Sheikha's Determined Police Officer (Botros Brothers Series Book 4) (2 page)

Whilst the other patrons were trying to diffuse the situation, the police walked into the bar. “There was a call reporting a disturbance?” one of the police officers asked the bartender. The bartender told him about the fight. He was furious especially because there was so much damage done. The other police officers quickly spread out and were taking statements about what happened. Sara was rubbing her neck when she noticed a familiar looking police officer walking in their direction.

“Look,” she said to Aaliyah.

Aaliyah looked up and saw the police officer who had stopped them earlier. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Sara awkwardly. “Well this is interesting,” she said to her.

“So, we meet again,” he said to them as he approached. Keira and Kaleena turned towards the voice and raised their eyebrows when they saw who it was.

“It's Officer Handsome,” Kaleena joked.

“I knew you ladies were trouble.” He flipped open his note pad and clicked his pen. “What exactly happened here?” he asked. Sara cleared her throat and looked away. She had been the first one to throw a punch.

“They started it,” Soraya said to the police officer and pointed at the harasser and his friend who were being questioned by a different police officer.

“They were harassing her,” Keira said. Officer Handsome
looked at them as they explained what happened. It became clear to him that they were at the centre of the chaos.

“These ladies have been identified as the instigators by several witnesses,” another police officer said as he approached Officer Handsome. 

“What?” Sara shouted. “So they witnessed everything and did not think to help?” she growled.

“Sorry ladies, but I have to arrest you,” said Officer Handsome, as he motioned to other officers for assistance.

“What?” they all said at the same time. None of them had ever been arrested before. The police officers handcuffed them as the girls continued to complain.

“Please remain silent,” one of the officers said to them.

“It was all in self-defence,” Keira shouted.

“You can make your case at the station.”

All seven of them, including the two drunks, were escorted to police cars and taken to the police station where they were put into holding cells. Sara planted herself on a bench next to two other women, one with bright red hair and the other with huge hoop earrings, who were there when they arrived.

“Despite what you may think, this is not my first time getting arrested,” Sara said to Aaliyah.

Aaliyah dropped her jaw. “I never thought you had been,” she said as Sara laughed.

“I am teasing.”

“How can you laugh at a time like this? When my husband finds out, he’s going to be furious,” Keira said to Sara with her eyes narrowed.

“You have to admit, the situation is a little bit funny,” she said. They all whipped their heads in her direction and looked at her as if she were crazy. “Keira was so frightened that she sat there throwing glasses at the wrong people!” Sara added and started laughing.

“It's not funny,” Keira shot back.

“It is a little bit,” Kaleena said with a smile.

“Well, given how poorly we did, I’m thinking this was everyone’s first bar fight,” Soraya said as Keira nodded her head.

“I hate fighting,” she said. Aaliyah stood up.

“We need to be bailed out of here,” she said.

“Are we getting charged?” Sara asked.

“I hope not.”

“Who should we call?” Kaleena asked.

“Can't we bail ourselves out and keep this quiet?” Sara asked hopefully.

“We left our credit cards at the hotel, remember?” Keira pointed out.

“We should call Amir,” Sara said. He would be less strict in such a situation and would see the humour in it whereas Tariq would be furious; especially since she threw the first punch.

“I agree,” Aaliyah said. When she was younger, she always called Amir when she got into trouble. Tariq would help her but scold her afterwards. He was much stricter and scarier than Amir was.

“Oh great, so we’re calling my husband,” Soraya said as she sighed. She did not want her arrest to be one the earliest memories in their marriage.

Hugging her sister-in-law, “Don’t worry. You can blame me,” Sara said.

“Good idea,” Aaliyah agreed as she stood up and looked around. “So this is what jail is like,” she said. The other two women in the same cell looked at each and laughed. Sara looked at them and raised her eyebrows.

“What is she looking at?” one of them asked.

“Is there a need to be so rude?” Sara asked. Aaliyah turned to face her.

“Just ignore them,” Aaliyah said and started calling for an officer. “Can I have my one call?” she shouted.

“Malik is out of town, so we can't call him,” Soraya said and sighed.

Moments later, Officer Handsome showed up. He raised his eyebrows when he saw that it was Aaliyah that was calling. He masked his amusement as he approached the cell to stand in front of her.

“It's Officer Handsome again,” Kaleena joked.

