow." Houssam said impressed, and Freddy nodded.
"Yeah. Don't tell anyone yet of course, the official announcement comes out next month."
"Yeah of course."
"Let's go get something to eat."
As Houssam followed Freddy towards the dining area, he couldn't help but thinking about his own contract. While his contract with the Lakers was up already, they were one of the teams fighting for him. While the Knick's had seemed like the best offer at the time, he wouldn't leave Hana to go to New York, and he wouldn't put her in the position of having to leave. He would just have to renew with the Lakers.
***
"What the heck is going on!? I just had to show my driver's license to get into my own sister's hospital room!" Hisham exclaimed, and Hana laughed.
"Well two members of the press snuck their way into my room and started taking pictures. So they put a cop outside my door."
"Oh my God are you okay!?"
Hana nodded.
"Yeah I was just a bit scared. It was kind of frightening to wake up to them!"
"I bet! That's terrible." He frowned slightly. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I can't take you home."
Her eyes widened.
"Why not!? The doctor said I was okay to go home today as long as I didn't do too much work!"
"No, it's not because of medical reasons. The paparazzi have swarmed Mama and Baba's house. They left for a hotel this morning until the police can sort everything all out."
"What?! Are you serious!?" Hana asked in surprise, and Hisham nodded.
"Yeah. So I hope you don't mind coming home with me. Ilham and the children are all eager to see you."
Hana hesitated for half a second before nodding. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't exactly go to an empty house that was filled with members of the media.
"No of course I don't mind. Can you grab my purse for me?" she asked and once her brother had handed it to her, she put a few things inside before zipping it up. She had been in the hospital for two days, and thankfully the doctor was going to let her go, because she was going crazy. She couldn't help but admire Yusra for having to stay in the hospital for weeks at a time.
"Can I just take you or do we have to sign papers?" Hisham asked, shouldering her purse, and she smiled to see her big brother holding it.
"I already signed all of the papers, but they won't let you take me out of here, I have to go in a wheelchair. Especially after what happened with those two ladies."
"Man that's just insane. What were they doing?"
"Trying to get a scoop of course. Did you see I was on the eight o'clock news last night?"
"And the eleven this morning. They used that picture of you, Houssam and Kareem."
Hana groaned, and buried her hands in her face.
"Hisham, this just keeps getting worse and worse. I don't think I can handle this anymore."
Hisham frowned.
"You'll be fine." He glanced around the room. "What are you going to do with all of your flowers?"
"Well as there are two hundred and fifty here, and yes, Wilma counted them, I am only taking this bouquet, and I've asked the nurses to hand the rest out to everyone on the floor."
"Aw that's so nice of you Hana." Hisham exclaimed with a pleased smile on his face, and she smiled, looking up expectantly as the nurse came in.
Once making sure everything was okay, and after transferring oh so slowly into the wheelchair, wincing as the pain of her broken ribs tore through her, the nurse pushed her downstairs, and once they had helped her into Hisham's car, she looked ahead of her and paled slightly.
There were at least fifteen people with cameras, clicking away.
"Don't freak out." Hisham said as he got into the car next to her, but she couldn't help it. Flashes of the night they had run her off the road was coming back, and she clutched her sides in fear, ignoring the heat of pain that was coursing through her.
"I can't do this Hisham." She whispered, and she felt her brother's arm come around her comfortingly as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Luckily for them the press were expecting Houssam to come and get her so they were slow getting back to their cars. By the time they had all pulled out of the hospital as well, Hisham was already on the freeway.
***
Houssam felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and as he saw his agent's name on the screen, he looked about the airport lounge to make sure there was no one about with cameras, before answering it.
"Hello?"
"Houssam!"
"Hey Harold. How's my house doing?"
"That's why I'm calling! I had to leave it! It's swarmed with paparazzi trying to get a tip about this new girl of yours! Why didn't you tell me you had a new girl!?" came Harold's deep raspy voice, and for a second Houssam felt a wave of homesickness.
"I don't have a new girl. Well at least not yet. It's complicated."
"So you aren't engaged?"
"Not yet."
"But you are going to be?"
"Um, I'm not sure Harold. It's complicated."
"Okay well just make sure that when you do, or if you do, you tell me! I am your manager for a reason Shaykh! I manage your career and everything that will affect it!"
"Okay."
"Where are you now son?"
"Waiting to take off from LA. Just left Coach's funeral."
"Oh yeah sad thing that happened. He was a great guy. I'm sorry Shaykh."
"Thanks."
"Look there is another reason that I called."
Of course.
"What's up Harold? And make it fast I have to board in five minutes."
"Okay listen. I can't hold the Knicks off forever. I've been trying to let you have your vacation with your family, but they need an answer soon. They are willing to offer an insane amount Shaykh."
"I already make an insane amount though!" Houssam exclaimed, and Harold laughed in his ear.
"Compared to what they are offering, your current salary is like a child's allowance."
Despite him never really having an interest in money, he found his curiosity piqued.
"How much?"
"Twenty eight million."
Houssam's jaw dropped.
Twenty eight...
TWENTY EIGHT MILLION?!
"You're joking Harold!?"
"I knew it would shock you!" he crowed. "I have the contract right in front of me. No games here Shaykh. This is the big leagues babe! You need to understand how big you are! I don't think you do!"
Houssam continued to stare at his shoes in shock.
"Did I mention the twenty eight mil doesn't even cover endorsements!?"
"Look Harold I can't leave California right now. It doesn't matter how much money they offer me."
"Perhaps you would be interested to know, that Nike reached out to us yesterday? Apparently the owner specifically wants you to endorse the new Air Jordan! Supposedly it's a request from it's namesake. I don't think you need me to spell it out for you!"
Houssam practically fell over from shock.
"Oh my God! Michael Jordan wants me!?"
"YOU GOT IT BABE!"
"Oh my God. Oh my GOD!" Houssam exclaimed into the phone, and Harold laughed.
"I know! Man I wish I was telling you this face to face, I would kill to see your reaction!"
"Okay Harold, does the Nike endorsement only come with the Knicks?"
"Why?" Harold asked, suddenly sounding distrusting.
"I already told you, I can't leave California right now."
"But babe, you've done all you can for the Lakers! I know you are attached to the team because it was the first to draft you, but it's been seven years man. Hoffman is gone, and he would have wanted you to move on too. He knew he couldn't keep you forever, and you have so much more experience you need to get elsewhere."
"You didn't answer my question. Is the Nike endorsement just for the Knicks?"
"Yes."
Houssam's heart dropped. Here was his chance to work with Michael Jordan! His idol! It had always been his dream to meet the man, let alone be working with him! This was unbelievable!
But...
He couldn't leave Hana.
"So you're just going to stay with the Lakers then?" Harold asked irritably, and Houssam sighed.
"What about the Clippers?"
Harold groaned.
"Aw come on Shaykh the Clippers? That's like moving backwards!"
"I can't leave California right now. I won't. So either I stay with the Lakers, or you find me another team here."
There was silence on the line, before Harold sighed.
"We have one month before we have to give our answer to the Knicks. I won't turn them down, and will continue to negotiate with the Clippers and now the Sacramento Kings have thrown in a bid as well. So if, by the end of the month you still can't leave California, then we will sign with one of them. Deal?"
"Do I still get the Air Jordan endorsement even if we don't answer right now?"
"As long as you sign with the Knicks, you got it babe."
"Alright. Deal."
As the announcement of Houssam's flight rang over the intercom, he hurriedly said bye to Harold, sent a quick text to both Yusra and Hana that he was boarding and would be home in a few hours, and got on the plane, settling into his first class seat, buzzing with excitement.