A refreshing morning breeze felt pleasantly soothing against the sun rays lashing on the hundreds of people gathered at the Dubai International Endurance Village. Having completed the first loop, Sarah handed Princesa over for cooling and was on her way to find shade under the tent for riders. She took her helmet off and started sipping on a bottle of water that restored her dry lips.
It had been a lonely ride without Uma. Kim Belle had recently given birth and they were not participating in the competition, Uma took the opportunity to visit her family in Spain. However, that absence was easily compensated by Princesa's performance. It was a nice surprise to see how well the mare was doing — not that Sarah was getting her hopes on winning anything — but unless something out of the ordinary happened, they surely would finish the 90 kilometers ride.
Turning her head at the sound of her name, Sarah saw a familiar face waving at her from across the tent. At first she was hesitant about who that was, but then she recognized her by the number eleven on her rider vest. Sarah waved back and took one last big gulp before walking over.
"Long time no see!" Futaim rose up from her seat to give her a hug.
Hamdan's sister was one of the last people she wanted to see. They met years before and were very friendly whenever they saw each other, but since Hamdan, Sarah could not help to wonder how much of Futaim's perception of her would change if she knew what was happening.
"I know! Where have you been?" Sarah asked, taking a seat next to her. She already knew the answer to her question, Hamdan had told her about it.
"Recovering from an injury, but I'm all better now," Futaim pulled down her scarf and revealed her smile, the helmet and glasses still in place, as she preferred to remain as covered as possible.
"It's good to have you back," Sarah said while redoing her ponytail.
Futaim angled her body towards her. "So, how's riding at F3? I'm so happy you're there, you deserve a stable like that."
Best thing to ever happen to me. I love your brother so much!
Instead of going with her thoughts, Sarah went for a generic response. "Thanks. It's uh... pretty great."
"Speaking of... there's your boss," Futaim pointed with her head.
And there he was, handsome as always with a long sleeved blue t-shirt and his favorite F3 cap. Hamdan was talking to Salem and seemingly not noticing them.
"Oh! Gotta go!" Futaim sprang up from her chair when someone called her to continue her ride.
"Good luck!" Sarah wished.
When she glanced back to Hamdan, he was walking in her direction.
"Miss Anderson," he greeted her, taking Futaim's place.
Sarah pulled her scarf over her nose to hide her beaming face. "Morning, Sheikh."
"How's Princesa?" He rested the elbows on his knees and was staring at the ground.
She had the feeling that he was trying to withhold as much as she did.
Sarah leaned back on her chair. "Great. She's doing much better than what I expected."
"See? I told you."
"Okay, maybe you were right for once," she conceded jokingly.
His back reverberated with a chuckle. Perhaps it was the fact that they were in a public place, unable to show any form of affection, but glancing at him sideways, he appeared more desirable than ever.
"This is weird," he added, turning his head to Sarah
"So weird," she agreed.
He straightened up and looked around, as if he was searching for someone. "Do you want to hide somewhere and make out?"
Sarah started coughing to mask her laugh. "No! I mean, yes... " She admitted under her breath. "I do want to make out, but not here."
Hamdan puffed. "You are not fun."
"I am fun. You're insane. That's what's happening." Despite her face being half covered, she made her expression mismatch what she was saying.
"Are you coming over tonight?" He bit his lower lip and slowly released it back.
Did he do that on purpose?
Her mind wandered off to places it should not at the moment. "I don't know, we'll see," she teased
"Come on. I haven't seen you in what? Three, four days?" His lips moved at the bare minimum. "Too many days."
Out in the distance, Sarah saw a group of photographers that were going to start snapping pictures once they laid eyes on Hamdan.
"Here come your photographer friends. I'm leaving," she stood up. "See you around, Sheikh."
Second loop went down pretty smoothly. Princesa was in great spirits and so was Sarah. Futaim was on the lead and Sarah had a feeling that Hamdan's sister was going to win, he would be delighted and that made Sarah happy as well. Before heading over for water and a snack, Sarah stopped at the restroom. Inside the stall she noticed one of her shoe laces was undone and bent over to fix it when an interesting conversation started fading in.
