Haya.

Looking around, I could see that this was not the kind of place that I had ever visited before. I had roamed the streets of London, eaten at random places, but this was not even close to that.

The aroma of spices and oil clouded my senses, the hustle and bustle of the people working in their small hotels and shops, the clatter of the utensils, it was so normal.

Had Amir brought me to a street food area?

I looked at the man who was standing by my side, smiling at the view in front of him. Clearly, he had been here before and clearly, he loved this place.

Amir guided me towards a small table, making me sit on a chair and sitting right in front of me. He pointed towards a man and then paid all his attention to me.

"What is this place?" I pondered. Amir did not seem stuck up at all.

He did not care about his Crown Prince status. He tried to show me his normal side ever since I had been with him. I didn't understand why but that intrigued me and scared me at the same time.

"It's the street with the best food in my city." Amir replied, thanking the man who had just placed a big tray in front of us.

I could not even name one dish on that platter. They smelled amazing but I had no idea how they were eaten or if they tasted as good as they looked.

At the same time, I wondered how a man like Amir was not cautious about eating from a normal street. As people in power, they must have alot of enemies. And with enemies, came danger. Was he nor afraid that his food could easily be poisoned?

"And you're okay with eating that?" I questioned out loud. He just chuckled at me.

"Don't worry, it's checked. Aren't you too cautious that someone's gonna posion you?" Even though his eyes were very playful, I realised that I was trying to be like a Princess in front of a man who was showing me his normal side.

I had to be that way. I had to show him that I was normal too. I was humble and grounded, just like him.

"No. I am just quite shocked that you know all these places." I turned the conversation around and Amir leaned back, shrugging.

He was so handsome. God, why was he so handsome? It made it hard for me to control myself.

"Not every man is lucky enough to be born golden, Haya. We have to look around and see that for ourselves." Amir told me, picking up a fork.

I did the same as him and ate the first bite from the very same area as him. I hesitantly brought it to my mouth, surprisingly liking the spicy substance.

"But what about your security? You're not careful enough." I said to him after finishing another bite.

Amir took time to chew his food before speaking up.

"Is that worry I hear?" He was quite into teasing me.

He had such a gentle playfulness about him that I wanted to talk more and more. He seemed like the kind of man that a woman could laugh her ass off with, yet at the same time, she could also hold the most deep conversations without any fear or hesitancy.

"Maybe." I played along, eating another bite.

"How do you like it?" He questioned me about the food.

"It's very nice."

He hummed, eating himself. I wondered about how we had ended up in this position. A few weeks ago, we hardly knew about each other's existence. Yet, here we were.

"I knew you would like this place. From what I've perceived about you, you're always ready to explore new places. That makes life much more exciting."

I wanted to say that Maraaish wasn't exactly the place that I wanted to explore but right now, nothing intrigued me more than this country. And Amir.

Ofcourse, Amir.

"Well, my excitement does not sit well with alot of people." I murmured with a small laugh, taking a bite of the omelette thing that was way too green.

"With due reason, I'm sure." Amir didn't say it out too loud but I had still heard it.

I knew what he was referring to. He was referring to my clothes that he thought were rather immodest.

"You're talking about my clothes." I stated, Amir shook his head.

"I don't have the right to talk about your clothes, Princess. You have every right to wear what you deem fit."

I knew that. But his opinion, I wanted to hear it. I knew he thought my clothes were haram but I wanted an explanation, I wanted to know more about his mindset.

"But you don't really like the idea of the kind of clothes I wear." I said to him, taking a sip from the drink that was placed in front of me.

It tasted like mint and lemon.

"Maybe not. I mean, you look ravishing in whatever you wear but I think that only selected people should be able to see who you are."

I knew he had chosen his words very carefully and I did not feel offended. Infact, I wanted to explain to him that my clothes were not who I was. My clothes were just the style that I was comfortable in.

"Only selected people see who I am, Amir. Clothes certainly do not define my personality." I told him more about myself, he raised an eye at me.

"So am I one of the selected ones?" And it was back.

The playful eyes and that damn dimple.

"I haven't decided yet." I teased back, Amir shook his head.

"I beg to differ."

I didn't say anything as I tried to cut the bread type dish with a knife. My eyes glanced at Amir who had put away his fork and knife. He picked it up from his right hand, like one would pick up a roll.

