The Oil Prince (Contemporary Romance) (7 page)

Emily headed out of Fady’s office and back to the one that she shared with Basil to collect her bag.  She and Fady had just been trying to figure out some options. They were not going to be able to produce 400 barrels in the short time they had left. Emily walked into the shared office. Just being in there reminded her of Basil. Of course it would, they had worked together for the past three months. She especially remembered the last time they were in the office together. He had opened up to her. It was nice. For once she was not arguing with him and he was not being rude.

She had learned a lot about him that day. She found out that he did not believe in love and did not want to get married. It was odd to her because she wanted to get married and she believed in love. She might not have been so lucky in the past, but she still had hope. She was young, there was no rush. Emily just took her bag and walked out of the office.

When Emily walked into her house, she found her grandmother in there cooking. “Nana!” Emily shouted as she walked into the kitchen.  

“Why are you shouting like that? You scared me,” said her grandmother with her hand on her heart.

“Why are you in my house? How did you even get in?”

“With my key, of course.”

Emily stared at her nana with a blank facial expression. She shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table. “I thought I had taken that key back,” she said.

“I had two made at the time,” she replied. Emily shook her head.

“You are aging in a crazy way,” Emily teased her. Her grandmother hit her on the head with a wooden spoon. “Ouch!” Emily screamed out.

“Wash your hands and chop the onions.”

“Yes, Nana.” Emily got up and did as she was told. “But, Nana, this is creepy. Please warn me beforehand when you are coming over and only use your key in emergency situations.”

“I missed you, isn’t that an emergency?”

“No, it isn’t! I saw you on Sunday.”

Her nana laughed. “Ah, guess who I saw today?” she asked as she mixed the peppers with the mushrooms in the pan.

“Who?” Emily asked flatly.

“That prince from the country club.”

“What?” Emily turned sharply and looked at her grandmother. “Where did you see him?”

“I knew there was something between the two of you. Look how you are reacting from hearing that I saw him.”

Emily frowned. “It’s not like that, Nana. He just hasn’t been at work.”

“So you miss him?”

“No, I don’t. There is just an important situation at work and he needs to be in,” she said. She felt her cheeks heat up.

“So why are you turning red?” her nana asked.

“I am not.”

“You are.”

Emily sighed heavily. She started explaining the situation to her grandmother about how she was working with him on the methane project. She explained to her how important it was and what was at stake. She was only concerned about Basil’s whereabouts because he had not been at work when it was urgent.

“I did not know he was that irresponsible. He sounded like a decent guy when I spoke to him,” said her nana.

“You spoke to him? Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

“Because you did not let me get there.”

“Well what did you speak about? How did you even end up speaking to him?”

“I met him at the country club.”

“You go there too often.”

“It is a great social platform. I might catch you a nice-looking man.” Her nana winked at her. Emily burst out laughing.

“Oh lord,” she said as she laughed.

“Do you want you to hear the rest of the story or not?”

“Yes, please continue,” said Emily.

“He was sitting with some older businessmen,” said her nana.

“Businessmen? How do you know?”

“From the way they were dressed. Anyway I recognized him and so I greeted him.”

“Oh no, just why?” Emily buried her head in her hands.

“Why not? He was very polite to me and I even invited him over for dinner,” she said. Emily dropped the knife and looked at her grandmother as if she was going to have a heart attack.

“WHAT?” Emily shouted at the top of her lungs. “No way, no, he cannot come here,” she added. What was her grandmother thinking by inviting Basil over? The project was to be over in a few days and she was not going to see him again, or at least have any business with him. That was how she wanted it. Why was her grandmother speaking to him and inviting him for dinner?

“Not here, but at my house,” her nana said.

“But still…”

“Oh, you are so uptight. That is why you are still single.”

“Nana!”

Her grandmother just laughed. Emily was not keen on the idea of her grandmother and Basil having dinner together.

Basil showed up at the office just a day before the meeting with Magenta Oils. The last time Emily had seen him was in Fady’s office, when he had come in late. She had been so worried about the deal. There was no way they were going to be able to provide the amount of methane required. To make matters worse, Basil had not been coming into work.

