CHAPTER 1 : Unexpected Meetings
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Inara placed her head on the glass of the metro. She was heading towards her home after a long day of work . Countless thoughts filled her head . The foremost was , the unethical request of Zubair . He wanted her to be a surrogate mother of his brother in law's child . His wife , Sadia's older brother's wife was unable to conceive after 10 long years of marriage , and after countless research , Sadia suggested them go for surrogacy . But they didn't know any surrogate . So to earn a point in his in-laws eyes , Zubair suggested her name.
And now the pressure was over her head.
She wouldn't have worried about it this much , if her parents , who stayed in her house , didn't pressure her for the sake of the blind love they had towards their son . Her mind was all over the place.
"Miss , is the place free?" A girl asked her and she quickly looked up and gave a nod. She cut the string of her thoughts finally.
"Yes , it's free" Inara removed her white bag from the empty seat providing the girl a place to stay .
"Nice purse" She passed a compliment , making Inara smile staring at it . It was the first item she brought from her own money.
"Thanks"
"Well-what's your name?" The girl asked her and Inara smiled slightly .
"Inara Hussain . And yours ?" She asked.
"Seher Siddiqui" Seher smiled and opened her bag searching for something. And when she finally found it , her smile grew wider.
"Here is it . Have it" She said and passed Inara a home made chocolate wrapped up in a foil paper.
"Urm thank you" Inara felt bad to decline , seeing the wide smile and hence took it.
"So, what do you do Sehar?" Inara asked trying to engage the other in a conversation. A few minutes of talking , were enough for her to know that she and Sehar were more similar than she could imagine . They both liked lilies , they both grew up reading Twilight and now they cringed on the idea of even watching the movie , they both felt ketchup on noodles should be declared a war crime . And the list went on .
"Oh it's my stop" Inara realised and got up from the seat , as she noticed people walking out.
"Khuda hafiz" Inara quickly said while holding the strip of her bag and quickly ran off at the station.
Sehar waved off to Inara with a smile sadly , realising that they both forgot to exchange numbers and there were around zero chances that they would meet again .
Inara walked on the station and opened her purse . There was a medicine , which she had to take to make her body get ready for the process of surrogacy . As much as she hated taking it , she had to , due to the pressure . And if she didn't, she was labelled as a selfish , self centred and wicked woman , who was denying other woman the happiness of getting to hold a child .
She stared at the canteen area of the metro ,where the food was being sold. Her stomach grumbled at the sight of it. She wanted to buy some but she already used her money in the office's canteen . The events of the morning were surely crazy and left her even more hungry, afterall it was her first day in the company and on that day , dealing with the C.E.O made her even more tired .
After all he wasn't a normal man . He was as if a devil had crawled into the skin of a human .
FLASHBACK
Inara was running late for her first day of work . Her hijab took more time than she thought to look neat and surprisingly today , even her iron's wire got burnt . She had to search for hours, trying to find a presentable cloth in her almirah , in which clothes were stuffed.
She looked at her phone , which displayed the time of 9:53 am . She remembered Mira's words about the chief director.
'Inara please go on time ! And if not exactly on time ,then be a little early . He's an old man , I had initially worked under him , and he just needs a reason to nitpick and scold you for the whole day . Be careful '
Inara stopped running and took a deep breath . She stared at the stairs , which looked way too long and difficult for her , to make her reach on time . The only possible and quick way was the elevator . She went towards the way , which gestured towards the elevator sign . She was surprised to find no line , and even the senior staff were using the staircase.
"Rich people are surely health freaks" she mumbled to herself while waiting for the elevator to come down . She knew even at this young age , her knees couldn't take that much load , of walking all the way upstairs.
The elevator soon came down , and a ting sound was heard . It was vacant .
"Gosh , nobody likes elevators here?" She mumbled and was about to get into it , when she heard a whisper yell.
"Don't!" A man whispered from the side . He had curly hair which fell over his forehead and big round glasses . He had worn a cream coloured check patterned shirt with brown pants and paired it with a brown oversized sweater.
"Why?" She asked with the same whisper but then a girl from the side dragging that boy away , while complaining about how his file wasn't that perfect yesterday and he should focus more on his work.
'Weird people' she thought to herself and got inside the elevator . The doors were about to shut down , but a man put his feet in the middle . The polished black shoes had a stain of blood over them as the man walked in. He was broad and well built , and his black tuxedo hugged his muscular body perfectly . His hairs were gelled back , and his hunter eyes stared at Inara as if she was a foreign creature.
He got in and stared at her again.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her and she stared at him.
"Erm-trying to go up , you know the stairs will be a pain in the knees" she awkwardly answered.
"Does it look like I care ? Get off the lift" the man ordered .
"Scram off ! It isn't your lift, and even if it was , it can carry 12 people easily . Are you this fat that you can't let other people travel ?! But you don't look fat -" Inara said with a raised eyebrow , studying his features and looked at him up and down.
