Life From Your Lips (Ruby Rose fanfic)

ONE (Iselen POV)

Valley of the Queens, near Luxor. 2022

(Formerly called Ta-Set-Neferu, meaning "The Place of Beauty.")

"Good morning, Samir... Why does everybody look so nervous?" I look around confused, holding my backpack while the driver of the SUV that took me here from the city turns around and leaves in a hurry.

"Sabah El Kheir, anissa. Good morning, miss Iselen. I'm afraid a sand storm is coming and everybody prefers seeking refuge instead of getting stuck here for hours... It's Friday..." I raise an eyebrow, perplexed, and the young Egyptian boy with tanned skin wearing a spotless white tunic laughs amused. "I mean workers want to go back home, have a coffee with their friends, dinner with their wives and spend some quality time with their children instead of hiding in the archeologists' tents or inside the tomb tonight and spending their Saturday morning digging out the tires of the vehicles covered with sand so they can go back to Luxor."

"Of course, it makes sense. I also want to spend my weekend in the hotel having a bath, reading books, drinking tea and eating dates filled with almonds." I can't help chuckling while walking towards the stone staircase leading to the tomb, the truth is that the wind is starting to bother me and it's getting worse every minute. "Are the objects we've cleaned, photographed and labeled safe?" I ask pointing at the tents, concerned.

"Yes, miss. A staff member of the Egyptian Museum has come this morning with a van and took them to Cairo after talking to Mr. Stephens, some others will be kept in the tomb and the workers have installed a metallic door with a big lock. Everything will be all right when we come back next Monday."

"That's perfect, thank you, Samir. Seriously, I don't know how you do it, you spend your days wandering around an archaeological excavation site and your tunic is always spotless... Look at me, I've just arrived a minute ago and my boots and socks are full of sand, I'm sweating and my cotton pants are wrinkled after the car trip... Is it a magic trick or something?" The young Egyptian boy smiles amused before winking at me but he can't answer because someone pushes me from behind, elbowing my ribs rudely and making me trip over my own feet.

"Move away, people working hard need to keep the staircase free to be able to do stuff..."

"I'm sorry," I whisper but the blonde girl, tall and skinny, wearing blue cargo pants and a white T-shirt, ignores me and fights again the strong wind to be able to reach one of the tents. "Wow, she's in bad mood today..."

"Miss Lara is not nice, usually..." Samir admits cautiously, he's obviously feeling awkward criticizing a person who's almost one of the bosses although he was hired along with his crew by the famous archaeologist Mortimer Stephens from Oxford University and I'm just his assistant, so is Lara Nóvak. "Above all when you're around..."

"What are you talking about?" I frown, perplexed, moving two steps down seeking refuge against the wind getting closer to the sandstone wall. Samir stares at me in disbelief and remains still, undaunted, while his tunic flutters violently around his ankles.

"Don't you realize? That woman hates you..."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad... I admit she might feel jealous because I have a good relationship with the boss even if I'm the last assistant who arrived to this site and she didn't like when professor Stephens volunteered to write the prologue of my doctoral thesis but hating me... it's quite a strong word."

"Miss Lara's energy is dark, cold and unpleasant when you're around. Believe me, she hates you. And today's angrier than ever before... She'd applied for a scholarship of the American University in Cairo to be able to publish her doctoral thesis but didn't get it..."