“I know that look,” Basil said as he walked into their office. Emily was looking at him with an angry face. He knew that she was going to scold him for being absent and then coming in late.

“Basil, you must be tired of being a prince,” Emily said to him.

“What?”

“You know full well what is at stake here. If this deal is unsuccessful, it will be horrible, I would hate it but everything will revert back to normal for me. However your father will strip you of your title.”

“Okay?” Basil was not sure what she was going on about.

“This affects you the most and yet you still play around. What is wrong with you?” Emily said. Basil started walking towards Emily with a blank facial expression.

“I am aware of that. However I am not playing around,” he said to her.

“Where have you been all week?”

“I had matters to attend to.”

“Attending to your multiple lovers?”

Basil could not help but laugh at her. Emily frowned at him. She was all serious and he was laughing. “Basil, why are you laughing right now?” she asked him.

“I do not have multiple lovers,” he said gently.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Why is that hard to believe?”

“I know your type.” Emily shook her head. “That is not the point! I do not care what you do in your spare time.”

“So why did you bring it up?” Basil stopped right in front of Emily.

“Because you are never at work and... why are you standing so close to me right now?” She was angry at him and wanted to speak her mind. She wanted to scold him but he was making it difficult. Why was he standing so close to her, looking at her like that? It was distracting.

“Is it bothering you?”

“Yes, it is bothering me. I am trying to have a serious conversation here. We have the meeting tomorrow and not enough methane. That is what I wanted to talk to you about four days ago but you were nowhere to be found,” Emily said to him.

“I came in to specifically talk to you about that.”

“What good will that do now? The meeting is tomorrow and–” Emily was just going off on Basil, he did not even have a chance to speak. He had important information to tell her but she kept talking. He decided to cut her off by kissing her. It was the only way he could shut her up and he actually wanted to kiss her. There was something about her being feisty that turned him on.

This time Emily did not fight Basil. She let him kiss her so passionately and softly. She had not known how much she had missed his lips until he kissed her. She immediately felt butterflies in her stomach. Basil broke off the passionate kiss and pressed a small soft kiss on her lips. She stood there for a moment without saying anything.

“You can open your eyes now,” Basil teased. Realization sunk in and Emily opened her eyes.

“What are you kissing me for?” she yelled out. Basil laughed.

“Because you would not stop talking.” That and the fact that he really wanted to kiss her. Her lips were always tempting him and her being feisty was appealing to him.

“And the last time?” Emily asked him. Basil just shrugged his shoulders. He was not about to explain himself to her.

“Are you calm now? Can we talk?” Basil sat on the table and folded his arms over his chest.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Look at your rosy cheeks,” Basil pointed out. Emily’s cheeks were still red from the kissing and being shy. Emily touched her cheeks.

“They’re not red. Hey! Just tell me what it is you wanted to speak about,” she snapped when she felt how warm her cheeks were. Basil laughed.

“Okay, calm down. I will tell you,” he said. “The reason I have not been around so much is because I have been meeting with Natural Gasses Limited.”

Emily looked surprised. “Who are they?” she asked him.

“A natural gas company. They’re still new, hence that’s why you do not know them.”

“Okay, so why are you meeting with them in such a crucial time?”

“Because I think it will be a good investment.”

Emily stared at him blankly. She was not understanding his point. “Basil, please make sense,” she said to him.

“The point is I bought methane from them and we can use that for the Magenta Oils deal,” he said. Emily raised her eyebrows.

“What? How did you even think of that?”

“Methane is more abundant in the ocean floor than in the ground. I knew that it would not be easy. So I researched on other companies just in case we needed emergency methane,” he said. Emily stared at him with her eyes widened. She had not even thought of that. She was used to dealing with oil.

“That was good thinking on your part” she said with her hand on her heart. “But you came off as this lazy, unmotivated, irresponsible jerk.”

“Thanks,” he said sarcastically. Emily laughed.