"That's our traditional dish. It's a shame that high class elite restaurants here don't even bother making it the right way." He informed me as I looked at the dish.

I wanted to eat it. It looked delicious but I also did not want to look like an idiot while trying to fit in a roll in my mouth.

"It's wrapped with rice inside it, spinach and olives, some marinated chicken and some incredible spices. This is the only place that makes it the best way." He elaborated, waiting for me to go on and taste it.

I picked it up and brought it near my mouth. I took the first bite, welcoming the taste.

"It tastes quite different." I murmured after finishing the first bite.

With a boyish grin, he raised his brows.

"Good different?"

As the taste finally developed in my mouth, I realised that this was probably the most delicious thing I had tasted in a long time.

"Yes, actually. The taste develops a while later, right?"

"Exactly."

@Haya : always enough. Photographed by the wonderful @MarioTestino

Both of us ate in silence for a while, finishing the very famous traditional dish as he had put it.

I had noticed the way he ate, the way he smiled, the way he talked with the gesture of his hands, the way his dimple showed as he tried not to smile but failed.

As I thought about him, I was sure he was thinking about me too. I knew he had been enjoying my company and I knew that he was just as pleased to learn more about me, just like I was happy to learn more about him.

I took another sip of the refreshing drink as I heard him speak.

"So what about your friends?" He enquired.

"My friends?" I repeated.

He had already asked me about Yaman a long time ago so I did not understand why he was talking about my friends again. Maybe, it was just to prolong the conversation.

"Well, yes. As far as I have heard, you have alot of them." Amir replied, and I relaxed.

"I do. They're just like normal friends. A little crazy, a little spoiled." I answered.

He nodded, taking another bite and chewing it properly. He took a little while to eat some more and then looked at me.

"Do they know that you are friends with me?" He wondered.

I wanted to frown. Friends? I didn't really like the term when it came to him. I didn't want to be his friend. I wanted to be more than that. But knowing the kind of mindset he had, he probably deemed friends to be the most appropriate term for us.

"Friends with you?" I still repeated, chuckling just a little bit.

He tried so hard to surpress a smile but his dimples showed yet again and I knew he wanted to grin.

"Yes, Haya." He mumbled, putting a glass near his lips to stop himself from smiling.

I just shrugged, putting another piece of chicken in my mouth.

"No, Amir. They don't know I am friends with you." I insisted, leaning a little forward.

He stared at me with those brown eyes and all I wanted to do was stay in that position, leaned forward and staring in his eyes, all day long.

"You are like my little secret." I whispered to him instead and then moved back, satisfied.

"I'm glad." He told me, pointing at the man who was standing at a distance.

"Do you want dessert?" After such a spicy food, I wouldn't oppose to the idea of desert. I was already eating more than I allowed myself to eat. My portion control diet was failing real bad today but I didn't care right now.

I wanted something sweet and I wanted to talk to Amir.

"Yes, please." I uttered, seeing him order something in his own language the man nodded with a smile and then went away.

There were quite a few people around, working in their own zones. They did not care much that there was Royal Presence in front of them. They probably did not know me, I wasn't from their country. But what about Amir?

"Do they know who you are?" I pondered out loud, questioning him.

For the first time, I saw a proper smirk. It was hot. There was no other way to describe him.

"It's hard not to. I am their Crown Prince." He responded, smug in a very playful way. He let out a small sigh as the dessert got placed in front of us. It was a liquid, like a custard but not exactly like one.

"I've been visiting this street for a very long time. After a while, they just got used to my presence." He informed me, taking a bite of the dessert and encouraging me to do the same.

It tasted like caramel and peaches, if that could even make sense.

"I honestly don't know any streets in Buredaan. I claim to love my country so much but I have never seen it past my golden walls." I admitted out loud.

He looked at me in such a tender manner that I wanted to stretch like a cat and grin at him. Instead, I took a bite of the dessert.

"Maybe we can explore Buredaan next time. Together." He suggested, I raised my eyes at him. Together. I liked the sound of that. I didn't show that his words had affected me too much, I just took another bite before looking at him.

"I didn't know you had plans of coming to my country." I stated, he shrugged.

"Initially, my father had to be there but seeing what Buredaan has to offer, I think I might be the one to go."