Aaliyah leaned her forehead against the cell bars. “Can I make a call?” She hated that it was he that had arrested her and he who came when she called. For some reason she wanted to impress him. She did not want him to see her in such a state as she did not want him thinking that she made a habit out of breaking the law.

“Sure,” he said as he unlocked the cell.

“This is not typical behaviour for me,” she said as they were walking.

He smiled over his shoulder, “I never said anything.”

His smile was so familiar. Where had she seen him before? “But you think that we are trouble. We are not that bad, I swear.”

“I believe you. You may make your call. You have three minutes,” he said and walked off. Aaliyah sighed and picked up the phone to call Amir. On the third ring he picked up.

“Hello,” he said. Aaliyah was suddenly nervous, as she wondered how to tell him. “Hello?” he said again. She took a deep breath and told him what happened, where they were and asked him to come bail them out. He was confused as to what happened, but they did not have time to talk, so he agreed to come as soon as possible.

“Thank you,” Aaliyah said to Officer Handsome when she was done on the phone. He nodded. “What is your name anyway?” she asked him. She really wanted to know if it was the same person she was thinking of. Was it really him?

“Joseph,” he replied. Usually it was Officer Samara, but he told her his first name instead. Aaliyah's eyes flew open. It was him. It really was the Joseph she was thinking of. When he opened the cell, she walked in and sat down on the bench as if in a trance.

“Is he coming?” Soraya asked Aaliyah. “What did he say?” she asked.  Aaliyah did not reply. She just sat there quietly, still thinking about Joseph.

“Aaliyah,” Keira called out.

“Huh?” Aaliyah jumped out of her thoughts and looked at Keira.

“Is Amir coming?”

“Yes he is, he'll be here soon,” Aaliyah said.

“You do not sound happy,” Sara said.

“Oh I am,” she said as she stared at the wall in shock that it really was Joseph. How long has it been since she had seen him? Six years?

“But?”

“Officer Handsome.”

Sara laughed. “That nickname kills me every time,” she said. “What about him?” she asked.

“His name is Joseph.”

“What? Habibti, you are not making sense,” Soraya said.

Aaliyah sighed deeply. Now it made sense why she had such a strange feeling in her chest when she first saw him. The girls, even the two women they didn’t know, were looking at her wondering what was going on. She had only said his name and then remained silent after that.

“He's so handsome that she cannot even speak,” the women with bright red hair said and laughed. Sara shot her a stern look.

“Relax, I am joking.” The woman said, holding up her hands.

“What were you even arrested for?” Sara asked the other women.

“Indecent exposure.”

Sara raised her eyebrows and started laughing. “What were you exposing?” she asked.

She ignored the question. “Why were you arrested? This place does not suit any of you,” the women with giant earrings said.

“Bar fight.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “A bar does not suit you either,” she said.

Sara shrugged her shoulders. “I’m Sara” she said and gave her a nod. Keira and Kaleena looked at her. Was she really making friends in jail?

“Stella,” the woman with bright red hair replied.

Sara nodded and returned her attention to Aaliyah. “Don't leave us hanging. What is it about Joseph that's got you like this?”

“I knew him,” Aaliyah said.

“Did you?” the twins said at the same time. Aaliyah nodded.

“In high school.”

“High school sweethearts?” Sara joked.

“Yes.”

“What?” everyone asked at the same time.

“You and Officer Handsome were together?” Soraya asked. Sara started laughing.

“It's much funnier when Soraya says it,” she said. Soraya leaned against her and smiled. They all regarded her as the quiet and decent one.

“How is it that you didn’t recognize him?” Kaleena asked.

“He’s changed much since I last saw him. But I’d recognize that smile anywhere,” Aaliyah replied. “This is all so weird.”

“Fate!” Keira said.

“She is not over him,” Stella said. Her friend nudged her to stay out of a conversation that had nothing to do with her.

“It doesn't seem like she is,” Sara agreed. “Did he recognise you?” she asked Aaliyah.

“I don't think so. If he did, he did not say anything to me,” she replied. “But even if he did not, he’s seen my identification, so he knows my name. He could not have forgotten about me so soon, could he?”

“Well, you did not say anything to him. Maybe he was being polite,” Sara pointed out. Aaliyah nodded her head as she lay back on the bench and started telling them how she had met Joseph.

It was during gym class. Of course she used to seeing him around school. He was two years older than she was and all the girls in her year had a crush on him. They were playing volleyball when he and his friends came to watch. Aaliyah was terrible when it came to sports. She tried to serve, and instead of the ball going over the net, the ball somehow hit Joseph instead.

