Ravaged souls

Devil was an angel once

Walid's POV

I tilted my head while looking at the man in front of me in amusement. After all, he did have the guts to stand in front of me after spilling all my company's secrets.

I crocked my gun and placed it on the table while the man in his forties trembled with nervousness. Side of my lip curled up feeling satisfied by the power I had on this imbecile. It's been a while since I last experienced this gratification.

'Remember true power only belongs to Allah SWT'
my subconscious mind reminds me to shake it off like always.

"Please Mr. Khan, please give me some time," the man pleaded with tears in his eyes. Of course he would, his life rests in my hands now. "I promise I won't spill anything more," he added. My intense gaze made him more nervous with each passing second.

"Bold of you to assume I would let you go after you betrayed me," I said with the devilish smirk on my face. Before he could utter any other word I played my card and a loud noise echoed in the basement.

Rule number one : People who betray shall receive the present of death.

I stared at his lifeless body for a few seconds as my adrenaline rush calmed down before handing over the gun to my brother. "Call the crew and get this mess cleared as soon as possible," I ordered as I unfolded my sleeves and buttoned them. "Also, did you find out who was behind all this?"
"No, but I assure you it won't be much time before you hear about his end."

Nodding curtly, I left but my steps halted at his call shortly. "What's your next destination?" he asked.
"To the office for the client's meeting. And you are joining me like always."

"Bhai it's Friday. Can you drop me to the mosque for the jummah?" He asked with same look in his eyes as he would normally do. The same intentional yet innocent look to make me do this, even after knowing what happened. But even after his insistence and the hope he hooks on to it, I would never forget those dreadful nights. Nights where I lost everything : my faith, my love, EVERYTHING.

"Bhai?" Humza's confused voice brought me out of my trance of haunted memories. I nodded simply in reply of his questions and left for the car. I shook my head to clear up my mind, since being vulnerable isn't an option.

*****

The dashboard clock changed its numbers for the fifteenth time as I waited in the driver's seat. I could hear the prayers blaring through the speakers, though it sounded muffled inside. The men in the premises bowed down in sync, offering their prayers and asking for His forgiveness.
As I looked on at the scene from the window,

I noticed a child adorning a traditional beige kurta sitting on his father's shoulders, smiling as the morning rays touched upon his face. Agony clenched my heart again as those gleeful memories from my golden age ran back to me.

People say photographic memory is a blessing but only if they understood the pain behind having one.

As soon as Humza closed the car door, I put my foot down hard on the accelerator and sped off to the office. Well you can imagine my speed (and also the traffic) when I covered the distance of fifteen minutes in five. Entering the building with the new air of corporate work, Humza informed me of his arrival to the meeting in the next five minutes and walked away. Another assistant handed me a file to sign upon some papers and talked my ear off about today's agenda for the meeting. Looking up from the file, I saw a simple woman wearing a head scarf, which resembled much like my sister Aiman. She looked kind of naive , stupid and....cute? 'Walid Ahmed Khan doesn't fancy girls' a reminder passed by.

*****

"Coffee" was all I thought about when I saw Humza approaching me with a venti. Dismissing the assistant, I walked towards him only to hear Humza's whimpers the next moment.

The scene before me was enough to increase my already raging anger. The same woman ruined Humza's shirt with the same coffee I was about to have. Well, was I more angry for the spilt coffee or because Humza had some stranger woman in his arms? The reason doesn't matter when I am ticked off.

All of her cuteness dissipated for me that moment. This seemed like some romantic movie shot where the careless hero-heroine couple bump into each other and bullshit. (Where are they looking when you're supposed to look straight ahead at your path?) They both stared at one another just like two past lovers from another life had their oh-so-lovely reunion. I clenched my fist just because I couldn't hit Humza for this right now. One encounter is enough for a day.

After all the heated words and apologies in the next five minutes, she joined me for my meeting instead of Humza. The meeting was long and serious and I noticed my new assistant all lost in her own world. 'Oh darling, you'll have to pay for this later.'

The meeting ended when I saw Hashmi interacting with Miss Hassan. "Is she your new assistant?" he asked.
"No" we said in unison. "She is just a trouble maker paying for her deeds," I smirked.

"Oh I see. Can I get your number miss?"
Okay, so he chose death. "No! Get out Mr. Hashmi," I ordered sternly, so he rushed out of conference room, while she too did the same muttering something.

My whole day was busy meeting people and checking files but there was something about those grey orbs which disturbed me. Maybe I was just going cranky on an empty stomach so I decided to visit the nearby five star Italian restaurant.

*****

The elevator doors opened to reveal a giggling Humza and Miss Hassan.Oh so they are getting friendly wow..... but why do I care? "Mr. Mirza, I expect you in my office right away, we got some discussion to do," I said in a demanding tone, since my craving for Italian food just vanished looking at them getting cute. They looked at each other for a fleeting second before she started to leave. No babe, it's payback time.

"You too Miss Hassan," I added which filled her with shock. "Why me again? Your assistant is in pretty decent clothes now," she spat at me. Her audacity to talk to me this way on the very first day of her internship, is alarming yet... impressing?

"Miss Hassan I'm stunned at your audacity of using such tone against me," I replied, trying to calm down my ego. "People here don't even dare to look straight in my eyes and then there is you. Now report to my office before I fire you both."

They rushed behind me at my office and entered looking anxious. Settling down, I found Miss Hassan gazing my office as if she saw some "wonder of the world." (Thanks to my interior designer.) "Miss Hassan, if you're done adoring my office can we focus?" She snapped out of her gaze and focused on me. Good.

I assigned her the work of handing over the meeting notes to Humza since he was absent at the meeting. I could notice the regret on her face of losing herself in wonderland. She stammered a positive reply and made some weird face which wasn't supposed to be made aloud I guess. Weird.

Before she left, I quietly threatened her, "Next time you try to use that tone with me Miss Hassan, I assure you there will be consequences." She nodded simply and left with Humza.

Tomorrow will be a great day for Miss Hassan.