Shikwe

Chapter 4

I never really set a dressing code in the office. I've seen people working here in their sweatpants too. And some dress to the stars. They could walk into a club right after they walk out of here and be dressed appropriately. I don't care what they wear, they should just do their job.

This girl, is wearing dark denim jeans that are ripped at the knees with a pale yellow kurta. It's long and end a few inches below her knees. She has a watch on one wrist and big silver jhumkas in her ears. She also wears a nose ring. She raises a brow in question and I blink.

Right. I have questions to ask.

"Are you the head accountant?" She nods. Well okay. "Ahem. We have been missing nearly five hundred grand from our company funds. Care to explain why?" She stares for a while.

"Who are you?" I gape at her. People all around us do. Lara clears her throat. "He is the CEO." The girl infront of me nods again. Then she scrutinizes me and jabs another arrow at my already bruised ego.

"Are you new here?" What is with her? She has zero regard for who I am. It's surprisingly refreshing. I shake my head in answer.

"Well I am. And I still know more than you do." I frown. "Speak clearly, miss?"

"Seher." Ah. She has a pretty name. I take her in. She has a round face. Pretty nose and lips. She is not unbelievably thin. She is mid sized, great figure with curves. Not very tall but she is cute. 5'5 I think.

"Do you want brutal honesty or a sugar-coated one, sir?" She is also a tough nut to crack.

"Brutal honesty."

"Your company hires incompetent idiots." People around us pull away slightly. Taken aback. "I've joined a month ago, and I've been cleaning up the mess the person before me made every single day. And the worst part, is that I am not even halfway done. Whoever the person was, they stole the money from the company, cutting back costs, resulting in a shit product. And rather than complaining or checking in, your tech team made whatever could be made in the provided funding. Since I've come here I've raised my concerns with my boss but he clearly forgot to tell you." She glares at the man behind me, the head of the finance department.

I stand there stunned. Staring at Seher. God! She is beautiful. And strong. "No one has ever talked to me like that." She doesn't say anything just stares.

"You're brave. It's rare nowadays. You're clever too. Something your boss clearly isn't." I stare at the man behind me who looks way too flustered to be innocent. I turn back to Seher. "Would you like to take his job?"

"I have no interest in other people's jobs."

"Well then, I assume you have a solution for our problem?" She nods. "Great. I need you to present your solution to me. Nobody else but me. You have a week." She nods again.

I went away from there, very much aware of the hollow feeling in my chest. I don't believe in love at first sight but this girl intrigued me. I knew I needed a place in her life. Whatever that might be.

I often found ways to look at her from afar. She didn't talk much. She did her job and left. She came on time, and left on time. Not a minute displaced.

She gave me her presentation in a week and her idea was honesty admirable. We filed an official police report against the person who stole from us and changed up our technology for the next product. The funds were signed by me now. And the company was under strict scrutiny. I fired a few incompetent asses from my office too.

All because she suggested it. I asked myself why am I acting like a fool. I got no answer until one day I bumped into her accidentally. It truly was an accident. I hadn't seen her in a while and she hadn't met me since her presentation almost two months ago.

"Hi."

She stared at me. Blankly. Did she not remember me? I've never seen someone forget their own boss this quickly. Her blank expression turned and she frowned. "Do I know you?"

It was my turn to frown. I am not that forgettable. Am I? She sure knows how stomp all over my ego with her sandals. "I am Reyansh?" Why the fuck does it sound like a question? She still just stares. Blankly. Is that her default expression?

"I am the CEO? You gave me a presentation a while back? Do you not remember?" None of my words had bothered her the way my last sentence did. Something snapped in her. She stepped away a little, her expression darkened but not for me, she was just glaring into space. Her fists clenched. She carved crescents into her palms with her nails.

"It's okay." Her hands drop at my words. Thank fuck. "I forget things too." She raises a brow. "I once forgot to feed my fish. So she ate her children." Her eyes widen and she looks appalled. 

"That was my exact reaction. Couldn't she have just waited a few hours?" Seher cracks a smile. The first one I've ever seen. Strings tug at my heart. I need to see it again. She stares up at me and pulls her bag up her shoulder. Right, she was leaving. She nods at me.

"You're sweet." With that she was off. Tugging another string. Dragging my heart behind her.

🥀

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