"You have to be patient with Hamdan."
It sounded like Futaim's voice. If it was her then she certainly was talking about her brother.
"Patient? I have been patient for years, Futaim!"
It was her, the other female voice settled it. Sarah slowly sat over the toilet lid debating whether to leave or stay put.
"I put up with his grumpiness all Summer long," the other voice continued. "And since we came back he's been blowing me off completely."
Sarah's heart started pounding in her chest. Who was this person? Hamdan's ex? She squinted her eyes trying to get a glimpse through the narrow gaps between the stalls walls, but it was impossible to see them. Water started running, one of them was washing her hands.
"Okay, but where were you when he was begging you to get back together?" Futaim challenged. "Either you were playing hard to get or crushing on someone else. How could you? The most eligible bachelor in the country. You didn't take the chance when you had it, now you'll have to work hard for another."
"I was so stupid," the woman whined. "We could be married by now."
Sarah's hand went over to her mouth.
"And you will be. Believe me, I have a good feeling." Futaim comforted her. "My mum loves you and she would be so happy if he finally settled down with someone like you. So, you have her and us, the sisters, on your side. That's more important than actually having him on your side."
Sarah's emotions changed from mere curiosity to bitterness. That was not only Hamdan's ex, she was Hamdan's perfect ex.
"If only that was true..." The ex trailed off.
"Listen, he loved you once and I'm sure he still feels something."
No, he doesn't!
"So... Here's what we are going to do," Futaim continued. "I'll have a little get together tonight, I'll say it is to celebrate that I'm back on the races, blah, blah, blah, doesn't matter. But I'll make Hamdan come and you have to be there."
"I will," the ex perked up again. "My dad won't have a problem if he knows I'm with you."
"Perfect. Tonight, you'll get my brother back and don't let go this time!" Futaim warned as the conversation faded out again.
Sarah covered her face with both hands and exhaled. What if he still felt something? She almost immediately scratched the idea off. No, Hamdan loved her that was for sure. All of his sisters could confabulate all they wanted, he will still love her, right?
However, Futaim's words destroyed her. Sooner than expected, Sarah found out how Hamdan's sister would feel if she knew the truth. It was great that they were rider friends, but sister-in-law material like that other chick? Never. And she mentioned their mother. Sarah had not put much thought on her, probably as a self defense mechanism. There was not much she knew about Sheikha Hind, other than she enjoyed leading a private and traditional life. If there ever was hope that Hamdan's mom would feel differently from her husband, Futaim made it very clear what the family, the whole family, wanted for Hamdan. And it was that girl, that he already loved once, not Sarah. Not in a million years.
The entire time Princesa was on hold before the last loop, Sarah kept dwelling on her somber thoughts. Hamdan had texted that he was going to drive next to Futaim, thankfully he wouldn't be around because Sarah felt that she was going to start crying if she saw him.
Sarah was standing with crossed arms, trying to pay attention to her trainer's last recommendations before getting back on Princesa, when a horse trotted past them. Suddenly, the horse stopped and started to back down, despite being pulled by the reins in the opposite direction. Stepping on Sarah's right foot, the horse went up on his hind legs.
She could not even scream at the shooting pain that bent her over right away. She heard the commotion of people around her, ordering and pulling the horse to move, and went up with a gasp when she felt release. She was sure it was only a matter of seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Horses had stepped on her feet many times before, still that was the most painful one by far.
Majid held her by the shoulders. "Are you okay?" Her trainer asked.
"One minute," Sarah requested out of breath.
Pain went up on her leg with each of the three steps she took. She stopped and attempted to wiggle her toes, which turned out to be even worse. There was only one loop left, thirty more kilometers and Princesa was good to go. Sarah could just put her weight on her left foot and ride like that.
She turned around and put on a brave face. "I'm good," she lied to Majid.
"Are you sure?" He questioned, sounding not entirely convinced.
"Yeah," she replied without looking back and jumped on Princesa.
