Anything For You

|The First Day|

Fariz's gaze flicked to the door, his face still, but something shifted in his otherwise tense demeanor. He wasn't smiling—Fariz Malik never smiled, at least not in the way most people did—but there was a subtle softening of his usual stern expression, an almost imperceptible ease to the tightness around his eyes.

"Come inside," he said, his voice lower than usual, lacking the usual edge that Mahnoor had become accustomed to in the last thirty minutes of her "welcome lecture."

Mahnoor, sensing the change, turned to see who had walked in. Her eyes landed on a young man dressed in casual black jeans and a denim jacket over a white T-shirt, a stark contrast to the rigid formalities of the office. His hair was tousled as though he'd just run his hands through it and couldn't care less about fixing it. There was something about him that felt light, refreshing even, like he carried an air of excitement and joy wherever he went.

She turned back to the desk where Fariz sat, and to her astonishment, his face had transformed. It was the first time in the entire meeting—or, to put it more accurately, the entire lecture on office rules, decorum, and her never-ending list of duties—that he looked anything close to human. The Fariz Malik she had been dealing with all morning had the same expressionless face that one might expect from a particularly indifferent statue—an immovable, cold fixture, his arrogance set in stone.

But now, with the appearance of his cousin, there was a noticeable crack in that facade. The man who had been staring her down like a hawk assessing its prey had momentarily become something softer, less mechanical. His sharp jawline wasn't clenched, his eyes weren't scrutinizing every inch of her existence, and for the first time, she saw him have some expressions. Adnan was the son of Hashim's younger brother, but to Fariz, he was like his own piece of heart.

Adnan strolled in, flashing a grin, unaware of the odd tension in the room. "Bro, are you busy terrorizing your employees again?" He teased lightly, clearly comfortable enough to mock Fariz's usual demeanor without fear of repercussion.

Fariz rolled his eyes. "Shut up!"

Fariz closed his file with a decisive snap, the sound cutting through the room. "I hope you're clear with your work, Miss Mahnoor," he said, his voice carrying the same no-nonsense tone it had all day. "I want everything done by today, before you head home."

Mahnoor stared at the mountain of files before her, her jaw nearly hitting the desk. It was as if a paper avalanche had been unleashed on her. How could one human be expected to tackle this much work in one day? She blinked rapidly, trying to process the sheer size of the task, and blurted, "But sir, this..."

"I don't like to hear any buts," he thundered, his voice reverberating through the room. He pointed toward the desk outside, visible through the sleek blinds. "GO. AND START YOUR WORK."

Mahnoor's face scrunched up, a perfect mixture of disbelief and annoyance, but she bit her tongue, nodding obediently. With a dramatic sigh, she scooped up the stack of files. The pile was so high, it reached just below her eyes, making it nearly impossible for her to see where she was going.

With one hand, she awkwardly groped around for furniture to guide her as she shuffled forward, the other hand desperately clutching the files to her chest like they were precious cargo. Her face peeked over the top of the stack, eyes darting left and right in search of any obstacles.

"Ouch!" she yelped as her shin collided with a chair leg. She teetered for a moment, the files wobbling in her arms. She clamped her lips shut, determined to keep the paperwork from scattering across the floor like confetti disaster. She twisted and turned, attempting to navigate her way out of the cabin maze, all while clumsily bumping into furniture like a human pinball.