his head with the tips of his fingers.
My own smile fell at the motion, and I blinked twice, for it made me realize who I was standing in front of, or better yet–what he was.
An Arab.
An Arab, and for sure Muslim, as well.
It was then that I noticed that his bright green eyes were darkened by secrets I knew were hidden there somewhere, by the toughness and cruelty I was so sure he was trying his hardest to hide. But I was no fool. I knew he wasn’t someone I should have any thought of attraction to or see the beauty in, because I just knew he was anything but on the inside.
I just knew it in my heart, and my heart could always tell.
I went on with my way.
It had only been less than a day since I set foot in the country and I already felt like I was going to go crazy.
Traditions, traditions, and then more traditions.
Come the heck on! I was bored stupid.
When we first arrived we were ushered into some kind of private hotel. It felt as if it was almost empty aside from the staff, which were all men I might add. I started to think that there were only men in this country, but then thought it would be stupid of me to think so, because how on earth would men be here if it wasn’t for women?
I was on edge the whole frigging time, and again, I was pretty sure I’d lose my sanity if it wasn’t for Joseph hardly ever leaving my side.
In our suite, we were constantly offered a huge amount of food –enough to feed the armies of two or three countries. It seemed like a never-ending story of people entering our suite to drop off more food and take away hardly touched plates. It felt weird to see all of those men looking at the ground, like slaves. I hated it. It made me feel bad, so bad beyond words.
Joseph told me that they’d let us rest. We should be starting our day in the morning; they’d let us know exactly when. I hated that, too. Joseph and I were to be some kind of family to them soon, so why wouldn’t any of the royal family meet us now? That was disrespectful.
To be honest, when I put my head on the pillow and slept like a rock almost instantly, I was very grateful for the space they’d offered us. I really needed that rest after the long hours in the plane.
When the sun rose, Joseph woke me up, and I hugged him and wished him the best wishes I could think of. My heart was breaking for the fact that he was going to get married in a few hours without a father or a mother or even a friend, nothing but a sister that loved him more than the whole world.
I respected his wish of not telling any of our friends about the wedding, saying it was a sensitive matter given who his in-laws were. We would let the world know about it when they were ready. There was no one important to us besides each other anyway, so it wasn’t even worth telling.
Out of nowhere, Joseph started crying over my shoulder, whispering so many times that he loved me so much and that he only wanted the best for me, that he would never put me into any situation if he thought I’d be in danger even for a moment.
I didn’t know what to think about that, and it broke my heart some more to see him like that. I realized that maybe he was sorry for bringing me into a country he knew I hated to be in, where I was thinking I’d be in danger or fear for both of our lives.
I assured him that as long as we had each other, nothing else would matter.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he told me.
I offered him a smile as my chest tightened with a confusion that was uncalled for, a confusion some of his words had caused, a confusion I hid from him so well. Today was his wedding day, after all.
Only a few hours before the wedding, and I’d yet to meet the bride. I couldn’t wait to meet the girl who’d captured my brother’s heart and stole the sleep from his eyes. I had no picture or anything like that of her, only the perfect image Joseph had drawn in my head.
To