To live and to love

➌

"Any ideas?" Waleed finished with a flourish. I scribbled in my notebook, my eyes feeling heavy and crusty. Beside me, Viv raised her hand and I swiveled to look at her.

"Who's leading point on this?"

Waleed looked at me, his gaze heavy with meaning. I sighed and mustered a painfully fake smile. "I am," I announced.

A round of applause echoed around the table and I inclined my head graciously, acknowledging their appreciation and support. Viv gave me a gentle pat on the back and Jean Luc gave me an over enthusiastic thumbs up.

"So you're in safe hands. I'll be personally working with Ms. Gulzar to make sure we have the perfect mock up and the best content to launch our magazine," my mouth twisted into a bitter smile and Viv gave me another strange look. I looked away, making sure that my hair covered the expression on my face.

"In the coming days, Ms. Gulzar and I will be going over our possible team for this project over the weekend," Excited whispers rippled through the room with more than a few eyes flickering towards me. "I think that's all for today," Waleed muttered, clicking the projector off, being immediately surrounded by people wanting to be a part of the project.

I chewed at the edge of my pencil, slumped in my chair, feeling extremely tired. Viv gave the chair a gentle shove, her eyes alight with curiosity. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"You're distracted. The corners of your eyes are red and your face is blotchy."

So much for making an effort. I was going to throw out my Nars concealer. That thing was useless.

"Just a sleepless night," I grumbled out. Viv blinked, unconvinced.

"Ms.Gulzar, can I talk to you for a second?" Ugh, Waleed. I did not have the patience to deal with him today. Specially since he looked so good in a tailored charcoal suit and a white dress shirt.

"Of course."

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he stepped closer and the faint woodsy smell of his cologne drifted up and registered in my senses.

"Are you sure?" Why was he so persistent? Why couldn't he let this go?

"Yes," the word came out much sharper than I'd intended. Waleed flinched back and I immediately softened my tone, regretting my harsh conduct. "When are we choosing our team?"

His eyes swam with questions but thankfully he didn't press any further."Tomorrow? If you're free? I'll send you a list of all the potentials over email, then maybe we can meet up and finalize the..."

My eyebrows rose up. "Meet up?"

"It'll be a lot faster and more convenient. I can come to your place, or you to mine..."

"No need, we can meet in one of the café's near your place. You said you'd bought a place two avenues away from-?" I realized my slip of tongue a second too late.

"You remember?" his lashes lifted and his eyes drilled into mine. "What, you can refer to it, but I can't?" I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. "Fine, I'll play by your rules. Text me the date and time."

"I don't have your number..." He gestured for my phone, intending to add himself to my contact list. I handed it over, my heart thumping loudly. His finger accidently brushed the Google icon and last night's results showed up.

"Well, well, well," Was it possible to melt into the ground? Because I think I just did.

Embarrassment wasn't strong enough a word to describe what I was feeling at the moment.