Kasper's Prince Charming

Chapter 14 - End of the Rainbow

Ali joined us for lunch at a grill in the mall. I wasn't hungry and Ali ate most of the spicy grilled chicken they'd ordered for me. I did finish the grilled vegetables. 

I sat between Ali and Mr. Hamad. I was so quiet that they went back to speaking Arabic and signing with Emerson. It was like they knew that using English would be a waste. I was too zoned out to be involved.

When we got back to the suite, Emerson helped me put away my new clothes. He organized them by what went together and then we did a yoga workout. He typed that it would help me feel less anxiety. 

Mr. Hamad had to go appear in some filming for his show. I asked him to see if Taj wanted help with English afterwards. He said he would invite him to come spend the evening with us since it would help distract me from my sadness over Amir's departure.

After a hard hour of workout, we laid side-by-side on the mat. Emerson pulled up a flight tracker on his tablet so we could see Amir's plane was over Egypt. It was an 8 hour flight home for him. I didn't realize it was so far away.

"I don't want you falling into the traps I did when I got into this family. I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable." Emerson typed on his tablet.

"I just didn't want to cause a fight. I want to fit in here. Everyone has been so nice to me and I really like Amir. I know how much he respects both of his dads. Your opinions mean everything to him. I don't want him to think I start problems," I said and my words filled the screen. I needed to learn sign language.

"I know he wants a future with you, and I support it. I told him that when I saw his ring on your finger. But you have to have a voice with this family. The Hamad men will run you over without even realizing it. They think boys from our culture are weak and need strong men who are fatherly. If I hadn't learned to speak up with Ali Senior, Amir's father, he would have never let me make a choice. Amir is a sweet boy, but he has the conquering instincts of his father. It's who they are. They don't mean to do it. They just assume we are naive and need a strong hand," Emerson typed.

"I'll remember that. I promise. Things are so new though. I don't even know if it will work out. I have a habit of messing things up... and guys who look like Amir don't usually go for guys who look like me," I laughed but Emerson looked at me with confusion.

"Why do you think you're such a terrible person? I think you are very sweet and will be good for him. I've never seen him light up over someone like he has with you. I wouldn't worry too much about him liking you. He's had a lot of boys after him, he knows what he likes and I can tell he wants something genuine with you," Emerson typed.

"I hope so," I said and laid back on the mat and nodded off. His workouts wear me out.

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When I woke up, Mr. Hamad was coming out of the bathroom wearing workout clothes. His tight tank top showed off his proud chest and hard worked muscles. I always felt dirty when I saw him like that. He looked like an aging action star who was determined to keep his edge.

"I'm heading down to the gym. Are you going to nap all day, little one?" He joked. 

I yawned up at him and he came to sit next to me on the floor.

"Maybe... I'll just sleep until it's time to see Amir." I said without thinking.

"Oh," He said thoughtfully and put his hand on my chest. "I know he feels sad right now as well."

"It's ok. I know he needs to focus on school, and I don't want to cause problems for him... for all of you. You've been so kind to me," I said to assure Mr. Hamad I supported his decision.