Clueless Love

Ismail and I have arrived at the hotel where we are meeting the owner to discuss our app, but he or she hasn’t arrived yet. I am about to suggest to Ismail that maybe we should leave, when a guy who looks like he just rushed out of bed walks up to our table.

“I am so sorry for being late Mr Uthman, I had an unexpected issue I had to deal with,” he says with a thick French accent while adjusting his tie. He is tall, over 6 feet, has black hair, a lean build and doesn’t look older than 26 or 27.

“It’s fine, Mr. Baron,” Ismail answers.

“And who might this lovely lady be?” Mr Baron asks, checking me out from head to toe with lust in his eyes.

“I am Miss Isa,” I say primly, trying not to sound hostile because I don’t like the way he is looking at me.

“If I had known such a pretty lady was waiting for me, I would have come sooner,” Mr Baron says smirking.

“I think we should get back to the reason we are here,” Ismail interrupts in a stern voice.

“Aha! We should,” Mr Baron says and tries to touch my hand on the table. But before I can pull my hand away, Ismail does the unthinkable.

“Don’t ever touch a lady who does not want you to touch her,” Ismail says removing Mr. Baron’s hand away from mine, giving it a hard squeeze.

“Que se passe-t-il, (What the hell,)” Mr Baron grimaces holding his hand in pain.

“Umit, let’s go. I don’t do business with perverts,” Ismail says, walking out. I quickly follow him.

“Ismail are you alright?” I am shocked by what just happened and notice he is angry.

“I can’t believe he wanted to lay his filthy hands on you,” Ismail says sounding very angry.

“It’s fine, he did not touch me,” I say trying to calm Ismail down.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“If he did, I don’t think he’d still have his hands now,” Ismail replies ominously.

“Ismail you need to calm down, could you sit-down,” I say steering us toward a chair in the lobby.

“A’oothu billaahi minash-Shaytaanir-rajeem, (I seek refuge in Allah, from Satan the outcast)” he exclaims, sitting down looking calmer already.

“That’s better and thank you for what you did,” I am happy he is calming down and pleased he protected me from the advances made by Mr. Baron. I never knew Ismail cared for me like this. Seeing him get mad over the fact that someone almost touched my hand makes me happy. I don’t know why, but I am starting to think maybe Emma and Fatima are right after all. Unless I’m overthinking it and any man would do the same in Ismail’s place, but I just feel it’s more than that.

“I would do it again if I have to, any day, any time,” Ismail smiles sheepishly.

“I am sorry you lost the deal. If I hadn’t come, then it wouldn’t have happened, and you wouldn’t have lost the deal,” I say feeling bad.

“No, don’t be sorry. I am happy you came because I was able to see the type of man Mr Baron is, and I don’t care to engage in business with someone like him,” Ismail says with a little smile.

“Alright then,” I sigh.

We drive back to the hotel since we don’t have another meeting until tomorrow. I want to spend some time with Emma. However, I am not really surprised that when I knock on her door the person that opens the door is not Emma.

“Hey, Umit, come in,” Austin says moving to the side to allow me to step in.

“Hi, Austin, how are you?”

“I am wonderful. How about you?”

“That’s good, and I am fine too,” I reply sitting down on one of the couches, knowing he is happier because he is with Emma.

“I am sure you came to see Emma. She will be with you soon. She is getting dressed, she just got out of the shower.”

“Alright, I will wait for her.”

“While we wait for her, I would like to tell you something,” Austin says sitting down on one of the couches.

“I am all ears.”

“I want to thank you.”

“Thank me?” I ask confused.

“Yes, because you are the reason we are together.”

“I didn’t do anything. Emma just found out that you were faithful all along.”

“I know, but even without that she was willing to get back with me. And that’s why I am thanking you.”

“I don’t feel like I did anything, but if you feel I did then you are welcome,” I say smiling.

“Thank you for accepting my thanks.”

“You are funny, but you are welcome again.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Emma asks, walking into the living room all freshened up.

“Nothing serious. But anyway, I am going to meet the guys. See you later, honey,” Austin says kissing her forehead before walking out.

“Bye,” Emma replies.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” Emma asks sitting down beside me.

“I knew you were going to ask again.” I shake my head.

