Married to a Billionaire (Completed)

CHAPTER: 1

Wedding of Sheikh-Adil-Al-Aman and Diana, Washington, U.S.A.

Serena Williams watched Sheikh-Adil-AL-Aman sweep his new bride, Diana Steven into his arms and carry her from the banquet hall. She smiled and said to herself, "This is not one watches every day. An Arab Sheikh lifting his bride and carrying her in his arms."

Serena's feet were hurting, she needed a nice hot bath and a long night's sleep. The last few days had been indeed very hectic for her. She had put this wedding together at a lightning speed. She had needed every bit of her expertise, and energy for completing this mammoth task. Now that it had gone off without any hitch, she was very happy with herself, for completing her task successfully. 

Two men were standing on her right side, giving her subtle glances. One of them she had met before. He was Hamid-Al-Aman, brother of the groom. He was very rude and of no help, when Serena had approached him for discussing about some wedding details. He was not a friendly sort of person. The other men had been a last moment addition to the guest list. He was Sheikh-Amir-AL-Aman. He was notorious for causing difficulties in the Al-Aman family business. She was shocked to see him at the wedding. From what she had heard in the press, Amir and his cousin Adil were rivals, both running a successful Oil company each, in Jordan. As far as she knew, enemies did not celebrate each other's weddings. 

Tired of being continuously gawked at, Serena turned and gave both men a thorough staring, in return. They were dressed in the traditional robes of their country. They were from the Middle East, and if their blatant stares were any indication, then their manners were as backward as their views towards Gender Equality, Serena believed.

"He is behaving like a fool," Sheikh-Amir said, seeing the departing bride and groom.

Not thinking twice, Serena just blurted out aloud, "He is acting like a man in love, though I am not surprised by your backwardness and your comment."

"How dare you insult us." Hamid-AL-Aman scowled. "In our country, men do not show their emotions or affections in public. We save that, to be displayed only in the privacy of the bedroom."

"Guess it is a good thing then, that I don't live in your country. It sounds so boring, for all I care," Serena blurted and walked away. The skirt of her gown swishing as she headed across the room towards her cousin Joe, and the groom's youngest brother, Sheikh-Taher-AL-Aman.  

She needed to get away from these idiots before her big mouth landed her into further problems.

"It was a beautiful ceremony, Serena," her cousin Joe said, once she stepped next to him.

"Thanks, Joe. Although some people disagree and do not share our opinion."

"Who, are you talking about?" Joe asked her.

Serena indicated Sheikh-Amir, pointing towards him.

Joe chuckled and said, "Oh. You mean Sheikh-Amir. Well, they don't call him, 'The Heartless Sheikh' for nothing."

Serena said to Joe, "He was not thrilled that Adil carried his bride Diana, from the banquet hall."

Sheikh-Taher chuckled, he said, "Do not worry. Amir is a strict traditionalist. I have told him many a time, to move into the twenty-first century, but he still prefers to stay in the Dark Ages where women wore veils and stayed home. They did not work outside."

"The not working was bad enough, but wearing a veil at all times? No way?" The whole thing sounded outdated and very barbaric, Serena believed. She wondered at the fact that there had been no female uprising movement in Jordan.

"It is not as bad as you think," Taher said, though very cautiously. "There are reasons for what we do."

"Oh, Really?" Serena spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Could you please enlighten me?"

"Our women chose to wear their veils, as a show of modesty, and also as a mark of reverence to God. And our men provide for their needs, to show how deeply they care. The Western World considers our strict rules and our practices as abusive, when in fact the opposite is true. If you speak to the women of AL-Aman, you would believe what I say is true."

Serena shrugged, not wanting to argue any further, nor to insult his culture, no matter it was vastly different from hers. She said, "I guess I like my independence too much to ever consider something like that. Besides I am not someone who would follow the rules." She then smiled at Joe, and then Taher. She said, "Excuse me, gentleman, I better make sure the caterers have everything they need. Talk to you later." 

