Part 3: Desert Dawn
Early one morning, while Andy was being hosed down after being taking through his steps and routines on the manège, the Shaykah came to his stall. She ushered the stable-boys away. She looked terrible: drained and haggard as if she hadn’t slept. She hadn’t even put on her make-up.
“Mees Andy, I am worried for you. Sheikh is very unhappy. He make me tell him about you. He summon Sayid Mustaqirun last night and they discuss. They talk about whipping you till you perform. I say no, they not allowed to mark you. They say about giving you to the stallions. I say, no , they not allowed to harm you or for you to be torn. I suggest Sheikh tries, but he refuses if you do not perform. Bad loss of face for him if you no respond to him. I say you suck nicely but he say he no need that: he have harem boys for that; he have stable-boys for that.
Andy felt terrible. “I’m so sorry, your Highness.” Despite several attempts by the Shaykah over the last couple of weeks, he’d still had the same lack of response.
“Sheikh and Sayid Mustaqirun know you produce for Mistress Aaliyah. Why not me? I never have problem with pony before.”
“I just can’t, your Highness.” The Shaykah was nice. She was kind and gentle and clearly liked him. He thought he liked her too. “I don’t understand, your Highness,” and he couldn’t.
“They say you can no longer be show pony. You will be work pony unless you perform or show value.”
“Could I be a stable-boy?”
“You no wanna be stable-boy. Stable-boys belong to the Sayid Mustaqirun. He no nice.”
“What else could I do, your Highness?”
“What you do before?”
“I was a student. I worked for a publisher. I worked as a designer, a shop designer.”
“Could you teach?”
“Teach what? I’ve never been a teacher.”
“If you work for publisher, could you teach Eengleessh.”
“I guess so, your Highness. My spelling’s not always great but I could give it a try. Who would I be teaching?”
“My girls, Mees Andy. My girls. They need good Eengleessh if they go to UK school. Schools here no good. No good for girls. Eengleessh private school help them be ladies. But they need to speak.”
“I could try, your Highness. How old are they?”
“They are twelve and fourteen.”
“I can’t teach them in the stables or as a pony boy.”
“No. Let me think. I will have you moved to private chambers used for by my maids and serving ladies. We will dress you.”
“Thank you, your Highness. Won’t the Sheikh be concerned?”
“Sheikh and Stable will have to write-off their loss.”
“Won’t he be angry if he sees me in the mansion or with your daughters.
“He leave child care to me. If you designer, I’m sure you have ideas for how to look.”
“Could I experiment? There are some looks I’ve always wanted to try.” The Shaykah and Andy went into a long discussion about his look and his job.
“You will be pretty for me, Mees Andy. You teach my girls well and you will bloom in the desert. Much nicer than being a pony,” she said knowingly.
“I hope to be.” And with all his heart, Andy did.
“Be good, Mees Andy. For my sake, be good. For your sake, be good.”
Part 4 - Desert Class
The girls ran giggling towards the door as the Shaykah entered the classroom. “Bye, Miss. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Akilah. Bye, Jamila. Don’t forget your reading.” Jamila turned and picked up copies of Vogue and Elle from a scattering of magazines on Andy’s desk. “And I want you to be able to read aloud your passages and to have looked up any words you don’t understand.” Jamila came back again and picked up a pocket dictionary. “We start again at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”
“We won’t, Miss Hermione,” and the girls giggled again as the door swung closed behind them. Andy waited for the Shaykah to speak.
“You have done well, Mees Andy. Already I can tell their accents improve. They happy. They study. But they cheeky calling you Mees Hermione.”
“Thank you, your Highness. And it’s fine if they call me Hermione. After all, I am wearing her robes.” When Andy and Shaykah had looked for something suitable for him to wear in schoolroom, it was Andy’s idea to go to some of the websites that his Aunt had used for Halloween outfits.
“And you teach them more than Inglish. A leetle mathematics, a leetle geography, a leetle history. I know you talk about these things. I can tell. The way Akilah and Jamila talk at meal times has changed. They talk about King Arthur and Lancelot and Jineveer….”
“Guinevere, your Highness.”
“Gwinever. They talk about burning cakes, they talk about Hastings.”
“I’m sorry, your Highness. I thought it would make it more interesting for them.”
“Pleeze, no apology, Miszs Andy. You doing well. They like you a lot. They think you pretty. When they speak they call you ‘Zeinab’.”
“I tho
“’Zeinab’? What does that mean, your Highness?”
“It mean ‘Flower of the Desert’, Misz Andy. You look like the prettiest flower: an orchid in the dessert.”
“My girls, they want to look like you.”
“They don’t want that, your Highness. They’re both very pretty. They have their mother’s looks.”
“No, but help with make-up.”
“I’m sure you have your own beautician who could help them.”
“Yes, but they want you.”
“Akila is still quite young, your Highness.”
“Not a problem, Misz Andy. Good for them to learn. You will be gentle and careful. I know that. Now, you like tea? Tea with me. The girls tell be about Inglish afternoon tea. I have put the outfit we discussed for you in your room. Come to my chambers in an hour.”
Part 5 – Desert Tea
“You like your dress, Misz Andy?”
“It’s wonderful, your Highness.” Andy sipped his Earl Grey being careful not to spill any of the hot liquid on to the gossamer thin latex.
“I see you found the nose clip. Such a shame I can’t have you pierced but the Sisterhood’s instructions were clear. You like a scone? My daughters told me about your Inglish afternoon tea.”
