"This will let anyone know to whom you belong," Mr. Hamad told me as he opened a file on his desk and pushed it towards me.
I'd never been in his work office. He did most things from home, but traveled here for meetings and to check on his staff. We were in a top floor office in a building tall enough to offer a view of the entirety of Satra.
His office was floor to ceiling glass overlooking a panoramic of the gulf, the city, and the mountains behind it.
He'd shown me his telescope by the window that looked directly into the Hamad compound. I saw two workers trimming the dead fronds from a tall palm tree.
Emerson and I had gone to lunch and then stopped by his office to see him. He waved me over to his desk, eager to show me some important documents.
"A driver's license?" I asked with hope.
It was a small plastic card with my picture and then a lot of Arabic script. I recognized the flag of Satra and Mr. Hamad's picture was in the bottom right corner.
"Driving? No, certainly not! We have people for that. It is an identification card. This should be on you at all times when outside of our home. Any police officer or good citizen will offer you immediate assistance no matter your need." He laughed at the thought of me driving.
"People are helpful here. That's really cool." I admired my picture on the card.
"They are rewarded handsomely for assisting our family members. My picture and information are on it so they know who is responsible for you should anything occur. Our name carries great weight in the Kingdom," Mr. Hamad said.
"Wow! Thank you, sir!" I said and slipped it into the new leather wallet he'd given me. He'd put their Satran cash and a credit card inside it for emergencies.
"And these papers are for your new bank account. It's a place where you can put your earnings without your father's knowledge or ability to access it. If you want to help them, it will be your choice," he said and slid a few papers towards me. He had me sign off on some forms.
"Wow, thank you. That's really crazy. I've never had much money to worry about," I noted.
I had a few jobs lined up this week. The photographer and stylists from the catalog my mom sold products for were coming and then a popular Middle Eastern shoe designer wanted me to do some shots for their website.
Amir wasn't happy about any of it. But when Mr. Hamad set it up, Emerson pushed me excitedly to do it. He really wanted me to have some independence. Amir didn't like his parents meddling in a matter he said was between us, but he didn't want to go against them. It was hard trying to please all of them and I wasn't even really sure I wanted to do the modeling anyways.
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That morning was the start of Amir's new semester at university. He'd wanted to take me with him to show me around. Emerson came too so we could see him off and then go about our business in the city. Emerson was planning a charity event and wanted to make sure the hall he was using had been properly prepared.
We rode with Amir to campus. I was in the backseat while Amir and his dad were in the front. It was funny watching them together. Amir was a pretty stable driver, but Emerson kept pointing out roadside dangers and signing for him to slow down.
Amir just nodded peacefully and gave me little eye rolls in the rearview mirror. I laughed every time he got scolded. He didn't take his dad's admonitions too seriously.
We walked around the campus a little and Emerson got me a U. of Satra t-shirt... along with a hat, a zip-up hoody, and a stuffed lion, their mascot.
YOU ARE READING
Kasper's Prince Charming
General FictionKasper Lane, a hopeless screw-up from Southern California, is kicked out of his family home after yet another poor decision. He auditions for a gay reality show that his best friend is developing for a struggling cable network and ends up half-way a...