Marrying the Sheikh

“Don’t worry, Sophia,” Ella said as she rubbed her back. “She’s always like this. It’s not your fault.”

Ella smiled. “I took care of the flowers. Now all you’ve got to do is get through the reception and you’ll never have to see her face again.”

Sophia thanked Ella and went back to the bridal suite. Ella turned to leave and almost fell over when she bumped into the gray tuxedo.

“Oh,” she said, catching herself on the table. “I’m sorr…” her voice trailed off when she realized she was looking into the handsome face of Karim.

“Ella?” Karim said, clearly surprised to see her.

“Hi, um,” Ella looked around nervously.

Karim opened his mouth as if to say something but Ella interrupted him before he could speak.

“Good luck,” was all she could get out before she ran down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

Karim moved to go after her, but a guest grabbed him by the sleeve and began peppering him with questions. Karim looked down the hall and then turned to talk to the guest, wishing he could get away.

Ella pressed her back against the wall, cursing herself for being such an idiot. Why had she come back? Why had she let Nadia boss her around again? Why had she tortured herself by coming to the Plaza on the day of their wedding? She felt her heart beat heavy in her chest.

She waited from her concealed spot until she heard the din of the conversation die down. Then she peeked her head around the corner to see the hallway had cleared. Ella moved cautiously past the bridal preparation suite and toward the back entrance to the ballroom. She saw the soft blue hue of the lighting spill out onto the deep red and gold carpet in the hall.

Ella felt as though she were in a fog. She moved slowly, as if in a dream, walking toward the door, saying a silent prayer that Karim would be out of sight. As much as she wanted to scream from the rooftops that she had feelings for Karim; that the wedding was a sham and shouldn't happen, she knew that would be the worst thing she could do. Not only could it ruin any chances she may have with him in the future, it would also make her the laughing stock of the society pages. And without the support of New York’s elite, Ella could kiss goodbye to her budding baby shower business.

She leaned into the room and looked around. The tables were glittering with gold, crystal and silver. The white place settings were topped with miniature boxes wrapped in royal blue paper. With the money these two had, Ella could only imagine what they had decided to give as gifts to their three hundred guests.

She shifted her gaze toward the front, where a stage had been set up to unite the bride and groom. Four large, overstuffed velvet chairs were perched on the ends of the stage, and ornate tapestries had been draped over the backs. Another set of larger, more ornate chairs were placed in the center.

Ella remembered back to the initial planning stages and recalled that in Al-Ibran, couples were married with their parents on either side of them. Once they were given away by their parents, they exchanged family tapestries, which displayed the family lineage and crest. In this case, Nadia’s parents would move from the right of the stage and place their tapestry on Karim’s chair while Karim’s parents, who would be seated on the left behind Karim, would walk over and place their tapestry on Nadia’s. When that was done, the couple would sit down in their royal thrones and the guests would form a line and walk across the stage to congratulate the parents and newlyweds.

She watched as the guests milled about, smiling and laughing. Ella spotted a few of Karim’s staffers and thought she saw a glimpse of Amira. She scoured the crowd for any sign of Karim, but she knew better. He was probably in the groom's suite making his last minute preparations.

Ella stood there, watching the festivities and thinking about Karim. He was about to get married. Like, really, truly married. And even though it was to be a loveless marriage, it was a marriage all the same. Ella knew he had feelings for her, and she definitely had feelings for him. She liked him, she was intensely attracted to him. She might even…

“Miss Ella?” Djaron’s kind voice startled Ella from her reverie.

“Oh, Djaron! You surprised me!” Ella’s hand flew to her chest as her heart pounded.

Djaron’s dark face broke out in a wide smile, exposing his brilliant white teeth. “I’m the one who is surprised! I didn’t expect to see you here today!”

Ella rolled her eyes and gave him a little smile. “Yeah, I know. Well, Nadia had some problems with—“ She decided against finishing her sentence. She trusted Djaron, but still, she didn’t want to badmouth any clients, past or present.