TEN
The next few weeks flew by as Ella busied herself with planning the wedding of her other client, the football player, organizing Hannah’s upcoming baby shower and a few other client appointments for weddings coming up the following year. She continued to finalize the arrangements for Karim and Nadia’s wedding, too; working through the Amira, Djaron and a handful of other surrogates. Occasionally, she was able to pin Nadia down for a phone call, but that was almost always late in the day. The one time Ella had gotten a hold of her in the morning, Nadia had sounded like she had been recovering from the night before, but had told Ella she had just woken up.
Karim and Ella had had no contact, except for an occasional glance when she stopped by to deliver some samples or pick up payment for a deposit. One time, she saw Nadia leaving Karim’s office when she arrived. Karim came out and made a show of putting his arm around Nadia, pulling her close for a passionate kiss, and Ella felt her stomach flop at such an ostentatious show of feigned affection.
Why was Karim avoiding her, she wondered. She still couldn’t figure out what she had said or done, back on the island, to make him change so much. Before the trip to Eleuthera, they had gotten along just fine. Their phone calls were friendly and light, their meeting at the café was casual and comfortable. Even the time they spent on the jet together had been enjoyable. She wished Karim could be that way with her again, but the more she saw him, especially with Nadia, the more she knew that wasn’t going to happen.
With the wedding only a month away, Ella decided it was time to nail down the details about the cake. She had left several messages for Nadia, none of which were returned. Finally, in utter exasperation, she decided to stop by Karim’s office, unannounced, to see if she could get him to coerce Nadia into making a decision.
The building's main receptionist recognized Ella and buzzed her in, not thinking for a second that she wasn’t expected. She went back to her business of filing her nails as Ella made her way past the marble receptionist desk and into the gleaming silver elevator. Arriving on the 44th floor, Ella exited the elevator as the doors swooshed closed behind her.
She looked around and saw the usual bustle of activity. Women and men dressed in thousand dollar suits walked quickly around the office floor, chatting over numbers on their tablets and scribbling notes on legal pads. One wall of the entrance was made of floor-to-ceiling windows that showed a breath-taking view of Manhattan.
Ella smiled at the woman behind the desk and pointed toward Karim’s corner office. Again, the receptionist didn’t think anything of Ella being there, as she had been there dozens of times in the past several months.
Ella nodded politely and walked purposefully toward Karim’s office. With her sleek gray suit and hair pulled back into a business-like bun, she could easily have passed for one of the hundred or so staff members on the floor.
She rounded the corner that led to Karim's office and stopped short when she heard his voice booming down the hall.
“What did you think would happen?” Karim said loudly.
“I don’t care what happens!” a woman’s voice retorted.
“Well, you better care! This affects your family, too!”
Ella held her breath and her hand went up to her throat. That must be Karim and Nadia, she thought. She wanted to rush down the hall and listen more closely, but she didn't dare. She looked furtively around her to make sure no one was watching, then she pulled out her cellphone and pretended to dial.
“Don’t tell me what to do! I’m not one of your precious royal subjects!” Nadia spat the words out.
Ella listened, holding her phone to her ear as surreptitiously as possible, as the silence hung loud enough to break glass. Seconds later she heard Karim speak in a barely audible tone.
“Nadia,” he said. “You can't keep acting the drunk fool! The papers follow you everywhere you go! They already suspect…”
“Suspect what! What do they suspect, Karim?!” Nadia screamed.
“They suspect that you’ve got something to hide,” Karim paused.
Ella hung on his every word as she waited for him to confirm her suspicions about the pregnancy.
“They suspect that you’re trying to keep it secret, that you don’t want people to know that you’re—“
Karim’s voice cut off and the room went silent. Ella froze as she saw Karim swing his door open wide and stare directly at her.
“Ella?” he said, speaking her name for the first time since they had left the island.
“Um...” she fumbled with her phone and threw it back in her purse. Ella tried to look casual and walked toward the office, but she was sure she'd been rumbled.
“Yes, hi!” Ella put on her best cheerful face. “Nadia! I’m so glad you’re here. I was just…” She trailed off as Nadia marched toward the door.
“I’m leaving!” Nadia said curtly. With a glance back at Ella, she turned to Karim and placed a passionate kiss on his lips. “Call my girl. She’ll help you with whatever you need,” she said with a smirk as she stepped through the doorway. She shot one final glance at Karim. “And tell her about the island, honey.”
With that, Nadia disappeared down the hall, leaving Ella alone with Karim.
Ella blinked and looked up at him. He shuffled his feet, clearly uncomfortable at being left alone with her.
“Um, you said you needed something?” Karim cleared his throat and then moved across the office and sat behind his desk. Being in that position made him feel more secure, more authoritative, more in control. And right now, being in his office with Ella, he needed all the control he could get.
Ella watched and realized that any hopes she had of getting the truth out of Karim were gone. She let go of any hope she had of him leaving Nadia and spending time with her, and resigned herself to the fact that what she had felt on the island, on the jet, and at the café, were just wild school-girl crush feelings.
She looked down at her feet and walked over to the desk. “Karim,” she said, too exhausted from the emotional roller coaster to play games anymore. “I don’t know what you guys are doing. I don’t even care at this point. I just need someone to approve the darned cake.”
Karim tried to hide his smile but couldn’t. The corners of his mouth turned up and despite his best intentions, he let the smile breath through.
Ella saw it and sat down in the chair across from his desk, even more confused than ever. Here was this man who had stopped speaking to her for no apparent reason. This man who had dodged her at every opportunity for the past month. The kind, funny man who had opened up to her in the hotel room on the island. Here he was again, in front of her in his office.
Ella didn’t know what to think anymore. She looked at Karim with a flat, exhausted expression. “What?” she asked, watching as his eyes twinkled with delight.
“Nothing,” Karim said, still smiling.