“Well, you rarely came into work and then when you were here, you left early.”

“The office life is not for me.”

“You are just spoiled, that’s all.”

Basil whipped his head closer to hers. “You realize that I am a prince, right?” he said.

“And so?”

“You must treat me like one.”

“After three months you still don’t know me,” said Emily. Basil rose to his feet. He raised her chin with his index finger.

“I know what I need to,” he said. He turned on his heel and headed towards the door.

“What? Where are you going?”

“To see Fady.”

“Yes, you should do that! He was looking for you all week. You are going to be in trouble.” Emily wanted to see Fady yell at Basil.

“No, I am not. My brother never yells at me. Our father always blamed him for spoiling me.”

“I blame him too.”

Basil smiled at her and walked out of the office.

It was finally time for the meeting with Magenta Oils, where they were going to sign a contract with Tadros Oil. It was the day that Fady, Basil and their father had been waiting for. The project had not been easy but they had gotten through it. Fady was particularly proud of his younger brother. He had worried for him that their father really would strip him of his title and take away all his allowances.

“You are here,” Emily said to Basil as he entered the conference room dressed in his designer charcoal-gray suit and navy blue shirt. His jet-black hair had been trimmed a little and his beard was about a day old. He looked impressive. He stood next to Emily. Fady was speaking to the lawyers. They were waiting for the Magenta Oils people to come.

“Of course I am here,” he replied.

“On time too.”

“After the million messages you sent me last night and this morning. How did you even get my number?”

“I have my ways,” said Emily with a cheeky grin on her face. She hated that she had never been able to reach him when it mattered. So the day before, she asked Fady for his number. As embarrassing as it was, it was vital.

“Now I must change it,” he teased.

“After today I will not need it anyway.” 

“What are you two whispering about?” Fady asked Emily and Basil as he approached them.

“Nothing important,” said Basil. Fady smiled and gripped his shoulder.

“Are you ready? This is the easy part.”

“I am.”

“I am so proud of you for getting this far. The two of you.”

“Thank you,” said Emily cheerfully. Basil raised his eyebrow at her. She was goofy sometimes. Rachel walked into the conference room with the Magenta Oils business men and lawyers.

Fady immediately greeted them. Mr. Johns was among the men. He was happy to see Basil and Fady. He had always respected their father and so he liked them too. They all sat down at the table. The lawyers already had the contracts. What was left, was for them to be signed.

“I am glad you were able to meet our demands, even though we changed them last minute,” said Mr. Johns. Emily wanted to let him know how hard it had been, but of course that was not professional. They all had had a hard time with the sudden change in methane amount. Surprisingly it was Basil that saved the day.

“In the future we will be able to meet your demands. Please continue to do business with us,” said Basil. Mr. Johns nodded.

“You take after your father,” he said. Basil did not know whether to smile or not. He had never been compared to his father. Growing up, he and his father never got along because he did not want to work in the oil business. His father pushed him to do it but he refused. He just went to the university, got his degree, and just wanted to enjoy his life without any responsibilities.

Finally the contract signing began. There were two contracts, one for each company. Fady and Basil signed both copies. Mr. Johns and his business partners did the same. Tadros Oil was to deliver methane to Magenta Oils monthly for the next 10 years.

“We look forward to doing business with you,” said Mr. Johns. He shook both Fady’s and Basil’s hands before he and his business partners and lawyers left.

“We did it!” Emily cried out after all the Magenta Oils people had left. Basil and Fady turned to look at her. She immediately felt awkward. She cleared her throat and looked down.

“We did,” said Fady. He chuckled a little and tapped her shoulder. “You put a lot of effort in. Well done.”

“She’s so weird,” said Basil referring to Emily. Fady started speaking in Arabic to Basil. Emily could not understand them, so she just watched. When Fady was done talking, he tapped Emily’s shoulder and left the room. The Tadros Oil lawyers had also left the conference room.

“His highness was telling you how proud he was?” Emily asked Basil.

“Whose highness?” Basil asked.

