Power and Passion (24 page)

"Okay, so the show must go on," he said as
Joan rubbed underneath her eyes with her thumbs, checking to see if
any of her eye makeup had smudged off. "But what's in your bag of
tricks? A mysterious benefactor? Some corporate leader you can call
in a couple of favors from?"

Joan grinned at him, turning her head to the
side a little. "No, not yet. Though those might come into play
later." She looked at him silently for a moment, the smile fading
from her lips. "Actually, I'm going to put in the money
myself."

At that David's eyebrows raised. Not in an
angry way, nor did he look judgmental. He was just surprised, that
was all. It wasn't what he had been expecting to hear.

"You're going to fund it all by yourself?"
He glanced past her shoulder and out the window, where the sun was
dropping rapidly to the horizon. "Hmm. Well, that could work."
There was no malice in his question or, when he looked back at
Joan, in the expression on his face. This was one thing she had
always loved about him: no matter what she made up her mind to do,
he supported first and asked questions later.

"Not the whole thing, mind you," she went
on. "We're each going to put in a third however we can. Sara is
going to ask her parents for help. Maryam is on the board of
advisors for Tomorrow's World, and she says there is another
advisor—a wealthy sheik—she can ask to make a donation. As for me,
I will put in some of the cash myself. We have plenty in the
savings, thank God. Whatever else we need—well, as the girls
reminded me, where there's a will, there's a way."

"And I know," David said with all the love
he felt coming through in his voice, "that if there is a way, you
will be the one to find it."

I
f I'm wearing a dress
,
Sara wondered silently,
does that make this a
real
date?

Shifting in her seat a bit, she crossed her
legs at the ankles, trying to make herself more comfortable. The
chair itself was quite plush, and her garment fit her well, so the
problem wasn't there. It was sitting across the table from her. In
a collared shirt and dark suit, his hair combed neatly back from
his face, a wide smile that didn't ever seem to fade. Adam was so
handsome and so sweet it made Sara nervous.
He
made her
nervous. When he looked at her, it was as if a whole sky full of
butterflies erupted in her stomach at once. "Have you ever been
here before?" she asked him, trying to put her giddy feelings
aside.

"No, I haven't," Adam replied, looking
around the lavish Skyview Bar at the top of Burj al Arab, one of
the most luxurious hotels in Dubai. "But I've been meaning to try
it just for the view."

She glanced out the window. The bar sat atop
the hotel, on the twenty-seventh floor, two hundred meters above
sea level, and their table was right next to a floor-to-ceiling
window. Sara could see for what seemed like miles and miles. It was
almost dusk, and the sky and the water had taken on the same
slate-blue tone. An orangey glow lingered on the horizon, the last
remnants of the already-set sun, and all the lights in the
buildings across the city had begun to pop on one by one.

Sara looked back at Adam. "It's nice to be
here and see the view with you. Thanks for making the reservation,"
she told him, feeling caught up in the beautiful moment but then
suddenly embarrassed by the admission.

Thankfully Adam didn't seem to notice just
how awkward she felt. He simply smiled at her as the hostess came
over to the table, welcomed them, and gave them each a menu along
with a brief overview of the Skyview's unique offerings, including
classic beverages, signature cocktails and mocktails, and tapas.
Then she left them to decide what they would like. Looking through
the menus, Adam and Sara chatted about the selection—particularly
the drinks that paid homage to the silver screen, all combining
Western classics with hints of Eastern and Middle-Eastern
flavors.

Finally a waiter came to take their orders
then Sara and Adam were alone again, and they smiled at one
another. They found themselves doing that a lot whenever they were
together, a habit that wasn't lost on either of them. Sara found
the easy happiness they shared refreshing, given all the heartache
she had been through recently, and Adam had his share of that too.
Finding someone like Sara, who was kind and intelligent and
beautiful all at once—sometimes he couldn't believe his luck. He
only hoped that she somehow felt the same about him.

"So what do you like to do?" he asked,
trying to break the ice.

Sara laughed a little bit. "Do about what?
Oh, you mean what do I like to do in my spare time?" She blushed a
little; the question had only made sense to her after she'd started
speaking. "Well, I like to go to restaurants, for one."

Now it was Adam's turn to laugh. "Me too. I
mean who doesn't like to eat? What's been your favorite so
far?"

Sara thought about it for a moment. Most of
the restaurants she'd been to in Dubai had been on dates with
Pierce—if she could call them dates. She'd had some great food and
drinks on their nights out, but most of it had been all alone.
Pierce, especially in the later months of their relationship, had
always seemed to be on his phone, negotiating a deal or chasing a
lead. Sara would sit at their table, eating in silence, while her
fiancé poked at his food and chatted away.

Why didn't I realize it sooner?
she
asked herself.
It should have been so obvious
.

But then she shook her head a little,
clearing away the clouds that threatened to envelope it. "Um, I
think I might like this one the best," she offered. "Here's to
making new memories."

With that she raised her glass for a toast.
Adam, with that ever-present smiled, lifted his as well, and they
both drank.

"Do you like to play sports?" he asked as he
put his glass back down. A random question, but Sara appreciated
his efforts to keep the conversation going. "Since you work for the
Special Olympics, I mean," he went on. "And you spend so much time
around athletes."

