17. Keira
CHAPTER 17
KEIRA
“ T hank you again,” Keira said as the final food vendor packed up his sample plates. “We’re so excited to be working with you. It’s going to be a wonderful event.”
The vendor thanked her profusely. Keira flushed with happiness. She knew that the opportunity to be a part of Qalmar’s first major international racing event was important for all the vendors she had chosen to work with, but she hoped they knew that she hadn’t signed on with any of them out of charity. She felt that all the selections she had made were the right ones, and she knew that the food at the race was going to be perfect — exactly what she wanted to have available for the racing fans who would attend. She had settled on a good mix of traditional Qalmese food and international cuisine, hoping to appeal to both locals who chose to attend what might be their very first race and guests from abroad.
She gathered her things and made her way back to the car, beaming the entire way. As she drove back to Kareem’s estate, thoughts played in her mind about what she would say to him. She couldn’t wait to let him know how well today had gone — she was sure he was going to be thrilled.
There was a worry at the back of her mind, knowing that he had spent the day with his father. But perhaps it would be for the best if the king did know about the race. If he did, they would at least be able to stop sneaking around. They would be able to simply plan their event in public. That was an appealing idea.
She parked the car and got out, noticing as she did that Kareem’s car was already in the garage. He had returned before she had. Was that good or bad? She frowned, trying to sort through it. Maybe it meant that his father hadn’t been that upset to learn about the race. Maybe it was a good thing.
She went inside and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.
Kareem sat at the dining room table. He didn’t look up when she entered. Keira’s heart sank. She could tell by the slump in his shoulders that he hadn’t gotten good news from his father.
“What happened?” she asked quietly.
Kareem took a deep breath. “He knows. He knows everything.”
“Well, we always knew that was going to happen eventually, right?” Keira walked over to the table and sat down opposite him. She reached out hesitantly and covered his hand with hers.
Kareem pulled away from her, and Keira’s heart sank further. She had wanted to help him, but she had also wanted contact. Closeness. Ever since the kiss that had taken her by surprise, she had found herself longing for more intimacy. It was difficult to go through the day and not reach out to him, to rest a hand on his shoulder or his waist when they were in close proximity. Now, seeing how upset he was, she ached to wrap her arms around him and comfort him.
She couldn’t do that. As of right now, the two of them were still nothing more than business partners. But more and more, Keira had found herself wondering if it was possible that they could become something more. Her feelings for him were significant, and she was beginning to realize that she couldn’t simply dismiss them. They would end their marriage soon, but they had both spoken of wanting to continue their friendship. Maybe that friendship would grow into something more significant.
But he was pushing her away right now, and that felt like a knife to the gut.
Still, Keira did her best to understand. He’d had a difficult day. He had been forced to confront the thing he had been worrying about all this time. Of course he wasn’t himself. She should give him the space to get his bearings.
“What can I do?” she asked. “Would you like to hear about the vendor meetings?”
Now he did look up at her. “Is that really all you have to say?” he asked. “I tell you that my father has found out about everything we’ve been doing, and you want to talk about food vendors?”
“I’m trying to be helpful,” she said, stung. “I thought it might take your mind off of things.”
“You think this can be solved by distracting me?”
“Kareem, why are you upset with me? We’ve talked about this. We always said that as long as we were deep enough into the planning when your father found out about the event, everything would be all right — he wouldn’t be able to stop it from moving forward. Do you not feel that way anymore? Do you think he’s going to try to put a stop to it after all?”
“No,” Kareem said heavily. “He isn’t. He’s going to let us move forward.”
“Then I don’t know what you’re so upset about!” Keira said. “The race is on, Kareem. We don’t have to worry anymore about what will happen when your father finds out. What did he say?”
Kareem looked away from her.
“He says you’ve got to leave Qalmar,” he said quietly. “You have to go back to the States. He’s given you three days.”
Keira was stunned. She was sure that she must have misunderstood — his words quite literally didn’t make sense.
“Three days?” she repeated. “I can’t go back in three days. That’s before the race.”
“That doesn’t matter. He’s going to let me go ahead with the race, but he won’t let you stay for it. He’s offended that we lied about our marriage.”
“So he’s just kicking me out of the country?” Keira shook her head. “What if I refuse to leave?”
