The Sheikh's Secret Princess (15 page)

THREE

“Oh my God! Were you just talking to that guy?” Chloe’s excited voice snapped Hannah out of her pensive spell.

“What? What guy?” Hannah looked down the dark hallway where Chloe had just come from. “Oh, him? Yeah, he—”

Before she could say another word, Chloe interrupted her. “Do you know who that was?”

Hannah raised her eyebrows and shook her head, shrugging.

“That was only one of the richest bachelors in New York! Sheikh Sadiq bin-something or other! What did he want to talk to you about? What did you say to him?” Chloe was beside herself and pumped Hannah for details.

“Um, he, well, he just told me that he liked my singing.”

“Oh my God, girl! I can’t believe that he came up to you by himself! He usually has his whole entourage with him. Haven’t you seen him in the society pages or the tabloids? He’s all over the place!”

“Uh-uh,” Hannah said slowly. A rich bachelor? A sheikh?
That certainly explains the home country thing.

“You two, keep it down back there!” Harvey’s gruff voice came down the hallway. “How many times have I told you?”

Chloe grabbed Hannah and pushed her into the dressing room. Hannah flopped onto the sofa, her eyes wide. Now she understood. The offer he had made her was for real. He was legitimately rich. Holy cow!

“So what did you talk about? What did he say to you, exactly? I want all the details.” Chloe sat in the chair across from Hannah, fidgeting like an excited child.

“Well, first he told me he liked my singing.”

“Uh-huh. And then what?”

Hannah smiled. “Then, he told me my voice was, sensual.”

Chloe threw her hands up to her face. “Oh my God! That’s incredible, Han!”

“Yeah, I know,” Hannah said, beaming.

“Okay, what else? There’s something else, I know it.”

Hannah’s face turned serious and she looked straight at her friend. “He asked me to fly to his home country for a six-week tour.”

Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? Are you being serious? You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Hannah nodded. She hadn’t even told Chloe the good part yet.

“And you said yes, right? Please tell me you said yes, Hannah.”

“Well…”

Chloe threw her hands up to her head. “Oh, come on! You didn’t refuse, did you? God help me, please tell me you didn’t turn the guy down.”

Hannah couldn’t help but giggle as her friend’s hoop earrings bounced around in her excitement. “Well, let me finish.”

Chloe ran a finger across her lips, pretending to zip her mouth up and throw away the key. Then she sat back with her arms crossed over her ample chest.

“In exchange for the performances, he offered me 500,000 dollars…”

Chloe opened her mouth to speak as her eyes went wide, but Hannah held her hand out to stop her.

“And I told him I’d sleep on it.”

“Oh my God!” Chloe jumped up from her chair. “You told him you’d think about it? Five hundred thousand dollars? Oh my God, girl. That’s
half a
million
dollars!”

Chloe stretched her words out for effect. She paced the room with her hands on her head, talking more to herself than to Hannah. “I can’t believe you. Most people don’t make that much in their entire lifetimes—I know I won’t. You might, because you’re good. You’re—” She stopped and turned to Hannah. “Sensual!”

“Chloe?” Hannah tried to reel her friend in.

“What?!” Chloe snapped.

“I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know what?” Chloe asked.

“I didn’t know he was for real. I thought he was just a fan, or a stalker. A really good-looking, nice-smelling stalker. I had no idea when he made me the offer that he could actually back it up.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, sitting back down across from Hannah. “So you can make it right. Just call him and tell him you’ll take it.”

Hannah smiled slightly and looked away. “Yeah, about that…”

“Please tell me you got his number. Hannah,” Chloe got off her chair and knelt down in front of her best friend, mock-begging her. “Please tell me that you took the phone number of one of the richest bachelors in the city who just walked up to you and offered you half a million bucks for six weeks’ work. Please, please, tell me that you had the sense to take his phone number.”

Hannah pressed her lips together and shook her head.

Chloe got up and started pacing again. “No number. Nope. It’s just ten little digits, maybe seven if it’s a local number, but no, that would be too much. She can remember the lyrics to a thousand songs, but ask one guy for his number? Nope. Not a chance.”

Hannah got up and put her arm around her friend, laughing as she spoke. “Okay, relax. I told him I was singing again tomorrow night and that I’d have my answer for him then.”

