The Sheik's Pregnant Lover Page 0,28
really have time to figure that out. His plane leaves tomorrow morning at ten and you have to come up with some ideas for him.” She pulled some papers that had been in the center of the conference room table towards them and flipped through several. “Here’s what you have on your plate right now,” she said and used her perfectly manicured finger to point to the outlines of Rashid’s palace.
Sidra forced her mind to focus on the upcoming issues but Debra was going through so many items and cautions that Sidra was having problems.
“Are you getting all of this?” Debra asked sharply when Sidra felt like her eyes were crossing.
Sidra nodded, but she really wasn’t. “I got it,” she lied. Quickly, she came up with several suggestions for some designs and watched Debra’s facial features. When the older woman relaxed and nodded, agreeing with Sidra’s ideas, she continued to explain various aspects of the project, issues that needed to be considered. There were political problems, economic, and social gatherings that took place in some of the rooms. She would be redesigning even the sheik’s private areas and Sidra swallowed at the realization that she would be in Rashid’s bedroom, decorating his private space and making sure that it was decadent enough for his liaisons. She hated that idea and considered several subtle ways that might make the area less conducive to seduction and more geared towards sleep. It would serve him right if all he wanted to do in the room was sleep!
Debra’s firm voice broke into her malicious thoughts, getting her back to the present. “Okay, it sounds like you have some great ideas for these areas, but you have to understand palace protocol as well.” Debra sat down at the conference room table and drilled palace etiquette into Sidra’s mind. She was never to address the sheik under any circumstances. All questions must go through his assistant, with appointments to be set up the day before. Sidra must always be mindful of the sheik’s limited time and never disturb him. Any inconveniences needed to be kept to a minimum so bathroom remodeling needed to be done during the day with all materials finalized and back in working order by the time he finished for the night. The sheik could come and go as he pleased and she should vacate the any area in which he entered with a bow, or nothing at all if she could get out of that room without being seen first.
Sidra was writing as fast as possible, but there were so many rules! The regulations, the hierarchy within the palace, the assistants’ names, the advisors’ names, the various agencies, the laws and culture of the country, it was all drilled into Sidra throughout the day. Lunch was brought in, Debra’s secretary was also brought in to type up all the notes as Debra relayed them.
It was after midnight when Debra finally stopped and Sidra looked up, half asleep and half of her panicking like she’d never panicked before. “I think that should cover it. I want daily reports on your progress. My home and cell phone number will be included in the materials Tara will send over to you. If you have any problems at all, you must call me immediately.”
Debra leaned over so that Sidra was looking at her boss in the eyes. “Understand something, Sidra. You’ve been requested personally by a king. That happens once in a lifetime. If you succeed here with this project, you can write your own ticket anywhere, set your own price.” She waited a moment to let that sink in before she continued. “If you mess this up in any way, you won’t be hired by any firm, anywhere in the world. You’ll be considered taboo with bad karma.” Another heartbeat passed while Sidra’s eyes widened. “Don’t mess up,” she finally said.
Sidra nodded her head, terrified of even falling asleep tonight for fear that she might dream something incorrectly after that warning.
She went home that night and it was eerily quiet on the streets. She felt like she was going to be sick with all of the instructions Debra had given to her. It as an odd feeling to be out so late, or more specifically, so early. She thought she was being followed at one point but when she turned into her apartment complex, the headlights that had been behind her for a while continued on. As soon as she entered her apartment, she made