The Sheikh Bear (2 page)

“Are you fond of challenges, Miss Roberts?”

“Uh—Y-yes?”

“Good, because this one is probably one you’re not suited for. The past five girls that came here hardly lasted a couple of weeks—although one of them managed to get a full month in before she was fired.”

“All of them had impressive credentials and all of them were much better dressed than you. You’re out of your league here, Miss Roberts. So, I’d recommend you turn around and go home before making any other decisions.”

Elle frowned, squaring her shoulders. She had grown up in a comfortable small town and in a place where everyone knew each other, but she was a hard worker, and she was unmatched in organizing events and dealing with rough customers. She would not be cowed by some guy in an Armani suit.

“With all due respect, Mr. Malik, I appreciate your warning, but I didn’t come all this way to give up. I may not look like the women out there, but I’ve got something none of them have.”

Malik rose a brow, “Oh, and what’s that?”

Elle fixed him a defiant stare.

“Determination. So you can go tell the Sheikh that I’m not going to get beaten that easily.”

Malik let out a low laugh before grinning at her, “I’ll be sure to let him know. Good luck,
habibi
. You’re going to need it.”

And with that he turned and walked out of the office suite, leaving Elle on her own.

When Elle returned to her uncle’s apartment late that night, it had been the first time she had broken down into a fit of tears that had nothing to do with Alex.

Chapter 2

The next day, Elle walked into the building dressed in her battle armor—a business tracksuit that her mother had purchased for her years ago that she had never bothered wearing. She had no doubt that the outfit was out of style, but Elle wasn’t about to show up again to be shown up by some high-fashioned idiots.

She had styled her hair differently this time as well, her wild mane of curls now sat behind her head in a messy bun that she accentuated with a flowery hair clip. Her eyes and face had a little more serious make up and when she appeared toward the reception desk, the woman sitting there seemed to ignore her easily rather than stare at her pointedly. This was some progress, Elle supposed, but she wasn’t finished yet.

She headed up towards the office, prepared to follow the steps of her work like she had been told. The training of yesterday was a disaster. She had gotten the coffee wrong, had mixed up some of the documents for a meeting, and nearly missed an important call from one of the Sheikh’s clients.

In all that time, she had never met her employer and Malik had only shown up once to laugh at her when she was busy scrambling for the right documents to take to the meeting.

“I’m surprised he isn’t firing you,
habibi
. Women have been fired for less.” He had said with a devious grin.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t just stand there and helped me, I wouldn’t have my neck on the chopping block.” Elle snapped back, already tired of this man’s hovering.

“Be careful,
habibi
.”

He clicked his tongue at her, “You don’t want to get thrown out because of your attitude, do you?”

Elle sighed before stamping down her frustration and getting back to work.

Eventually, the end of the workday came and Elle still hadn’t met the Sheikh.

Now that she was marching up, she made a turn before nearly running into Alliana. The woman was dressed in magnificent colors of gold and emerald and Elle barely had enough time to gawk at her wardrobe before her guide was glaring her at.

“You’re late.” Alliana stated.

Elle blinked in surprise before glancing down at her wristwatch—a gift from her uncle—and the time was a few minutes before she was due to be at her desk.

“I thought my schedule is from nine to five?”

Alliana let out a low noise of disgust.

“And what you think the Sheikh is going to get his own morning coffee, or make sure his dry cleaning is on time? No. That’s your job and you’re late.”

Elle fought the urge to let out a wail before she was suddenly being whisked away by the blonde woman.

“Since apparently you’re still new and Avani is unable to train you, I suppose I have to show you how it’s done before you ruin everything.”

The following few hours were spent with Elle being drilled on coffee temperatures, times and directions for the dry cleaning, restaurants the Sheikh preferred to eat from and what meals to avoid.

She was then informed on the Schedule—an immense spreadsheet that was comprised online and on her computer. Using her phone, Elle would receive notifications for each upcoming event, and make sure the Sheikh was informed of every change, be it infinitely tiny or otherwise.

Her office phone led to several places and she was drilled on which speed dials led her where. Alliana had even slapped her wrist when Elle had nearly dialed a wrong number. It was mortifying.

However, Malik was nowhere to be seen and so that was some relief. She didn’t know how she would react to having that man laughing at her for being scolded like a child.

Finally, Alliana brought Elle a large binder before nearly slamming it on the desk. Elle jumped at the sound, before turning a meek glance to the severe looking woman.

