The laptop screen illuminated Hamdan's face as he typed the phone number to his iPhone. He tapped on the green call button and raked his fingers through his hair pacing up and down in Salem's office.
"Hello?"
He had not heard Sarah's voice in what seemed to be an eternity and couldn't keep his heart from jumping.
"Hi, it's me," he replied.
"Hamdan," it was not a question, she sounded sure it was him.
"Yes. Listen Sarah, did you make it home okay?"
"Wha— Yeah, I'm on my way to pick up Rooster from a friend's... What's going on?"
He could hear the confusion in her tone.
"It's Princesa."
"What?"
There was no easy way to say it. "She is sick and it could be serious. We're not sure yet and I thought you might want to know."
"What's wrong? Are you with her?"
"Yes. She's sedated at the moment in the quarantine stable. The vets are running some tests, they're trying to rule out EPM."
"EPM!?" She cried.
He regretted saying that. Perhaps he should've left out the fact that Princesa might have a potentially life threatening infection. "Sarah, calm down."
"I'm on my way!"
She hung up and he went back to the quarantine stable, which was on the opposite side of the rest of the stables. The stalls were spacious white rooms with rubber floors and a sliding door. Hamdan sat alone on the floor resting his back against the wall. Princesa was surrounded by a wooden structure to keep her in place with a support holding her head up while sedated.
After about fifteen minutes, he heard the quick steps approaching and put his cellphone back in the pocket of his grey sweatpants. Sarah stopped when she saw Princesa through the grilled door, she grabbed the handle and slowly slid it open. Her gloomy face squeezed his heart. She was wearing distressed capri jeans, a white top and Adidas Superstar shoes. Her tanned skin was glowing and her eyes were fixed on Princesa. He wasn't even sure she noticed him.
She cautiously walked up to the mare and rested her head against Princesa's. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."
Hamdan rose to his feet and she turned to look at him.
"Where is everybody? Where are the doctors?" She asked, frowning.
"Doctor Al Barsha ran to the lab to get the test results. Majid had this dinner with his in-laws and I told him I could keep an eye on her," he explained, bringing his hands into his pockets. "I'm sure she will be fine."
"Hamdan, if she has EPM I—"
He took two steps forward. "Even if she has it, we caught it early. There would be high chances of a full recovery."
Sarah's frown disappeared and she turned to Princesa once again, running her fingers through the grey mane. She kissed the mare in the forehead, walked past Hamdan and sat next to where he was seating before. He followed suit.
She stared down at her crossed legs and sighed.
"Hey," he shoved his shoulder against hers and she looked at him with pursed lips. "We'll do everything for her," he assured her.
"I know. Hi."
He lifted his brows. "What?"
She chuckled. "I didn't say hi to you, so... hi."
He smiled amusedly. He had missed seeing that smirk on her face.
"Hi. How was your flight?"
"Flights..." She replied elongating the s. "Argh! Awful, it took over 24 hours and 3 different planes to get here. Customs checked my bags God only knows how many times and then this guy in front of me reclined his seat so fast and so hard that my drink spilled on my lap. Thankfully, I was able to change my pants in Paris because it looked like I peed myself."
He let out a laugh and she slapped his arm.
"You're always laughing at me," she whined and then rubbed her face with both hands. "Seriously, how self conscious do you have to be to do something like that? I mean... Everybody knows how close together the seats are, rig—" She narrowed her eyes while looking at him. "You never fly commercial, do you?"
Hamdan was gawking at her, thinking he could hear talk and talk for days and he would never be bored.
"No," he shook his head.
"Well, you're missing out," she said sarcastically, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing them with her hands.
"Are you cold?"
She untangled her arms. "No, I'm fine."
He stood up and started taking off the blue hoodie he was wearing.
"Hamdan, really I—"
Pulling the hoodie over his head, made the t-shirt he had under ride up and he felt the cool air on the bottom half of his torso. When he was out of the hoodie, he noticed Sarah was looking away with rosy cheeks. A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he pulled his t-shirt down into place.
"Here," he offered.
"You don't have to." She waved her hand dismissively.
He insisted, bringing the piece of clothing closer to her.
"I mean it, I'm okay."
Hamdan tilted his head to the side. "Are you always this stubborn? Just take it," he shrugged.
She took the hoodie from his hand and put it on.
"Now I know why the two of you get along so well," his index finger slightly pointing to Princesa and back to Sarah.
"We're not stubborn, we just... have strong beliefs."
He sat back down. "Yeah, yeah..."
Sarah giggled and pulled off the elastic band that was holding her messy bun up, releasing her hair and a fresh smell of fruits mixed with flowers. Hamdan wondered which perfume she used. Or was that her shampoo? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her fixing her hair to the side and leaning her head against the wall.
"It's good to have you back," he confessed.
