"You must have gotten perfect by now, haven't you?"

"Yeah alot."

"Make lots of dua. Inshaallah I will provide you more work soon enough." Murat replied with a voice full of hope.

"Main jitnaaa is kaam se bhaag rahi thi, ye kaam utnaaa mere peeche aa raha hai." (The more I was running away from this work, the more its coming after me.) I whined while roaming at the terrace. Zoe was busy with her phone in another corner. 

"Yeah its okay. You can't say no to me anyways." Murat teased me.

"I had-"

"Now listen-"

"thought-"

"Maybe the work load can increase up to 10 articles per day."

"10-"

"I will tell you the details if that happens."

"10!" I was still standing in shock whereas he was busy knitting his dreams.

"Yeah. And then you are stuck with me." He chuckled.

I sighed.
I mean I would love to be stuck with you but not in this way.

"I'm currently negotiating with the client about the details. Let's see how it goes."

"And time limit-" I was about to ask him when he interrupts me again.
He was interrupting me a lot today.

"Now don't pray for the deal to get cancelled. Instead pray for a good finalized deal." His smile was visible through his voice.

"Yes I will pray exactly the opposite," I laughed.

"Great. You want me to have a loss and get a stain on my reputation, don't you? What a supporting girlfriend I have." He responded sarcastically.

I whined, "Arey, what was the need of taking this work when you already had lots of piling up?"

"Arey, just wait and watch." His excitement and happiness was visible through his voice. The way he was talking passionately about the work.
Especially on the 'us working together' part.

Apni excitement me mujhe bhi marwayega ye ladka.... 
(This boy will get me killed in his excitement...)

"The thing is, I don't have the right people by my side." He continued. 

"Achha."

"The ones who do the work exactly like how I want."

"Hmm."

"Now tell me, how can it be counted as a helping team if I have to repeat my guidelines to them in every 10 mins, don't do this, don't do that, even in the simple steps! In the end I would prefer doing it myself if my mental energy is getting drained anyways."

"Hmm."

"But here in your case, I gave you all the necessary guidelines. You grasped the work, asked the necessary queries and now you handled everything perfectly on your own, submitting the work on time. I didn't had to waste my mental energy on you. That's what I mean. I was looking for someone exactly like you."

"Hmm." Butterflies danced in my stomach at the last line.
Gosh, you just want to romanticize everything Hayat, don't you?
And why not?
It's Murat Ahmad.

"You actually helped me, not drained me."

"Yeah I got your point. But...," I give a small tired laugh, "I can't manage the work load of the whole team na?"

"Just cover up as much as you can. Let's suppose you are doing a job somewhere, alright? So how many hours will you be working?"

"9 to 5."

"Right, so how many hours? 10 hours."

"Hmm."

"No 9 hours."

"Whatever." My brain was too tired to even calculate if he was right or wrong.

"Now if you are working approximately 9 hours at home, what's the harm? Think of it as a job."

"Yes yes I got it. Yes I would have loveeeddd to do that." I politely agreed with a fake enthusiasm, then turned that enthusiasm into irritation, "BUT.... Right now I was just tired of this part-time internship I got stuck into few months back and wanted to kick the shit out of it and JUST REST."

"Yea, you can-"

"I just wanted mental peace right now!" 

Yes, I had applied for an online internship first time in my life which seemed so exciting at first but soon it turned out horrible. Plus I was newbie so I had no knowledge about SEO Tools, hence got exploited a lot. The only good thing that happened was, my writing skills got better and I learned to work smarter, not just harder. 

"Yes, take all the peace you want. I'm not giving you that 9 hour work at the moment. Complete your pending work." He reassured me. "I just want those 15 articles urgently for now. 11 are left. I want them in 2 days. Try to complete them as quickly as possible."

"How would I complete them when you haven't sent me more topics mister?" My hand rested on my waist.

"Yes yes I was about to send you. Just on my way."

Suddenly he started to talk with someone in the background, complaining about the short length of trousers.

Seems like he was out shopping.

"Dude it's looking like some girl's pajami. Too short and tight-fitted."
"No no, not that one."
"Look bro, listen to me."
"Pick that bigger one. Yes."
"Now look at the difference. Give me this one."
His commentary and the way he talked to the sales man made me laugh. As if you are talking to a kid who isn't able to grasp what you are trying to say.

After a few seconds he moves back to me, "Jii, hello?"

"Yea. Done with shopping?"

"Let me call you back in 2 mins okay?"

"Okay."

"Let me change the trousers."

"Sure."

I quietly walked towards Zoe who was so lost in her phone that she didn't noticed me coming forward. Or maybe she ignored?
I peeked at the screen from behind to check what's keeping her so immersed. 
Insta reel on skincare. 
Zoe being Zoe.

Finally she noticed me or maybe decided to acknowledge my presence, "What's up? Already done with the lovechat?"

"Janaab is busy in shopping right now and said that he will call back in few mins. But I don't trust him when it comes to calling back." I chuckled. "Once he is gone? He is GONE."

"Gone with the wind."

"Exactly!"

"Poor girl. Speaking from experience." 

I nodded, swiping back the screen from the call log.

