Amour à Paris- a rekindled Romance

Chapter 4

Shirin was embarrassed when she saw a stranger sitting next to her trying to wake her up.

:- "Please be careful. It is not safe to fall asleep like this. You could have lost our belongings. Kindly check if everything is in place."

:-  I am so sorry and thank you for your kindness. It's actually first day and I didn't realize how exhausted I was. I am Shirin Roy.

:- It's okay. I understand. My name is Alex. Here is my card. You can contact me on this number if you need any help here. Be safe. Take care.

:- Goodbye.

Shirin was still embarrassed, but she couldn't figure out why something seemed off. She never fell asleep like this, but she felt something so familiar that her body wasn't aware or threatened. She started walking toward her Hotel. The jetlag was starting to set in on her body, so she decided to call it a night.

Shirin woke up when it was still dark. She made herself a coffee and went out to the balcony. She felt a strong craving for tobacco, but she is trying to quit and didn't even bring her vape on this trip. Tobacco entered her life right after Zain's exit and once again with the glimpses of Zain she felt she was losing everything she worked for. "Damn you, Zain Khurrana" her thoughts came out loudly, and the city started to wake up. Shirin usually travels light because most of her travels are work-related. This time she packed a bit fancy and for her first day she took out a white cropped blazer and white shorts. She paired it with white sneakers and a nude makeup look. During breakfast, her excitement shifted a bit when she found out about the financial summit that was going on in the Hotel. Among the companies she saw Dreamscape Innovation Tech. She suddenly remembered the card she got from the helpful stranger last night and he worked for this company. Her reporter soul never feels any embarrassment while following up with people and Shirin just shifted to that mode and left a few voice messages to that number.

She was not expecting a call back immediately, so she decided to look up on the internet and collect some information. The company seems to have diverse interests and it is a relatively new wing of XYZ Technologies group. They invest in most AI-based projects and aim for an almost sci-fi kind of futuristic world. She was intrigued about some of their work details, but she just couldn't find out any details about the CEO. Calling a few friends back in India didn't help as none of them had any idea and they just told Shirin to enjoy her break.

4 hours later, she was still in a daze about everything she saw in Louvre. She could stay inside the museum for a week, and it would still not be enough, she thought. She found a café a decided to grab something to eat when her phone rang. It was Alex! Hey Alex, sorry to bother you. I wanted to know...

The conversation went on for some time and she finally managed a meeting with Alex for lunch. Most reporters have a hunch and Shirin's hunch was telling her Alex was on guard while talking to her. To her disappointment, she could neither find out more information about their latest project nor could she get an interview with their CEO. Apparently, he likes to stay away from publicity and press and let his employees take the spotlight instead. They are indeed a part of the glorious XYZ Technologies group but their vision is focused on new AI-driven tech and entrepreneurs. Interestingly they are completely autonomous. That means the CEO is someone part of the founder's group or family.

The lunch was not entirely fruitful, but it wasn't disappointing either. Shirin gave Alex her card and with all her sweetness, puppy eyes and every trick she knew she asked him for an interview with the CEO. She knew if they checked her credentials there would be absolutely no reason to deny. She is, after all, two times Sanlam award winner Shirin fucking Roy.