Marrying the Sheikh

Ella looked at the baker suspiciously and then reached over and pulled the slice toward her. What the heck, she thought. She pressed the fork down into the moist cake and lifted it to her mouth. She chewed slowly, letting the flavor flood her tongue as she realized she had never tasted anything like it.

“Oh my gosh,” she said with her mouth still full. “This is the most amazing cake I think I’ve ever tasted!”

The baker smiled. “Uh-huh. Now you know why all your clients want it!”

Ella thanked the baker and signed off on the order for the red velvet mocha cake before returning to the table to wrap up the final arrangements with Corinne.

“So,” Ella said as the two women stood to walk out. “I guess I won’t be seeing you until right before the wedding.”

Corinne smiled softly, her perfect skin shimmering in the late afternoon light. “I guess not! I’ll miss you, Ella. But it looks like you need the break anyhow. You look…”

Ella stopped and looked at the woman she had become friends with over the past few months. “Look, what?” she asked curiously.

“It’s nothing,” Corinne said opening the door for Ella.

When they were out on the sidewalk, Ella pressed the issue. “Look what, Corinne? You said I look…”

Corinne looked down at the floor and Ella could sense her discomfort.

Ella reached out and touched her sleeve. “It’s okay, Corinne, you can tell me.”

“It’s just that you look sad,” Corinne said quickly. “No, I mean tired. That’s all. You look like you’ve been working too hard. Which I’m sure you have.”

Ella nodded slowly as her new friend tried to cover her slip of the tongue. “It’s just that I’m glad you’re taking a break from the wedding business for a while. I’m so grateful that you kept us as clients, but I’m glad you’re stepping back. It’s a tough industry. Some brides can be just awful to work with,” Corinne said with a wink at Ella.

Ella smiled and hugged Corinne. “Yeah, I’m just tired,” she lied.

Corinne turned and walked up the street, leaving Ella alone outside of the bakery. She thought about going back in and getting a few slices of the red velvet cake to take home, but deep down she knew that burying herself in cake, no matter how good, wouldn’t solve her problems.

SIXTEEN

Ella kept herself busy preparing for Hannah’s shower and focusing on building her new business. Even though she had removed herself from the wedding business almost entirely, she still found herself drawn to the society pages. Nearly every morning, she would wake up and read the papers, checking to see who was engaged to whom, who was getting divorced, who was suing whom. Nearly every day, she saw some of her previous clients in every category.

“I know, Mom,” she said over the phone one morning. “I’m fine, really.”

Ella had told her mother that she was getting out of the wedding business because of all the loveless marriages, but even though she hadn’t mentioned anything about Karim to her, Ella’s mother sensed there was more to the story.

“Why don’t you take a break for a few days,” said her mother. “The one wedding you're organizing is pretty much done and Hannah’s shower is all arranged already; all you have to do is show up in a few weeks' time. How about you get out of the city and come up to Rhode Island for a visit?”

How could her mother always tell when something was bothering her? Ella wondered if Hannah would get that inherent sixth sense once she had her own children. It made Ella think back to Corinne’s words. What was it she had said? That Ella looked tired? No, Ella remembered. Corinne had specifically said that she thought Ella looked sad.

Ella thought about it and decided maybe her mother was right. It had been years since she had taken a real vacation; the only travel she had done was to scout and plan clients’ weddings. She immediately thought about the last trip she had taken and the memories of Eleuthera and her time in the hotel room with Karim came flooding back.

She knew that no matter how hard she had tried, she hadn’t let him go. She was still hanging on to a shred of hope that something might happen between them. It was pure fantasy, she knew. But nonetheless, she hoped that maybe, just maybe, Karim would come to his senses and call the wedding off before it was too late.

Who was she kidding? She had heard him say it himself. He was obligated to marry Nadia. And besides, the wedding was rolling full steam ahead. They had just had another photo shoot for a feature about their upcoming nuptials in the society paper. The paper. Ugh. Ella thought about how much she hated the papers and how much she couldn’t stop looking at them. A necessary evil in her business. Well, her previous business.