"Is the weight of the extra fat in your brain ? Because I seriously doubt something is not right up there" Inara insulted him .
"You-" before he could insult her back , the lights of the lift started flickering and a scream emerged from Inara's throat . The lift started to fall at a quick pace . She was about to lose her balance , so she held the other man's hand tightly to hold herself in space .
But before it could collide with the ground , it stopped .
The door of the lift opened and a few men quickly rushed to rescue them . They were worried and kept staring at her , again and again . Inara was scared and the man let her go first.
She got out with the help of people and quickly adjusted her clothes . Without looking back at anyone , she ran away as fast as she could , while trying to gather her thoughts for a moment , remembering what just happened.
She rushed to the office area , and a girl stared at him . "Inara Hussain right?" She asked.
"Yes , and you are ?" Inara asked her back , trying to know who she was exactly talking with .
"I am Rashmi Trivedi . I am Mr Siddiqui's personal assistant" She introduced herself .
"Oh it's nice to meet you ma'am" Inara said with courtesy.
"Likewise sweetheart . Can you perhaps go and give Mr Siddiqui his coffee ? I have something to discuss with Mr Ahuja , and I can't delay it . But at the same time Mr Siddiqui is quite punctual and likes things served to him , just right on time only" Rashmi told her.
"I can do that-But I had to first report to Mr Ahuja , that I am here ,I can't delay it any further , because I am already running late" Inara apologetically said . She didn't really wish to deny the sweet request, but this job was way more important to her, that she can't afford to lose it.
"Oh don't worry about that . I will inform him , that Inara was here and I have sent her for work . He will understand that" Rashmi comforted and passed her a tray with a white cup with a black coffee in it.
Inara looked at her unsure.
"Goo! It's really not a big deal here , we keep asking each other assistants to do work" Inara gave a slight nod and walked upstairs . She didn't wish to be on someone's bad list at her first day .
On her way , she again found the circular specs boy .
"Hey!"she greeted .
"Oh hello miss ! It's great to see you fit and fine , I heard the lift malfunctioned" the boy inquired with a smile.
"Yeah , I am fine . Thanks for asking , can you perhaps help me with something?" She asked.
"Sure , go ahead" the boy told her.
"Can you please tell me where Mr Siddiqui's chamber is ? , I forgot to ask Rashmi ma'am about it" She said with a sheepy smile, feeling embarrassed for asking for help on the first day itself.
"It's on the left . You can go to that area , he has his name written too in golden letters over a proper black plate" The boy told her.
"Thanks for informing me. I would be going "Inara thanked and the boy replied " Hope you see you around". To which she smiled and gave a nod and walked towards the way of the room.
She tried hard to maintain her balance on the smooth marble tiles , but it was difficult. She kept taking deep breaths , while taking each step . She finally reached the door , and knocked on it.
But no voice came.
"HELLO?!!SIR ?!!" She called out , but as no reply came , she concluded , he must be out . So she entered the chamber and put the coffee on the table . At this , she smiled in victory , that she was able to complete her first task successfully. She hopped a little on the tile to do her little celebration dance , but her leg slipped . To protect herself from falling she quickly slammed her hand on the table , holding herself back in place .
But her hand collided with the hot cup of coffee , she just put it on the table .
"Oh no!" She gasped and quickly gathered herself. She found some empty papers on the table and without checking the other side , she quickly put it on the table wiping the spilled coffee with it .
The door opened and she looked at the side in horror expecting the C.E.O , but instead the man from earlier entered the room and stared at her with a raised eyebrow. He put his phone in his pocket .
"Do you have a handkerchief?" Inara asked him with a whisper.
He stared at her for a second.
"DO YOU HAVE HANDKERCHIEF?!" She asked again this time in a loud voice .
"Yes . Why?" He asked with confusion, trying to understand what was exactly happening in the room .
"Give it to me" she whispered.
"I won't" he coldly shrugged.
"Why ? I will buy you a new one Please !!" She requested and he passed her the handkerchief, but he frowned when he saw her putting it on the table and wiping it up.
"What are you exactly doing in my room?" The man asked, as with each passing second he was losing his patience .
"Your room?" She asked.
"Yes , it's my room" He told her.
"It belongs to our C.E.O , Zayan Siddiqui" She told him with irritation and continued to clean the table.
"It was certainly not a pleasure to meet you, and I am Zayan Siddiqui" He said and she looked at him with a chuckle .
"You are joking" She said .
"Not everyone is like nature , cracking a joke on you" Zayan coldly replied.
"Now scram off . What even have you done of my table" He said with disbelief, coming near the table and studying it .
"Where are the papers?" He asked and Inara , who was still way too confused and scared to digest the fact looked at him.
"What papers?" She asked.
"The ones lying on the table , with their backside up. They were for today's meeting where are they?" Zayan inquired . The coffee on his table and handkerchief were the least of his concerns for now .
Inara gulped and held the coffee stained papers clenched in her fist with fear , not knowing what she should answer now .
To be continued..
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