Eyes Don't Lie

chapter 10

Jungkook and wafiyah walked toward his car, she looked around to find a driver but there was no one in parking lot except them. He went toward drivers seat and opened the door "Sir" he looked up at her "You've been a great boss so far" amusement fills him but didn't say anything he wanted to know what's going on in her mind. She fidgets with her hands "and I'm sure you will continue to be the best in future too" he tries hard not to smile as he got the inkling of why she was doing this "thanks Miss wafiyah now hop in" he bends down to sit but she says again "sir" it came out louder than expected, he stands back again sighing annoyed but in reality he was enjoying, he wanted her to be able to express herself more and communicate without hesitation "may I ask you for a favor?" She pleads and received a nod from him "can I sit in the back?" He knew it that she didn't want to sit in the front seat "please Sir I'll make special invocations for your success " if they weren't getting late for the meeting he would have continued getting endeared by her charms "are you trying to buy my approval miss wafiyah?" He crosses his arms over his chest, even if he is getting late it doesn't matter "is it bad?" She asks instead "everything has a price miss wafiyah" "but you already make a lot of money what i can offer wouldn't be of any significance" she laughs awkwardly and adds "also I get stipend to live be kind when naming the price" he thinks for a moment before his next retort "I'll tell you soon don't forget you owe me" with that he got in the car so does wafiyah thinking what could he possibly ask for, she better start saving more. They went to Min technologies this time Byung hun asked to meet at his office to which jungkook agreed. Wafiyah stays close behind him because everyone was staring at them due to her hijab "Stay confident don't hide yourself" Jungkook tells her and let her walk beside him rather then following behind. Byung hun secretary with caked up make and tight-fitting clothes and first 2 buttons of her shirt undone welcomes them and lead them to his office, swaying her hips more than necessary as she walks ahead of them. She was one of those who tried their hardest to seduce jungkook but never once succeeded, wafiyah felt shy and reticent in this awkward moment so she kept looking at floor. The secretary asked them to wait a bit and offered "do you need anything Mr jeon" her voice seductive and unpleasant as she says it, wafiyah thought she might need holy water to wash away the obnoxious and gut-churning effect of crappiness "yes, I need you out of my sight and ask Min to get here in 2 minutes or else I'm leaving " her smile fades away at the blunt humiliation and  bows before exiting the room. Wafiyah glanced at him for being brusque and harsh toward her wanting to tell him to be kind but keeps it in "always be clear and unapologetically ambiguous person it doesn't matter if their feeling get hurt or their ego" she nods noting his words mentally, just then Mr Min also enters "I hope I didn't make you wait long" he says and walk toward his seat, as her gaze fell over him she recalled their encounter in university Expo and hoped he wouldn't recognize her and make unnecessary scene but who can stop the impossible "You?" He says "aren't you that Muslim girl what are you doing here?" Jungkook was confused did they know eachother or had they met before so she clears his confusion "Mr. Min was also participating in Expo we have met there" now it made sense to him " she's working with me Min, you've got problem?" "Can't you see her, she's Muslim " "yeah she is Muslim so keep your eyes off of her I'm here for a purpose you've already wasted alot of time" they start the meeting after that which continued for more than an hour both exchanged some important points regarding the launch and decided to hold press conference it will create a great impact and assert ascendancy on the competitive firms in the market. They were soon done with it and jungkook didn't waste a minute before getting up to leave "jungkook I wanna talk to you" then eyed her "alone" "look Min I'm not interested in your nonsense " "it's okay sir I'll wait outside" she cuts him and went out of office. The secretary noticed her and made a hand movement to motion her forward, she walked to the reception "yes?" "What's with this dressing?" She frowns "what do you mean, this is how Muslims dress" "its a hot weather is it not suffocating wearing all these layers" wafiyah smiles before replying "oh not at all its really comfy and cozy" "is it for attention purpose?" Now that was very rude of her to assume "I don't want attention Miss, never assume bad about someone you don't know" "I know people like you very well" she was unnecessarily mean they didn't even met before, she remain silent and doesn't say anything as she recalled the words of her beloved prophet Muhammad(SAW) that 'speak good or remain silent'. So she just nod and look towards the office to see if Jungkook was done or not but soon door opens to reveal an angry jungkook, he doesn't say a word and walk to the exit she runs to catch up with him. It was almost half past seven and she had to pray her Maghreb prayer because by the time she would reach her dorm the time would run out. She contemplates whether to tell him to stop somewhere so she can pray or let it be cause he was already in bad mood. Jungkook glanced at her through the mirror, the