Thank you for reviews and follows
Thanks to the time difference, a refuel in London and a scheduled stop at Jeddah, Amy didn't arrive in Riyadh until lunchtime the following day, she collected a trolley for all of her luggage and went through to arrivals, expecting to see her name held up by Faisal's driver, she was surprised when the first person she saw was Faisal who beamed as Amy abandoned her trolley and gave him a hug, Faisal kissed both her cheeks and hugged her back, Faisal was just the same as she always knew him, tall tanned and with a crafty grin
"Amy it is good to see you at last, I was beginning to think you would reject all of my invitations"
"I know and from now on, I will try and come every summer" replied Amy
Amy was about to go back and collect her trolley, but Faisal indicated for his assistant to take care of the trolley and they walked out to the arrivals pick up point, although being that he was a prince, he could park anywhere and his gold Rolls Royce was waiting for them outside the exit
"Nice car" commented Amy as she stepped outside and the heat hit her, she was glad she was wearing light clothing
"Yes its brand new, I hope you are hungry?
"Oh sure"
"Good because we have a welcoming lunch for you back at the palace and then you can tell me the reasons as to what made you come here so quickly" replied Faisal as his assistant piled the luggage into the boot of the car and then set off in the direction of the palace a few miles away
"What makes you think there is a reason?
"Amy I have known you for 10 years, you haven't been over here for 4 years since you became involved with your boyfriend, I know there is a reason"
"You're good"
"I know, now we will put you in the guest wing like we always do and we can talk later about what work you would like to do here"
"Do you have any addiction studies taking place at the moment?
"Oh yes, we have plenty and you can work your way around them and offer your assistance, I have informed everybody that you are arriving and they are excited to see you again"
"It is good to be back here I must say, will I be able to give lectures or presentations?
"Yes but most of our students don't speak English, so we will provide a translator"
It didn't take long to drive back to the palace and Amy as usual was impressed with the long sweeping driveway and the magnificence of the palace, once the car stopped, Faisal's driver helped her out and Faisal phoned for his assistants to help take Amy's luggage in
"Now Amy you will have use of all the palaces staff so please don't be afraid to use them, you will have your own personal butler as well" said Faisal as he led her to the apartment she would be staying in
"I feel bad about having people do things for me"
"Don't be, the servants live a good life here and we appreciate them with good pay" replied Faisal as they reached the apartment and Amy's butler was waiting outside
"Amy you remember Abdul, he will cater to everything you need"
"Thank you Abdul, I shall try not to ask too much of you" said Amy politely
"It's not a problem" replied Abdul nodding at her
"Amy lunch will be served in one hour so I will give you time to settle in and I will come and collect you" said Faisal as the last of her luggage was brought in
"Thank you and you are very welcoming"
"Amy you are a delightful guest, please enjoy the room" said Faisal kissing her cheeks again and disappearing down the hallway
Amy went into the apartment, she had use of an open plan living room and kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom with a four poster bed and with a walk in wardrobe and the living room had a desk set up for her to work on, Abdul offered to help but Amy said she would be fine, she checked the fridge and poured herself some icy water, she was glad there was air conditioning and went to sit out on the balcony with her laptop and called Penny on the Skype, she immediately forgot about the time difference but Penny was still awake despite it being midnight in LA
"Hi Ames, so glad you called, everything ok?
"Yes I am here and I am going to a welcoming lunch party in an hour"
"Sounds fun, did you let Sheldon know what you were doing?
"Yes I sent him an email explaining everything, I can only guess that he just wants to be left alone and that's why he is not communicating"
"He might call you once he reads the email Amy"
"I sent the email two days ago and he hasn't done yet, like I said I will just leave him be and he can call me if he wants to"
"Good idea, by the way I looked up your prince, he's very handsome"
"He is and we have known each other for 10 years and he's a very good friend and he wants to know why I suddenly accepted his invitation to come here, so I will have to tell him everything"
"What's the palace like?
"Penny it's beautiful, I have my own apartment here and personal assistants, I will try not to use them too much but Faisal says I should, I am so used to doing everything by myself though"
"Maybe we could pay you a visit near the end of your stay there" suggested Penny
"That would be nice, but you will have to cover up everywhere and alcohol is not prohibited in the country"
"At all? Exclaimed Penny aghast
"At all, it's against their religion"
"Amy I have to go to bed but make sure you call us at least once a week and if you hear from Sheldon, ok?
"Of course, goodnight"
"Night Amy"
Amy signed off and went back inside and started to organise some of her clothing, then remembered she wanted to upload all of the pictures she had taken on the plane and of when she was approaching the palace, so went back to her laptop and did that and she was still doing that when Faisal knocked for her
"Amy are you ready for lunch?
