The CEO's Contract Wife

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21 : Unexpected Interventions
-------------------------------------------------------

"Sooo~ how have the past months been?" Kashaf asked Safia. The elder girl asked as she carried out her usual duty as the chef of the place. Safia took a few carrots from the bowl where Kashaf was collecting the chopped veggies.

"It's been interesting. Really interesting," Safia munched on the carrots while thinking about how wonderful her past month was, with no interruptions from Fawad.

"I heard you went to Paris for two days," Kashaf told Safia, and she nodded.

"Yes, Seth wanted me to meet his mother. She couldn't come here due to her chronic illness, so he took me there. It was a fun time. Me, Kalyani, Ismail, and Seth were all there. Roaming around the streets of Paris, decorating gingerbread houses, and I even tried one of those popular croissants with hot chocolate. In addition to all these things, his mother was incredibly sweet," Safia smiled.

"Sounds like some sort of holiday romance book," Kashaf sarcastically said.

"Romance? It was just friendship. On top of that, I never wanted to go there; it was Seth who surprised us with a ticket at the last moment," Safia reasoned while munching more carrots.

"Well, it's not just any friendship. It's with your fiance's brother! If Fawad were there, I wouldn't have batted a single eye, but he wasn't," Kashif said with annoyance.

Safia, for the hundredth time in the month, regretted telling her about the contract marriage.

"It's a contract marriage, Di," Safia rolled her eyes. "He doesn't like me. I don't like him. We don't owe each other anything," Safia clarified.

"I get it, it's a contract marriage. But - but what if you genuinely give your hundred percent in this marriage? What if he falls in love with you and you both have your happily ever after?" Kashaf asked, and Safia looked at her.

It's a question she hasn't even thought about. How could she ever fathom a person like Fawad to ever fall in love with her? They both not only belong to different worlds but also had different morals. She surely felt bad for what he had gone through as a child, but there was too little she could do to help him.

"I should head back to work," Safia awkwardly told Kashaf and walked away.

"Before going, just know that whatever the thing is, contract or not, I still have a feeling that a husband will support you no matter what," Kashaf told her.

"It's not a book or some romantic story," Safia walked out and started to handle the food for the people. She tiredly wiped her hands on her apron.

The place was packed with customers of all sorts of ages sitting around the shop. There was a new installation of glass racks where pastries were put. Each of them was fresh and colorful and sold almost instantly.

Safia wanted to sneak a bite of one of those tasty delights, but today it looked difficult.

"Here, order for table number 14," Abhishek said from the side and passed her a tray.

"Why don't you give it?" She asked.

"I kind of gave him a shake 3 days ago, but he kept nagging about my delivery style, saying I was too casual, and I should be professional with my work and way of waking and whatnot. He tried to fight with me without any reason, and if he repeats it again, I know I will throw hands," Abhishek muttered while Safia directed her eyes towards the old man, who was the topic of their discussion.

His jaw was stern, and his beard fell down on his chest. He was scrolling on his phone.

'He looks like a regular old man to me,' she thought.