"Yeah," Joe replied pointing towards the entrance. As an afterthought, he said to Serena, "By the way, I made sure to tell the tabloid photographers I met earlier, that this was all your doing. Who knows? Maybe someone will read about this event and offer you your dream job." 

"Maybe." Serena had no time to think about the future. Payments for this event had not cleared her bank account yet, and next month's bills were piling up, over that. 

She left Joe and Taher behind and headed to the side door, where the caterers were busily moving about, carrying food from the kitchen to the hallways, working at a great speed to meet the demands for food and drinks from the guests. "Everything going smoothly here?" 

"Everything's fine, Ms. Serena."

Serena smiled at the young man who was in charge of the catering. "If you need me for anything, please call on my cell."

"Sure," he replied.

Food and booze were handled, Serena went towards the ballroom, and bumped into Amir again. She thought, no way would the man be lost. But why could he have frequented the place, unless he had no idea where the hell he was?

With a sigh, Serena approached Amir. She asked him, "Is there a problem?"

"No. Are you in charge of all these people?" he inquired, pointing towards the waiter staff, and others moving in the hallway.

"Yes, I have hired them." Serena did her best to explain her job. "As a wedding planner, I am in charge of making sure that everything runs smoothly. I coordinate all the different departments and put up an event."

"Hope, you are not busy now?" Amir asked Serena. 

His dark gaze held more than a hint of mystery, and despite his early bad manners, she could not help being intrigued. She replied, "No. I am between tasks at the moment."

"Good." Amir took her by the elbow and led her into the ballroom. "Then join me for a drink, while you wait for your next crisis if any," he said.

Serena resisted the urge, to refuse his authoritative command. She then remembered Taher's words, "Our men provide for the women's needs to show how deeply we care."      

"I suppose I have time for one drink." Serena shook off his arm and preceded him to the ballroom, happy to see the guests still enjoying the live band, the tables were adequately laden with food, and the bar staff, busily replenishing the empty glasses.

Amir escorted her to an empty table near the back of the room. He held a chair for her while she sat and then raised a hand to summon a passing waiter.

"What will you have to drink?" he asked.

"A Cola," she replied.

"Cola?" Amir frowned.

"I am still working. Cola will be fine," Serena replied.

Amir gave his orders as well and then took a seat next to her.

There was an awkward silence between them.

After a few tense moments, Serena decided to get talking to him. She asked him, "Tell me something, that is if you don't mind sharing. Why were you upset about Sheikh-Adil carrying his bride Diana from the room?"

"He made a spectacle of himself. That is not done in our country. Not by men of our class," he replied.

Before he could talk further, Amir's cell phone rang. He pulled it out from the pocket of his robe and scowled at the screen. "It is my brother." He then swiped the screen and tucked the phone back into his pocket. "I will call him back, later."

She laughed. "Wow. You are braver than me. I wouldn't dare to even divert my sibling's calls to voicemail."

"You have brothers and sisters?" he inquired.

"Two. All are younger to me." Serena sat back as the waiter returned with their drinks. She glanced around the room. Several women had their eyes on Amir, but if he noticed, he did not pay attention. Serena continued, "I kind of became their mother after my mother suffered injuries in a car accident, and has been bound to a wheelchair ever since then. She could not even do basic things, so the entire responsibility fell on me."

Amir asked, "How old were you when the accident took place?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Eleven." She replied, recollecting the memories. "I think that is the reason why being a coordinator was such an easy task. I have been taking charge, and organizing thinks for more than half my life."

Amir just watched her in silence, he said nothing.

Serena found it difficult to judge what had he been thinking behind his intense black eyes. She found it a bit unsettling. She had not noticed before in the hustle and bustle, but now sitting here very close to him, she realized that Sheikh-Amir was a very handsome man, dark hair, and dark eyes, and long, lean muscled body.

Serena looked away fast. She had no business thinking like that, about one of the guests and particularly from the AL-Aman family.