That was one hell of a way to objectify me.

"Offer?" I let the disappointment show in my voice. He didn't seem to concerned, since his attitude had not changed.

"Well, yes." He admitted.

"I am not an offer." I straight up told him, Amir laughed. He actually laughed.

"I was not talking about you."

Fuck.

Ugh.

Okay.

I didn't say anything out of sheer embarrassment for a while and he took my silence as my offense. I felt his deep laugh and I couldn't help but look up.

"You look more beautiful with that grumpy face, trust me."

I had been called beautiful by alot of people throughout my life but there was something about Amir calling me that word. It held a deeper meaning. He didn't seem like the kind of person to throw that word around so easily. Since my thoughts had altered my words, I heard him speak up again.

"The grumpy faced Human Rights Minister. A very suitable title." He joked, I grinned.

"I'm not grumpy." I defended, letting loose once again.

As I took the last few bites of the dessert, he watched me keenly, as if he was trying to figure something out. When I glanced up, he put his thoughts into a question.

"Why human rights, Haya? Its a dead end. You can never fix everything."

I didn't like the way he had said it. It wasn't very optimistic. I believed in hardwork and perfection. I knew that I couldn't fix everything but I could do a whole lot more than what people had done before me.

"That's a very negative approach, don't you think?" I said back. He shook his head, elaborating himself.

"Most of the Royals I know don't even care about what's going on around them. They're so self absorbed, yet here you are. You managed to raise your voice for some prisoners in front of my father. Why are you so passionate about this?"

So he thought there was some backstory to my passion, my devotion.

There wasn't exactly a certain incident that had triggered my conscience.

"It's a long story." I told him.

"We have time." He responded.

We didn't really have time but if he wanted to hear me talk, I would do so.

"Up until high school, I studied in Buredaan. I learned nothing because I was so spoiled. No one managed to teach me anything because they treated me like I was made of glass. The other kids were considered nothing compared to me. I wasn't a very good person, I was just there. "

"My father thought it was best that I did my college from some other country, where they wouldn't know my identity or treat me like some Princess. He sent me to Oxford and told me to keep a low profile."

I watched his keen eyes on me, grasping at every word I was saying.

"My self image was shattered in the first very year. There was so much racism and discrimination that you can't even imagine it."

"What did you do?" He asked

"The first time, I told the girls to fuck off and got them expelled. I called up my mother, cried about what was happening and forced her to call the Dean." I wasn't ashamed to talk about my past, it had made me the person that I was today.

"After that, I just kept my calm and learned better. I worked on myself. But seeing so much racism, negativity, violation of basic human rights all around that city. I mean, I was allowed to go whereever I wanted to go and I guess, seeing people struggle with the basic things just made me more human. I just decided that going back home, I would try to create some change." I explained, letting out a sigh.

"It's not very inspirational or something, it's just how things developed within me."

Amir seemed impressed. I could see that by the expression on his face.

"Most people like us go to Oxford, come back with a degree and only learn things like sleeping with women, drinking and partying. It's nice to see that not everyone is the same." When he mentioned drinking and partying, a look of disgust crossed his face.

Did he not know that I did those things too?

"Why did you say that I can't change everything?" I questioned, his negative words had got to me. I wanted to know the reason behind that.

Amir only smiled. Just like he always did.

"The man who beats his woman won't care if Princess Haya has passed some bill. He would just scare his woman enough to not speak up. What you really need, what we really need to do is make people learn how to be independent and survive. That's the only way things can be better."

Amir was strictly against domestic abuse of any kind. His recent work had caught the eye of global media, appreciating him for working towards an abuse free country. The rate of domestic abuse in Maraaish had lowered in the past five years and it was all because he had established rehabilitation centres and asylums for victims of such abuse. He was more learned on this very topic.

But domestic abuse was not the only thing that came under Human Rights violations.

"But that's not the only thing that comes under human rights violations." I said my thoughts out loud.

"But that is the most important one in our world." I didn't agree with that, for me, child prostitution and pornography was a bigger issue. But those issues were not a part of the Maraaishi culture.

"I guess so." I still replied.

"Tea?" I shook my head. I was too full with the heaps of food that I had shoved down my throat today. No more.

"No, thank you." I politely declined, he nodded.

