“This is him,” he said, hesitating before holding the card out to her.
Steph took it, staring at the name. Sadiq Al Jabal. Looking at it, she felt nothing. Should she have felt excitement or nerves, or something? Instead all she could think about was Mehdi, standing on a beach, waiting for her. Two men, waiting for her at the same time.
It had been an interesting week.
Steph stood, leaning over her father and kissing him on the head. “Thank you, Dad,” she said before running to her room and throwing open her suitcase.
She quickly changed out of her beachwear and into a comfortable pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a sweatshirt to stave off the cool night air. She was back in the living room before her father had even had a chance to stand. When he saw her dressed, he looked at her, his expression confused.
“Steph, where are you going?”
“To talk to Sadiq. I’d say it’s long overdue, wouldn’t you?”
“It’s nearly ten o’clock at night. Do you really think he’ll be at work?”
Steph shrugged, grabbing her purse and checking that her phone was charged and her hotel key was in place so she could get back into the room—if her mother would allow it.
“I have to try,” she said, heading toward the door.
“Steph, there’s something I need to tell you about the wedding…”
“It’s okay, Dad. We can talk it all out later. Right now I’ve got to do this.”
Steph closed the door before her father could get another word in edgewise and then pressed the elevator button, waiting impatiently as the car rose to the highest floor. When she finally reached the lobby, she shot out into the main room, heading toward the doors.
Pulling out Sadiq’s card, she looked at the address before getting out her phone and keying it into her maps app. He worked only a few blocks away from the hotel!
Steph tried to wrap her mind around the fact that her fiancé had been mere blocks away from her the whole time she had been in the country as she followed the directions toward his building. She passed by a food cart not unlike the one she had stopped at with Mehdi, and her heart sank a little deeper.
***
After a few more blocks, Steph found Sadiq’s building. The structure was one of the taller skyscrapers, and it stood out. It looked as though she had walked into a financial district, all the buildings towering cleanly over the rest of the city. The lobby to the building was lit up, even at that time of night, and Steph tested the front glass door, finding it unlocked.
Business never sleeps, as they say, she thought.
A lone security guard sat at a desk watching some monitors, and he looked up when Steph entered.
He asked her something in El Farahn, and Steph hesitated. Seeing her hesitation, the man switched to English.
“Can I help you, miss?”
Steph released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Yes. I’m looking for Sadiq Al Jabal. Do you know if he’s left the office yet?”
The man’s expression was blank as he stared at her. “That depends on what you need to see him for,” he answered.
Steph’s heart fluttered with nerves. The guard’s answer indicated that Sadiq was indeed still in his office. There was a small chance she could get their meeting over with tonight, and then who knew what the next day would bring?
“I’m his fiancée.”
The man’s eyebrows shot up at this. “Fiancés don’t tend to see one another in El Farah, last I checked.”
“This is a special occasion.”
“If by special occasion, you mean you left him at the altar and everyone knows about it, then you are correct.”
Steph winced at his words. They were said without heat, however, which led her to hope that all was not lost.
“Please. I need a chance to explain myself. He deserves to know why I did what I did. I know it’s not conventional, but I’m asking you to make an exception.”
The guard stared at her with imposing brown eyes, his round face softening ever so slightly. He picked up a phone and paused, then a voice spoke on the other end of the line. The guard began speaking in El Farahn again, likely to keep her in the dark about the conversation. After a moment, he put the phone down and stared at Steph once more.