The Sheik's Accidental Pregnancy (The Botros Brothers Series) (3 page)

From what Sara could find out about them, Amir had been photographed with a number of different women at different nightclubs and restaurants. At only twenty-eight, he did seem to get around. However, there was nothing about Tariq. From what she read on the company website, he was thirty-three and was the chairman and CEO since their father retired two years ago. If he dated, he must be very secretive about it or he was not into women. Sara could see that was he was very stiff. The word fun did not exist in his vocabulary.

“How many barrels are you aiming to fill a week?” Sara asked.

“Good question,” Amir said.

“It all depends on the field, if it has a lot of oil. We will see after we drill,” Tariq replied. His voice was very low and his face gave nothing away as usual. He did not expect Sara to say anything, since she was really into her meal. She was not a messy eater but she ate large portions quickly. It was not lady-like.

The meeting finally ended. Sara felt relieved. The atmosphere was intense around Tariq. He got up and buttoned his suit jacket.

“I have other matters to attend to,” Tariq said and headed for the exit.

“See you tomorrow, brother,” Amir said still sitting at the table. He turned his attention to Sara. “You're still okay there?” he asked her.

“I'm fine, sir,” she smiled.

“You survived my brother.”

“And I will continue to do so in the future.”

Amir laughed. He admired her courage. She was not easy to scare off. Tariq's presence alone intimidated people. Sara was ten years younger than he was. Most women that much younger than him were far more scared of him than she was. Older women were interested in his bed but he shut it down quickly.

“You don't believe me?” Sara asked Amir.

“I believe you, it's courageous,” he replied.

“I do not think he is that scary,” Sara said as she was getting up from the table. She started gathering her files. Amir raised his eyebrows. She grinned at him. “Did you still need me for anything?” she asked.

“No,” he said with an idea cooking in his head. Amir and Tariq along with other employees were going to the oil field the following day. He was now thinking of bringing Sara with him. Usually he waited longer before taking his assistant to the field but this time he was up to no good. He wanted Sara in Tariq's company since she said he was not scary. He already knew his older brother was not keen on her. Amir was intrigued to see how Sara would handle herself.

Sara walked out of the office clutching the files. She was feeling proud of herself for handling herself well during the lunch. Normally, something embarrassing would have happened to her. She was usually clumsy during meals. Her mother always complained about it. She had hoped her daughter would be a bit more lady-like but after growing up with brothers and no sisters, of course she would turn out that way.

For the rest of the day, Sara worked through the pile of work that Amir had assigned to her. She worked through it as fast as she could. She did not want to appear incompetent in his eyes. She finished in time to go home. She locked up her office and left. As she got in the elevator, she greeted Adiva who frowned at Sara’s backpack. It was not a good look for a woman to carry one.

Tariq was sitting in the back of his black SUV on his way home when he saw Sara walking along the road. He grimaced at the site of her backpack. Everything about her was simply wrong. He wondered why Amir hired her. As she was walking, she tripped over her own foot and nearly fell. She straightened her skirt and carried on walking. She's rather peculiar, Tariq thought to himself.

*                            *                                  *                                              *            

Amir opened Sara's office door and grinned at her. She was sitting at her desk working. His abrupt presence shocked her. She looked up at him and he spoke before she could.

“You are to come with me,” Amir said.

“Where to?” Sara asked hesitantly as she got up from her desk.

“To the oil field.”

“Really?”

“You do not believe me?”

“The way you are smiling is worrying me,” Sara said as she walked around her desk. Amir was still grinning.

“Do not be worried. I enjoy going to the oil field that's all,” he lied.

He knew going to the fields with Sara and Tariq was not a good idea but it was going to be interesting. Part of him wanted Tariq to get to know her and understand why he hired her. The other part of him was accepting her challenge that Tariq did not scare her. He wanted to see how she would handle herself in his presence.

A car was waiting for them outside. Sara was glad that she had worn flats today; otherwise, it would have been hard to walk in the field wearing high heels. The driver opened the door for Sara. She thanked him and climbed into the car. The car was an eight-seater. She was sitting in the middle row. To her surprise, Tariq was sitting in the back. Amir got in and sat next to Tariq.

“Good afternoon, sir,” Sara greeted Tariq. He too was not expecting to see her. He turned to look at Amir.

“Brother,” he said and stared at him waiting for an explanation.

“She will be a part of the project, so she might as well visit the oil field,” Amir said. At this point Sara was feeling awkward and a bit annoyed because Tariq had completely ignored her. She turned and faced forward as the car pulled away. Who does he think he is? Sara asked herself. Yes, he was the Sheik blah blah, but it did not give him the right to be so rude to her.

“Majnoon?” Tariq spoke in Arabic, asking if Amir was crazy. Amir laughed softly.

“La la,” no no, he replied.

