3| Detained

Tequila opened her eyes in a strange room and she looked around. Uthman was nowhere in sight and the whole room looked like it was made for an arabian princess. Memories of the night before started to come to her and she shook her head. She threw the duvet off her body and she was shocked to find two young ladies standing there. 

"Good morning my lady, the sheikh asked us to help you get ready and bring you down for breakfast. I'm Aishah and this is my sister, Aliyah" the tall one said and Tequila smiled at them. She stood up to stretch her muscles and she looked outside the window. She was marveled at the beautiful sight, Ali always said his hometown was beautiful but she had no idea it was this beautiful. 

"My lady, shall we prepare your bath now and what scent would you like us to add? Lavender, strawberry, baqarat or do you have any special ones you like?" Aliyah asked and Tequila shook her head. She didn't want to put them through any stress. Back in her apartment, she barely used any scents other than her bathing bar. She undressed and the girls turned their back to give her privacy. She walked into the bathroom with them trailing behind her. 

They wanted to help bath her but she refused vehemently so they ended up leaving her. After spending quality time in the shower, she walked out of the bathroom to change into the outfit the girls brought to her. The gown looked like it was made just for her and the ladies took their time to wrap a silk scarf around her hair, in short she felt like an arabian princess at that moment. 

She was escorted out of her room and towards the breakfast room and she suddenly felt shy. What if the royal family doesn't like her or what if they believe she's not supposed to be here?. Thousands of what ifs raced through her mind and she took a deep breath. Nobody was going to hurt her here, she had Nathan. 

Walking into the breakfast room, all eyes turned to look at her. At that very moment, Tequila felt like entering the ground. She walked towards an empty seat slowly while praying not to embarrass herself. Uthman's loud voice saved her from the embarrassing moment as he ran towards her. 

"Mamaaaa, you've been sleeping for three days now. That aunty told me to let you rest that you were sad that uncle Ali went to greet God. Grandma over there told me that only good people visit God and I hope uncle Ali brings me sweet candy from there too. So Mama, don't be sad okay?" he rambled in one breath and Tequila picked him up. No matter how sad she usually gets, Uthman always finds a way to bring a smile to her face. She pinched his cheeks and he giggled. 

She settled into the chair after greeting everyone generally and Usman picked out the grapes on her plate to eat. She didn't feel like eating for someone who has been out for three days straight but she didn't want to pass off as rude so she played around with the meal and ate a little. 

"When are we going back home, I miss Dream already" Uthman whined and Tequila laughed. She didn't know when they were going back but it was going to be soon. She had to redo her oral test and probably try to get used to life without Ali. 

___________

Tequila was in her assigned room with Nathan and they were playing game on his tab under her supervision since they just downloaded the game, she was trying to guide him. 

A lady entered and she bowed curtly. Tequila turned her attention to the lady and she observed how she was dressed. She was in the same attire as the two girls that came in this morning to attend to her. 

"My lady, the royal sheikh of Ikram would love to visit you right now and he asked me to confirm if you were covered properly before he enters" The lady spoke in a tiny voice that Tequila couldn't believe could belong to a grown woman. 

She took a quick look at her appearance and she figured out there's nothing wrong in how she looked. Heck, she even wore more provocative outfits back in the US. She nodded in approval and the lady turned back to leave while Tequila wondered what the Sheikh was visiting her for. 

She opened a more easier game for Uthman while she tried to calm her nerves. She was meeting the king of a large kingdom for the first time and she didn't want to leave a bad impression. She doubted if they were going to meet anymore but at least, she could as well leave a good impression. 

"The Royal Sheikh of Ikram is coming. Sheikh Uthman ibn Abbas. Al-Farsi the fifth" someone screamed outside her door and Tequila rolled her eyes at the theatrics. She doubted if all those screams were necessary but their culture remains intact. 

The man entered and Tequila could literally feel the power oozing from him and she wondered how a man could command so many power. His guards trailed behind him and he raised his hands before speaking rapidly in arabic. Slowly they left them in the room and no one said anything. 

"Uthman dear, would you like to take a look at the ancient gallery with me?" Someone asked in a soft voice and Tequila noticed another female in the room. She looked between her son and the strange woman. Uthman dropped his tab and he rushed towards the woman in excitement. 

"Mama, I'm coming back. I want to go sightseeing with Aunt Maryam. I won't stay long I promise" He whined and before she could say Jack, he was out of the room with the woman. Tequila could feel something was wrong deep in her bones but she could not figure out what it was. 

"Thank you for respecting Ali and escorting him back home for us. We appreciate you for that" The Sheikh finally spoke and Tequila was amazed at the way english rolled off his tongue like it was him mother's tongue. His voice sounded like the heaven was singing. 

Before Tequila could respond, he raised his hand and Tequila figured out that he might mean that he's not done talking. So she kept shut and he continued. 

"We figured out that you and Ali had a thing. Considering how the child looked like he's from Ikram and we ran a test only to find out he's not Ali's child. We will come back to the paternity later.." 

"You mean you ran a dna test on my son without telling me. Is that not crazy? Do you realize what y'all just did is a very stupid thing to do to someone's child. Did Ali ever told you we are an item?" Tequila fired back in anger. All the respect she had for him flew out of the window the moment he said they carried out a dna test on Uthman. 

"We have a right to assume, Miss Meyers. Ali named your child, he has been in your lives before he was born even before you started showing pregnancy symptoms. It's only sensible for us to assume he's the father. Ali's mother doesn't have any other child and if that child was Ali's, we would have retained him and given him to Ali's mother. Apologies if you're upset Ms Meyers, but you can't leave Ikram yet. Till we find out the child isn't linked to any royal family in Ikram. You're free to roam around in Ikram, I'm sure you would enjoy it here because of the rich culture. Have a nice day, Ms Meyers"

With that, he turned around and he left Tequila in a state of shock while trying to comprehend whatever bullshit the sheikh just dropped on her. This people couldn't mean it or could they?. 

She sat down on the bed in shock and she tried to process what just happened right now. 

Uthman came running inside the room minutes later and Tequila could literally feel the positive energy radiating through him. 

"Mama, I saw a wall filled with Uncle Ali's pictures. It's so fineee, small Uncle Ali and big uncle Ali is there too. Mama come and see it too" Nathan tried to pull her out of the room to come and look at the pictures but her mood was ruined already. 

She removed her hands from Uthman's hands and he figured out she was sad or angry so he sat down and he picked the abandoned tab to continue the game he was playing. Tequila was grateful that he let her be and she couldn't help but think of Ali. He was the reason why Uthman was so good mannered. He would take his time to explain etiquettes to him and call it a gentle man's guide to being a real man. Uthman always looked forward to such lessons but now that's the end of the lesson.