“These, Elle, are the Rules. You memorize them, you breathe them, you become them. You do not break the rules, you do not bend the rules. You make sure all of these are followed to the very letter or you will be packing up your things and being sent out of here faster than you can even care to say your own name. Make sure you’ve got everything down, because if I hear just one complaint from the Sheikh, I will
not
be happy.”

Elle nodded quickly, swallowing thickly as she looked down at the binder.

Gingerly, she opened the cover before looking down at the page. She nearly blanched when her eyes fell over one of the rules.

“Alliana, what does it mean that I must attend to the Sheikh’s every needs?”

The woman let out a noise that sounded like an incredulous laugh.

“I’m sure I don’t need to explain it, Elle. You’re a smart woman, you can figure it out. Now, will that be all your questions or do I need to spell everything out for you? I have important matters to attend to.”

Elle shook her head quietly before turning the page. Allianna gave her a short nod.

“Good. Don’t screw up.”

And with that, she sauntered off not unlike how she did the other day.

Alone, Elle peered over the rules and pondered over them. Some of these were absolutely ridiculous.
Never speak to the Sheikh directly unless spoken to. Never look at the Sheikh unless permitted.

It was as if she was working for an alien rather than a human being. Still, he came from a far off place and one that Elle had never really heard of aside from her world’s geography class back in high school.

“Having trouble?” Elle heard and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Turning around, she saw Malik leaning against the doorframe, smirking at her with amusement. He was dressed in a dark violet three-piece suit, perfectly tailored to his broad and slim figure.

“No…” Elle said, frowning.

“I’m just looking over the rules. Some of these are a bit extreme.”

“Oh?” Malik asked, “Thinking about quitting?”

Elle fixed the dark skinned man a flat stare before turning back to her work.

“It’s just some of these are sort of vague. Like… I have to make sure the Sheikh’s needs are all attended? What does that mean?”

Suddenly she felt Malik right behind her. His abrupt presence made her skin shiver and feel tight, and when she glanced up, he was grinning down at her wickedly.

“What do you think it means, Miss Roberts?”

Elle fought the urge to push away, feeling disturbed by this man’s nerve.

“I think it means that the Sheikh really needs a mother, not a secretary.”

Malik pushed away, letting out a short laugh before placing his hands in his pockets.

“Don’t let him hear you say that. Otherwise it’ll be the can for you.”

“Then I’m glad he’s not around,” Elle replied, taking a breath to calm her down. The comment brought up a question she had been meaning to ask.

“Speaking of which, where
is
the Sheikh? I haven’t met him since I’ve arrived even though I’ve been sending all the information and placing his coffee in his office.”

“He’s a lot closer than you think,
habibi
.” Malik said before heading towards the empty desk feet away from her.

He leaned against the edge, watching her with unreadable eyes.

“What is that? That word you keep calling me?” Elle asked, thumbing over the pages of the Rules before shutting them close.

“It’s a term we have for dear,
habibi
” Malik explained.

“Nothing insulting. So no need to fret. If anything, it’s an endearing term.”

“I’m sure,” Elle said, before turning back to her work.

“Anyway, I hope you don’t mind if I just continue working…”

“Why would I mind?” Malik inquired, looking rather comfortable watching her. Elle fought the urge to kick him out, but was still wary about where he came from.

In all honesty, she didn’t know him, just that he was somehow related to the Sheikh and that he clearly had the permission to move about as he pleased.

“Can I ask you something?”

Malik blinked, dark eyes narrowing somewhat before he gave her a sudden grin, “If you want to know where the nearest exit is, it’s in the back.”

Elle felt a twitch begin in the arch of her eyebrow.

“That’s not what I want to ask. You said you’re related to the Sheikh, right?”

“In a matter of speaking,” he replied as vaguely as he did the day before.

“What’s he like?” The question seemed to surprise Malik, because one moment he was smiling at her, the next a strange emotion passed over his face.

It disappeared much too quickly for Elle to tell what it was before he let out a small scoff of amusement and pushing away from the desk.

“You better worry more about yourself than that guy, Miss Roberts. Trust me, he’s out of your league.”

A red flush burned up and over Elle’s neck and into her face, making her steam with irritation.

“That’s not why I was asking, Mister Malik!” But he was already slinking away, his steps languid and graceful before he disappeared out the door with a final wave.

Elle glared at the direction Malik disappeared off to before getting back to work. That evening when she returned, Elle was exhausted and was sporting several papercuts over her fingers, but it had gone better than it did her first day.