Chloe turned and hugged her friend. “Thank you, sweet Jesus!” They pulled apart and Chloe looked at Hannah. “I’m sorry for overreacting. It’s just that, well, I want the best for you. You’re my best friend in the whole world. And you’re so darned talented. All I want is for you to succeed and be happy.”

“I know,” Hannah said. “And when I make it big, you’re gonna be my agent!”

“I thought I already was?” Chloe said with a grin.

Just then, Harvey’s voice came over the intercom. “Chloe, get your butt out here. You’re on in five.”

The two friends looked at the intercom and then at each other and rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, you better take that offer,” Chloe said. “We can’t both spend the rest of our lives here working for Harvey from Hell!”

Chloe blew Hannah a kiss and then disappeared through the door to go perform her set.

Hannah quickly changed out of her dress and gathered up her belongings, then walked down the dim hall to the sound of Chloe’s voice flowing over the speakers. She got outside and took the subway back to Brooklyn, her mind buzzing with possibilities after the unexpected turn her night had taken.

FOUR

Back at her and Chloe’s apartment, Hannah tried to put Sadiq out of her mind, but he kept resurfacing. She took a shower, made herself some dinner and finally decided to do a little research on the stranger that had suddenly appeared in her life.

She opened her laptop and typed ‘Sheikh Sadiq, New York’ into her browser. She didn’t have his last name, but was surprised to find that with just those words, pictures of the handsome stranger flooded her computer screen.

Hannah clicked on one of the links and saw the face she had seen earlier smiling up at her from her computer. The pictures on the search were taken in better lighting and after seeing just a few of them, Hannah realized that the chiseled good looks she’d glimpsed in the gloom of the Blue Moon were nothing compared to how he looked in daylight.

Sheikh Sadiq bin-Haled al-Halam, her search informed her, was the 28-year-old heir to the monarchy of El-Shakanish, a principality in the Middle East. He had received a very expensive private education in the United States, and after graduating from Yale, had decided to stay in the States and handle his family’s business affairs from there.

It appeared to Hannah that Sadiq was more of a playboy than a businessman. Nearly every shot had him tuxedo-clad at a charity gala, society gathering or celebrity fete, smiling broadly with a new beautiful woman on his arm at every event.

She scoured the internet for information on his ties to the music world but found very little. She was certain that he wasn’t an established producer, talent scout or agent, so why was he so interested in her?

Hannah sat back and rubbed her eyes, tired from looking at the computer screen for so long. She was glad to see that he clearly had the means to make good on his offer, but she was unsure if he was really offering her that kind of money just for singing. He was, after all, quite the playboy—maybe he was just looking for some woman to keep him company for six weeks in more of an escort capacity. Hannah didn’t want to think that was the case, but she had to be realistic.

She thought back again to her father and his experience of having to turn down an offer that was too good to be true. She knew that even if Sadiq was on the up and up, there might be some things he wasn’t telling her. Perhaps he wanted her to sing at really shady places. Perhaps she would have to go to dangerous parts of the region and risk her life in the process. Maybe he would want her to wear some really revealing costumes while she performed. That last one wouldn’t be too terrible, she thought, especially if she could wear them again for the Sheikh in private…

“Stop it, Hannah!” she yelled out loud, standing up from the computer. “You have no idea what this guy wants from you. All you know is that he’s offering you a crazy amount of money to do something that sounds too good to be true.”

She closed the laptop and walked out onto the fire escape. She wanted to believe that the offer was everything Sadiq said it was, and nothing more. She wanted to believe that she could fly off to another part of the world, do what she loved to do, and come back with enough money to finally get her head above water and feel financially secure. She had always dreamed about getting a recording contract and it helping her become financially stable, but if it happened the other way around, she would be totally okay with that, too.

Yet the old fears, that had motivated her for so long, also held her back. She knew that if she took off for six weeks, Harvey wouldn’t hold her job at the Blue Moon. She would be forced to find other gigs, and this one, as average as it was, had been difficult enough to secure. She could go back to the catering company—they were always taking on new staff—but it was hardly a job she was passionate about, nor did it leave her with anything left over once all of her bills were paid.

Hannah wasn’t even considering that with half a million dollars in her pocket, she would have enough money to take her time looking for work. That part didn’t even enter her mind. She had been stuck in survival mode since childhood and it was a place she had difficulty getting out of. No matter how much money she had, or would have, she didn’t think she could ever get past the idea that she had to always work, no matter what.

