𝟗. 𝐀𝐤𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐚𝐫𝐞

Mazakh.

That's what all of this was. One big lame ass joke that wasn't even funny.

Here I was, taking a major risk of my career, staying in a foreign land, thousands of kilometers away from home, in another place that strangely felt nothing less than home, with people I didn't know existed only 2.5 weeks ago, who treat me like their own, except one. And Allah had to send that one person into my work life as well like her strong presence wasn't enough at home.

Like whhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!

Why me?!

Why her?!

Why us?! US?!

Still, sitting in the office of her boss, I couldn't for the sake of my dignity let the emotions get to my face. Not even the slightest bit.

Seeing each other had been nothing less than a shock, more to me than to her, because she was equally stunned if not more from our run-in. A run-in that could possibly cost me my time, my emotions, and probably the entire project too. And from whatever I've known her in these 2 days, it was highly likely she's not going to like working with me. Which is concerning in more ways than one.

I try and turn my attention to whatever the man sitting across me from the table seemingly gushed about. A sense of pity surged through me for the positive energy he was buzzing with and dread for whatever the future held for us. When the door opened and Muskaan walked in with a masked face, the dread turned into alarm bells and an unsettling feeling had my stomach churning from the look she threw me, moving towards the vacant chair on my right.

I don't want to admit it, but I kind of cowered under her unwavering glare and gulped at the intensity it held.

This tigress is going to shred me into pieces.

A small voice declared inside me, and I quickly turned my head away.

"I say, the two of you should be on the road to give the site the inaugural inspection now." The man says, stirring a sense of panic inside me.

Go on a site inspection with her? Her? From the underlying menace I caught in her smile as she shot me a glance, She might even kill me in the cab and toss my corpse on some roadside for stray animals to feed on.

I give a laugh, trying not to turn it into a nervous one. "I, uh. . ."

"I don't think visiting the site today is a good idea, sir." She says much to my relief. "Instead, we should spend some time on the project itself trying to solidify our idea on paper before jumping right into the implementation step."

I see her boss nodding his head in understanding. I would have done the same had I not known her like I do. There must be a motive behind it all.

But what could it be?

"Shall we, Mr. Hussein?"

"Huh?" I snap out of my detective zone and sit up straighter, fully present in the moment.

"I was talking about going over the project once before we head to the location."

"Sure, I'd like that." We get to our feet and exit the cabin with me following Muskaan to hers. I see the way people shoot her exciting smiles and wave as we pass the others, for what reason I couldn't care less. All I had in my mind was today's agenda; make it to the end of the day (safe and sound).

The moment we stepped into her even smaller cabin, whatever mask each one of us had had been taken off. She walked around the desk and there was no stopping the lasers that she fired at me while I was trembling like an autumn leaf from within. And yet, I couldn't help myself when my mind made me fish for my phone from the pocket of my trousers, and swipe it open.

No, no, no, no, no. My voice of reason warned.

My thumb navigated its way to Spotify.

Stop! Don't do it! STOP!

The music was soon to pour from the speakers of my latest iPhone. I see the way she shoots me a dumbfounded look making a hold up a finger, silently asking her to wait for the lyrics.

'Apne deewane ka, apne deewane ka

Karke bura haal re

Akhiyon se goli marey

Lardki kamal ...'

"Get it? Akhiyon se goli mare? Exactly what you were doing a few seconds ago. . .?" I utter, but she remained unfazed. "No?" I see the jaw muscle tighten. "Okay." Grabbing my phone, I turn the music off and put the device away.

"Bohot maza ara tumako?" She grits.

"I simply jee bhar jio through life. Kiya pata kal ho na--"

"You knew!" She cuts me off, taking my cool in the wrong way. "You knew you were working for my company, with me, on my first lead project. You knew it all from the beginning. And still, you played dumb."

"And you can say this because. . ."

Disregarding my statement, she shakes her head. "It's crystal clear now. You even chose to stay with us, when obviously your company had offered you Accommodation. You even wished me luck this morning because you knew!"

"You don't fail to amaze me Ms. Noor." I say with a lopsided grin, relaxing in my chair a little.

"How do you know my middle name?" She frowned.

"Because that's the only thing I actually knew." I sass. "Your name, and the name of this company with its Oh-so-great list of accomplishments. Newsflash: I had no clue you or the rest of your family ever existed only until 3 weeks ago. I was happy where I was, with the handful of people I knew as my family back home, in my zone, safe and sound. But now that I've come to know you, Ms. Noor, I'd like to change a few things there."

I pause, resting my elbows on the chair and leaning towards her.

"Like I said, I will be taking over your house, invading your life and thanks to this joint venture, spending almost every second of my new life here with you. Both inside and outside of work. You can't escape me no more."

I have absolutely no idea where my trembling inner self is right now as i deliver the words with such cockiness. Her nostrils flared, her breath fanning my mouth as she exhaled heavily.

"And I promise to turn every second of your life you've decided to spend with me hell for you until you're forced to pack your bags, hop onto the next flight to London, and save your dear life."

