The Oil Prince (Contemporary Romance) (4 page)

“You are here early,” Fady said to Basil as he walked into his office.

“I am, but she isn’t,” Basil said, referring to Emily. She had not arrived in the office yet.

“How it is working with her?”

“It is obviously not great,” said Basil. Fady laughed a little and shook his head. “As if that is not enough, I had to see her at the country club,” he added. Fady raised his eyebrows.

“She is a member?”

“I doubt it.”

“So mother called me. The baby is not yours.”

“Of course it is not mine,” Basil replied. One of his former female lovers had come to the palace a month ago claiming that she was carrying his child. Basil had rejected her and said that the baby wasn’t his.

“I just cannot believe that you were not even willing to take responsibility if it was your child,” said Fady. Basil just shrugged his shoulders. He was not ready to be a father yet.

“Well, that does not matter now since she lied.”

“Brother, these antics of yours need to end. You have to start taking responsibility and mature.”

Basil put his phone down on the table and looked at Fady. “I am living just fine,” he said.

“Isn’t that why you are in this current predicament?” Fady asked, referring to the fact that Basil’s title was on the line. Just then, Emily walked into the room.

“Well, it is not my fault that he does not approve my way of life. I was not destined to work in the oil business and I do not want to be forced,” said Basil.

“Well, you have to do something.”

Emily immediately felt awkward. She had no idea what she had just walked into. “Shall I leave?” she asked Fady. She was pretty sure that she was not meant to be hearing that conversation.

“No, you need to hear this actually,” Fady said to her.

“Are you sure?”

“The reason why this project is so important is because if it is not successful, our father the king will strip Basil's title as prince.”

Emily’s eye flew open. What had she just heard? And why had she heard it?

“That is none of her business,” Basil said. He did not exactly want Emily getting involved in his life or even knowing about him.

“She needs to know. Maybe the two of you will be a little bit motivated,” Fady replied.

“Why? What happened for such a drastic decision?” Emily asked. She was suddenly more intrigued by Basil now. Just what was he all about?

“That is none of your business,” Basil said to her. Fady tapped her shoulder and walked out of the room. Emily felt even more curious. They had just revealed something so big to her and then not told her the details. She hated being told half the story. She walked over to her seat and placed her bag on the table. She took off her blazer. She then went to make herself some coffee. While she was waiting for it to be done, she turned and looked at Basil.

“Given the reason why we are doing this project together and in such a short time span, shouldn't you be a bit more hard-working?” she asked. She had to say it, he was slacking.

“More hard-working?” Basil asked.

“You always leave early and when you are here, you are on your phone.”

“You pay attention to my every move.”

Emily rolled her eyes and poured herself the coffee. “Please do not be conceited,” she said.

“Stay out of my business,” he warned. Emily walked over to her seat with her coffee. “You are not making me coffee?” he asked. Emily let out a laugh.

“No, last time I made you coffee, you were ungrateful.” She took a sip of her coffee and smiled as she swallowed. It tasted heavenly.

“So you expect me to make it myself?”

“Precisely.”

Basil looked at her as if she were mad. There was no way he was going to get up and make himself coffee. Fortunately for him, Rachel walked in. Just like the last time she had come in the office, she greeted Basil with a bow and a smile.

“Make me a cup of coffee,” he said to her.

“Yes, your highness. How do you like it?” she replied. He gave her the same instructions he had told Emily. Rachel nodded and left the room. Emily was staring at Basil. She shook her head.

“You are shameless,” she said to him.

“Excuse me?” Basil replied.

“You ignored the girl last time and now you just order her around.”

“She works for my family company. I can do that if I want to.” Basil had a smirk on his face. Emily just looked away. He was just too arrogant and conceited. Moments later, Rachel returned to the office with a folder in her hand and a cup of coffee for Basil. He did not even thank her when she gave it to him. She handed Emily the folder.

“Results from the geology department,” she said.

“Thank you,” Emily replied. Rachel bowed to Basil before she left. Emily opened the folder and pulled out the results of the well logging. She moved closer to Basil so that they could discuss the results. He looked up from his phone and looked at Emily.

“Why are you moving closer to me?” he asked her.

“To discuss the results,” she said and passed him the papers with the graphs and data.

“Are you certain that it is not an excuse for you to be near me?”

Emily narrowed her gaze at him. “Are you serious right now?” she said. He stared at her and said nothing. He looked serious. “Just look at the results,” she said to him. She did not want to have another staring contest with him. It was just too intense.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?” he asked her.

“What are you talking about now?”

“When I am looking at you, I can see you slowly unraveling.”

“You are conceited,” Emily said. She did not unravel! Yes, he made her feel uncomfortable but not unravel. He picked up a sheet of results without taking his eyes off her face. He smirked and then looked down at the paper. It took him seconds to make sense of the results. It surprised Emily because he had not been that vocal on the project and she still did not understand what his role was in the whole thing.

“The methane in this field is promising,” he said.

“You can interpret well logs?” Emily asked him

“Of course I can.”

“You are smarter than you look.”

Basil raised an eyebrow. “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Well, you have not been working, you barely say anything, you act like you do not care.”

“So you assumed.”