"Do you want to go back?" Did I? God, I didn't even want to look anywhere else, let alone go back.

"No." I mumbled, he raised an eye at me.

"You want to sit here?" He questioned.

"I want to talk more." I admitted honestly.

"We can do that anytime you want." He assured me. I knew that. How could he not want to talk to me after the day that we had spent?

"Come." He stood up, ushering me towards the car.

I didn't know whether we were going back or not but I hoped that the talking would not stop.

"What about that friend you keep getting photographed with?" He asked about Yaman so casually that I wanted to laugh at him. He had already asked me about him and yet here he was.

I sat in the car and looked at him.

"Yaman? You have already asked about him." I reminded him even though I knew he remembered it very well.

"I am asking again." Amir said, voice so soft and gentle that he could ask me to jump off a cliff and I would do that.

"He is just a friend, we used to be very close but he has been quite busy with planning his wedding. And yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Okay."

The car started to move. I looked at the time, it was around twelve. We were definitely going back.

"What about you?" I asked in the very same casual tone that he had used on me earlier.

"Hmm?"

"Any Maraaishi girls I should be concerned about?" I enquired, he shook his head at me.

"No, not at all."

---

Reaching the Palace, I realised that our wonderful day was just about to end. The thought of Amir going away and doing his duties, instead of sitting and talking to me, it clenched my heart for some reason.

I knew that this was no way to think or act, I didn't know the man too well, I had just met him and yet here I was, constricted by my own feelings.

Feelings.

I had promised myself to not feel this way ever again, to be selfish and unbothered but somehow, this man with his dimples and charm was getting to me.

I gulped, entering the Palace from the very same back door.

"Should I walk you to your room?" I heard him question.

Walk me to my room? Hell yes.

"Yes, please." I whispered and he gestured me to come along, we walked side by side in silence, our walk painfully slow.

Maybe, he was just as gutted that the day was about to end. He opened the door to the room and I entered first, he followed me inside.

"I had a very nice time, Amir. Thank you."

At this point, I just wanted him to leave. Because he looked so damn tempting, so beautiful that I wanted to feel him against me. I wanted to feel how it would feel to kiss him, to be close to him, to have him embrace me.

I knew that the thoughts I was having were extremely wrong for him, he was not thinking the way I was.

I bit my lip, trying to concentrate on who he was, what his personality was.

"I should be saying that. It was a pleasure to know you better." He said to me but all I could see was the way his lips moved.

If felt like I was in a daze.

Haya. Snap out of it. For the love of God!

"I should go."

Yes, Amir. Please leave. Please. I haven't been kissed in quite a long time and I don't want to do something that I might regret.

"Would it be so bad if I asked you to stay?" I said instead, feeling like slamming my own self against a wall.

Why was I being this way?

"I have to get ready and say goodbye to your father." He tried to sound convincing but something told me that he wanted to stay as well.

"Okay." I murmured.

He could leave and everything would be fine.

I expected him to smile at me and walk out of the door, instead, I found him walking towards me.

He neared me like he was in some daze as well, he neared me to tye point where I moved backwards, only to be pushed against a wall.

There wasn't much space left between us, he was so close to me that I could feel his breath. I could put my hand on his chest and feel his heartbeat.

I wanted to.

So I did.

I hesitantly raised my hand and put it on his chest, feeling the beat of his heart, the rhythm.

His eyes seemed even more beautiful up close, like the eyes of an unseen angel. He let out a small breath, it fanned my face.

My left hand reached out and I couldn't help but out it on the side of his face. He didn't seem repulsed by the touch, he leaned into the softness of my hand.

My right hand was on his heart and my left hand was on his face. It felt like a dream.

His own hand slowly reached up and rested below my ear, his thumb on my cheek.

I leaned my head forward. Amir inhaled sharply. I inched a little more forward. I was so near him that all there needed was a gentle push and my lips would touch his.

Before any of that could happen, his forehead suddenly rested against my own. He closed his eyes for a few moments, breathing and breathing.

I gulped, feeling my cheeks burn.

"You're making me sin, Haya." He whispered, his words echoing around me even though they were whispered so gently.

I lowered my hands, he pulled away from my touch.

Amir took another deep breath, walking out of the room in a hurry. I simply sat on the edge of the sofa, too overwhelmed.

---

Sooooo? How was it?