Cheers for reviews and follows
A/N I will be taking my time with this one, I want to get it right and that way it can be enjoyed more
Amy after Sheldon's Skype call went to bed but after tossing and turning failed to sleep, instead she Skyped Leonard and Penny to tell them about Sheldon's call, Penny answered straight away
"Hi Penny, is Leonard with you?
"Hi Ames, yes he is, do you want him?
"Well it's better if both of you are here so I can tell you my news" replied Amy as Penny called Leonard and he joined Penny
"What's your news? Asked Penny
"Sheldon called me a little while ago, he's staying with your mother Leonard"
"My mother? Why doesn't that surprise me, did he have much to say?
"Not really other than getting jealous over Faisal, I need you two to make a decision"
"About what? Asked Penny
"Its about when Sheldon comes home and where you two are going to live, I know it might be early for you to live together but at least think about it and give Sheldon an answer for when he returns please"
"When is he coming back? Asked Leonard
"In about 6 weeks I imagine, he is not happy about me being here and wanted to join me but I told him not to and I also managed to convince him that I don't want to break up with him and that time apart will do us good" replied Amy
"Amy if Leonard and I decide to live together at my place, will you move in here?
"I don't know, it is very much dependent on what Sheldon wants but I know that I won't be asking him about living arrangements ever again" replied Amy
"Don't give up on him, you might be right in that the break will do you both good" commented Leonard
"Lets hope so, are you going to call your mother?
"No I will let them call me, if Sheldon wants to be left alone then that's fine" replied Leonard
"Even if I don't move in with Sheldon, Leonard will you still be happy to drive him to and from work if required?
"Yes nothing will change in that and if Sheldon had stuck around he would have found that out" replied Leonard
"You're the ones that encouraged him to go" exclaimed Amy
"Yes I know but you know he needed to go" replied Leonard
"Fine, if he calls you tell him that, he needs to know that you are not abandoning him" added Amy
"We will do, what time is it there? Asked Penny
"Its almost midnight, I was just about to go to bed when Sheldon called and I am wide awake now" replied Amy
"Ok, Leonard and I are meting the others for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory so we better go but we will keep in touch ok? Said Penny
"You got it, talk soon" said Amy as they signed off together
Amy unfortunately couldn't get back to sleep for a while, the heat wasn't helping so went and sat on the balcony with some water and playing games on her laptop for a couple of hours, she eventually went to bed around 3am and fell into a deep sleep, she was woken at 930am by light tapping coming from the apartment door, she went to answer it and found Maya there
"Hi Amy, sorry to disturb you but we were wondering if you were coming for breakfast?
"Its fine, what time is breakfast being served until?
"There is no time limit, I can see you were sleeping" replied Maya
"Yes, would it be ok if I have breakfast in my apartment?
"Of course, let me call Abdul and he can take your order" replied Maya speaking into her radio that was attached to her robe
"Thank you, I am just not ready yet"
"Faisal said he will stop by at midday for you"
"Oh yes, we are going for a drive, thank you Maya for letting me have so much time with him"
"Its fine, I have to share him with Nadia and Ghadya anyway"
"Well this isn't anything like that I assure you" said Amy quickly
"Oh I know, as his first wife, I have approval over future wife's, I know you and he are just friends and he told me about the pretend engagement for your funding" said Maya as Abdul appeared with a trolley full of food, he bowed to Maya and rolled the trolley into Amy's apartment
"Let me know when you have finished and I will collect it" said Abdul
"Thank you" said Amy smiling at him
"We should really get you a pager or a radio so you can call the staff" said Maya
"Oh no it's ok"
"See you later Amy and have a good day with Faisal" said Maya giving her a hug and living her in peace
Amy took her time to eat and had just finished getting dressed when there was another knock at the door, she went to answer it and found Faisal there
"Morning Amy, may I come in?
"Of course" Amy let him in and she followed him to the lounge
"You didn't join us for breakfast and Maya said you were still sleeping when she knocked, is everything ok?
"Yes fine, apart from Sheldon calling last night which meant I had to call his roommate as previously agreed"
"Sheldon called? How did he seem?
"He isn't happy about me being here and he is jealous of you, I assured him that nothing was going to happen but there isn't much I can do about that, are we going out now? Asked Amy trying to change the subject
"Yes of course, which car would you like to use? Asked Faisal as they went back out and left the apartment, Faisal took Amy to the garages where he stored his fleet of cars
"I think Ferrari, the closest I will get to driving such a great car" replied Amy as Faisal's garage manager passed him the Ferrari keys
"While we are driving you can tell me more about Sheldon"
"Do we have to?
"Yes, its better to talk about it than to bottle things up, did he say where he was?
"Yes he is in New York with his roommate's mother"
"Dr Beverley Hofstadter?
"Yes, how did you know that?
"Research Amy, you know me, maybe she can help him deal with his issues, I know she has a good reputation in the science world"
"Well he wasn't very forthcoming about what was happening, so I don't know" replied Amy as they got into the car and Amy started the engine
"Perhaps getting him over here will help you in the relationship" suggested Faisal
"No that's not going to happen, Sheldon needs to deal with his issues and I am part of those issues, the time apart will be better for both of us and maybe it will help in the long run" replied Amy as she started to drive down the sweeping drive
"When we leave here, turn right, we are going to my camel station by the desert" commented Faisal
"What are we doing there?
"You are going to get in some practice for the camel racing next week, I can't imagine you get much time for that in the USA"
"You got that right" chuckled Amy as she followed Faisal's instructions
It didn't take long to get to the desert area that Faisal owned, Faisal introduced Amy to the station manager and took them into the house he had built there and helped Amy to dress appropriately for camel riding, he hadn't said much else on the way regarding Sheldon which Amy was glad about but she figured more would come later
"Amy are you ready now?