She forced herself to swallow the squeal climbing up on her throat as she adjusted her right foot into the stirrup.
Sarah commanded Princesa to gallop the entire time. With every movement a new painful wave would go up from her toes to her knee, like a knife twisting in the spot where the horse stepped on. After the first 15 kilometers, Sarah was fighting back the tears, cold sweat dripping down her forehead. Princesa was galloping like the champion she was, but every passing kilometer felt longer than the previous one. By kilometer 25 she was in agony, but not willing to quit with so little distance left to go. Seeing Salem at the finish line gave her the solace she needed, it was finally over and Sarah let herself fall down over Princesa, squeezing Salem's hand tight.
"I need a doctor," she begged.
Salem's eyebrows shot up on his forehead. "Why? What happened?"
"A horse stepped on my foot. I think something's broken," she explained, panting and pointing to the injured foot.
Salem eyeing down at it. "Why didn't you say something?"
"Help me down," she signaled with her hand so Salem would go around Princesa.
She lifted her right leg over the mare's back, grimacing in pain, to sit sideways on the saddle. Leaning on Salem's shoulders, he held her by the waist until she was on the ground again on one foot.
"Don't put any weight on it," Salem instructed, bringing her arm over his shoulder for support. "I have to find Hamdan."
"Did Futaim win?" Sarah asked.
Salem nodded.
"Then leave it. He's with her."
"He'll kill me if I don't tell him," with a high pitched whistle, Salem got Majid and Hassan's attention and they ran over to help.
"You said you were fine!" Majid chided.
"Take her to the doctor's," Salem ordered. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Come on, I'll carry you," Hassan offered, scooping Sarah up on his arms.
Hassan took her to the doctor's office and sat her on the exam table. He left her with the doctor and Majid, who quickly explained what happened. Sarah bit on her long sleeved, black t-shirt as the doctor took her tennis shoe off. Fiery bursts throbbing on her foot that intensified with every touch. The doctor kept apologizing over and over again. He then proceeded to gently remove her sock. She tilted her head back wincing in pain. Her foot was swollen and already turning purple.
"Can you wiggle your toes?" The doctor asked.
"Not without them hurting," Sarah hissed in discomfort.
"You need X-rays. I think something might be broken. There's too much pain and no movement," the doctor elaborated.
There was a knock on the door and Majid answered it. Hamdan was on the other side looking pale and troubled.
"What happened?" He asked, walking in and examining her from head to toe.
Majid went on and shared the whole story one more time. Hamdan's eyes fixed on her with a puzzled face. His eyebrows grew together with each word that came out of Majid's mouth. When her trainer was done, Hamdan pinched the bridge of his nose and asked the two other men for a minute alone with her.
"Why did you do that?" He asked once the door was closed.
"Because Princesa was doing great," she shrugged.
Hamdan's hands went to his hips. "Are you crazy?"
In between the pain and the conversation she heard in the restroom, she was not in the mood for Hamdan's scolding. "Oh! Like you wouldn't do the same!"
"Maybe, if I had a shot at winning!"
"Well, winning is not everything that matters to me," she said, folding her arms.
He took a step back, opening his eyes wide. "Now you're giving me an attitude?"
"You started it," she accused.
"When? What did I do?"
"Just don't make a big deal!" She pleaded.
"Why are you mad at me?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm frustrated that we're having an argument about I don't know what, when what I need is to go to a hospital to get X-rays and pain killers because this really, really hurts!"
Hamdan took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll take you."
"No! You can not come with me!" She looked at him with incredulity at how easily he forgot who he was.
Hamdan hung his head and remained silent for a moment. "Fine. Salem will go with you."
Without waiting to see if she had anything else to say, he turned around and slammed the door shut on his way out. Sarah understood what bothered him because she was feeling the same way; the only person she wanted next to her was, once again, forcibly unavailable.
***
This week is a busy one, so this might be the only update. I hope you like it!
Please, pretty please... vote and comment. Means a lot to me.
XOXO,
Sophie.