Claudia looked up from her desk to see her boss, Sheikh Samir Al-Hamri standing in the doorway to her office, his arms folded over his chest, a smile on his devastatingly handsome face.

"The merger’s going through?” They’d been working out a deal for months with a rival shipping company in his country of Tazzatine.

"Finally. It’s been a long haul and I couldn’t have done it without you."

Claudia blushed at the compliment. She knew he appreciated her input, her willingness to work long hours and her devotion to the job. What he wouldn’t appreciate, if he knew about it, was her devotion to him personally. She tried, heaven knows she tried to treat him like any other boss, but how could she when he wasn’t like any other boss?

First he was a sheikh, a member of the ruling family in his country, with more money than anyone could spend in a lifetime, dazzling good looks, the best education in the world, and even a sense of humor. And generous. How could she forget generous, when he gave her large raises without her asking? The one thing he wasn’t generous about was vacations. He didn’t take them and he didn’t see why she should either.

Claudia didn’t care. If she was on vacation, she wouldn’t get to see him every day. Wouldn’t get to discuss new shipping routes, the GNP of developing countries, or fluctuating petroleum prices. Who else would want to talk about alternate sources of energy or the future of container ships? Nobody in her knitting group or her book club. But who would have thought these subjects would interest a twenty-eight-year-old former English major like Claudia?

When she first took the job it was just a job. High-paying, demanding and high-energy. But working for Samir had been an eye-opener. His enthusiasm for the field of international shipping, the field he’d been born into and raised to inherit, was contagious. Now she took a real interest in the workings and the future of his family’s business.

"Your family must be pleased," she said.

He hesitated a moment then walked to the window of her office and looked out across San Francisco Bay sparkling in the morning sunlight to Alcatraz, Angel Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

"They are," he said. "Very pleased. It’s the end of an era, the end to hostility and competition between the Al-Hamris and the Bayadhis, but…."

She waited for him to finish his sentence. He didn’t. Something was wrong. She knew him so well, knew he should be on the phone, calling friends, making plans, sharing the news with everyone including the newspaper. Instead he was just standing there lost in thought.

"What about the papers?" She held up the file with the contract in it. "Nothing’s been signed yet." Maybe that was it. He was afraid to count on the deal until it was official.

"That will happen in Tazzatine in our home office on the twenty-first of this month." He looked up at the photograph on the wall of the high-rise, waterfront headquarters of the Al-Hamri Shipping Company surrounded by residence towers, a sports complex and a shopping plaza on the Gulf. "For now, they have our word, we have theirs."

"You should be celebrating. Should I book a table at La Grenouille for tonight?"

He turned to face her. He rubbed his hand over his brow and didn’t speak for a long moment. "Sure," he said finally. "Why not? And get two first class tickets to Tazzatine on…" He crossed the room to look at the calendar on the wall. "Say, the fifteenth. Leave the return open."

Claudia scribbled the date on her notepad. "Two?"

"Two. You and I."

Her mouth fell open. "I’m going with you?" She’d never gone anywhere further than and hour or two away to meetings in Silicon Valley or Sacramento with him in the two years she’d worked there. Now she was going half-way around the world? "You’re not serious."

"Of course I am. You’re the one who wrote up the proposal in the first place. You have the details of the contract in your head. You don’t think I’d sign anything without you’re being there, do you?"

"I...uh..."

"Especially something this important. Who knows what could go wrong at the last minute? Changes to be made? Objections? I need you there. You know I’m no good at details."

He was right. He was the one with the big plans, the overview. He was the rainmaker. She took care of the details. They were a team.

"I think I should stay here in the office. If you need me, you can always call me," she said.

"No good. You have to be there. Don’t worry, it’s a very modern country. You don’t have to wear a veil. Women drive, go shopping, swim, play golf. At least in the capital."

She wasn’t worried about wearing a veil or being able to play golf which she didn’t do, she was worried about being in his country, seeing him with his family and knowing beyond a doubt, once and for all, that she was a fool for falling in love with her boss. Any boss, but especially a boss who was in line to rule a small country one day. Whose family had certain expectations for him.

She’d feel like an outsider. Oh, no doubt they’d be nice to her. She’d heard tales of their legendary hospitality. But she WAS an outsider and it would finally sink in as it never had before.

Maybe that’s what she needed. A reality check. Time to stop fantasizing that one day he’d look up from his desk, see her and gasp. "Claudia, you’re beautiful," he’d say. "What’s wrong with me? I never knew it before but I’m in love with you."