"Yes" Amy put her riding helmet on for safety and Faisal led her out to his own camel that he regularly raced
"This is Lawrence, he is a new camel and he rides well, I will walk alongside you so you are not too scared at first"
"I'm not scared, I have done this before" replied Amy as the camel was guided to sit on the floor so Amy could clamber on top of him
"Yes I know but it's been four years and just for safety" replied Faisal
Faisal guided the camel round on a harness lead with Amy sitting on the camel tentatively at first, she relaxed after a few minutes and told Faisal she was ready to go at a quicker pace, Faisal let the camel go and jogged alongside talking to Lawrence who was obeying his instructions, after 15 minutes of gently jogging, Faisal guided Amy back to the camel station
"How did you find that?
"Yes it was good, is that it though?
"No but you will be using Oli next, he will be yours for the race so you need to get some practice in" replied Faisal
"Fancy a challenge? Asked Amy
"Like a race between you and me?
"Of course"
"You got it"
Faisal was given a safety helmet and he and Amy set off around the desert area at a slow pace before they raced each other back to the camel station, Faisal won of course but Amy wasn't far behind
"I don't think you will need much practice, maybe 15 minutes a day" suggested Faisal as they swigged down some much needed water
"That might be all I can manage in this heat" replied Amy who was dripping with sweat
"You can use the pool when we get back if you want to cool off"
"Thank you" replied Amy smiling at him
Amy drove them back to the Palace and she joined Maya in the swimming pool with her children, she knew swimming was part of the sports day, so got some practice laps in, she was also eager to start working but that wouldn't happen until after the weekend, she returned back to her apartment to find Faisal waiting outside
"Everything ok? Asked Amy
"Yes, may I come in?
"Of course"
"There is a reason why I wanted to talk to you actually" said Faisal as they sat down in the lounge
"I think I can guess"
"Well I just spoke to Dr Hofstadter in New York, apparently Sheldon was supposed to stay until today but he left before she got home from work last night without leaving a note"
"He is making a habit of leaving without telling people" commented Amy
"Yes, Dr Hofstadter would like to talk to you at some point regarding Sheldon, would you be willing to do that? Asked Faisal
"Perhaps but Sheldon and I are fine, he is off doing what he wants to do and I am enjoying my time here and looking forward to getting started on work" replied Amy
"You are taking this whole thing very calmly" commented Faisal
"Well Sheldon is a complex character, he needs time alone to deal with his issues and I understand that now"
"I won't say anymore regarding this if you don't want me to" suggested Faisal
"Thank you, what are the plans for the rest of the day?
"Well my father and his wife, the king and queen of Saudi are arriving tonight for a banquet, you are invited of course"
"Thank you, what's the occasion?
"Its Friday and we always have a banquet at each others palaces, it's a good way to spend just family time rather than with the real world, next week we will be at my brothers palace in Jeddah and we stay overnight because of how far away it is" replied Faisal
"I would like to dress appropriately like Maya does, perhaps she has something I could borrow"
"Amy you don't need to do that, you have plenty of appropriate clothing" replied Faisal as Amy's Skype started to ring
"I need to get that as it's my friend Penny" said Amy after checking who it was
"Fine, I will talk to you later and the banquet starts at 7 by the way" said Faisal seeing himself out
"Hi Penny, what's up?
"Beverley just Skyped us to say Sheldon has gone"
"Yes I know, Faisal has been in touch with her and he just told me the same thing"
"Oh, well Leonard has tried to call him but his phone is going to voicemail, perhaps you could ring him, he might answer"
"What good would me calling him do? Asked Amy
"You're his girlfriend, he might well answer"
"I doubt it, he just needs space and I am guessing that Beverley gave him some home truths" replied Amy
"She did say that she listened in to your Skype call with Sheldon and she realised that herself" replied Penny
"There you go then, there is nothing I can do, I am doing what Sheldon wanted and giving him space, Penny don't worry about him, I am sure he has a plan of his time travelling around the States"
"You don't seem that bothered?
"Of course I am bothered, but he is a grown man Penny, he is doing what he wants to do, he will be in touch when he is ready" replied Amy
"You might be right, how was your day so far?
"It has been good, I went to do some camel race practising and there is a banquet tonight so I need to get ready for that soon" replied Amy
"Why are you doing camel racing? Penny looked puzzled at her
"There is a monthly sports day here and its next week" replied Amy
"Take pictures and show us then" said Penny
"Oh I will be taking pictures of everything, I have some I need to upload from today actually" replied Amy
"I have work so I better go" said Penny
"Bye Penny and if I hear from Sheldon I will let you know of course" replied Amy as they signed off together, there was a knock at the door again, so Amy went to answer it and found Maya there with Nadia and a rail full of dresses
"Hi Amy, Faisal said you wanted to dress like us but we have something better, these are all dresses that we sometimes wear, please choose whichever is appropriate for you" said Maya wheeling the rail in through the door
"Thank you, I just want to fit in with the culture here"
"We know and that's appreciated but it's not necessary, just choose a dress" replied Nadia smiling at her
"We will leave you to it and see you later Amy" said Maya giving her a warm smile and leaving the apartment
Amy after much change of dresses eventually settled on a floor length red dress that had a gold band around the middle of the dress, she had a shower to cool down and got herself ready for the banquet, she was nervous about meeting the King and Queen again, it had been a long time since she saw them, she found a clutch bag on the rail and put her camera and phone in there and waited for Faisal to collect her as arranged
Next chapter up soon