chapter one

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ZAHRA

"Ms Zahra, you have an important meeting today, don't forget," Lola, my assistant greeted as she stood anxiously in front of me, occasionally picking her nails.

"Lola, I told you a billion times, it's going to be fine," I reassured her.

"Ms Zahra...."

Lola's expression turned extremely nervous.

"Ms Zahra, this man..." Lola tried to explain but I interrupt her.

"It'll be fine, Lola. Don't worry about it, yeah? Just prepare all the documents and make sure everything's set,"

Lola sighs, "Okay, no problem."

I sat at my desk, pondering why is it that for the past weeks everyone has been talking about this Mr Sanchez. I mean, yeah I knew that Mr Sanchez was a prominent figure and that getting him to invest in the company was a huge deal but it was more than that. Lola, someone who knew my extremely thorough work ethics, for the first time, seemed nervous that I would mess up.

I stared at my computer screen. My hazel eyes glaring back at me. I had a black hijab on and I took a bit of concealer to cover up the freckles on my cheek. Lola's anxiety was kind of getting to me.

At 27 years old, I earned a name in the industry. I own a marketing company, and initially many doubted me. I was young and being a Muslim made my initial rise to my position tougher than it already was for women in my field.

However, I managed to prove every critic wrong. I became a respectable CEO. I've only been at said position for two years, but in the two years, I've managed to gain a credible reputation.

I've heard of Ian Sanchez, the man I was meeting today. He too, was a young CEO. He came to the business at 24 years old, a year younger than me but he's been in the field longer. At 30 years old, I've heard great things about the man, but was yet to ever see his face. I wasn't a fan of gossip, or keeping up with those around me.

I've heard he was a playboy but that's it. Frankly, playboy or not, I could not care less. All I needed was how they worked— I paid no mind to what these people did outside of work or even how they looked. As long as they were credible, and a hard worker, it was enough for me.

Time passed by swiftly and soon, it was time for the meeting. I took one last look in the bathroom, ensuring that I looked neat and proper, I gathered my things and headed out to where Lola was waiting for me.

I hopped into my car. I've never prided myself in luxury things. I always prefered to live a simple life. My driver, Wesley, greeted me with a sweet smile and drove up to the restaurant where Ian had scheduled the meeting.

Wesley has been my driver for years. I trust him with my life. He wasn't that much older than me, he was 29, just two years above me. He was a charming man, he had dirty blonde hair and hazel green eyes. His charm was what got me to open up to him. Now, he was more than just my driver, he had become one of my closest friends.

I admired Ian's restaurant for a moment. Beautiful wouldn't be a worthy word to describe it.

When I stepped into the building, I was stunned to see how even more beautiful everything on the inside was. I knew Ian was rich, of course but the place looked straight out of the movies. Ian Sanchez owned multiple hotels and restaurants. He was a smart business man and it was difficult for him to even want to work with anyone, so the fact that he had been the one to initiate the meeting with my company was a huge deal.

When I went up the elevator to what, (I presumed) was some sort of a lounge, my eyes finally landed on the gentleman in front of me and I realised that he was the complete opposite of me.

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