golden rays of sunset reflected on her features enhancing her soulful brown eyes, was it the silky smooth hues of red and yellows that made her look so aesthetic or was it her existence that made the sunset so ravishing. He needed to focus on road he thinks to himself and the realization that they're going to part ways for a whole weekend made him wish for this moment to last a bit longer "Sir" he hums and peeked at her through rear mirror "I have to pray Maghreb if you don't mind can you do me another favor please?" He never thought that God will fulfill his wish immediately concealing his joy he asks "that's alot of favors for a day miss wafiyah" "I apologize sincerely sir but this will be the last one promise" after a pause she futher adds "for today" this time he doesn't hide his smile as his lips tugs and bunny teeth come into view "ask away" her eyes twinkle at her request being granted "can you stop by some place where they would have a spare room and I can quickly offer my prayer" "Okay let's see" he checks the surrounding to see if he know any place here then remembered a small restaurant owned by an old couple and are his acquaintance. The drive there took only five minutes, the restaurant wasn't busy at the moment so they make their way inside and greeted the old lady "oh our jungkookie is here" the lady hugs him "Hello grandma how are you" "I'm good son and who's this ?" She asks pointing at wafiyah "grandma I'll tell you but shes running out of time for her prayer would you let her use one of the rooms here?" "Oh no problem my child come this way" she follows the lady inside and "don't worry okay take your time I'll prepare something for both of you" she thanked the lady and started praying without wasting further time as it was really late. "Where's your husband?" He asked as the lady emerged from inside she laughs at him "he's out for groceries and stuff" "now tell me who's that pretty girl?" "She's working in my company as an employee" "only employee?" Jungkook rubs his finger over his lower lip "what else grandma?" She smiles knowingly "you tell me" He leans back and rest his head on the wooden chair "she's a Muslim" "oh I see where it's going" he doesn't say anything and keeps his eyes closed, after his own apartment this was his home "do you crave for something special or do I make the usual meal kookie?" He opens his eyes "she can't eat everything we eat grandma" she smiles at him "I know halal food should I make that?" He nods enthusiastically "Thank you" she ruffles his hair and went to kitchen. Wafiyah was done with her prayer she came out of room and saw Jungkook sleeping on the chair so didn't disturb him and went to the kitchen "Mam, thank you so much for your kindness may Allah bless you with good health and long life" "don't call me that, call me grandma okay come here daughter " she smiles wide and stand beside her "I'm making halal food for you, we have alot of Muslim customers so eat without any fear" "I'm sorry for causing trouble you didn't have to grandma " "this is my job honey and cooking for my kids is not a problem" she was touched by all the warm and nice treatment "where's jungkookie?"
"He fell asleep I think"
"go and wait for me you must be tired yeah" she nods and walk back to where Jungkook was his eyes were still closed so she sits on another table across him and takes her phone out. She video called her elder sister nazia in the meantime
"asalamualikum"
"walaikum asalam how's my little wafu"
"Alhamdulliah great what about you and everyone else?"
"All good Alhamdulliah are you out somewhere?"
"Yeah and keep your voice low " she whispers into the speaker of phone
"Why where are you?"
"I'm at a restaurant, I was with my boss we went on meeting which took longer than expected and I was running out of prayer time so he took us to this place and now he's sleeping on chair and I didn't have anything to do so talk slowly" she explains to her
"Is your boss good looking?" Her sister asks
"Ssshhhhh, shut up what the hell astagfirullah what if he hear us" she whispered back in panic
"Well he wouldn't mind that much I'm sure"
"What's wrong with you, you're already married don't forget"
" I'm not asking for my self I was talking about you"
"I think I shouldn't have called you it was a mistake I'm hanging up"
"Okay Okay I won't talk about your boss again don't hang up" wafiyah gave her an angry look squinting her eyes to come off as intimidating.
"Good, how's my babies?"
"Please take them with you I'm so done with them" nazia cries out which made her giggle
"Send them to me I miss my beloved babies" then out of sudden nazia got serious
"Why didn't you tell me about what happend in the library?" She licks her dry lips
"Just forget about it now it's in the past"
"I'm asking you why did you not tell me?" He voice carried authority
"What was I supposed to tell you it wasn't very exciting incident to share" she says lowly
"We're your family wafu you don't have to go through difficulty alone"
"It was my decision to study abroad in a non Muslim country it was bound to happen someday I can't complain now"
"Just because it was your wish to study doesn't mean you'll suffer alone, you have to share your feelings don't bottle them up "
"Just let it go Mingyu was there nothing happened all thanks to him"
"Promise me you'll never do this again"
"OK Promise mom" they chuckle in unison as their mood lightened
"But on a serious note wafu be genuine and honest "
"What?"
