Another Forever

3 5 | h a n g o u t

• n o o r •

It was my fourth day at work and right now,  I was in the car with Faaris on our way to the office. Things had been stagnant lately and I was still giving him the silent treatment. He had been trying to get me to speak but I was consistent with my decision of not forgiving him too easily. He needed to know that he couldn't get away with lying easily. Honesty was the basis of any relationship and if he couldn't be honest with me, what was the point of all this?

The car was filled with an awkward silence. To be honest, I missed talking to him. In the brief time I was here, he had become an important part of my day and without him, life was pretty dull. I missed watching Netflix together or talking every night before sleep. I missed having breakfast and dinner together and discussing how our day went. But there was nothing that could be done about it for now. He needed to learn a lesson.

Once the office building arrived, we made our way inside, acting indifferent to each other. We reached the elevator and made our way inside, standing on the opposite corners of it. Soon, the elevator started to fill and I was pushed to the back by the crowd. A blonde guy was being particularly troublesome as he was practically grinding into me without even acknowledging. I was doing my best to ignore that man when Faaris grabbed my arm and pulled me to his side. To my surprise, nobody was trying to invade the CEO's personal space. Such things would never happen in Pakistan; all the men would move to one side to free space for women.

"Thanks." I mouthed to Faaris who still had his hand around my arm. I motioned towards my arm but he voluntarily ignored it and turned his eyes to the front.

Soon, my floor arrived so he finally left my arm. I walked out of the elevator, passing one last look to him before the elevator door closed.

Hassan had already arrived and was sitting in his office. I went inside, greeted him and settled on my desk that I shared with Caroline.

"Pink suits you." Hassan said.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion, my thoughts still stuck on Faaris.

"Your dress. It suits you." He explained and I smiled shyly. I was wearing a pink sundress, paired with a brown leather jacket to hide my arms as the dress didn't have sleeves.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself. Hassan Ali must be quite popular among ladies." I teased him. He was wearing a white T-shirt paired with black jeans and black leather jacket. The outfit complimented well with his honey brown eyes.

"What can I say, American girls dig this look." He chuckled. "Too bad, they don't believe in marrying someone without dating."

"What about an arranged marriage? I am sure there are plenty of women of Muslim community looking for an eligible bachelor for their daughters." I suggested.

"I'd rather marry someone I know. Arranged marriages aren't my cup of tea." He said.

"Best of luck for that." I grinned and then went back to working on this new project I was assigned with.

°°°°°

It was finally 6 in the evening which meant it was time to go home. I was packing up my things when Caroline announced, "Hey guys, there is a new Asian restaurant opened up nearby. Wanna hangout? I checked the policy. It's halal."

"Sure. I don't have any plans for tonight." Hassan shrugged. "What about you, Noor?"

I wanted to try out new places around me and open up my social circle but I wasn't sure about Faaris' reaction to this. "I... Uh..."