"Oh yes, what I am wearing is fine isn't it? Asked Amy who was wearing a white flowing top and a long skirt which was keeping her cool
"Yes, it's only Saudi's we expect to be covered up, you however are respecting our culture and that's appreciated"
Faisal held his arm out for Amy to link though and they went down to the main dining hall where Faisal's family were, he spoke in Arabic for a moment before turning to Amy and guiding her to a seat, he sat next to her
"Amy you remember my wife Maya? Asked Faisal indicating the lady on his other side
"Oh yes, it's good to see you again" said Amy reaching over to shake her hand
"It's been too long" smiled Maya
"That's exactly what I told her and I think we shall find out why today" replied Faisal
Moore guests came in and joined them, two of which were Feisal's two other wives and some of his children, they were served a Jiffy punch which was a mixture of different fruits and then they had starters of dumpling stuffed with lentils and potatoes, they had a main meal of Arabian chicken and rice, Amy was starting to feel stuffed with the food and was going to reject dessert until it was brought out, the chef had made brownies and ice cream which was a favourite of most of the people living in the palace, Amy exchanged chat with everybody
"So Amy how did you find lunch? Asked Faisal watching Amy patting her belly appreciatively
"It was delicious, I had forgotten how good the food was here"
"Come with me to my office and we can talk, my family are going out visiting the local hospitals this afternoon, so I am free" replied Faisal
Amy followed Faisal through the endless maize of corridors till they reached his apartment and followed him to his office, he had two sofas opposite each other so they sat down and after he poured them both some icy water, started to talk
"So tell me why you came here so quickly?
"Its all a bit of a mess really, my boyfriend is having a breakdown and he's gone off travelling around the states on his own, he doesn't know when he will be back and he is barely communicating so when I saw your invitation it was too good to turn down"
"What caused your boyfriend, Dr Cooper is it?
"Yes"
"What caused him to breakdown?
"Lots of things really, he was unhappy about being forced to continue with string theory, he was unhappy that his roommate has got engaged and wants to live with this fiancée and he feels a lot of pressure in our relationship, I did suggest to him that he could live on his own and if that didn't work out then we could live together but he launched into a rant and stormed out"
"Are you pressuring him?
"Not at all, I have mentioned I would like more intimacy and we had been working on that but it seems that everything got to much for him, I didn't even know where he was and it was his roommate and fiancée that found him at the train station on the day he stormed out of my apartment, but nobody bothered to tell me and they just let him go"
"You sound angry about that?
"Of course, Sheldon is vulnerable and I wanted to be with him but all I can do now is let him do what he wants and hope he gets in contact"
"Did you let him know you were coming here?
"Yes as he is no longer answering his phone, I sent him an email explaining what I was doing and that I would be back in September, but I am just going to enjoy myself while I am here and try and get him out of my mind"
"That will be difficult when you are in love with him"
"How do you know that?
"Amy it's obvious, don't forget about him, I am sure he will contact you when he is ready, just be comforting and listen to him"
"Perhaps you are right, what about work while I am here, do you have a schedule for me?
"Yes but you wont be starting work until Monday, I wanted to give you a few days to get settled in and it wont be all work and no play either"
"What do you have in mind?
"Well we have regular parties and of course you remember we still have a monthly sports day for everybody to take part in"
"You still do that?
"Of course, I have been the champion camel race rider for the last 18 months"
"That sounds fun, when is the next one?
"Next week as it is the beginning of June after all"
"Count me in" replied Amy
"Did you unpack all of your things?
"Not yet, I Skyped my friend Penny to let her know I had arrived and then I was uploading photos to Facebook and Twitter, it is ok that I take pictures of the palace and upload them?
"Of course but for privacy reasons, please leave any pictures out of my family, you can take ones of me though"
"Perhaps we can take a quick selfie now" suggested Amy
Faisal agreed and Amy uploaded the picture before Faisal remembered something
"If you need to go anywhere, then let me know and you can have use of my driver"
"Can I just hire a car and drive myself?
"You could but you can have luxury with any one of my fleet, did you bring your driving license?
"Yes of course"
"Good, tomorrow I will show you my cars and you can take me for a drive"
"Really?
"Oh yes, it's been a long time since we have spent time together"
"Your wives won't be upset that I am monopolizing you?
"Of course not, they know you are my friend and they like you"
"They are lovely people"
"They are, seeing as it has been a while since you were last here, would you like a tour of the palace?
"I would like that"
"Come with me then"
Amy enjoyed going around the palace and the extensive gardens and she started to build up an appetite again despite the big lunch she had, it was nearing dinner time but Amy wanted good old fashioned fast food
"Would it be awful of me to ask one of your assistants to go to the nearest McDonalds and bring me back a Big Mac and fries? Asked Amy
"Of course not, the nearest one is only a couple of miles away, hold on a moment" Faisal chuckled at her and used his personal pager to call his direct assistant who agreed to go and get the food
"Thank you, I will probably have that and then go to my apartment, the jet lag and time difference is catching up with me"
"That's ok Amy and let me know if you hear from your boyfriend or if you just want to talk"
"Thank you"
"And if you wish to use the swimming pool let me know and I will make sure there are no males around, you know it's forbidden for them to see women they are not in a relationship with in such undress"
"Oh I know"
Faisal walked Amy back to her apartment and Amy made a start on her luggage, she had already set up her printer and lap top on her desk along with her neuroscience books and had just finished emptying one suitcase when Abdul knocked at her door with the food, she thanked him and then switched on the TV to the American channels, by 9pm she was exhausted and was finishing off checking her work emails and was about to shut her laptop when her Skype started to ring with Sheldon's name and Amy braced herself for what she thought might be a difficult conversation
Next chapter up soon