“Yes, please, your Highness. Maybe only half. I want to be able to fit this dress.”
“Good,” she said passing the little plate of scones, followed by a tray with butter and clotted cream. “I am planning trip to India next year with some of my friends. A leetle cruise. A leetle entertainment.”
“But I thought I was going back to the stables in California in a couple of months? And I know the Sheikh is unhappy with me.”
“You will be returned to The Sisterhood in eight weeks. But this is separate. This would be another ‘arrangement’.”
“Oh!”
‘You like dresses like this?”
“I like Bollywood films. I like the songs. I like the dresses, the pretty girls and the handsome men.”
“You could wear dresses like this. You like?”
“I don’t think it’s for me to decide, your Highness. The Sisterhood will decide.”
“I think it would be fun. I speak to them. Eat your scone. Show me how it done.”
Andy couldn’t believe that the Shaykah wanted spend more time with him. Maybe it was the work he was doing with her daughters. Now was he going to attempt to explain to her the Cornwall or Devon way?
Part 6 – Dessert Orchid
The girls hugged him again. They were in tears. “Don’t cry Jamila. Don’t cry Akila. Your mascara will run,” admonished their teacher. “Thank you for the flowers,” he said clutching the huge bouquet they’d presented him with at the end of the lesson. “Thank you for the perfume.”
“Thank you, Miss Andy,” said the girls. The Shaykah stood at the back of the classroom proudly watching her daughters: they had come on so much in the last 10 weeks.
“We hope you like the perfume, Zeinab,” said Jamila.
“I thought I was Hermione?” queried Andy.
“You are. When you’re our teacher, you are Hermione, Miss Hermione. But when you’re just with us, you are the Zeinab. You will always be Zeinab to us.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Don’t forget to write. I want to hear all your news and how you get on in your exams.”
“Yes, Miss Andy. Our Zeinab.”
“Go now girls,” said the Shaykah, “I have some things I must say to Miss Andy before she prepares for her flight.”
“Can’t the Zeinab stay. Can’t we see the Zeinab board her flight, mummy?” they asked.
“No, we’ve been through this. Miss Andy must go back. And just the Sheikh and I will go to see her board.”
“Goodbye girls. Goodbye, Jamila. Goodbye, Akila. I hope to see you again,” he said and realised that he meant it.
“Goodbye, Zeinab. A thousand blessings on you.” The girls walked slowly and solemnly to the door and gave Andy a final farewell wave.
“You have lovely daughters, your Highness. They are such good girls.”
“It’s you who have made them so, Miss Andy. They are so much better behaved. They study. They work hard. All because of you. I wish you could stay but The Sisterhood have insisted that your three months is over.”
“I’m sorry your Highness, it’s not my decision.”
“I know Miss Andy. The Sheikh only paid stud fees for three months. You have to go back.”
“I am sorry to have disappointed you and the Sheikh.”
“You haven’t Miss Andy. The Sheikh can see what you have brought to his family. He can see how you have helped Jamila and Akila. He sees that they have learned more from you than they would from a local tutor or school. Their English is so much better. They have so much better understanding of history and geography. They learn a lot from the films you show them. They know all the film stars you like – Keira Knightley, Emma Watson, Sharon Stone. So many they talk about. They know lots about western music- maybe too much.”
“They learn so fast. But they grow up so fast too.”
“I can see. We speak English now when we are together: it means the serving boys don’t understand. I even think my own English has improved.”
“Yes, your Highness.” Andy didn’t want to add that it had improved immeasurably: not just her accent, but her grammar and vocabulary too.
“Miss Andy,” began the Shaykah with a twinkle in her eye.
“Yes, your Highness?”
“Would you like to come to my apartment for a final cup of tea before you get changed for your flight?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“And, Miss Andy..”
“Your Highness?”
“We will need to dress you as ponygirl for when The Sisterhood collect you, but come as Hermione for tea.”
“So, I don’t need to change for tea.”
“Yes, we will still stop by your apartment. I want to see Hermione in her short transparent latex skirt.”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“And Hermione….”
“Yes, your Highness?”
“As this will be last time we have tea together, I want to have a proper dessert with my tea. I want extra cream with my scones. I want to see Cornwall and Devon from you today.”
“Yes, your Highness.” And for the first time in weeks, Andy could feel stirrings. The Shaykah really was a very attractive woman and she had been very kind. So very kind. He could see the key glittering on the chain around her neck. A key that for the last eight weeks had only been needed every few days for his cleaning, and shaving. It would be nice to put it to better use.
The end....for now
Thank you Skinnie, you are such a dream
Thank you Andy for publishing. (As ever, I grimace at the typos.) I hope everyone enjoys. Your readers will find that the 2nd part of 'Orchid Dessert' is much gentler than the first (and the earlier 'A Stable Existence') although realise that, after 3 months in the desert and with his impending return to The Sisterhood, Andy's twinkle has been restored. The Shaykah will find that her Desert Orchid blooms over tea.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/Suzies-Sissies-Female-Supremacy-108850251845863/
ReplyDeleteWell Misz Andy is a real desert orchid in that picture. Sheer and chromaflair (it's a paint finish) but subtle enough to be beautiful here in his dress.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying the story and looking forward to the next installment.
Thank you, again, Ms. Stallion for the flight of fancy in the world Mz, Andy.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that I could not finish it in one sitting. Oh woah is me. I did get through. Eventually and thank you both for including it for our thrills and future spills. Stay safe, all.