“Can you blame me? I heard my name.”

“You heard your name, or were you trying to eavesdrop?”

“Both,” she fakes a smile showing off her white pearl teeth to which I can only shake my head.

“So, tell me,” Emma says wiggling my arms.

“Fine, I will tell you.” I tell her about my brief conversation with Austin, and then we decide to take a walk around Paris. The streets of Paris are beautiful. The cobblestoned streets are lovely to stroll around. Some streets are narrow, but that just adds to the appeal. The timber-framed houses, colorful facades and flower-lined canal are delightful to take in. While walking around, we decided to have lunch at a restaurant as we have been walking for quite a while now and I have been hungry since morning.

We sit outside to have lunch, and I ask Emma a question I meant to ask her this morning.

“Emma, I have been meaning to ask you? Why did Anna sabotage your relationship?” I say before taking a bite of my Florentine spaghetti.

“It’s actually a long story, but it’s because of a guy.”

“Austin?”

“No, his name is Paul.”

“So, what does this Paul have to do with her sabotaging your relationship?” I ask not understanding.

“Let me start the story from the beginning.

Anna, Paul, and I were good friends in college. Anna was in love with Paul, but he was in love with me. When Anna told Paul how she felt the day we graduated university, he told her he had feelings for me. I was already dating Austin by that time, so Anna knew I wasn’t interested in him. But that did not stop her from hating me.”

“Oh, so if I am getting it right… because you were happy with Austin, she made it seem liked he cheated to make you unhappy.”

“Yes, she believed if she could not be with the one she loves, why should I.”

“That is sick of her. How were you able to figure everything out?” I feel kind of sorry for Anna, but her actions are not justified in any way.

“That’s where the storytelling comes after Anna told Paul she loved him, and he turned her down. She started becoming distant from me. At first when it started, I thought maybe she felt uncomfortable being around me because of the whole Paul situation. But I didn’t know she was planning on stabbing me in the back. A few weeks after I received the pictures of her and Austin cheating,” Emma tells looking sad.

“And you believed them because you felt she would do that to you, because of Paul liking you. That was her way of making you feel the pain she felt, which is very wrong of her by the way. But what you didn’t know was the pictures were fake,” I sum up, totally understanding everything now.

“Yes and no.”

“How?” I raise my eyebrows showing I’m confused.

“Yes, for that’s her way of making me feel her pain, and no because the pictures were not fake.”

“So, Austin cheated,” I say shocked.

“No, he did not. What happened was, Austin went to the club with his friends. I was meant to go as well, but I wasn’t feeling well.

The pictures showed Austin and Anna drinking and leaving the club together were all true. But the pictures that showed that they slept together were the fake ones.

Austin told me that he saw Anna at the club and invited her to drink with him and his friends since she was my friend. She became drunk, so he offered to take her home. Unbeknown to Austin, someone was taking pictures of them and following him. He told me he dropped her at her house and went straight home.

“But the next morning the pictures were saying a different story.” I nod, totally understanding Anna is one smart lady and had everything planned out well.

“Yes, Umit. And the reason why I believed everything was true. I knew Anna had a personal vendetta against me. I never even thought about the fact someone send me compromising pictures, even though they were taken in Austin’s room. All I saw was my boyfriend cheating on me, which I now know to be a lie.”

“Anna planned it so well, but the truth will always reveal itself,” I say feeling happy everything worked out for my friend.

“Yes, it did, and I am so happy it did,” Emma grins.

“I have to ask. If you hadn’t overheard Anna, would you have gotten back with Austin?”

“Yes, because after that day we went to visit his grandma, I started investigating the whole thing. I was already close to finding out the truth before Anna unknowingly gave it to me.”

“That’s good. I am happy everything worked out.”

“Me too, and please let’s talk about something else. Like this gala I am going to. I want Fatima and you to come with me.”

“What gala are you talking about?”

“One of Austin’s new investors is having a gala.”

“Oh, when is it?” I say recalling Austin is into the hotel business. I have heard from Ismail that Austin owns a few hotels around the world and is trying to expand. That is one of the reasons why he came to Paris, he wants to open a new one here.

“Next week on Saturday and we are going shopping this Saturday because I know you don’t work on that day.”

“Yeah, I don’t.”