CHAPTER 9 Ami sees Social Media posts
As it happens, Jerry forgot to remind Magnolia to delete her post of her and Rain. He was so lost in the charms of the woman who finally managed to capture his heart for now. Since one of Magnolia’s friends is connected to Ami’s social media account, Ami saw the photos and the captions. Ami was busy browsing through her account when she caught sight of the post on her friend’s timeline. There was a strong pang in her chest that she couldn’t name but made her sad and gloomy. It was her day off but since the Al Fahezi residence is far from the city center, she just stayed in her room. Al Reef is a city itself but it is still different from the capital’s city center where all exciting things seem to happen. A lot of developments had happened ever since the pandemic that gripped the world passed. She couldn’t understand why seeing the post made her emotional. She was never this emotional back home. Maybe she is just homesick, she told herself. That’s probably it. Missing all those glorious greens on rolling hills, her neighbors, oh not that specific neighbor, she tried to tell herself, oh well him too. She was about to take a nap when there was a knock on her door. “Shuhada, who is it?! She shouted. Nobody is allowed on this wing of the villa except her employers and her fellow female employees. “Cousin, it’s me,” whispered Mabel. Ami opened the door and asked, “Why are you whispering?” “Shhh, shushed Mabel.” I am trying to lose that Fidelo and the American.” “Well they should know better than to follow you up here,” whispered Ami. “Still I do not want to take chances,” again a whisper from Mabel. “Quickly then!” ordered Ami. “You disrupted my plan of napping anyway, so spill it out.” “Spill what out?” uttered Mabel innocently. “Come on, you will not be coming to my room if there is nothing you wanted to say. “Ooohh, okay,at least grant me some semblance of mystery,” Mabel teased. “Spit it out,” ordered Ami again.
“Okay, has Madam Sheikha confirmed our cruise outing yet?” Mabel asked excitedly. “Ohh that! Yes she did, affirmed Ami. “Why the long face then, Mabel demanded. “Because my dear cousin, Ali implied that he will be bringing some friends of his, bachelor friends. He has this plan of turning me into a proper lady, lady, my butt!” Ami smacked said part of her anatomy. “Well, where is the bad in that?” queried her cousin. “You know full well that I do not mingle with males unless they are cousins or friends. And you have seen some of Ali’s friends, they creep us out, don’t they? They do nothing but race camels, ride their cars into the desert and party almost everyday. Not all of them are Emiratis even. I am just wondering how Ali got to be friends with them. For such a hardworking guy, he befriended easy-go-lucky dudes.” Mabel stared at her at this impassioned speech. “You are kinda edgy today,” she chirped. “You sure you are not in the menopausal stage yet?” she teased. “Darn it Mabel!, exclaimed Ami. I am just not looking forward to this cruise, is all. Mabel was about to say something when her phone rang.
“Grrrr,” she growled. Trust bossy Mansour to keep secrets. He said that pinky is waiting for me downstairs. “Pinky?” enquired Ami. “Yeah, pinky and flamenco,” Mabel growled yet again. It took seconds before Ami got who her cousin was referring to. “Aaahh, Devlin and Fidelo. Don’t you like them? They seem to be good guys.” Says the woman who is afraid of dealing with Ali’s friends.” countered Mabel. “I better get going, else Mansour won’t stop calling me. I wonder what those two fed him. “They’re like cats who tail me a lot,”she complained. With that she departed with heavy footsteps. “Be friendly!” called out Ami. “Shut up!” Mabel shouted back. “Ssshhh said Jamila, one of the Ethiopian nannies. My ward is asleep finally. You don’t want him crying the house down,” she shushed. The ward she was talking about was one of the children of three of the Al Fahezi's first born. He was almost always out of the country with his wife who happens to be a businesswoman, thus the care of the children often falls on the doting grandparents.
“Opps, my bad”, declared Ami. She quietly closed her door and went to her bed. That night, she couldn’t sleep and then when she finally did, she dreamt she was back home inspecting Rain’s brides-to-be. But when she presented the girl to Rain,it wasn’t him she saw but Ali. “She awoke with a start and shook her head. So much for trying to rest and sleep. Since they have lots to prepare before the cruise, she abandoned her attempt at sleeping and just started to pack what she thought she’ll be needing in the ship. The Sheikha bought dinner dresses for Mabel and Ami because they are the only ones the family is taking with them to their trip. They decided against taking the grown-up males’ nannies. The Sheikh declared that they are old enough to look after themselves. Farinah can benefit from the extra women who will be left behind. Plus, they made this an incentive for Mabel and Ami for helping them secure the contract with the Gonzales’. They didn’t tell the ladies that both Gonzales mother and son will be meeting with them on the ship. They just assumed the ladies already knew.
Since the weather turned too hot and humid for Ami and Mabel, they did not reject the offer to go with the Al Fahezis. They were promised cooler weather in the Mediterranean. Who knows they might even get to dock in the Philippines.
The Philippine docking happened sooner than Mabel and Ami expected. They were busy chatting with Ali and Mansour, along with their friends when Mrs. Gonzales and Rain boarded the ship. The Sheikh and Sheikha shook hands with mother and son and followed them up to the owners’ suites.