If there was anything she didn’t want to do, it was running back home with her tail between her legs.

Chapter 3

She arrived the next morning an hour early, her phone ringing in her palm incessantly since she woke. Alliana’s voice was shrill on the other side of the speaker, listing off a long list of orders Elle had barely managed to catch before hanging up and leaving the half-awake brunette spinning to get ready.

When she arrived, she had to jog back and forth between offices to deliver documents, pass out spreadsheets, and ensure members met memos before she was scrambling back towards the kitchenette where the Sheikh’s coffee was being made.

By the time Elle made it next to the biggest espresso machine she had ever seen, she felt completely worn out.

“You’re the new girl, aren’t you?”

Elle straightened from her position next to the immense coffee maker, sleep drawing lines of inattention through her vision as she focused on the person speaking to her.

When she finally turned around, she saw a woman—who looked like she should still be in high school—leaning against the doorframe.

The posture reminded Elle far too quickly of a certain dark-skinned man and felt her stomach sour at the thought. She didn’t know Malik enough, but of what she did know, she wasn’t fond of it.

Shoving the bitterness in her stomach aside, Elle faced the woman directly.

“Uh, yes. I’m Elle. Elle Roberts.”

“Charmed.” The woman—girl?—said.

She was beautiful; with dark mocha colored skin and huge hazel eyes, her petite figure was wrapped in what looked like a Sari (a garb from India that Elle had been forced to recognize since the document debacle of her first day) but split away to show a pair of pale cream pants.

Her dark hair curled around her heart shaped face in ringlets and if it wasn’t for the pointed look aimed at Elle, she would be a little endeared toward the girl.

“How’ve you been faring?”

Her accent was practically the same as Malik’s, sounding like a mix between British and Arabic, and for a moment Elle wondered if this girl was his sister.

“I’ve been alright,” Elle replied modestly and with a smile.

“Still getting used to this place. It’s amazing.”

“Hm, unsurprising. You don’t look like much,” the girl said and Elle started to feel a little annoyed. Why did everyone treat her like this?

“But, I suppose you’ll do.”

“Sorry, but, who are you?”

Elle asked, nearly biting down her tongue when she caught the hint of attitude escape through her teeth. The girl didn’t seem to notice.

“Priya Abdul al Hamik,” She replied flippantly.

“I’m your employer’s second cousin and advisor. I heard about you, can’t say I’m impressed.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Elle said, reeling but nonetheless holding back from embarrassing herself further.

“I’m sure it is,” Priya replied.

“Anyway. Because Avani is indisposed for the next eternity, I’ve been assigned to supervise and train you. The last thing we need is you offending the Sheikh.”

“I appreciate it,” Elle said.

“I’ve memorized a good portion of the rules but I do have questions about some of them.”

Priya rolled her eyes, “You and every other
gori
. Come. There is much to be done and you’re late.”

Elle nearly scrambled after the short Hindu woman, grabbing the coffee and the documents she was given earlier that morning.

When they reached the business suite, Priya had launched into a series of commands that had Elle feeling like she was in boot camp. She needed to straighten up, freshen up, send out new spreadsheets and call for a special broth that the Sheikh would need to begin his day.

The glass doors that lead to the Sheikh’s office were closed and covered by a purple curtain on the other side. It was the first time Elle had seen this and felt a twinge of worry when she wondered if the Sheikh had finally decided to appear.

An hour later, Priya was looking over the Schedule in a tablet, her dainty fingers skimming over the glass screen swiftly.

“Hm.” Priya finally let out, and Elle prepared herself for the next series of commands.

Instead, Priya was placing the tablet down before urging Elle to stand up. “Up. I want to see you.”

Confused, Elle did as she was told spinning around awkwardly when Priya made circular motions with a finger.

“Not too bad,” Priya muttered through pursed lips.

“Very well. We’re leaving.”

“Wait—what? Wh-where are we going?” Elle stammered, barely registering how quickly Priya was gathering her things and urging her out the door.

There were still a bunch of duties she needed to complete!

“Shopping,
gori
. While you may be comfortable sitting in those rags, while you’re in the presence of the Sheikh, you will not be dressed like that.”

Gawking, Elle followed numbly, nearly overwhelmed with surprise. “But, I don’t have the money—!”

“Nuance.” Priya shrugged off before yanking Elle out the door and taking her out on the strangest shopping trip of the young woman’s life.