I found out the suite's living room windows could open. Room service arrived right after breakfast.
"Madame, shall we clean the outer windows? You've never opened them before."
Surprised, I told them to go ahead. The glass windows only opened slightly, but it turned the suite into a blissful haven.
All the white curtains swayed in the wind, making my suite a castle in the sky. With no furniture around, the grand living room seemed to invite me to dance. I wore the pink gown from the vanity room and realized it had hanging tulles, making it a dreamy, flowy gown.
The fabric felt perfect, too soft, and the dress was almost weightless, hugging my body flawlessly. I looked at myself in the mirror with LEDs and decided to see myself in daylight.
I walked to the living room, where a big mirror stood in front of the windows. The sun shone perfectly, making my dress look unreal, like water waves flowing down from me. I danced carefree, imagining I was dancing with Sameer in a big ballroom. I could not fathom that somehow got a man who was kind, loving, and funny. I was living my fairy tale, and nobody could take my prince charming away from me.
When the song ended, I knew one thing for sure: I wanted nothing more than to be his lover.
I looked at the big mirror in front of me.
Little Kaya stared back at me in disbelief, disgust, and horror.
She could not believe such a grownup like me would fall in love like this.
----------------------------------------------------
At 8 p.m., I was still in my dress. After dancing to the same song for an hour, I showered and sent the dress for an emergency dry wash. Nina managed to do a Gamma Radiation Wash—a technology we used to sterilize plastic equipment in our hospital. Now these big hotels are adopting this. After the wash, I wore the dress again and got my makeup and hair done. I styled my hair in very loose curls.
Looking in the mirror, I felt foolish. I tried calling Sameer multiple times, but he didn't pick up. Originally planning to leave the day after tomorrow, now I wanted to plan so much with him—how I would visit him every week or month, or how many times he would come to me. We could discuss whether he could transfer to London or I could transfer to France. I even googled the exams I needed to attend to get a license in Paris, or if I should finish my MRCS in the UK before settling down with him...
I wanted to discuss it all with him, but time was running out.
By 9 p.m., there was still no sign of Sameer.
I started to weep like a baby in my bedroom, with all my dresses, with all my makeup. Then I realized why the fuck I found myself in tears over a man I'd only met a few days ago. Wrestling with anger, I debated whether to reject him tonight or simply block him from everywhere, erasing any trace of our encounter.
My phone rang, and to my surprise, it was Marco.
"Get ready. A car will take you to the airport; Sameer will meet you there. He'll land within 20 minutes."
I jumped with happiness, but the memory of Sameer's habitual lateness tempered my excitement. I wanted to reply rudely to Marco, but something in his voice made me pause. I obliged, getting ready in five minutes and coming down to the main lobby. John and Ju were already waiting for me. I felt ridiculous in my gown, as if I were headed to a Hollywood red carpet event, but in reality, I was just going to the airport to welcome Sameer.
"You look good," Ju remarked with a grin. Even John was smiling, a rare sight for them.
"Thank you. Unexpected praise from you."
Ju made a pig-like sound, trying to contain her laughter.
"If I were you, I'd never wear nude lipstick with this dress. It mellows your face out. I would've gone for deep ruby red lipstick instead."
Number 1, I did not wear red lipstick because I was getting my first kiss... Well, my first kiss with my consent today.
Number 2, my bodyguard, a retired French Army Major, a sniper, who worked with Volkner high-rank officials giving me makeup and color theory advice?
Number 3-WHAT THE FUCK?
"Is there any chance that you are gay?" I asked him.
"It took you this long to realize?" John chuckled.
"I also did some Drag gigs before joining Volkner Enterprise," Ju replied.
This was the best "What the heck" moment of my life.
I burst into laughter at my own ignorance, and John and Ju joined in. It struck me how rigid and super-professional they had seemed when we first met six days ago. Now, they were so comfortable around me.
The car didn't head to Charles De Gaulle airport but took a turn toward another one named Le Borguet.
"It's a private airport," John explained, noticing my confusion. Instead of entering the terminal, the car proceeded to a tunnel leading to a runway.
There, a white Boeing 747-8 with the Volkner Lion on its body awaited. The star on its forehead shone as if lit. The door was open, and a big stair was being moved towards it by another vehicle.