"Wait, what was that?" Zoe asked.

"What?" 

She clicked on the call log and pointed at the recent caller name. 

Xiao Nai

"Who is this...xayi... ummm... XYZ?"

I laughed so hard at the way she tried to pronounce the name.

"What japenese chinese are you writing, I don't know!" She laughed embarrassingly. 

"It is pronounced as ' shaaoo naa'ye '. " I broke down the pronunciation for her. "Ignore the letter 'i' in the starting and pronounce X as 'sh'."

"Ohh. Complicated." She made a confused face. "What does it mean?"

"It's the name of the male lead of my favourite Chinese drama. And his personality matches a lot with Murat. Plus the story of the drama too."

"Ohhh. That's interesting. Even the story."

"Yeah. They met online, fell in love, and later even work together." I clasped my hands dreamily. "He offers her to work at his startup company. Most of all, he is a CODER!" I jumped excitedly at the last sentence.

"Ohhoo. I can see the resemblance." She gave me a teasing smile. "So Murat is your xiaaoo whatever it's called."

"Yep." I mumbled. 

"Uff. This guy is getting way too many nicknames." She crossed arms on her chest. "Didn't you change it a few weeks before to 'Gone With The Wind'?"

"Yeah. I wasn't really planning to change it either. But the recent events made me think, 'whynot'?" I chuckled. "Especially this working together part. Him being my boss lol."

"Hmmmm." 

"I legit feel like I'm in some sort of fanfiction when I think about it." I covered my face with palms.

"Hmmm, you definitely are. Anyways, let's have a walk, shall we?" She walked forward and I nodded, following her lead. It hadn't been few mins of our chitchat when suddenly my phone rang, interrupting both of us. 

Xiao Nai

I stare at my phone surprisingly, "He called me back? What miracle is this?"

"Go go. Continue the remaining lovechat with your xiaoo xiaoo." She purred.

I laughed at the new nickname she just gave him and picked up the call, "Hello."

"Haa yaar vo call aagayi thi telegram par." (Yeah. Actually one client called me on telegram.) He welcomed me with an unexpected soft tone.

"Achha." 

"Just now it got ended. In fact I hung it up while giving him an excuse to check something and call back after 5 mins."

"Achha."

"So he is waiting right now. That's why I couldn't call you back." His unasked explanation with the honey dipped voice kept on surprising me. 

Since when did he start giving me explanations?

"Acha acha acha."  

"Jii jii jii." He copied me.

"I wondered maybe something happened in your trousers."

"No. Nothing happened inside my trousers." His tone got softer in a teasing manner. "What would have happened?"

The sudden change in his demeanor left me speechless, "I mean, size and all." My poor mind was trying to refer to the trousers but the wrong words came out which made me slap my forehead.

Wrong choice of words Hayat!

"Size is... fine, I guess?" He took advantage of my wrong words.

"Okay. That's good." My brain stopped working at this point.

"Oh yeah, how would you know about my size when you haven't seen it yet. Stupid me!"

I breathe out again, speechless, as he continued to play with words. Pinching the bridge of my nose and not knowing what to reply, I mumbled, "Are you done with it?"

"Nope. I haven't even started it yet." 

My mouth opened in shock but I quickly recovered my expressions while blinking my eyes. "Anyways, I wa-"

"Or you want me to start instantly?"

I finally laughed this time as he interrupted me for the 100th time in a row, "Will you let me speak now?"

"No first tell me, do you want me to go slow and sensual or rough and fast?"

I closed my eyes as my heartbeat was getting out of control and tried not to stutter by his non stop flirting. Gathering my voice, I murmured, "I don't like fast."  

"So you like slow and sensual." He murmured back making my face hotter than before. "No worries we will go as per your wish."

I spoke after regaining my posture by taking few deep breaths, "Are you done with your questionnaire?" 

"Yes."

"Now tell me about your Delhi-plan." I take a sigh of relief as the topic changed.

"Yes I'm on it."

"Don't buy it in my area."

"Why?"

"Because people know each other from same colony na? That will grab unnecessary attention."

"Achha."

"Kyu? Tum khidki me aakar baaten karoge?" I laughed. (Why? Are you planning to do balcony romance?)

"Not balcony. I want you straight in my room." He flirtatious comment with a deep voice made my stomach flip. "Don't worry, I will buy in safe zone. Not too far nor too close, making it easy for you to visit my place."

"Exactly. I don't want to gain unnecessary attention from the neighbors or colony people."

"So, daily visits are final then?" 

"Daily visits?" My heart did a somersault just by thinking about it.
Meeting Murat everyday?
Being in his vicinity everyday?
Every single day?
Oh dear.

"Then?" He murmured. 

"Why will I come daily? Most importantly, how?" I pointed out.

"Then?" 

"Once a week maybe." I shrugged.

"Umm wait he is calling me. Shall I talk with him and finish the business?" He asked politely. 

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." I glanced at my phone after he hung up, wondering what was wrong with him today.

Murat Ahmad taking permissions from me and giving explanations?

Isn't he the same guy who doesn't like to be ordered around by anyone? 

.
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*********