Chapter 9

                                    

                                          
Emma 


                          
I was woken up by the constant ringing of my cell. Sitting up on the bed I picked my cell from the nightstand. It was Reem, what on Earth did she want now? She had told me she was going to stay at a friend's place. I checked the time it was seven in the morning. What could have woken her up so early in the morning on a weekend? 
                          
Swiping the receive button I put the cell on my ear," Emma, where have you been?" She asked the moment she heard my voice.
                          
"I was sleeping where else could I be at this time in the morning?"
                          
"I have been calling you for the past ten minutes," she said.  
                          
I had been awake most of the night tossing and turning in bed thinking about what had happened. How I had allowed Dawood to touch me yet, again. 
                          
"Emma, I am sending you a link, don't panic, I will be there as soon as possible," Reem's voice brought me out of my thoughts.
                          
"What link?"
                          
"Just don't panic and do anything, I will be there soon," she said and disconnected.
                          
The next moment I received a text from her, Reem was an idiot. She had woken me up for some stupid link of a tabloid. I clicked on it and the next moment I felt like the world came crashing down around me. 
                          
The front page of the tabloid was filled with images of me and Dawood, with the caption "Boston's most promising young lawyer snapped with his hands in royal panties." In every image, it was clear what we both were doing.  I watched petrified at the screen of my cell, there was a link to a video in the article. 
                          
The moment I clicked on the link and the video started playing I felt like someone pulled the ground from below my feet. The video was quite clear and Dawood and my faces were visible despite the low lighting given the night effect in the cameras these days. The cell dropped from my hand from the shivering in them.
                          
I covered my face with my hands while my mind was completely blank. As reality started setting in, a wave of shame and guilt hit me. What had I done? I picked up the cell again and the video was still playing.  Dawood's hand inside my jeans was visibly clear and so was his other hand kneading my bosom. 
                          
Reem had sent other links too, so I checked them one after the other. They were all links to the websites of US tabloids. The images and videos were the same, just the captions were different.
                          
"Azmaayiri Princess unwinding in the back alley of a dance club."
                          
"From HLS to dance clubs, the royal affair continues."
                          
These and many different captions, similar to them. I threw my cell on the floor with a scream. What would Abi and my brothers be thinking? What about Hamza?
                          
I climbed down from the bed and picked a vase and threw it on the wall. What storm will these pictures and videos bring? How humiliated will everyone in my family be? 
                          
What have I done? How could I be so reckless? I rubbed my face with my hands pacing in the room. What could I do? My cell started ringing again. I walked to the wall and peered down at the broken screen. 
                          
Ahmed. 
                          
Ohh my God. Ahmed would kill Dawood, he won't hesitate a second to kill him. I backed away from the wall and slumped on the floor near the bed. Tears started trickling down my cheeks and soon my eyes were flooding. 
                          
What have I done?
                          
What have I done?
                          
  I didn't know how much time had passed, how many times my cell rang and went silent again. My tears were not stopping, tears of humiliation and shame. I had always prided myself on having an impeccable image as a Princess.