As the stairs were secured, Sameer rushed down, a few men trailing behind him. He looked angry, tired, and pissed off, clad in his usual black business attire. He seemed so exhausted, as if he hadn't had a chance to rest for a single second. His hair was messy, and he had eye bags under his eyes. People took orders from him, and he was almost yelling at them.
"It's your cue to get out and calm him down; he hasn't had lunch today," John informed me. I opened the door of the Rolls Royce unconventionally and stood up. Sameer spotted me from a distance while talking to his people.
The moment he saw me, all the worry and anger faded from his face. A smile stretched across his face against his will, and then he closed his mouth again. Surprisingly, none of his accomplices turned back to see whom he was smiling at.
I leaned against the door as he continued chatting with his team. Eventually, he patted one of the accomplices' shoulders and made his way towards me. His tie and suit flowed in the wind; if he were an actor, he would have looked as perfect as James Bond.
"I am so sorry Kay." He spoke with such tiredness it broke my heart.
"Why did not you have lunch?"
He looked at me, looked at my dress, and asked me to twirl for him, so I twirled.
"You looked like a lotus."
"That does not explain why you did not have lunch today."
"My mouth would stink if I had the lunch. I wanted to kiss you."
"What you're going to do for the rest of your life then? Stay hungry? All day? Every day?"
This made him go quiet for a few seconds, then he smiled again.
"My first girlfriend had broken up with me because I used to kiss her too much, it made her uncomfortable."
I burst out laughing at him, he joined me.
____________________________________________________________
"Can you turn on the TV?"
Sameer requested the Lebanese owner of the restaurant that was booming with tourists when we came in. But now the place was getting emptier as the people left for a party to the nearest clubs. We were sitting somewhere quiet, benches around us were empty.
The restaurant, Assanabel was very beautiful and homey. We ordered mezze such as hummus, Men, Tabbouleh, Moujadara, Kebabs, Sambousek with beef fillings, Kaftas and Rekak. I had 0 ideas of Lebanese cuisine, and Sameer ordered them all.
When the food came to the table, Sameer looked like he was about to fall asleep on the table. But he somehow managed to look at me and said,
"Eat, my goblin, eat."
I almost choked on my Sambousek. He called me Goblin!
"I will leave you if you don't let me eat with peace."
"We even kissed yet and you are already threatening me, mylittle Viper?"
I playfully pointed my butter knife to him, "I bite like Viper, Sameer. Don't disturb me when I eat."
Sameer showed me his tongue to mock me, I mocked him back.
"Why do you like Middle Eastern food so much?"
"My mother was Nubian, I don't look much like her. She had introduced me to Middle Eastern cuisine.
"And your dad?" I asked him. He stopped eating, thought something, and replied
"Swiss, Caucasian."
That's why he might be closer to the Volkners.... maybe. He was half-Swiss.
The owner turned on the TV that was closer to us.
"Put on BBC," Sameer demanded.
The BBC broadcasted the ongoing political turmoil in the Kingdom of Anubia, but Sameer, usually composed, seemed visibly worried, almost like a different person.
"What happened?" I asked, and he turned his gaze from the TV to me.
"This... this may cause World War 3," Sameer said with an unfamiliar tone, unsettling my stomach.
"What? Don't worry; nothing like this will happen," I reassured him while enjoying the delicious kebab with cheese pitas.
"You have no idea what a big mess this is turning into," Sameer muttered.
Seeing his worry, anger, and disturbance, I said, "I need you to focus on me."
"You made my whole world revolve around you, Kay," he said, his eyes locked onto mine.
"... Do you think when this mess gets out of hand, you will be at peace? Will I be at peace? No. We all will suffer the consequences. But, I promised you that I would do anything to give us a better future, and I meant it."
His words melted my heart like hummus on the table. I stared into his eyes, bit into my hummus-dipped pita, and he chuckled at my silliness.
"You should be a comedian."
"I was thinking the same about you yesterday," I replied.
He giggled like a child, and I felt relieved to see him relax a bit. He ate as if seeking refuge from the mess.
_________________________________________________________________________________
"Walk with..." Sameer could not even finish his words; a big yawn had attacked him. He looked so tired as we were sitting in our car, John and Ju were nowhere to be seen.
"Sameer, you need to sleep, you have to attend a meeting in Zurich tomorrow as well."
"No, please." He forced me to walk out with him from our car as it stopped in front of a place where I could see the Seine River and the Eiffel of course. There was a bridge over the river.