“You can’t do that, Keira. He’s the king. He has the resources to have you removed against your will if you fight him on this, and believe me, you don’t want that. It would not be pleasant.”
“Don’t I have resources?” Keira asked. “I thought I was a sheikha.”
“That doesn’t compare to the power of the king. Especially since your marriage is being considered illegitimate.”
“You mean our marriage?”
“Yes, that’s what I mean.”
“Kareem… I don’t understand. Are you telling me that you’re just going to allow this to happen? After everything I’ve done for you? After all the work I’ve put in to help you achieve this dream, you’re going to let your father do this to me?”
“There isn’t anything I can do about it, Keira. It’s like I just told you — he’s the king. There’s nothing to be gained by trying to stand against him.”
“Did you even argue with him? Or did you just roll over and agree that I should leave?” Keira couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Fury swelled within her like a flame. “I guess you don’t think it’s very important to keep me around now that you’ve gotten what you want — is that it? You know that your race is going to be successful, given all the work I’ve put in, so why bother going to any trouble to keep me around?
“In fact, I’ll bet you’re glad this is happening. You never wanted to let me put my name on this. You told me you were worried about what would happen when your father found out, but that never did make sense to me — it was really that you didn’t want to share the credit, wasn’t it? You thought it would be better if I was gone, and now you’re getting your wish. You got all the benefit of my hard work, and now you’ll get to pretend that you were the one responsible for the whole thing.”
“It isn’t like that, Keira.”
“Don’t bother. I know you could have fought for me to stay if that was what you really wanted.”
“We have three days. Maybe there’s something we can do, some way of stamping your signature on the race?—”
“Oh, stop it,” Keira snapped. “You must be crazy if you think I’m going to hang around here for three more days.”
He looked at her.
“I want you to book me a flight out of here tonight,” Keira said. “It’s the very least you can do, after everything I’ve done for you. I want to be on my way home as quickly as possible.”
“Keira, don’t do this. We don’t need to end things this way.”
“Don’t act like I’m the one who’s ending things,” Keira said. “It sounds to me like things are already over. I just want to get out of here and move on with my life, now that I know this has all been a waste of my time.”
Unable to bear being in the room with him any longer, she turned and walked away as quickly as she could. She hoped he hadn’t seen the tears in her eyes before she’d turned her back on him. The last thing in the world she wanted was for him to realize how much all this hurt.
The truth was that she had always known this marriage was temporary. She had always known this moment lay ahead. There was no excuse for feeling as though her heart was being ripped out because he had told her it was time to go home.
But she couldn’t help it. She did feel that way.
As she packed, Keira told herself that what she was feeling was just betrayal. He had brought her here under false pretenses, promising that it would be a significant moment for her to advance her career. That was the reason she’d agreed to come in the first place. And now that wasn’t going to happen. Her time had been wasted, because she would never be able to claim this event as something she had helped with.
But the truth was that — although she was angry and did feel taken advantage of — what she really felt was something much deeper and more painful.
She had genuinely begun to believe that there was a future for Kareem and herself. She’d thought that, perhaps, when their marriage came to an end, something else might happen.
She had hoped for it.
Not only was it not going to happen, it was also abundantly clear now that he had never felt the same way. He had never envisioned any sort of future with her. He’d only been biding his time until they went their separate ways. To know that his father was sending her away and that Kareem hadn’t even tried to prevent it was a worse blow than Keira could have imagined, and it weighed heavily on her heart as she packed her things.
How could he not even try? Did she mean nothing to him at all?
The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over as she zipped up her suitcase. In the end, it had taken such a short time to get all her things together, and it felt like a sign of just how little she had mattered. When she got on the flight tonight, she would disappear from Qalmar and from Kareem’s life as if she had never been here at all.
That was probably the most difficult thing to face — how little she would matter, in the end. How easily she would fade away and cease to be a part of Kareem’s story. He had indicated that he wanted her to come back and help with next year’s race, but she knew now that when that time came, he probably wouldn’t think about her at all.
She picked up her suitcase and left the room, forcing herself not to look back at what she was leaving behind. She didn’t want to think about it. She would miss this place too much — it had truly begun to feel like home.
But this wasn’t home. This had never been home.
And Kareem had never been anything real to her.
All Keira wanted now was to get back to the US and forget that any of this had ever happened.