Chapter 5

Returning from a whirlwind day, I sit in the rich leather of the backseat of my Bentley, eyes closed as the intoxicating burn of a finely aged scotch tickled my throat. The world outside blurred into streaks of neon lights, yet my mind was entirely consumed by the fiery blue eyes and full lips of a certain nursing assistant.

The door to my personal suite swung open, just as I was about to take off my Ghutra, breaking the thread of my contemplation. A whiff of her perfume entered first, immediately recognizable; it was Nana Yusuf, the only woman who didn't have to knock.

"Ah, Aasif," she cooed, striding into the room with a familiar grace that made me clench my jaw.

"Is there a reason why you did not bother checking with me first before coming, Nana?" I asked, trying to keep the impatience out of my voice. My solitude had been shattered, and not in the way I'd wished for.

Nana pouted, her practiced innocence doing nothing to alleviate the frustration brewing within me. "I wanted to see you, Aasif. You've been avoiding me."

The mention of our ongoing dispute - our future, or lack thereof - was the last thing I wanted to hear. I swiftly cut her off. "I need to meet with my partners about the oil rig in Ivory Coast, Nana. Make yourself at home as always." With that, I dismissed her and walked out of the room, my mind swirling with the thoughts I left unsaid.

As I strode down the hallway, Ahmed, my ever-loyal executive assistant, approached with his ever-present iPad. "The field is ready for the outrage, Sheikh. Shall I inform the Chief Medical Officer so they can fix a date for it?"

"Yes," I replied, a thought suddenly striking me, "and tell him to include the nursing assistant unit in the medical staff. Particularly, the new girl... Gabby."

I could see the surprise in Ahmed's eyes, but he nodded, confirming my instruction. "Yes, Sheikh."

An unexpected thrill coursed through me at the prospect of seeing Gabby again. The thought of her being there, her intense gaze on me as I made my speech, sparked an unfamiliar excitement within me. I wasn't the CEO of CEOs in her eyes. I was just Aasif... a man, not a title.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur, my mind occupied with the possibilities the next meeting with Gabby could bring. Her image seemed to have etched itself onto my consciousness - her fiery eyes, her timid smile, the spark of defiance that ignited whenever we spoke.

Despite the confusion that clouded my mind, one thing was clear - Gabby intrigued me. She stirred something within me, a feeling that had remained untouched, unexplored. I wasn't sure what it was, or what it meant, but I knew I wanted to delve deeper.

As I lay in bed, staring at the endless expanse of the night sky from the floor-to-ceiling windows, the anticipation of seeing Gabby again brought a smile to my face. The world outside seemed to hold a new promise, a new allure. My mind whispered her name in the stillness, and in the strange serenity of the moment, I found myself eagerly awaiting the dawn.

*********

I saw her striding purposefully towards me, the golden desert sun glinting off her fiery hair, casting a halo around her. Despite the sea of medical staff in their uniform white coats milling around, my eyes were drawn to her - Gabby. I was standing on the edge of the field, overlooking the outreach that I, ordinarily, would have delegated to others. Yet, I found myself drawn here, not by duty or obligation, but by the inexplicable magnetism of a fiery, blue-eyed woman.

She came to a halt in front of me, her face flushed from the heat or maybe the exertion, her breathing slightly heavy. There was a silence, a thick curtain of unsaid words hanging between us. An unexplainable surge of excitement coursed through me, a sense of anticipation that felt oddly out of place.

Finding my voice, I asked, "What is it again this time, Miss Gabriela?" My words sounded harsher than I had intended, my tone more accusatory. I watched as her expression altered subtly - a flicker of surprise replaced by a stony mask of professionalism.

"I wanted to apologize," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. The wind carried her words to me, wrapping them around my heart.

"Apologize?" I repeated, my surprise evident. This was not what I had expected. An apology? From her?

"Yes, for walking out the other day, I was... out of line," she confessed, looking everywhere but at me.

A part of me deflated at her words. I had hoped, irrationally perhaps, that she had sought me out for a different reason. Something that wasn’t as formal or professional as an apology.

"And why would you feel the need to apologize now?" I inquired; my curiosity piqued.

She finally looked up, meeting my gaze with those piercing blue eyes, "Because it wasn't professional, and I want to rectify that."

There was an intensity in her eyes, a fierce determination that was hard to ignore. I found myself both disappointed and intrigued.

"So, this is about professionalism?" I pushed, searching her face for some hint of a deeper reason.

Her gaze didn't waver as she nodded, "Yes, Sheikh Aasif. Purely professional."

I took a step back, feeling an unexpected sting. For what else, though, had I hoped? Why was I allowing this woman to affect me this way? Get a grip, Aasif... I mentally chided myself.

"Very well, Miss Gabriela," I managed to say, my voice steady. "Apology accepted."

Her face relaxed, a small smile of relief appearing for a fleeting moment. She nodded her thanks, and before I could say anything else, she turned around and walked away, leaving me in an odd whirlpool of feelings.

As she disappeared into the crowd, I couldn’t help but replay the scene, questioning every word, every gesture. It was unlike me to ruminate on such trivial matters. Yet, here I was, intrigued and captivated by a woman whose world was worlds apart from mine. I stood there, caught in the middle of an unexpected mystery named Gabby, wondering where this strange, compelling path would lead me.

Just as I was about to turn away and lose myself in the busyness of the outreach, my eyes landed on a figure moving swiftly toward me. Ahmed. His face was unusually pale, his eyes wide with alarm, and in his hand, he clutched his phone tightly.

"Sheikh Aasif," he gasped, out of breath. His gaze flickered nervously over my shoulder as if he expected something or someone to jump out from behind me. The urgency in his voice was a startling contrast to the mundane hum of the outreach.

The look in his eyes told me that whatever news he carried was far from good. A knot of apprehension twisted in my stomach. This day was turning out to be more eventful than I could ever have anticipated.

"Ahmed, what is it?" I asked, trying to keep my tone steady, although a growing sense of dread started to gnaw at me.

"Sheikh... it's...it's Nana," he stammered. My heart lurched in my chest at the mention of her name. "She's here, Sheikh, and she's not alone."

The world around me seemed to come to a screeching halt. Nana, here? The last I remembered, Nana was supposed to be in Dubai attending a political summit with her father. What on earth was she doing here in the middle of a medical outreach?

"Ahmed," I began, my voice low. "What do you mean, she's not alone?"

Ahmed swallowed hard, hesitating for a moment before speaking again. "She's...She's brought someone, Sheikh. A...a child." His voice was barely audible now, his words trailing off into the still air.

A child? The knot in my stomach tightened, threatening to choke me. What could Nana possibly want with a child at a medical outreach? And why was she here without any prior notice?

But as I turned to face the oncoming storm, a chilling thought swept over me. A thought that sent an icy shiver down my spine, making my blood run cold.

Could the child possibly be... mine?

This unanswered question lingered ominously in the air, casting a shadow over the sun-drenched field. As I braced myself for the impending confrontation,