"It's called the Concord Bridge. See that building up there? That's Concord Palace. During the French Revolution, kings were executed by guillotines in that area. Want to go there?"
I shook my head. He needed sleep. Why did he bring me here?
I walked slowly with him, holding onto his arm. He felt warm and calming.
But as we reached the middle of the bridge, everything around us turned black.
"SAMEER!"
I yelled, trying to find him in the darkness.
"I'm here, I'm here, Darling. Why are you scared? It's just a blackout."
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer. I gripped his coat, smelling his oud, which triggered a memory.
Yet, I couldn't see him. It was pitch black, with no sign of the moon.
"Look up," Sameer said, sounding somewhat intoxicated.
I did, unprepared for the view.
The sky opened its arms, and every single star became visible. It looked as if someone had spread a drape encrusted with a billion precious gemstones above our heads. Everything glittered.
"The Vega is so bright tonight."
"The what?"
The lights came back, and the other passersby were relieved, walking away, minding their own business.
"The Vega, a star," he said.
"Where?" I looked at the sky, confused by the multitude of stars. He pointed at a specific one, but it was hard to discern.
"Give me your finger," he said, taking my hand and positioning it as if I were pointing. Guiding my hand, he held my wrist, making my index finger his makeshift pointer. I was turned against him.
"See that?"
"Which one?"
He pressed my left cheek with his left hand, aligning my eye with my index finger for a better view.
"Yes! A yellow star!" I exclaimed with joy.
"Good." He seemed pleased, then he pointed my hand toward another one and pressed my head to align.
"Tell me what that is."
"I have no clue."
"That's Saturn!"
"REALLY!" I shouted so loudly that everyone stared at us.
"What is that?" I pointed at another star.
"That's Capella, part of the Taurus constellation."
"What's that?" I pointed at another one.
"That's Jupiter," he calmly replied. I almost danced with joy.
I kept asking about all the stars, and he named every one in the sky. He showed me the Aries constellation just above Jupiter, the Hercules constellation, the Snakehead constellation... He continued, revealing his knowledge of the entire night sky, knowing every star in our universe.
"What's that?" I pointed to another star.
"That's my hope. My Polaris," his voice changed.
I tried to look at his face.
"Polaris?"
"The North Star, a symbol of hope...." his voice cracked. He lowered both of our hands, pressed my palms tight, lowered the other hand from my chin, and hugged me just below my clavicles.
"... That's the symbol of hope. My ancestors used to look at the sky and navigate unbounded sea after sea just by looking at them, without any compass or modern technology. So, they could find new land, find freedom, find a new place they could call home, where they could settle down and start a new family. Just looking at a single star gave them hope... That star is the symbol of hope, my hope......"
There was so much love and emotion in his voice. He kept adding,
"There was a time in my life when I used to look at the night sky and pray. Because someone once told me God lived above the night sky. So, I never stopped praying. I prayed for freedom, for courage, for hope, for happiness.... I prayed for you...."
His voice made me look at his face, his eyes almost welled up with tears.
".... Now, after so many years... I'm standing here, as a free human, as a man with courage who will never be weak, filled with hopes... and who has you, Kay. I have never been happier in my life."
Tears fell from his eyes and vanished in his beard; I had no idea that his tears would be this heartbreaking. He lifted my right hand and kissed its back,
"I never wanted to fall in love with you, never. I was just a bit curious about you. Only if I had known you would be this addicting, this lovely, this sweet, I would have stayed miles away from you. But now, after knowing, you are everything I ever dared to wish for. I cannot let you go; I cannot fail you by any means. I cannot lose you."
"You'll never lose me," I assured him, even though I had just met him 6 days ago.
"I met you probably at the worst time to meet someone whom you want to settle down with. Everyone is getting ready for war."
The last line made my heart miss a few beats.
"You want to settle down? With me?" I asked him as I sobbed with him.
He cupped my face with his big hands, looked into my eyes, and said,
"Kay, I know I'm moving fast... too fast to begin with...but I think I might be in love with you. I would burn the world if it meant being with you in peace."
Then he lowered his head and kissed my lips gently. Then he kissed my lower lips, then he kissed my upper lip, then he sucked my both lips, I felt his tongue brush my lips and it gently entered my mouth. His lips kissed and sucked my lips as if he had no intention of stopping. I could feel his breaths, feel his tears, feel his finger grabbing my neck tightly as he kept kissing me with all the force he had in him.
