A Bride For The Sheikh

Chapter 2

“Welcome to Bezira!” James Smith greeted his daughter, Angelina, at the airport. He took her suitcase and led her to where his car was parked outside.

“Is it always this hot?” Angelina asked. She had only walked a few steps and already she was feeling the intensity of the desert sun.

“It’s a bit cooler in the winter, but don’t worry, absolutely everything is air conditioned.” They reached the car and James put his daughter’s luggage in the back.

“What are you doing with such a big car, Dad?” Angelina asked as she climbed up into her father’s massive four-wheel-drive vehicle.

“I need a car like this for work. Sometimes I have to go off-road to various construction sites,” James said, referring to his work as a structural engineer. “If you think my car’s big, you should see what some of the locals drive.”

“Is it true that all the Arabs are loaded? Apparently the Bezira royal family just bought a huge piece of land in Central London. It must have cost a fortune!” The newspapers back in the UK regularly featured stories of sheikhs from Bezira buying everything from British hotels to supermarkets.

“They’re certainly not short of cash and they pay well. Why do you think I took the job here?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Angelina apologised. Her father used to have his own construction business in England, but the recent economic crises had resulted in a massive decrease in building contracts and his business had gone bankrupt, leaving her father with huge debts. Unable to find employment at home, he had turned to the one place in the world that was booming economically: the Middle East.

“What’s your house like?” she asked to change the subject.

“Much too big for a guy like me, living on my own. I certainly don’t need three bedrooms, but it’s the house that comes with the job. It’s in a small compound with a gym and a decent-sized pool. I hope you brought a swimsuit.”

“Two, and I’ve loaded up my e-reader with a stack of books I’ve been meaning to read, so I plan to take it easy and relax a bit.”

“Good. That’s why you’re here.” James patted his daughter’s knee. Even though she was twenty-two, she would always be his little girl. “You’ve worked hard and you deserve a rest.”

Angelina had just finished a long, intensive round of law exams and at last all her hard work had paid off: just the previous week she’d been accepted into University College London, one of the leading law schools in the UK, to start her legal training. “I plan to take it fairly easy for the next couple of weeks,” she said. “Once school starts in September, I won’t have much for a break until I finally qualify.” However, despite her assurances that she was going to have a relaxing holiday, she’d also packed a couple of law books so that she could get a head start on the coursework.

“I’m very proud of you, you know that.”

“Thank you, Dad. I couldn’t have done it without your support.” Angelina knew how much her father had sacrificed to help her through college after his business failed. However, it hadn’t always been so hard for them. When she left school, her father was a successful businessman and she entered college with a platinum credit card for expenses and a luxury apartment to live in that her father had bought her as an eighteenth birthday present. By the time she left, the apartment had been sold; she was living in a shared, student accommodation; and she was working part-time. However, despite the increased costs, her father had persuaded her to continue her studies and apply to law school. His new job in the Middle East meant that he could help her with the fees and if she carried on working part-time, she might just be able to keep her debt and student loans down to five figures. However, the cost of living and going to college in London would be huge and the thought of her bank balance made her groan.