“Well, perhaps you should re-think that statement. Who dictates worth? Look at how you live. How can you decide worth when you have so much?”
“You enjoy all of this immensely. You cannot lie and tell me otherwise.”
“I do. I am not saying I don’t! What I’m saying is, what if we give back to the community in a greater way? I know you treat your servants better than most. You know, I actually argued that exact point with my captor. I defended you! I want you to know that.”
He looked surprised and then turned to look back out the window. “Omar, why don’t you let me implement a housing improvement program, and an affordable food exchange or food bank,” I continued. “What if instead of me shopping or buying myself anything at all for the next year, I put all that money into helping the underprivileged in Dubai? Would you allow that? Just see if that helps? I promise, if it doesn’t, if the riots continue and the attacks resume, I will say I was wrong, and you can do whatever you want as retaliation. Will you at least consider it?”
“Julie will not come if you tell her you don’t get to shop.” His snarky comment made me laugh, which lightened the mood considerably.
“Forget Julie!” I said with equal sarcasm. “I am the wife to the King of Dubai, and I think its time you let me take on some of these responsibilities.”
He exhaled through his nose and nodded, “I’ll consider it.”
I laid there, silent, and then he added in a more subdued tone, “I do like it when you talk with authority. When you talk as if they are your people, too, your burden as much as it is mine. I shouldn’t, I should be disciplining you for this insubordination.”
“So you agree with me?” I asked in a small voice.
“Yes, Anna. You have a valid point, and it would be narrow minded of me to dismiss your ideas.”
I blinked at him, sort of in shock at his attitude. He gave me a wry half smile and nodded, mostly to himself, “I might discipline you just because I gather so much pleasure from the act, but I will not in this moment and not for your worldly viewpoint. I have lived in other parts of the world, and I realize we are often antiquated in our beliefs. Behind the times. Although, this is not a promise that I will heed your suggestions, just merely me stating I will take it under advisement.”
“Thank you,” I replied and then stretched out on my back. I closed my eyes and pulled the covers up to my chin. “I think I’ll sleep in.”
He said nothing, but did stay in the chair. Soon I drifted back to sleep. He woke me up when he crawled under the covers and pulled me to his chest. He was naked, and of course I was since he’d decreed I always sleep in the nude. I sleepily cuddled into his warmth and kissed his chest over his heart. I mumbled, “Omar, I really do love you with every ounce of my soul.”
“And I you, my beautiful goddess.”
“Want to make love?” I asked.
“No, I just want you. Sleep. We will both sleep as I decide what to do.”
So we did just that. In the middle of the day we both cuddled into a ball of limbs and slept. When he woke me up, we made slow, careful love. There was no violence or urgency in his strokes in and out of me, and when we both came together, it was a muted sort of release and we laid there, breathing in unison.
That night at dinner, he invited some of his advisors and I was shocked to be included. He announced before the food was served that I was in charge of a new program to restore the most run-down areas of Dubai, and they were to assist me in all ways possible.
In hushed tones, the men leaned towards Omar, and I saw one after the other shake their heads. Omar again surprised me when he shut up their mutterings with a simple statement. “I am giving her a million dollars and six months. If nothing changes or we see no perceptible shift in the uprising, we will destroy that entire part of the city and rebuild from scratch. We will evict the current civilian population and import willing workers. Six months. We can give her that long.”
Some of the men continued to grumble, and Omar slapped the table with authority. They all shut up after that. I sat there and tried not to smile.
After the meal, one after another of his advisors came to me and handed me cards with private numbers. We set a date for an initial meeting in one week and all of them were given invitations to the island celebration in honor of our recent matrimony.
After the last of the powerful men had left, I turned to Omar and gave him a demure grin, “You surprised me tonight. Was that uncomfortable for you?”
He twitched up a lip as if it had been painful. “Yes, excruciating. I just lost the respect of most of my dearest advisors.”
I pursed my lips, “Really? That bad? They seemed okay to me.”
He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck, “Ahhh, they put on a show. They are diplomats and politicians, after all. No, they are not, okay, with any of it. Trust me, they are more than likely discussing my replacement right this second.”
“Can they do
that?” I shrieked.
“No, not yet. We are still ruled by a long lineage of royally born. They can assassinate me, however.”
“Oh my God, Omar! I had no idea. Do you think that is a possibility?” Then I had a thought and I furrowed my brow, but I didn’t verbalize anything.
“What just crossed your mind?” he asked. “I know you well enough, Anna. Tell me.”