Smile Mates to Soulmates ✓

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning, Shehnaaz woke up in bed, alone and still more than tired but the incessant buzzing of her alarm forced her to peel her eyes open. Siddharth wasn't in bed, which was perfectly normal but since she felt like a literal zombie for a good few seconds, she couldn't bring herself to believe that her man had really managed to pull himself out of bed and leave for the gym.

At 6:30 in the morning. 

Shehnaaz almost cried, pushing herself off the bed, as Siddharth entered the room, breathless. 

Siddharth's shoulders visibly dropped, but he walked up to her nonetheless and pulled her cranky self into himself. 

"I just realized that your alarm would sound. I'd turned mine off, yours skipped my mind." Siddharth told her apologetically. Shehnaaz snuggled into him, "I'm so tired. How is it morning already?" She cribbed.

Siddharth kissed her head comfortingly. "I know little star. I would have let you sleep for another hour and a half if.. the alarm hadn't-- but you know what? We'll take a three-day off from work after today. Bas aaj ka din aur sambhal le mera baccha." Siddharth promised her.

Shehnaaz nodded, still hiding in his arms. They both knew it was a difficult feat to achieve, with the collaboration bringing in twice the work than they were normally used to, however it was worth a try. 

Siddharth broke the hug, leading her towards the bathroom. 

"Coffee?" He asked as she entered the bathroom. She nodded. "Coffee."

"Try not to fall asleep in there." Siddharth told her. Shehnaaz chuckled, Siddharth smirked, shrugged and left the room. Shehnaaz sighed and stumbled into the bathroom. 

Siddharth couldn't keep himself from smiling as he kept a huge pot of coffee for brewing and sat on a dining chair, skimming through a file. 

We're losing the deal, because of you. We're losing millions. We're losing a credible partner--a collaboration that we've all worked on, for months. Why? Because you couldn't respect the man heading the collaboration.

Arti's words rushed back to his mind, her annoyingly squeaky voice causing Siddharth to flinch. 

He blinked twice, turning his attention to the file in front of him. 

This is going to be a great day for you, little star.

A few minutes later, Shehnaaz entered the kitchen, wearing a black top coupled with a pair of baby pink heart dotted shorts. Siddharth looked at her, his eyes stuck on her. She blushed. 

"How can you look so cute so early in the morning, little star? That's not supposed to be happening." Siddharth whined to her, pulling her on his lap.

"I guess you got pretty lucky then, don't you think?" Shehnaaz asked.

Siddharth chuckled. "That is true." He said softly, kissing her full on her lips. 

He stood up from the chair, poured coffee in two mugs and walked up to her. Shehnaaz had opened the file that Siddharth was reading earlier.

"What's this?" Shehnaaz frowned, taking the mug from Siddharth who settled next to her. 

"Dad was telling me that he wants retirement. This collaboration is the last major project that he's heading. I wanted to get the papers approved from Dad." Siddharth told her, taking the file away from her, rather reflexively.

Shehnaaz nodded, "He's not heading this project. You are." She enquired.

"You're working on it too, baby. In official files it's him. Remember? He's still going to be around, just not in full capacity." Siddharth explained.