It was more than good, it was amazing, to have her there sitting so close to him with no one else around.
"Hamdan..." She began, with a serious tone, much different to the previous one. "About that... Um, I think we should try to keep things more on a professional level."
He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. "What?" He asked, roaming her face for answers but she was looking down at her hands.
"The way we've been talking, it's just not right," she replied warily.
Hamdan stood up. "You're doing it again," he accused.
She lifted her head up. "What am I doing? Being reasonable?"
"No! Running away from me."
"I'm not! It's just that I think that we should behave like what we are. That's it," she shrugged.
"Which is...?" He hinted.
"You are my boss and I'm only a rider. Actually, you are like my boss's boss, which only makes things worse."
He squatted down in front of her. "Keeping things professional?" He repeated. "And you think that's possible?"
"Of course!" She stood up and he followed.
Hamdan took a small step forward leaving the space between them to the bare minimum. "Why don't you just admit it?"
She couldn't hold the look and turned her head slightly. "Admit what?"
He cupped her chin forcing her eyes to look at him again. "How you feel."
"I'm doing it, right now."
Hamdan could see she was not being honest, it was all over her face and a crooked smile formed on his lips. "No you're not."
The moment the words left his mouth he saw it, panic in her eyes.
She took one side step and started walking to the door. "I need some air."
With long strides, Hamdan beat her to it and held the door before she could open it, pinning her against it. They were back to their previous position.
"No, you're not going anywhere."
"What?" She frowned. "You can't keep me here."
He took a deep breath. "Okay, if you won't say it then I will. I like you, a lot. I haven't stopped thinking about you since we met and you are driving me crazy with this coming and going. First, we start talking and everything is great, except that it turns out that you have a boyfriend. Then I find out, completely by chance, that you broke up with him. So, there I go again, sending you messages and you were all nice and sweet and now you come back and say these things?" He shook his head. "No, I won't have it."
Even with his hoodie on, he could see the crest of her chest going up and down with the heavy breathing. His eyes moved up, studying her face. For the first time he noticed the small freckles on her nose.
"Now you're at a loss for words?" He teased, not knowing which Sarah he liked more, the rambling one or this new one, the speechless Sarah.
A strand of hair was laying over her left eye and he slowly tucked it behind her ear with his index finger. His hand kept going down to the back of her neck and he caressed her blushing cheek with his thumb. She did not seem to be cold anymore. His eyes traveled from her cheek to the expectant hazel eyes, down to her freckles again and lower to her mid open mouth. He leaned in and felt her soft lips closing shut as they met his. He wrapped his arms around her waist, annulling the space between them. After a brief moment he felt the tension leaving her body. Finally, her mouth opened, gasping for air and he locked her upper lip between his and sucked gently. His right hand moved up on her back and the small moan coming out of her made goosebumps explode on his skin. Her hands began to move up on his chest and he wondered if she could feel how fast his heart was beating.
Hamdan was completely lost in the kiss when a sudden push made him stumble back one step. They were both out of breath and Sarah was glaring at him.
"Are you out of your mind?!" She called.
He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, the voices approaching made them move back to opposite corners of the room. He took a deep breath and saw Sarah whipping her lips with her fingers.
Dr. Al Barsha and his assistant greeted Sarah when they entered the stall. "We have good news: it's not EPM," he assured them.
"Oh, thank God!" Relieved Sarah. "What is it then?"
"It's a different parasite. Not nearly as dangerous as the one that causes EPM, we got the medications for her. She will be fine."
"Thank you doctor," said Hamdan with his eyes fixed on Sarah.
She was looking everywhere but him.
The doctor placed his briefcase on a stainless steel table and started pulling medication boxes from it.
Sarah cleared her throat. "I'm exhausted and since you're here doctor, I think I'm going to head home now."
Hamdan curled his hands into fists, she was getting away, again. He thought about going after her, but the look in her eyes when she pushed him made him doubt. Maybe he had gone too far, cornering her like that.
"Sure, we'll stay here with her to see how she responds," replied the vet, filling up a syringe. "But you can come and check on her in the morning. She will be much better."
Without batting an eye, Sarah said good night and left.
He wanted to stop her, he wanted to apologize. It was not his style to act the way he did but he was so desperate for her, for her touch, her lips. He stood there frozen, fearing he had pushed her away after having her so close.
***
Two updates in one week? Yes! Is my way of saying thank you for over 1K reads on Promise This! I know it sounds silly when you see books with millions and MILLIONS of reads, but I'm so happy!
This is the first time I'm dedicating a chapter, so a big shot out to palominhus because you were the very first reader that got hooked on my story. So this update is for you!
Pleaseeee! If you are enjoying this story, make sure you share it with a friend that you think might like it too, it would mean A LOT to me.
XOXO,
Sophie.