B.O.A.T - Brownest of All Time

Chapter 36

After 1 week
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I have learnt to maintain my distance with Mr. Perfect Jawline ever since that free food incident at Second Chance. I mean, he did try calling me a few times that day, but I did not answer. So, finally he ended up apologizing via text, which I accepted not because I was done being mad, but mainly because the deal is important to me and I didn't want to upset my client unnecessarily and lose it.

So yeah, since then we've mostly shared only professional emails with each other. I mean, it's not like we had any personal conversations before that. It was always only official. But at least for a day, I received those WhatsApp texts from him with emojis, right? Now, that's no more.

In a way, this is good. It almost feels like I don't have a crush on him anymore. Of course there are times when l suddenly think of his perfect jawline or his infectious smile, and my heart slightly misses the good moments, but then I have come to terms with the fact that Zayan is just a client and this is how things should be between us. Besides, I don't need a man to make me happy or my life interesting, right? I can do it myself.

Perhaps I feel a little empty and sad when I'm overwhelmed with work or too bored with my monotonous life. This is why it is important to take a day off work and have some me time to refresh and reenergize yourself.

And that's exactly what I am doing right now seated here on a bench at Viharamahadevi Park, except that I am not alone. I'm with my niblings. Since the three of them had been asking me to take them out over a long time, I came to Colombo today just to have fun — not even going to think about work while I'm here.

I don't know how fun this is for me but the little ones are enjoying it. And seeing them happy makes me happy. It is of course very tiring to take care of three kids all by myself, but I feel great about the whole thing. At least I'm able to put a smile on their cute faces, and I hardly have any time to daydream about jawlines or stalk stupid exes. So, it's all good!

We've been roaming around Colombo since morning. Earlier we were at the zoo and now are at the park. Both spots — not so great, but when you are from Wattala, any public spot in Colombo feels like magic, especially to kids who don't get to go out much.

We are planning to drop by a cafe next and Second Chance is very much close. But I don't want to go there — one, because of the payment issue, and two, because Zayan might be back in town, and I'm not ready to face him unless I have official reasons.

"Can we get ice cream, please?" asks Iyad and his sisters join him too. I say "sure" and walk upto the ice cream truck when my phone vibrates. Wonder who it is! All my clients know I won't be working today.

Perhaps it's Salima, texting to find out about the kids. Anyway, I can't check it until I buy the ice cream and find a proper spot for us to sit. Public parks are scary. I must ensure the kids' safety before I do anything else.

As we return from the ice cream truck, Caira points at a bench nearby. It looks safe, so I take them there. And I finally unlock my phone. It's a WhatsApp text from Zayan that reads,
"Possible to drop by today? Gotta discuss something with you 😊"

Well, well, looks like he is back. Since he has used the word "discuss" it sounds like he wants to have an official meetup. But why would he tell that on WhatsApp and not via email? Could he be planning to call me out for my dramatic behavior?

Or does he want to discuss about the video I posted on the page yesterday? I mean, he hasn't shared his feedback on it so far. Perhaps he doesn't like it and wants me to remove it. Either way, he could have simply emailed about it, right? This is strange.