“Your brother.”

“So you call him his highness but not me?”

“Basil, let it go.”

“He was telling me how proud he was and that I did well.” Basil grabbed Emily’s waist. Her eyes widened and she let out a squeal.

“Let me go!” she cried out.

“I could not have done it without you.” He picked her up and embraced her. Emily hit him a few times and begged him to put her down but he didn’t. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I already know that it was all because of my hard work,” she joked and hugged him tightly. He too held her tightly for a moment before he put her down.

“Now I can leave this place. I have worked too hard. I need a vacation,” he said. Emily frowned at him. She was about to comment on that when she suddenly remembered a pressing issue that she wanted to ask him about.

“Basil, you met my grandmother at the country club?” she asked him. All of a sudden he had a mischievous look on his face.

“Nice lady,” he said.

“You’re not seriously going to go for dinner, right?”

“Why not?”

“Just why would you go? You barely know her.”

“She was very polite to invite me, why would I not go?”

Emily narrowed her gaze. “She wouldn’t take no for answer, would she?” she asked him.

“No,” said Basil. Emily knew her grandmother would be like that.

“But why were you at the country club?” she asked him.

“Meeting with the board members of Natural Gasses Limited.”

“At the country club?”

“I am not cut out for the office.”

Emily knew that to be true. He could barely stay in the office for more than four hours in a day.

“After all of this, and especially because of the result of this meeting, I am considering the methane business,” he said.  

“Eh?” Emily was shocked. “You, working?”

“Have some faith in me, woman!”

Emily started laughing. “So what you are saying is that working with me got you interested. I inspired you?” she said.

“No,” he replied. Sadly she was right. Seeing how hard she worked and seeing her results inspired him. When they had started working together, he looked into her educational background and all the work she had done at their company. He wanted to know who he was working with, since there was a lot at stake for him. Since he found out that she was good at her job, he did not mind leaving her to do everything and just slacking off. That was how it started, and then he slowly got interested.

The fact that they had successfully negotiated the contract and achieved all their goals despite a few mishaps exhilarated Basil. It made him want to do it again.

“Deny it all you want,” Emily said cheekily.

“Emily, don’t flatter yourself.”

Emily laughed. “Well, in the end everything worked out all thanks to you.” She pushed him playfully. “So you will be starting here or what?” she asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

“I will buy Natural Gasses Limited.”

“What? You want to buy it?”

“Yes.” He had not thought too much about it. All he knew was that he wanted to buy it. He had a history of being too impulsive and that did not always work in his favor.

“That is a risky move,” she said.

“You don’t think I should?”

“No, I think you should.” Emily was seeing a different side to him, a more mature and responsible one. “But before you should, you should check out the wells first. Don’t buy something that will not benefit you or the company in the future. Find out as much information as you can about their wells,” she continued. Basil nodded.

“I will,” he said. As he was standing with Emily, he realized that she had been with him every step of the way. Though she nagged him, disliked him, refused to make him coffee, she had helped him a lot. He had also found himself opening up to her so easily. He never usually opened up to people. It was odd that with Emily it was easy.

“But won’t you return to Al-Bisha where your bride is waiting?” Emily asked before she started giggling. Basil narrowed his eyes. There was the sarcasm and the goofiness too. He stroked her cheek with his index finger.

“Aren’t you too interested in my love life?” he asked her. She whacked his hand away.

“Who is interested?”

“Last time you accused me of having multiple lovers.”

“Well, you must have multiple lovers. Otherwise who were you always messaging on your phone?”

“See, you are interested.”

“Goodbye,” she said. She tried to walk out but Basil blocked her path. “What are you doing? I have work to do.”

“Look how red your face is.”

“It’s not red!” she snapped, even though she could feel it heating up. It annoyed her how much she turned red around him.

“Yes it is,” he said.

“Shut up!” she said and pushed him out of the way. Basil laughed loudly to annoy her as she left the room. He liked seeing her blushing around him. It showed him just how much he affected her. It was even more adorable to see her getting defensive because of it.