She looked out across the tiny park and down the few streets she could see from her apartment fire escape. Lights twinkled in the distance and horns beeped. Hannah breathed in the city air, letting it fill her lungs. She smiled. She loved the city. She had loved Atlanta, too, but there was just something magical about New York City, and she didn’t know if she could ever leave it, even for six weeks. But the thought of going and coming back with enough money to have a real terrace, and not just a fire escape, appealed to her greatly.

Hannah crawled back in through the window and closed it behind her. She walked into her room and crawled into bed. She pulled the covers up over her and turned over, gazing through the window at the brick wall that was her view. She knew she would have to turn the sheikh down eventually—it was the sensible thing to do—but for one night at least, she could imagine what it would be like to tell him yes. Hannah closed her tired eyes and fell asleep to the sound of distant Friday-night traffic, the smell of Sadiq’s cologne still lingering in her mind.

FIVE

The following night, Hannah arrived at the club and headed straight towards the dressing room. She closed the door behind her and began rummaging through the dresses hanging in the closet. She wasn’t sure if Sadiq would show up or not, and she certainly hadn’t made her mind up about his offer yet, but she figured she might as well make an effort with her appearance; if nothing else, maybe she’d get a date out of it.

She finally settled on a slinky black cocktail dress. The fabric clung lightly to her frame and the one thin strap sat delicately on her bare shoulder. She pulled her dark red hair up in a loose bun, pulling a few strands out to hang messily around her pale face. She added a touch of red lipstick and put on black and silver dangling earrings, then stood up and checked herself out in the mirror.

“Good. Not too boring, not too trampy. Just right.”

She slipped on a pair of black high-heeled pumps and checked the clock; she was on stage in ten minutes. She cleared her mind of all thoughts of Sadiq and his offer and focused on the songs she would be singing. She had selected some of her favorites and was looking forward to losing herself in the music.

Hannah opened the door to the dressing room and was greeted by Harvey’s scowling face.

“Hello to you, too, Harvey,” she said sarcastically as she stared him down.

Harvey just eyed her without saying a word.

“Okay then,” she said, trying to slip past him. “If that’s how it’s gonna be. Got a show to put on here…”

“Who was he?” Harvey said, blocking Hannah’s exit.

“Who was who?” she asked, not in the mood for his games.

“Who was that guy you were talking to last night?” Harvey hissed the question at her.

Hannah thought.
That guy, you idiot, was a sheikh. He was a thousand times more handsome than you’ll ever be, and a million times richer.
That’s what she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue.

“First of all,” she said, jabbing her tiny finger in his thick chest. “You and I are no longer together.” She paused for effect. “As a direct result of this type of ludicrous behavior, I might add.”

Harvey flinched, as if the words stung him just a little.

Hannah went on. “Second of all, who I talk to is none of your business. I work for you Harvey, that’s it. I can talk to whoever I want!”

Harvey’s face grew redder as she spoke.

“And you can’t do a darned thing about it!” she added.

“Watch me!” Harvey spat the words at her. “I’m cancelling your show tonight. Now you can spend the rest of the night talking with whoever you want!”

He turned and headed toward the stage as Hannah followed him in shock.

“You can’t do that!” she yelled from behind him.

Harvey walked on the stage, just behind the velvet curtain, as the band looked on in surprise. Hannah arrived right behind him and stood there, dumbfounded. She and Harvey had gotten into many fights in the past, but he had never cancelled one of her performances before.

“You’re not really going to do this, are you? You’ve got a house full of people here, Harvey.” She pulled the curtain back a fraction to show him all the people that had come to hear her sing.

He ripped the curtain out of her hand and turned to face her. “Yes, Hannah, I really am going to do this. And if you want to keep your job here, you’ll think more carefully about speaking to me like that in the future. I know I have a house full of people; this is my club, and these are my guests, not yours. I can call any number of singers and have them come and fill in for you. You’re not that special. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Harvey turned his back to Hannah and walked out onto the stage, quietly instructing the band to start playing a soft instrumental.

Hannah watched in disbelief, still reeling from the words Harvey had spoken. With tears in her eyes and anger raging in her heart, she turned and stormed out onto the stage.

“You know what, Harvey, I am special, and nothing you say or do will change that. I don’t need to take this from you anymore. I quit!”