The only thing Sara understood was la. She was not good at Arabic. She found it hard to learn, so she only knew a couple of words. She had no doubt that they were speaking about her. She looked outside. She loved looking at the city. It was magnificent. She opened her window; she loved the feel of wind against her face. She so badly wanted to stick her fingers out the window but that was not a good look. She still had to be professional.

“How old is she?” Tariq asked Amir in Arabic.

“Twenty-three, why?” Amir replied in Arabic also.

“She looks as though she desires to stick her head or hand out the window.” Tariq stared at her. She was enjoying the breeze with her eyes shut. Amir turned and watched her.

“I think she's adorable,” Amir said and smiled. He liked the fact that she was different from his past assistants. Every one of them was always in work mode and feared his family all the time. He changed assistants often because he wanted someone who was good at their work but was not so serious all the time. He wanted someone different and he was starting to think that Sara was the person he was looking for. There was never a dull moment around her. Her clumsiness amused him, she met her deadlines and he liked her accent.

Tariq frowned at the idea that his brother found her adorable. He never could understand his brother sometimes. Their characters were different. Tariq preferred to have his assistant respect him, hardworking, graceful, acted like a lady and spoke Arabic. Sara seemed to be the exact opposite. He decided not to let her bother him. He figured he would act as if she was not there and not acknowledge her at all. 

The car rolled through a set of iron gates and parked. Sara’s legs ached from sitting in one position for what seemed like an endless journey. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the side door. Stepping out of the car with a wide grin on her face, Sara wondered what an oil field actually looked like. Amir noticed it and smiled to himself. She was so cute, especially since she was almost half his height. He stood next to her.

“You seem enthused.”

“That obvious, huh?”

Amir laughed and suppressed the urge to ruffle her hair. “I was the opposite, the first time I came to an oil field.” Amir gestured for her to walk with him. Tariq was making a phone call.

“You weren’t interested?”

“I was sixteen at the time and to me, oil was simply the family business. I was not interested in pursuing that career path.”

“But everything changed when you spent more time here?”

“Precisely.” Amir's tone was relaxed. Sara appreciated the fact that he was so relaxed with her. He would speak informally to her and it made her feel at ease.

“Let’s begin the inspection,” Tariq said, as he approached them, arms folded across his chest. The statement was more of an order than a question. Sara suppressed the urge to frown at him. Clearly, he was not fond of their chatter.

“Yes, sir,” Sara replied with a smile. It was best for her to reply in a positive manner since she could not say what she really wanted to say. Amir sighed and looked at his brother. Tariq did not return his glance; instead, he started walking.

They approached a man dressed in simple clothing. His sleeves were rolled up and his trousers were a bit dusty. Even though he was a little bit untidy, he was still an attractive man. He looked like he was in his early thirties. His skin was a dark caramel colour. He bowed to Tariq and Amir as he greeted them both. They both seemed happy to see him. They immediately started speaking to him in Arabic. The man looked at Sara. She smiled at him and put out her hand. 

“Sara, Sheik Amir's assistant.” Sara introduced herself and shook his hand.

“Malik.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Likewise.”

“You will be meeting him a lot more in the future,” Amir said to Sara. Her eyes widened. She looked back at Malik. Tariq slid his hands into his pockets and began to tap his foot. “If you need anything in regards to the oil fields, let him know,” Amir added.

“Really? You're in charge of the company fields?” she asked him. A million questions immediately flooded her head.

“Yes.” Malik gave her a warm smile.

“That's awesome. I’ve always wanted to know how things work around here.”

“She's a talker.” Tariq said in Arabic. Malik laughed softly. Sara was confused. She had not understood anything but she knew it was about her.

“Have you already written her off?” Malik asked Tariq in Arabic.

“You know what he is like,” Amir replied.

Sara awkwardly scratched the back of her head. They were having a conversation in Arabic. It made her uncomfortable. She knew she should have learnt Arabic but it was hard to learn. It was not like Spanish. Spanish was easier. She looked into the distance and noticed a setup of an oil well. There were men working on the machines. Her eyes immediately went moon-sized.

“Let's go look at the oil wells,” Malik said when he saw Sara's face light up. Tariq could see her out of the corner of his eye. He shook his head and did not say anything. “We are still setting up the machines. We're hoping to start drilling in a week,” he added.

“How long does it take to set up everything?” Sara asked.

“Couple of days,” Malik replied.

“We'll resume the question and answer session at a later date,” Tariq interrupted. He could see that Sara had more questions she wanted to ask and indeed, she did. She crossed her eyes when he interrupted for the second time. Amir buried his face in his hands and shook his head. His short-tempered brother was already irritated with Sara. He looked up; he wanted to see how she was going to react to his obvious attempt at shutting her up.

“I would like to familiarise myself with everything that goes on in an oil field,” Sara replied. She could only bite her tongue for so long.

“Now is not the time,” Tariq replied.