"Is your boss hot or not?"
"ALLAH ALLAH, don't you have modesty. Why does women become so shameless after getting married?" She spurred in utter consternation her sister laughs loudly "you'll know once you get married too" she instantly hangs up the call before whisper yelling an "Astagfirullah ", she throws her phone on table in disgust as if it was filthy then she remembered jungkook was sleeping and slaps her hand on her mouth but he didn't move or opened his eyes making her sigh in relief. The lady come out again and woke jungkook up because the food was ready to be served. He glanced at wafiyah before going to washroom to tidy up a bit meanwhile she helped old lady in serving, her mouth watered at the sight of delicious food with savory and appetizing aroma. They both sat across eachother "please join us" wafiyah offers to the lady "oh my dear child I would love to but I don't eat without my husband enjoy your food and don't hesitate to ask for more" she pats her head and leave them to eat in peace, suddenly she was nervous being alone eating on same table with her boss who was busy dishing out sizzling hot food into his plate and extend the dish toward her, she thanked him and pour some into her plate and tried her best to ignore his presence "how are you going to eat?" He asks "I always eat with my face covered it's loose so it's easy to eat beneath it" she says but he wasn't convinced "if you want I can switch table and sit somewhere else" she shakes her hand animatedly to deny "no trust me I'm completely fine with eating this way" he gives up and both eat in silence but jungkook's mind wasn't as silent, he was repeating the conversation wafiyah had with her sister. Yes he was awake and conscious and heard everything from 'their greeting to her astagfirullah'. He had to fight his face muscles to stop them from smiling and held it in but he must say that her lack of answer disappointed him now he wants to know if she thinks he's good looking and hot as her sister asked, then they went back to how shy she got when her sister talked about marriage. He bites on his lips to not break into smile she might think he's crazy but on the other hand one topic irked him what happend in library and what role did mingyu play? His thoughts were jumbled up and created a chaos in his mind. He wanted to know so he clears his throat before asking "may I ask you something miss wafiyah?" She looks up at him and nods "sure sir" "what happened with you in the library?" Her eyes widened knowing he heard everything "uhm Sir actually " she stuttered "what did mingyu do?" "No no, he didn't do anything wrong actually I was in library when an Islamophobe man tried to harass me and snatched my hijab but before he could do it mingyu saved me from him" Jungkook was really disgusted by the act and if he had a chance to see that guy ever he'd make sure no one gets the chance to see him again. "That's such a petty and intolerable thing to do I hope he dealth with him real good" "yeah, but Alhamdulliah everything's okay nothing happened " she prayed in her heart he would ask about the other things her sister said that would be very awkward "Miss wafiyah " she hums "always keep a sharp object with you they come in handy when such circumstances arise" she smiles appreciatively eyes formed Crescent and jungkook swore that they would always outshine the one on night sky, looking away from them wasn't less than a challenge and looking into them wasn't less than testing his limits. "That's very thoughtful of you Sir but imagine God forbid an incident occurs where I use that object to defend myself and get myself in lock up cause I'm not a resident of this country" she chuckles at herself but jungkook doesn't instead he simply states "then you have my number don't you?" She thinks for a moment then shakes her head No "give me your phone" jungkook says with assertion "sorry?" He extend his hand and repeats again so she unlocks the phone and place it on his palm. He writes his contact number in and then give a call on it, his phone vibrates then he return her phone "here, now you have it so never hesitate to fight back I won't let anything happen to you" she noticed he says things that would give her a mini heart attack. He saves her contact and look up from his phone "are you done or do you want something else?" He asks "oh I'm full alhamdulliah, sir please can I share the bill with you its a request" "No more requests for the day miss wafiyah remember" he says and ask her to wait while going in to pay for the food. "Let's go" he grabs his keys and Phone "Sir I'll grab a taxi I've already troubled you alot today and thank you so much for being considerate" she says appreciatively putting her right hand over her heart to show gratitude "Miss wafiyah get in the car I'll drop you off at your dorm without further arguments " she agrees as she didn't had choice "and miss wafiyah don't disagree with me all the time" she just follows him back to car and drove toward the university. After a good thirty minutes drive they were outside the dorms "Sir thank you once again I'm grateful for your kindness May Allah shower his mercy upon you have a good night" he looks at her through rear mirror gripping the steering wheel tightly, she was leaving and this time maybe God won't intercede. She leave the car and wait for him to go but he mouthed "you go in first" she waves and gradually her figure dissappear in the darkness and behind the block of dormitory while he's left there in silence sighing tiredly, he revs the engine and off to his sanctuary.