"What do you mean, 'Owen told the sheik off?'" I asked confused.
"You mean he didn't tell you? It's all Jack's been able to talk about for the past few days. Owen went completely berserk on him."
As Emma told me what happened, I could see it all clearly in my head.
Chapter 22
Owen clicked the phone shut. If he could have slammed the receiver down like on an old corded phone, he would have. His hands shook as he held the phone in disbelief. He'd heard news reports of how Western ex-pats had been mistreated in Dubai, but nothing like this. He walked out of the private room where he had excused himself to talk to Dean, intent on giving the sheik one chance to make this right. One chance.
In another moment, he was back at the negotiation table with the sheik. Owen's usual poker face was gone, and the sheik noticed immediately. "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah, something's wrong alright. Your son just tried to assault my girlfriend," Owen said.
A flash of anger crossed the older man's face for a moment before it softened again. Anger at his son's actions, Owen hoped. "That's a serious accusation, Mr. Parker. An accusation that you shouldn't make lightly."
"I'm serious as a heart attack right now. I have two witnesses, and probably the room service guy as well. What are you going to do about this?" Owen's eyes burned like fire.
al-Saffar shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure the hotel staff will be more than happy to tell us what really happened later tonight. In the meantime, let's get back to the negotiations."
Owen slammed his hand against the table. "We'll be dealing with this right now, before you have a chance to get the hotel staff to change their stories, or these negotiations are over."
The sheik turned red, practically shaking with barely contained rage. "I'm not sure I appreciate your tone, Mr. Parker."
Owen stood up, walking to the window. The Burj Khalifa gleamed in the distance, a sand storm preparing to engulf it from behind. "It's a beautiful sight, the tower. The tallest structure in the world. The crown jewel of Dubai."
"Please, let's just return to negotiations for now? We can talk about this later," al-Saffar said.
"But it wasn't able to be completed by just Dubai," Owen continued, looking out the window. "Dubai ran out of money and needed to be bailed out by the United Arab Emirates, and so what was supposed to be the Burj Dubai was renamed the Burj Khalifa to honor the Khalifa family for their support."
Sheik al Saffar remained silent. This was a sore spot for all of Dubai, and both men knew it.
"But I'm not sure 'Burj Khalifa' is the right name for it either. I think that you owe way too much to the West and that it's time you recognized that. I was thinking, maybe you should rename it the 'Burj British Petroleum'. Or maybe 'Wells Fargo Tower'."
"How dare you..." the sheik said from behind him.
Owen cut him off. "Or, you know, maybe just convert it to a Marriott hotel. Either that or just let Wal-Mart buy the whole thing; I'm sure their sign would look great on the 150th floor."
"Listen here..." the sheik started.
"No, you listen here," Owen said, his voice rising as he turned around. His finger shot out, pointing straight at the older man. "I've noticed your son flirting with Kaylee, and I've noticed the looks he gives her when he thinks she's not looking. You either get him under control, or these negotiations are over."
al Saffar jumped to his feet, his own voice roaring. "I think you've forgotten who you're talking to, Mr. Parker. I think you've forgotten that your name isn't Daniel Saunders."
Owen laughed. "Perhaps you haven't heard, but the owner's name is Jack now." He walked to the table and picked up his briefcase. "These negotiations are over. Either call me when you've come to your senses and have your son under control, or call Saunders and let him know that the deal is off." He walked toward the door.
"You have no right-" the sheik yelled after him, cut off by the sound of the door slamming behind Owen.
***
"He really did that?" I asked, flabbergasted. I knew Owen had been angry, but I had no idea that he would go to those lengths.
"Yeah. The sheik was pissed. He woke Jack up at 3 in the morning to tell him what Owen did."
"What did Jack do?" I hoped that Owen wasn't going to get in too much trouble over this, but I had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well.
"Well, Jack was furious at first. This could ruin years of business negotiations. Billions of dollars lost. I've never seen Jack that angry." Emma paused for a moment before continuing. "But when he calmed down enough to think straight, he realized he would have done the same thing in Owen's position."
"What's going to happen to Owen?" I asked, breathless.