I couldn't fight the smile that spread across my mouth. My eyes staring deeply into her strange ones.

"Ahem, ahem." A throat is cleared behind us making me snap my head to the side to see the middle-aged man, I couldn't for the life of me recall the name standing with his hand on the handle.

Muskaan gets to typing something on the keyboard to avoid any kind of conversation. Her face was void of any emotion.

"I hope I didn't disturb anything." He says with an edge in his tone. His eyes briefly flashing towards her before meeting mine. "Just wanted to see the way things are going."

"All good." I respond with a smile. "I'll personally let you know anything I don't feel right about."

He nods, but doesn't say anything. Stealing another glance at Muskaan whose fingers dont stop stabbing the keys and leaves just as soon as he came. Muskaan with the passive expression on her face, looks at me and I knew there were harsh words coming my way.

"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?"

"Not one bit. And that's why Allah sent you to me." I grin.

"I've seen all the projects you've done but unfortunately none of that will work here."

"Does that mean you're willing to work on it with me?" I stressed.

"No. I'm only warning you so you don't waste your time here in doing something that has no potential."

"Koshish, Ms. Noor, Koshish. Kyunki jo koshish karte hai wo kabhi nahi harte." I tried saying but it sounded more like  Kosh-eesh, Ms. Noor, kosh-eesh. Koon-ki jo kosh-eesh kar-tey hain wo ka-bhee nahi har-tey.

She gapes at me, unblinking. "Please don't try speaking in Urdu here. We are a well educated city and understand English just fine."

"Too cute for you to handle?" I smirk, cocking a brow.

"How you wish." She rolls her eyes at me, getting back to doing whatever she was on her PC. "This is probably your last chance Mr. Angrez. Because I won't be res--"

"Is that what you came up with as my nickname? Mr. Angrez? Awwwwww. I like it."

"Mr. Hussein, I think you should back--"

"I think I should give you a nickname too, Ms. Noor. But that is going to take a while for sure. You see, I am generally bad at remembering names so a nickname should be something easy to recall. But don't you worry, since we are going to be together probably day and night in each other presence, it should be easy to come up with one. Anyway, you were saying?"

"What?" She blinks, clearly forgetting her threat.

"Ms. Noor, you've forgotten whatever you were saying for the second time in a day. This is not a good sign. I suggest you eat almonds and walnuts. And don't you worry, I'll remind you to eat some every couple of hours from the time we'll be together."

"Just remind me what I was saying, will you?" She grits.

"Oh, you were giving me a last chance to probably back off. . .?"

She takes a moment, lowering her head in thought and looks back at me when she refreshes her mind. "Oh yes! I was saying that because I won't be responsible for what's going to happen to you next."

"Don't you worry." I wave a hand. "I'm a big boy, plus a good boy. And good boys don't leave things they've started without finishing them."

"Sonchlo, Mr. Angrez. Kahin project finish karte karte aap na finish hojayein."

"It's kind of you to say that. But that's not something you should be concerned about." Pushing to my feet, I button up my suit jacket in place and extend my hand. "I'm looking forward to working with you. Kaam me maza aayega."

"Likewise." She says, slipping her hand in mine and shaking it firmly.

⚜️

Later that night, when I came home from work, I noticed the strange atmosphere of the place.

Mumma, Chachi and chahu were seated around the dining table with teacups in front of them. I could see the lines of worry on the couple's face and the look of helplessness they shot at mumma.

"Hello?"

"Arey bete aao, come sit." Chachi says, standing to her feet. "I'll get you dinner."

"Thank you." I smile at her, taking a seat right across Mumma who flashed me a week smile.

"Is there a problem?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing we should be discussing at this time of the night," Chachi answers, setting a tray of food in front of me. "Especially when you are back after your first day. How did it go?"

"Not too bad," Mumma lets out a sigh at that, rubbing a hand through her face.

"See baji? He's saying not too bad. Aap khamakha pareshan hore."

"Why pareshan?" I inquire.

"Because you're working with our Muskaan."

"Yeah, I-- wait a minute. You knew?!" I exclaim.

"After you mentioned the name of the company when daddy asked. But we didn't tell you before because we didn't want to scare you."

"Why were you worried? And why should I be scared?"

"Well, she is her father's daughter and naturally she does things like her father... " Mumma trailed off.

"Who clearly doesn't like me." I finish for her, taking a spoonful of rice in my mouth. As I begun to chew, I sense the eerie silence and look up at the two women who were giving me a sorry look.

"It doesn't bother me." I say softly, trying to put the women at ease. "I'm sure whatever went down between him and papa, they'll sort it out. And don't worry 'bout your daughter Mumma, I'll find A way with her. I made it alive today didn't I?"

She chuckled. The sound washing over my ears like relief.

I don't know what made me say the words to her. Confidence? Arrogance? Or just my charm I couldn't really tell. But the events of the following days showed. I had clearly underestimated Ms. Noor and her capabilities. Only putting mumma worries turn into reality.

👍🏻✊🏻

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