The band stopped playing. The crowd, still streaming in through the doors, went quiet with the commotion on the stage.

Harvey threw his hand in the air and commanded the band to begin playing again as Hannah stormed off the stage and made her way through the club to the exit. She was so focused on getting to the door that she didn’t even see Sadiq when she ran right into him.

“Miss Green! What a lovely surprise!” he said cheerfully.

Hannah looked up and saw his expression change to one of concern when he saw her face.

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Sadiq!” Hannah said, her tone belying how she was really feeling. “Yes, everything is just fine.” She had planned on telling him she was going to refuse his offer, but now, with everything that had just happened, she suddenly changed her mind.

“I’ve decided to take you up on your generous offer,” she said, not quite believing the words were coming out of her own mouth.

Sadiq reached out and touched her shoulders lightly. “Really?” he asked.

Hannah nodded, smiling nervously as his touch sent a shiver down her spine.

“That’s wonderful! I don’t know what changed your mind, but I’m glad you did. Pack a suitcase, or a few. We leave tomorrow.”

People kept walking around them as the band continued to play softly in the background. “Oh,” Sadiq said, realizing that Hannah was dressed to perform. “I can see you have a show to put on. No problem, we’ll talk after.”

Hannah looked up at the stage and then back at Sadiq. “Oh, that. No, actually, I won’t be performing tonight. Slight change of plans,” she smiled meekly.

Hannah grabbed Sadiq’s hand and pulled him over to a table in the corner. “Here, sit down,” she said as she sat down next to him. “I’ll give you my number and address and you just tell me what time I need to be ready.”

“Sure,” Sadiq said, and punched in the information on his phone. “I’ll text you so you have my number, too.”

“Great,” Hannah said, smiling as casually as possible, as if she was used to getting sheikhs’ numbers. This night was just getting stranger and stranger.

Hannah got up to leave. “Well, thanks again for the offer. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“No,” Sadiq said, reaching out for Hannah’s hand. “Thank you, Miss Green. It’s my pleasure.”

Hannah blushed as Sadiq kissed her hand. She pulled it away, smiled and then turned to walk back to the dressing room. Before she left, she looked over her shoulder one more time.

“And you can call me Hannah,” she said.

Sadiq smiled and nodded at her. “Hannah it is. Goodnight, Hannah.”

Hannah waved and then scurried back to her dressing room, closing and locking the door behind her; the last thing she wanted to deal with was Harvey bursting in.

She reached into her purse and took out her phone. One message. She clicked it open and read it out quietly:

Miss Green, it’s Sadiq. Thank you again for accepting my offer. I look forward getting to know you better. Sleep well.

Hannah felt that same shiver run up her spine. ‘Sleep well.’
That sounds like something a prince would say to a princess
, she thought.
Okay, girl. Stop that right now.
She was getting ahead of herself.

Even though she was excited, Hannah couldn’t help feeling a little nervous, too. She had never done anything like this before. Sure, she had left her small town for Atlanta, and she had moved from there to New York. This, however, was unchartered territory. Flying off to a foreign country with a complete stranger for six weeks? And a very rich, very handsome, very eligible stranger at that?
Well, you only live once
, she thought.

Hannah grabbed all her belongings from the closet and took out her large garment bag, then went over to the dressing table and tossed every last piece of her makeup, jewelry and hair accessories into the bag; she had quit the Blue Moon now and had no intention of coming back.

She took her bag out to the street and began walking toward the subway station. Then she stopped. She was about to make half a million dollars; she deserved to take a cab tonight. She dug around in her purse, made sure she had the fare, and then hailed a cab.

A little under half an hour later, Hannah got back to her and Chloe’s apartment, tossing her stuff on the bedroom floor. She had a lot to do before she could go to bed. First, she had to get all of her dresses and outfits ready, then she would have to email the catering company to let them know she would be unavailable for shifts for the next few weeks. And lastly, she had to leave a note for Chloe.

After taking care of all of those details, exhausted from the evening’s activity, Hannah slipped under the covers and closed her eyes. She felt a wave of fatigue wash over her and was glad to be in bed, but a tingling of nervous energy kept her awake. She was excited to be taking the chance she was taking. She was proud of herself for taking the risk. And above all, she was happy to be spending the next six weeks with Sadiq, her mysterious Middle-Eastern playboy.