Chapter Eight
“So, is Skank-a-rella still giving you problems?” Cindi asked over the Skype connection.
Bridget sighed. It had been an amazing four weeks. She’d gone on excursions with Ravi to the Dhofar coast and the luxurious locales of Abu Dhabi. He even jetted her to Paris on a whim just last weekend. Yes, he had work to do both for the nation and for his company’s oil interests, but he was always conscientious about making time for her, always sure to make the extra effort to ensure she was attended to.
She blushed, thinking about the lovemaking they engaged in until the wee hours of the morning. Ravi was more than attentive.
Sabella, however? Yes, Sabella was still a thorn in her rump.
“You probably shouldn’t call her that.”
“If the title fits...” Cindi said, smirking back at her.
“Yes, Sabella’s awful. No, we probably shouldn’t call her a skank.”
“Could we call her a slut-whore?”
“No, pass on that too.”
“What about a bitch with a capital ‘B?’” Cindi chimed back.
Bridget broke down giggling. “Okay, that’s a good one. We can call her that.”
“Oh, when you’re not around, I’ll be calling her a lot more,” Cindi said. “Still, is it going okay?”
“Ravi’s amazing. Kamala and Adil are kind to me. It’s just that occasionally Sabella sneaks up on me like Jaws coming out of the water. I know she’s a servant in the house, so Ravi’s not going to just send her away, although he basically stationed her in the other wing of the mansion.”
“Wings. Your lover has wings for his house.”
“His summer house. He hasn’t shown me the Burj Khalifa tower his father built or the main palace outside of the city. We’re planning to go there in a few weeks after the grand ball.”
Cindi beamed back at her. “Awesome, chick. Way to get your inner Cinderella on.”
Bridget quirked her head back at her friend. “Actually, it’s not as glamorous as it sounds. The fittings are kind of overbearing, and I have no idea what the dress is eventually going to look like. Besides, Ravi wants the ensemble to be a surprise. It’s killing me to think about what I’ll look like in front of all these fancy people in Dubai. I mean, I’m worried I’ll eat the food the wrong way or use the wrong knife during dinner. Wait, are there two knives?”
“I think you’re confusing dinner fork and salad fork. If Titanic taught us anything, just eat from the outside in. Channel your inner Leo.”
She laughed. “Thanks, but yeah Sabella just won’t give up. It’s annoying.”
Cindi wasn’t appeased by that answer, but Bridget shouldn’t have known the other woman wouldn’t be. After all, her friend had always seen right through her. “You shouldn’t let her get to you. I can tell from the way you describe her that she’s a gold digger, some annoying hanger-on.”
“Who looks like she should be on every magazine cover ever!” Bridget patted a few times at her chest. “Let’s face it; I’m nothing special. Not really.”
“Clearly you are, or Ravi wouldn’t even be with you.”
“Adil, one of the servants, swears that’s true, but in the back of my mind, I get so nervous that I’m just a distraction. I’m so scared that I’m not anything.”
“You are, hon. Now, go have a good day! Seriously, always aim to take that bitch Sabella down a peg.”
Bridget laughed. “I will, and I’ll see if Ravi can invite you out, pay for a ticket or send one of his fleets. You have to see it out here. It’s amazing!”
“I don’t doubt it, chick. Now, go wow your Sheikh Charming some more.”
***
The tunnel curved up and around her, and Bridget couldn’t help but gasp as she saw the fish swim over her and dart above her head. No, that was too small a word for the variety of marine life flitting around her in and around the tunnel walls. She loved watching the animals pass before her—the flapping wings of the sting rays, the bright, neon orange coloring of the clown fish, and the massive bulk of the nurse sharks skimming by. All of it comprised an incredible underwater ballet that was hers to enjoy at the largest aquarium in the world. She looped her arm through Ravi’s.
“You didn’t have to close down the entire aquarium just for us.”