ishq lost & found

19; Back

Walking through the unfamiliar halls of his new workplace, Saad gingerly followed the older woman who was giving him his tour, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at her repetitive and unnecessary explanations of every little thing they came across. But the last thing he would be to anyone, especially an elder, was rude.

Finally reaching the threshold of his large office, he stared up at the 8 ft tall ebony double doors that put a divide between him and his work, the work he needed to start as soon as possible to make up for the waste of an hour.

"Finally, this is your assistant Safa. She can help you get settled in and help you with anything else you need." the woman stated, smiling at Safa as she gave her a small nudge towards Saad.

Understanding the notion, Safa extended her arm forward, her back stiff from the nerves of meeting his new boss. He was a lot scarier than she thought he would be. Looking down at her hand for a moment, he gave her a firm shake before forcing a tight lipped smile.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Saad."

Safa backed up, standing beside the elderly woman with her gaze fixed to the floor, unsure of what to do. Saad had stuffed his hands in his pockets immediately after shaking her hand, backing up as close as he could to his office so he could get to his work.

"That's all! If you have any questions, feel free to ask Safa."

Nodding, he immediately grabbed the door handle to his office, turning it, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." he said, making his way into his office before closing it behind him, anxious to do something other than yap with people he didn't care to know.

Looking over his schedule, he realized he had an upcoming meeting with the his new coworkers, giving him exactly 45 minutes to get as much done as possible before he was likely going to be subjected to meet and greets, as well as discussing some bigger cases and meeting potential clients.

A cloud of anxiety setting in the bottom of his stomach, Saad tried his best to focus on the present, to put all his mind power into his work, especially since he had many deadlines to meet, but he found his mind wandering around the same topic.

His conversation with Ranya just the past night had left a bad taste in his mouth. Did Ranya really think so little of him? Saad began contemplating whatever he had done so far in their marriage, every little action or word that may have led her to thinking so poorly of him. Maybe this nonchalant facade wasn't in his best interest. His plans began to crumble, and he could see it. The last thing Saad wanted was for Ranya to hate him, not after finally getting her back, even in the strange way he did.

Ranya on the other hand could not be more ecstatic to go back to work, the soft humming of her computer and smart board, the soothing aroma of coffee filling the halls, imbedded within the walls of each room, and the bright welcoming colourful decorations were something she had missed quite a lot.

She was glad she couldn't be approved for a longer period off, because that would mean missing some vital time with her students. The end of the year meant a lot to her as a teacher, watching her beloved kids grow both as children and as students. Saying goodbye was always hard, but they were usually just down the hall.

Sifting through all the papers left behind from the substitute, she organized her desk as well as the rest of the room just the at she liked it. Ranya was very particular, having a rhythm for the class and the room, something she didn't like to see be disturbed, but it was impossible for everything to remain the way it was when she left.

Almost satisfied with what she could find and organize, Ranya quickly drew a schedule for the day, something easy for her students to follow, just so they could be somewhat prepared. Happy with the results, Ranya made her way to the staff room, recalling they had some more coffee and a meeting about some assembly.

"Ranya!" Ms.Trevor came running as soon as Ranya came through the room, enveloping her in a surprisingly tight hug with one hand as the other was occupied holding a muffin.

"How are you!" she blurted, not taking a second to breathe between her acknowledgment and her question. "How was the wedding!" she added, eyes wide from curiosity.

Heart in her throat, Ranya plastered on a smile, forgetting to rehearse the little script she had come up with. Honestly, the idea of having to tell everyone the details of her wedding and her relationship was the last thing she had on her mind that morning, all she cared about was seeing her students after such a long break.

"It was great!" Ranya nodded, eyes darting to her mug as she began making some more coffee for herself, praying more questions wouldn't arise. But knowing Ms.Trevor, that was unlikely.

"Give me all the details! Do you have pictures?!" she prodded, following Ranya like a lost puppy. She wasn't a bad woman, these questions and all this curiosity wasn't coming from a place of malice or jealousy, but genuine interest.

Just as Ranya took in a breath of air before speaking, a couple other teachers joined in too, chiming their own questions, leaving Ranya overwhelmed. As they were gathering around her, throwing questions here and there as if she was a celebrity being hounded by the paparazzi, Ranya was relieved to hear the first bell ring through the room. Quite literally saved by the bell.

"I'll tell you guys during lunch! I really wanna see my students, it's been so long." she excused herself, slipping out the room as quickly as she could before anyone else could respond, hopefully having come up with some solid and realistic answers for her curious coworkers.

Seated at a large oblong table, surrounded by the pesky chatter of his new coworkers, Saad typed away at his laptop, trying to pinpoint his focus into his work, a seemingly impossible task with all the noise surrounding him. His day had slowly passed by in a somewhat mundane blur, with many introductions and unnecessary conversations surrounding his life. One of which, the most common question in fact, being about his personal life. Specifically, his recent wedding. 

It was truthfully quite irritating, having to constantly come up with some kind of answer to questions that seemed far too intimate to be asking a new coworker. 

"How'd you guys meet?" some guy asked, moments after some other guy introduced Saad, a silence befalling them before that guy mentioned he was recently married. 

"Our parents were really close friends." he answered, his response disappointing based on that man's reaction, which was surprising to Saad as he couldn't care less to know the details of anyone else's relationships, the origins of it, how it blossomed, and how it's going. He went to work to do work. Not any of this. And it was especially frustrating since some of these questions didn't have answers he could just come up with on the spot. 

This was very odd for Saad, who was quick on his feet, his tongue always had an answer on the tip of it. But when it came to Ranya, suddenly he had to pause to think. It was ever harder to pretend to care about explaining his background to these people when all he could focus on was what she really thought of him. 

Here he was, pretending to be in a fine and dandy relationship, playing the role of a new loving husband. Yet in reality, his wife didn't trust him one bit. On a whim, he figured, rather than staying late at the office and working there, he would take some time off, just for her. A couple of hours might hurt, but that's what paralegals are for. 

He wanted to spend some time with his wife.