"Well, I do like tennis," she said
tentatively. "Though it's been a while since I've gotten to play."
Another thing that went out the window with her engagement; Pierce
had been her doubles partner for all the years they had been
together. "Are you kidding?" Adam asked, his face lighting up. He
put a hand up to his chest. "I love tennis too. Where do you play?
Oh, have you been to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships? I go
every year. My friends all think it's so boring, but I love it. I
think it's the most challenging game." "Yes, I have been," Sara
said with a zing of excitement. "Last year's ladies' semifinals
were so exciting." Her mind flashed quickly back to that time.
She'd procured tickets, but then at the last moment Pierce had
decided to go on a business trip to London. Sara's mother had
accompanied her to the semifinals instead; she was always happy to
have some "precious family time," as she called it. The place had
been buzzing with tennis fans of all nationalities and ages,
individuals and groups alike. It was true what they said, Sara had
thought—sports do break down barriers. She had enjoyed that day
with her mother, both at the tennis matches and later while
chatting over dinner at the Irish Village. Mostly she was thankful
that her mother had helped to keep her mind off Pierce.

Stop, stop!
she told herself. Why
were these memories surfacing all at once? She had barely thought
about Pierce in the last few weeks; finally, she had thought, she
might have gotten over him. She'd forgiven him for what he had
done, for cheating on her and breaking off their engagement—not
because he deserved it but because she knew forgiveness was the
path to becoming whole and moving on, to not letting her mind dwell
on the hurt he had caused her in the past. Why was he pushing his
way into her psyche now, when she was doing so well?

This was the reason, she realized. She was
happy. All those gloomy thoughts in her head were trying to mount a
mutiny. Well, she simply couldn't let that happen.

She gazed out the window again, a
mesmerizing distraction. "Wow, what a view!" She was aware it was
an obvious statement, but she just couldn't help saying it. The
birds-eye view of the city as night set in was incredible. The sun
had fully set, leaving only darkness and clusters of lights shining
brightly.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Adam gazed out the
window, too, smiling a little to himself. He was thrilled that Sara
appreciated this experience just as much as he did. "Have you heard
of the Apollo 8?"

Sara thought for a moment. "That was part of
the US space program, wasn't it? One of their spacecraft?"

Adam nodded, both of them still looking out
the window, not at each other. "It was the country's second manned
mission into space, back in 1968. Anyway I was just reading
something online recently that mentioned it, specifically one of
the astronauts, Frank Borman. He said that when he was in space,
looking back at earth, he did not see all our differences. All the
nationalities we use to separate ourselves from one another blended
into one. All he saw was one people, one world."

Sara glanced at him and smiled. "What a
beautiful idea that is." She turned back to the view outside the
window. "From up here I can see what he meant. The city below, the
stars up above, us here in the middle, all of it making up the
whole, no matter who we are or where we're from. I like the
concept: we are one."

As they sipped their drinks, they talked
some more about the view then moved on to their common interests.
They both liked playing golf and going to concerts and in fact had
attended a few of the same ones in the last few years.

"Wouldn't it be funny," Adam said, "if we'd
sat next to each other and never known it? Do you believe in that?
Like some sort of fate?"

Sara didn't have to think about this one. "I
do," she replied. "Maybe not in the strictest sense, but I do
believe we all have a purpose planned out for us. Some path that we
are meant to follow."

"And while on that path," Adam went on,
contributing to the thought, "maybe we meet the people we're
supposed to meet?"

Sara nodded her head and smiled. "Yes, yes,
that is exactly it. I remember a friend telling me once that going
through life is like being on a bus. As you sit there waiting for
your stop, other people come and go. Some stay for only a short
time before it is their time to get off. Others are with you for
the whole ride. All of them follow their own paths— they have their
own destinations—but your ways and theirs can intersect for a
time."

Adam was nodding, too, rubbing his chin
absently as he listened to her. "Maybe they intersect for a
purpose," he said. "Like during that time you're on the bus with
them is for a reason. For them to help you with something or for
you to help them."

"Yes, that is what I was trying to say."
Sara sat back, feeling more relaxed now. "Or it could just be to
keep one another company. We all have to have our partners in life,
don't we?"

"Sure. Partners, friends, family, work—we
each need a support system. We need love to keep us strong." He
held up his arm and flexed his bicep with a laugh.

She laughed, and as they ate some tapas and
sipped their drinks, their easy conversation continued. They talked
once again about the restaurants they had been to as well as the
sights they had seen. Sara learned a little more about Adam's
background and family. He had grown up in England, his family still
lived there, and they were quite close-knit, so there were regular
comings and goings—him to England and them to Dubai. Adam completed
his undergrad and master's in England then gradually climbed up the
career ladder and into management. He had moved to Dubai to widen
his experience in hotel management; he had not planned to stay more
than a few years, but recently the Grand Creek had decided to renew
his contract. Now he was pleased to have the opportunity to stay a
little longer.

"Mine was just renewed too," Sara said,
helping herself to an olive stuffed with anchovies from one of
their tapas plates. She popped it in her mouth and smiled. "My
employment contract, I mean."

"Hmm, a coincidence," Adam replied. "Or
could it be fate?" With a twinkle in his eye, he changed the topic,
asking instead about Sara's family. She told him all about her
parents and their move from Canada. He could tell by the warmth in
her voice as she spoke just how close she was to her mom and
dad.

"They sound like good people," he commented.
"Very supportive of you and your career. Speaking of which…"

Oh, here it comes
, Sara thought. She
had been wondering when Adam would ask about the gala. It had been
on her mind all night, as it was every second of every day—even
more so now that the responsibility of finding the money for it had
fallen to her and her friends.