BILLIONAIRE'S HIRED WIFE ①

44. The Prolonged Wait

Shehnaaz was furious at Sidharth. She had reached the hotel on time and was upset to learn that he was still stuck in a meeting. The receptionist came to her and informed her that Shehnaaz was occupied in a meeting and it would take him some time to get finished with it. He had asked the receptionist, Lisa , to make Shehnaaz wait in his office.

"Please come; I will show you the way to Mr. Shukla's office,"the receptionist explained with a constant smile on her face.

Shehnaaz was following Lisa's lead towards Sidharth's office. Lisa appeared to be a young girl who was dressed in the uniform of the hotel. She had paired a white shirt with a black blazer and a black-colored skirt. Her shoulder-length hair fell down straight and perfectly complemented her attire. She wore heavy makeup on her face. Shehnaaz concluded in her mind that it was necessary to do heavy makeup for the job of a receptionist.

"I would never take up a job where I may have to put on heavy makeup," she thought to herself.

Lisa had brought Shehnaaz to the other part of the hotel. Shehnaaz had never seen this part of the Hotel Empire. She had not seen anything else except for room number 605 and the elevator. While walking, her gaze roamed around the space. She seemed to have entered a movie set. The interiors were phenomenal. Shehnaaz had never seen such extravagant and exquisite interiors. The textures and shades were blended in the proper way to achieve a beautiful and more aesthetically pleasing environment. While on her way, Shehnaaz spotted a bar on one side of the hallway. The hotel staff were immersed in their work, and they gazed at Shehnaaz while she passed through them. Shehnaaz felt that all eyes were focused on her.

Shehnaaz and Lisa continued to walk further and reached the end of the corridor. Lisa gestured to Shehnaaz and stated, "Please ma'am, come inside." Shehnaaz realised that there was an elevator disguised in the wall. She found it to be an elevator when it opened for her to get inside. Shehnaaz followed Lisa's lead and went inside the elevator. She had never been to Sidharth's office before.

Actually, she always found it weird and wondered how Sidharth managed his work while being in a hotel room. He should have been working from his office.

Today was the day when Shehnaaz would get to know where Sidharth's office was situated. The elevator stopped on the first floor. Shehnaaz walked out of the elevator after Lisa and realized that the lift had opened straight into his office. There she saw various cubicles and people sitting in them and working on their respective systems. Shehnaaz was gazing around when Lisa guided her the way, "Ma'am, this way please."

Shehnaaz noticed that Lisa was signalling to her to move towards the left side. Shehnaaz walked after her. Lisa passed through a small corridor and stopped in front of a door. Thereafter, she took out a card and slid it through the door. Shehnaaz had been watching her carefully. Lisa then opened the door and stood aside. She glanced at Shehnaaz and stated, "Please come in, ma'am."

Shehnaaz walked inside, and Lisa followed her lead. It was Sidharth's cabin where Shehnaaz was welcomed in. Shehnaaz was stunned by the setup she entered into. She stood still with her mouth agape and her gaze widened in astonishment. She was amazed to see the cabin. She had never seen such a luxurious office, not even in movies. She began noticing the details. There was a large table positioned before Sidharth's chair. She could see a few files, a laptop, a pen stand, a phone, and a tiny calendar placed on the table.

There was an LED screen fitted on the wall opposite the desk. Gliding down the wall, there was a showcase that had an inbuilt music system in it. Shehnaaz saw a collection of movies adjacent to the system.

Shehnaaz was surprised to see the system kept in his room. She concluded that Sidharth was fond of music. There was another cabin placed near the entrance that was filled with awards. A sitting arrangement was made on the left side of his table. Two couches were positioned, along with a small glass table in between. And there were two doors on the right side. One was the entrance that Shehnaaz had come through. And the other was closed. Shehnaaz assumed it to be the restroom.

Lisa pointed towards the couch and gestured for Shehnaaz to sit down. Shehnaaz responded to her gesture by getting seated.

"Ma'am, would you like to have something?" As a courtesy, Lisa asked.

"No thanks. I'm good." Shehnaaz replied to her.

"Okay, ma'am. Mr. Shukla will be here at some time. Please make yourself comfortable until then. And umm... Mr. Shukla had asked me to apologise to you."

Shehnaaz smiled at her. "It's okay."

"Ma'am, I'll be back after some time. And please dial 9 from the intercom in case you need anything, "Lisa informed her.

Shehnaaz nodded her head in affirma- tion, and Lisa made her way out of the room.

Shehnaaz got up from the couch and walked towards the showcase where the music system and the CDs were kept. Shehnaaz glanced at the CDs and
wondered, "I don't think he belongs to the present era. He lives in some other world. Otherwise, who would want to listen to music CDs in today's world?"

All the CDs were of old retro and jazz music. He seemed to be fond of old-age music. Shehnaaz happened to like his music collection.

"Thank God. At least we have something in common. We have similar tastes in music, if not something else, "she thought. Shehnaaz smiled and got back to the couch.

After a few minutes, the door opened and a waiter came inside. He had a tray in his hand that he kept on the table before Shehnaaz. She saw a tiny bottle of water, a glass of juice, and a can of soft drink. Along with these beverages, there was a plate consisting of crispy chicken strips and assorted veggies, as well as a big burger and some fries. There was another dish on the plate that Shehnaaz had no idea about. She didn't know its name, and she had never seen it.

For a moment, Shehnaaz thought of asking the waiter what it was, but then she dropped her idea, considering it wouldn't look good.

Shehnaaz wasn't starving earlier, but now that she was given these tasty delicacies to have, she felt a sudden urge of hunger within herself. But at the same time, Shehnaaz was nervous, wondering if she should have something from the food offered to her. The waiter had already taken her to leave after he had served her.

Shehnaaz didn't take a bite of anything but kept on glancing at the table. Amidst her focused gaze on the table, Lisa made her way inside the room.

"Ma'am, Mr. Shukla called me, informing me that it's taking him longer than expected. He has asked me to apologise to you on his behalf." She said,

Shehnaaz was tired of waiting for Sidharth. And it had instigated anger
within her. Why isn't Mr. Shukla calling me? And if he has not finished his meeting yet, we could meet tomorrow. "She propelled her anger.

"No ma'am, please... wait. Mr. Shukla had told me that he would be here at some time. Actually, he didn't have any idea that the meeting would be extended. Please wait for some more time. He will be here. Please make yourself comfortable. Mr. Shukla will come soon, "Lisa insisted.

Shehnaaz was fuming with anger. She had already waited for Sidharth for a long time now. "No, I won't wait for him anymore. He should have informed me earlier if he had some urgent work. What's the point of making me wait for hours in his cabin? I don't want to meet him now. I am leaving, "she thought.

She stood up from the couch and was determined to accomplish the task that she had thought about. "I think I should take your leave, Lisa. Because your boss might take a little longer to return, and I can't wait any longer. sorry, but I'm leaving, " Shehnaaz declared.