“What did he do?” Keira asked, on the edge of her seat.

“I was just about to apologise but he was furious. He started arguing with me. Everyone was laughing,” Aaliyah said.

“So how did you end up together?” Soraya asked.

“We were always arguing whenever we ran into each other, we both had so much energy and passion. Then one day, we were in the middle of an argument and then he just kissed me.” Aaliyah was smiling as she was talking about it. She could still remember how she felt about him.

“We dated for two years. Everything was so perfect. But eventually we broke up when I went away to university and his family moved away. We couldn’t stand to be apart from each other so we knew a long distance relationship would never work…” Her voice trailed off.

“That’s beautiful. Star-crossed lovers,” Stella said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

That’s what she told people. But really she was afraid that her family would never approve of their relationship because Joseph was not from the same social background. She had not thought of him in years. Until now.

“Will you speak to him now?” Sara asked.

“I don't know.” Aaliyah wanted to but she knew it was not going to be easy. She did not know where to start.

“Why not?” Soraya asked.

“I don't know what I would say.”

“Aaliyah, second chances do not come easily. There is a reason why we met him twice. It can't be a coincidence. Don't lose this opportunity,” Sara said.

“You clearly have feelings for him,” Stella added.

“Stop butting in,” her friend said to her as she elbowed her side.

“She has a point,” Kaleena pointed out. “You clearly still have feelings for him. Don't ignore your heart,” she added.

The ladies sat in the cell talking about Joseph. It took a lot of convincing before Aaliyah finally said that she would talk to him. She wasn't too pleased about their reunion being in jail, he must think she was crazy!

About an hour and a half later, Amir appeared with Joseph. He had requested to see the women for himself before they were released. He stood outside the cell looking at them. Their shoes were off, their hair was messy and their make-up was smudged.

“Amir!” Aaliyah called out in relief as she got to her feet. He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a quick picture.

“This will make a great memory,” he said in amusement.

“Oh thank heavens you're here,” Sara said as she got up, her shoes dangling in her hands. Soraya smiled awkwardly as Amir looked at her and smirked.

“I never thought I would see my wife in jail,” he said purposely taunting her. She narrowed her gaze at him as Joseph unlocked the cell.

“You have a handsome husband,” Stella pointed out.

“Thank you,” Amir replied with a smirk on his face. It did not surprise him that she thought he was handsome. He was so full of himself. Soraya rolled her eyes as she stood up.

“Can we bail those two out, too?” Sara asked Joseph, referring to Stella and her friend.

“That's random,” Amir pointed out.

“Not really, Sara makes friends wherever she goes,” Aaliyah said. Joseph agreed to allow Stella and her friend to be bailed out. Sara and the others were fortunate not to be charged, but they had to pay fines and compensate the bar for the broken glassware and furniture.

They sighed with relief as they walked out of the police station. No one wanted to have a criminal record.

“So, what happened?” Amir asked. He was curious as to why they had been arrested.

“Never mind,” Soraya said.

“That makes me even more curious,” he said and looked at Sara. “What happened?” he asked her. Sara never really could keep a secret from him. She sighed before she answered.

“Bar fight,” she replied. Amir raised his eyebrows.

“Did you start it?” he asked her.

“Amir, what?” Sara wanted to deny it but he was looking at her with a smirk. He knew that she was always the instigator. “It was self-defence,” she added as she grumbled.

“This guy was harassing Aaliyah,” Keira said.

“I'd have done worse,” Amir said.

“Never mind, it is over and done with now,” Soraya said wanting all this to be over.

“The first time all of you are out of town alone, there is trouble,” Amir tutted and shook his head.

“Habibti, you are enjoying this way too much,” Soraya said to him as she headed to the car. Amir laughed. He was enjoying this and planned to tease his wife about it later. Stella and her friend came to thank Sara for bailing them out.

“What is your name?” Sara asked the friend. She had been quiet most of the time.

“Miriam,” she said. Sara nodded.

“Well, you two stay out of trouble now,” Sara said. Earlier Stella had mentioned that it was not the first time they had been arrested. Sara gave them her number and told them to contact her if they needed help with anything.

“Rich folks aren't always this nice,” Stella said.

“I was not always rich,” Sara said with a smile and walked off. She wanted to help them do better. When she reached the car, everyone else was already inside, waiting for her.