Emily shrugged her shoulders and leaned forward. When she leaned forward, she got a whiff of Basil's scent. He smelled very pleasantly. She found herself noticing his strong jaw. His body was just as strong.

Basil moved closer to Emily. “Why are you studying me?” he asked her. His voice had gone deeper. Emily widened her eyes.

“I was not,” she lied. She had not done so intentionally. It just sort of happened. Basil grabbed her chin with index finger and thumb. His gaze was so intense, Emily felt her stomach knot up. She stared back at him wide-eyed. She wondered why he was holding her like that and staring at her face. She hated how much he was affecting her in that moment. She pressed her knees together to stop them from knocking.

“Here is a closer look,” he said.

“Let me go,” she said.

“You feel nervous.”

“I don’t.”

“I make you uncomfortable.”

“You don’t.”

“Really?” he asked and started moving closer to Emily’s face.

Basil moved closer to Emily’s face until their noses were almost touching. Emily’s eyes widened. She did not know what he was doing or why he was doing it. She started feeling very nervous and uncomfortable. She pressed her knees together even harder. She could smell him and he smelled really good. She felt her face heating up. Emily pushed him away. “What are you doing?” she asked him and looked away. Basil laughed a little.

“See,” he said.

“See what?”

“I make you uncomfortable.” Basil leaned back in his chair. He was practically gloating like he had proved something. Emily was avoiding eye contact with him. She was full of mixed emotions. She was nervous about him being so close to her. She had also found herself noticing his full lips and his strong jaw.

“No, you do not,” Emily protested.

“Yes, I do.”

“Let’s just focus on our work.” 

“Yes, you need to focus on the work, not on me.”

Emily rolled her eyes. He was so conceited. Emily picked up her laptop and returned to her seat at the edge of the table. She could not believe what had just happened. She cleared her throat and just focused on her laptop.

***

Finally the drilling had begun. So far the plan had been moving along fine. Fady called Emily and Basil into his office for a meeting. The two sat opposite Fady at his desk. There was enough distance between them to fit another chair. Their disdain for each other was obvious. Fady thought they would have at least warmed up to each other after working together for almost two weeks now. However that did not seem to be the case.

Fady asked for an update on the methane project. Emily started telling him about the progress they had made so far. Basil was just sitting back in his chair with his phone in his hand. It was no surprise to Fady. His younger brother had always showed no interest in the family business.

“Basil, is this the case?” Fady asked him.

“Yes,” he said without looking up from his phone. Emily frowned.
What was the point of asking Basil anything?
she thought to herself. He hadn’t been mentally present most of the time. She had done most of the work. Fair enough, she had seen him interpret the results but that was about the only work he had done. It was surprising to her that he was that smart. She wondered why though.

“I am glad things are working out,” said Fady. “Well, the reason that I called you in is because I need to inform you on an upcoming meeting with Magenta Oils. They have requested some methane samples,” he added. Basil frowned.

“So you need us to take the samples to the meeting?” Emily asked. Fady nodded as he leaned back into his chair. “When is the meeting?” Emily asked.

“In a week's time. Will you be ready?” Fady asked.

“Yes, we will.”

“Good.” Fady nodded.

“If there is nothing else, I will return to my work now,” said Emily. Fady nodded, he had nothing more to say to her. Emily got up and left the office. Fady turned his attention to Basil.

“You will not be returning to your work either?” Fady asked Basil, who was still sitting comfortably in his seat.

“Not at this moment,” he replied truthfully.

“How is it working with Emily?”

Basil grunted before he responded. First off,
working
was just not great. He did not like having to come into work every day. He liked to do things on his own accord. Second, working with someone he was not fond of was even worse. Basil frowned as he remembered himself teasing her. He had intentionally moved closer to her as if he was going to kiss her, only to tease her. He felt strangely afterwards. He had not anticipated feeling anything. It bothered him.

“It is what it is,” Basil finally replied.

“By now, I would have expected you to have warmed up to her.”

“I have not done anything to her. I am civil towards her. That is enough.”

“You need to call mother,” said Fady. Basil slid in his phone in his pocket.

“Why?” he asked his brother. He had an awful feeling that he knew what it was about. Fady laughed softly.

“Because she wants to speak to you,” Fady answered Basil. “You realize that you cannot dodge marriage forever, right?”

“I am not interested in the brides she has in mind for me, nor am I interested in the idea of marriage at the moment,” said Basil. He had never pictured himself as a husband. To him marriage was being tied down to one woman for the rest of his life. That was not appealing to him. He got bored rather easily. No one woman could keep him interested for longer than two weeks. The longest he had ever been with the same woman was a month.

“She did well with choosing my wife,” said Fady. Their mother had chosen his wife for him. Fortunately, they liked each other.

“Well, that is great for you but I do not wish to be married.”

“You will have to someday.”

Basil sighed. “Just not today,” he said.

“You know mother is relentless. This matter will not die down easily,” said Fady.

“I know, that is why I will avoid her for as long as I can.” Basil rose to his feet.

“So you have decided to get back to your work now?” Fady said jokingly.

“What choice do I have?” he replied as he slid his hands into his pockets. He stalked out the exit and headed to the office he shared with Emily.