His right hand grabbed my waist, he kept kissing me. It was my first kiss, technically. He started to press my nose with his cheek, I realized I was almost out of air.
I forced myself out of the way of his kissing. I was gasping for air,
"Now I see why you get dumped so many times."
He started to laugh hysterically. I kept looking at this man.... my man. He looked at me and asked me,
"Want to get a piggyback ride?"
I was confused at first, but he didn't give me a chance to protest.
He grabbed my arm and sat in front of me. I grabbed his neck; he grabbed my thighs through that super slick glass-silk. I had no idea how he did it, but he managed to piggyback me to our car. Then when we reached our hotel, he carried me in his arms like I could not walk. I grabbed his neck because I had no experience of being carried like this and I was ashamed that he was doing this in front of his employees.
'What if the complaint about this to the Volkners?"
Sameer laughed as he carried me to my bedroom,
"Then the Volkners can kiss my fucking ass," He explained. I sighed.
He tossed me in bed,
"Kay, I am definitely not asking you for sex, but I am asking you to let me sleep in that bed for tonight. Please. I have to keep my brain functioning for tomorrow." He asked. I was confused by his weird request.
"Sure," I could only reply. He untied his tie with one hand, his belt with one hand. Opening his belt made me feel butterflies in places that were a danger zone. I gulped at him and decided to leave him alone to mind his own business and walked to the bathroom. I changed my dress, took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and got into my pajamas. I slowly tip-toed into my room, hoping that he would not do anything stupid to take my attraction away from him. And saw him shirtless, lying upside down on the bed, head on his pillow, lost in deep sleep.
He looked so cute, so innocent, so adorable. I went to bed and kissed his forehead. I knew I was going to cuddle him when I returned to bed.
I was thirsty, so I went to the kitchen to get some water and late-night snacks. The windows had been closed; maybe the room service people did this.
One thought of Sameer was poking my head- 3rd world war, everyone was getting ready for war... etc.
I turned the big TV on and changed to the BBC. The headlines already showed "Latest update on Kingdom of Anubia situation, live from Zurich."
"......As per the meeting held on the current situation, the Military Junta seemed like they had no intention to leave the power of the Kingdom of Anubia to the remaining Royal Family members of the country, as they are currently in asylum in Switzerland. All the members of NATO's Military advisors had an emergency meeting held in Zurich, arbitered by the Chairman of Volkner group."
The news presenter did not even mention the name of Royce on the screen.
Then her face cut to the next montage and a very familiar face popped up on the screen,
MARCO!
When did he go to Zurich?
Does that mean Sameer was in the same place? He was working with the Volkners in this matter?
it seemed like nighttime footage. He looked like he was answering a reporter's question at a press conference, he looked extremely pissed.
"...The situation is very jeopardized by everyone who is supposed to maintain the highest security in places like North Africa and the Middle East. A single mistake in those areas, a single mistake in these decisions can cost us millions of lives."
"What are the stances of the Volkner group in this very important matter? Are they preparing for extensive military equipment production as a possible invasion in Anubia is on its way by NATO?" a reporter asked him.
Marco never looked this pissed, as if he could go and slap them.
"No one is going on a war. We at Volkner Enterprise are extremely against violence that kills even a single innocent soul. We will not support any sort of Military invasion by any country. There are always ways that are non-violent to solve these issues. We highly hope our leaders can see the solution without seeing through the glass of violence."
"What about handing over the power of Anubia to the Crown Prince, as the royals are very close relatives of the Volkner family."
WHAT THE FUCK!
"Let us see what the outcome of the meeting will be; we hope that other EU countries will help us come up with a solution ASAP. I have personally discussed this matter with Mr. Rhys Volkner; he promised that he and the whole Volkner Business entity will take any necessary steps to maintain peace and harmony in this region. Also, they will do their best to help the Crown Prince with the exchange of power from the Junta with much caution. Not a single crime against humanity will be tolerated by the Volkner Corp. Peace has always been our priority, and we will maintain it at any cost. Thank you."
Marco walked away; reporters went livid. I noticed Marco wore the same cream suit I saw him wearing during my Aurora visit.
I had done enough research on Volkners to know that nobody even mentions their name in public, nobody. Marco might have sung the song of peace, but he mentioned Rhys Volkner's name so publicly as if it was all planned. As if Marco wanted to warn that the mess in North Africa agitated Volkners.
Marco spoke as if he had declared war against someone on behalf of The Volkners.