Tethered Souls | Books 1, 2, and 3

32 | Solution

━━━─── • ───━━━

• Amir •

"Hello," whispered a soft feminine voice peeking around Amir's corner.

He looked up from his desk and smiled at Raima. He'd been sitting at his computer for thirty minutes, studying the blueprints of St. Matthew's Darren had obtained for him. The man hacked into the firewall of the institute and faxed Amir a copy of them. Amir was steadily observing the building to figure out the best way to smuggle Luna and Cami out of there.

"Ms. Malik. Hi, I wasn't expecting to see you," he said, waving an arm for her to sit on his couch. "How have things been at the hospital?"

She took a seat and laid her handbag over her lap.

"It's been good. I'm still in my residency, and the workload isn't bad. It's more of the hours and how the emergency room is on the graveyard shift."

He chuckled. "I understand. I worked there years ago. So, what brings you by?"

He sat down in the chair in front of her as she gave him a kind smile.

"My father is with Faisal and the other chemists in the laboratory. I thought I'd drop by your office and see how you're doing."

"Thank you, Raima. I've been busy with work. There's a lot going on at the moment." Amir looked down and cleared his throat, then brought his gaze back to her. "I'm glad you came by. I wanted to speak to you about something."

"Me too, Amir. There's something I wanted to tell you."

"Were you thirsty? Would you like for me to run to the break room and grab a beverage for you? I should have asked you a moment ago, but we started talking."

Raima and Amir chuckled.

"I'm okay. I just had lunch with my father, and I can still taste the prune juice."

"Only Raima Malik can enjoy prune juice."

She giggled. "See? I like when we can talk and be friendly toward each other. That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Amir."

"Yeah. Go ahead. I want to hear what you have to say first."

"Well, I've told my father today to not get his hopes up on arranging anything for us. I had explained that you've always been my friend and I can't see us being compatible. If you feel differently, I'm sorry I told you this."

"No, don't apologize, Raima. It's fine. I was going to say the same thing to you. I know our parents like each other and have high hopes for us merging our families, but in the end, it's our decision. I'm sorry if you held out for me when there might have been someone else better suited for you."

Raima inhaled a breath and nodded. "There was somebody, but I couldn't see the spark I was looking for. I guess I'm too picky."

Amir shook his head. "Not at all. You know what you're looking for. I hope you find happiness with somebody."

"And you as well. I'm sure there's a Mr. Right for me. My father won't be too happy to find out we've ended things, but he's not the one making a life-altering decision."