The Sheikh's Unforgettable Lover(26)

A spoilt American brat. The words echoed in his head. That was what his father called her. Karim frowned as he remembered their argument. He suddenly realised that his father had something to do with her sudden departure. Nothing else made sense.

The sound of the car’s engine snapped him out of his thoughts as he watche the car moving swiftly out of the driveway and Kim, out of his life forever.

“Khara!” Karim swore in Arabic. He started running after the car but it was too far away. “Kim!” he shouted as he ran after the car. It was right there in front of him. She only needed to hear him calling her name.

He dropped to his knees. This was it. Kim was gone and he had lost her.

Karim heard the sound of a car behind him. “Karim!” It was Amare’s voice. He turned his head and saw his brother and father pull up in a car. “Get in!” Amare shouted as Karim jumped to his feet.

Running around to the side of the car, he pulled open the door and slid into the backseat as his father put his foot on the gas before he had the door shut. Holding on, he reached for his seatbelt as he caught his father’s eye in the rear view mirror.

“This is my fault and I plan to fix this,” his father told him as he drove.

Holding tight to the side of the car, Karim couldn’t remember the last time his father drove as he always had a driver to take him places. He coughed to mask his yelp when his father hit a large pothole.

“Sorry, didn’t see it,” his father said cheerfully as he smacked his hand on the car horn and swerved around slower cars as the drivers waved their fists in anger. Waving merrily at them, “Truth be told, I haven’t had this much fun in decades,” he commented as he laughed. The brothers looked at each other in shock wondering who this strange man was masquerading as their father.

“Taleb is not going to believe this,” Amare said over his shoulder as they bounced over another pothole.

“What won’t Taleb believe?” Saeed asked as he turned to look at his son.

“Father, the road!” Karim called out in alarm as Saeed quickly straightened out the wheel.

“My son, I was driving long before you were born,” his father chastised him as he drove.

“Yes, but now the cars have engines,” Amare shot back as his father turned to glare at him. “Watch the road,” Amare called out in alarm as he tightened his hold on his seatbelt.

Taking the next rise a bit too fast, the car bounced heavily on the asphalt as the airport came into view. As his father sped down the hill, they could see that all the gates already had planes waiting for passengers.

“Which one is it?” Karim asked as he worried that the plane would take off before they get there.

Tapping at his phone, Amare found which flight was taking off for the States as he pointed the plane out. “That one!” he shouted as his father drove toward the runway.

“Father, the parking lot is that way,” Karim pointed out as his father kept driving.

“Look!” his father pointed. “The passengers are already walking to the plane. We won’t make it if we park the car.” Speeding up, he began wildly honking the horn as he headed for the service gate. A guard came out and was madly waving his arms, but Saeed sped up and crashed through the barrier as the guard dove for cover. “Send me the bill,” he shouted out the window at the frightened guard.

Driving toward the plane, Saeed finally slowed down as the car rolled to a stop. Leaping out of the car, the brothers ran toward the passengers calling out Kim’s name.

“Kim Atkins!” they shouted. “Kimberly Atkins!”

As the passengers turned to stare at the two men, they finally saw her head pop out from inside the plane, as she stared at them dumbfounded.

“Kim! Kim!” Amare shouted. “You must come down here!”

The passengers stepped aside in bemusement as Kimberly slowly walked down the stairs toward the brothers who were laughing and clapping each other on the back.





Chapter Twenty




“What are you doing here?” she whispered unsure if her voice would be steady if she spoke in a normal tone. Many of the passengers had pulled out their phones and were taking videos of them.

Karim walked towards her and took her hands in his. Kissing them both, he looked into her eyes, “Don’t go,” he said simply. Kim gasped and stared at him. She did not know what to say or to do. She just stood there wide-eyed staring at him.

“Don’t go back, not now. Not before we’ve had a chance to see if we will work.” Looking at her face, he realised that she had been crying and his face softened as he rubbed her cheek. “Please stay. At least for a little while longer,” he pleaded.