Princess's Secret Baby(57)

                There were still tears in her sleep, and one Saturday morning when she was now eighteen weeks pregnant, finally he asked her about them.

                ‘What do you dream of?’ James asked as she lay there in his arms.

                Leila had never told anyone, but here, with his arms around her, it did not feel nosey or invasive.

                ‘There are different dreams, though they all feel the same,’ Leila said. ‘I just dreamt that I was at a picnic. I could see my parents laughing. I am a little girl about seven or eight, and my brother and sister are there. We are all laughing and enjoying the conversation and then I realise they cannot hear what I am saying. That they are talking amongst themselves as if I am not there. I start to shout, and they just carry on talking and laughing. I knock over a glass and they do not turn their heads...I start screaming and crying...’

                She was silent for a moment and James lay there thinking.

                ‘That’s when you come in,’ Leila said, because it was when she sobbed that he stepped into her dream and held her.

                She wasn’t even sure if it was a dream or a memory. Leila thought back to times looking out of her window, watching her mother and Jasmine walking in the grounds side by side.

                ‘Hey, Leila,’ James said. ‘Don’t wait so long.’

                ‘Sorry?’

                ‘When you’re dreaming and you knock the glass over, or you realise they can’t hear you, just roll over in the bed to me.’





                                      CHAPTER ELEVEN

                ‘MANU!’ JAMES HAD WAITED till Leila had left for work to make the call.

                ‘I was wondering if you could come to meet with me here in New York. I want some help to deal with Leila’s parents.’

                ‘You certainly need it.’

                ‘Which is why I want you to get on a plane as soon as possible.’ James looked out to the view below as he spoke. He hated that Leila cried each night. Yes, he knew she had been unhappy enough to run away but that he might have caused an irretrievable breakdown between Leila and her family, so much so that they might want nothing to do with the baby, appalled him.

                Dream interpretation wasn’t his particular forte; in fact, he didn’t even pay attention to his own. It was clear though, James had decided, that Leila was worried that her family was carrying on completely fine without her and that they might want nothing to do with their baby.

                He wanted to do his best to put things right.

                ‘I’ve been trying to learn Arabic so that I can hopefully apologise in person to her father.’

                ‘It is more than the language you need to learn, James.’

                ‘I get that.’ He did not need a lecture from Manu and was just about to tell her so when the door opened and there was Leila.

                ‘I’ll call you back,’ James said.

                ‘No need,’ Manu said. ‘I’ll arrange my flight. I can be there tomorrow for two days, but I am not guaranteeing I will work with you. For now I’ll just agree to meet and discuss the situation. I’ll text you with the times.’

                ‘Did I disturb you?’ Leila asked.