KHAARZAAR

۳۸: درار / Crack

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As Miraal made her way to the meeting room as scheduled for the day, she entered inside the meeting hall. She sat down at her usual seat. She brought out her notes and papers and waited for Rohaan to join in. The whole staff was there.

They all await the arrival of their boss who was unusually late today. The meeting was supposed to start at sharp 9:30 yet it was already 9:45 and he wasn't here. Which as a normal person, one would think he was stuck in traffic. Or maybe, he was held up somewhere.

But it was Rohaan Demirhani they were talking about. He was never late. He was always steady. Always punctual. And yet, he was held up. Miraal kept glancing at the door. It was another fifteen minutes that Rohaan finally granted them his presence. But as they stole one glance, they were all flabbergasted. He was unkempt.

His hairs a wrecking bird's nest. His once pristine shirt wrinkled. His ironed coat wrinkled draped around his forearm. His eyes deep shade of red. As he was awake for so long. As the whole staff kept looking at him weird, he barked out angrily

"What!"

The staff immediately down casted their eyes. Afraid of his fury. Miraal didn't say anything and glanced back at her file. Rohaan took the seat at the head chair and rubbed his temples. She noticed it. He looked worn out. Distressed maybe too.

But she dare not say anything. She remained tight lipped. Not wanting to become the victim of his anger today. The meeting began and throughout the whole meeting, he was edgy. He didn't even answer back to some questions. Which was really strange for him. He was always attentive.

And right now looking at him, seems like he was a whole another person. The Rohaan Demirhani was replaced by someone else. And everyone could feel it. But they chose to keep their mouth close. As the meeting ended, Rohaan stepped up

"The meeting is finished. Leave everyone."

As the staff scattered, they all left the room one by one. Miraal left at the end but before she could leave, she heard the voice of Rohaan from the back

"Miraal, meet me in my office after an hour."

She nodded her head before she headed out the room. As she headed to her cabin, Gina approached her.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm fine. How's you?"

Miraal asked back. They exchanged few casual pleasentries before Gina jumped on to the topic at hand

"Rohaan Sir was a little unusual today, no?"

Miraal nodded her head along with her.

"He asked you to meet him. Can you ask him why he was like that?"

One thing was Gina was that she was a big time gossiper. She loves to know about every single detail happening in the office. And Miraal had no interest in all that. Yet, she still nodded her head for namesake.

"Well, best of luck. You're going to tackle a tornado."

Miraal laughed out loud. She entered inside her cabin and decided to call Irtaza. As she sat down, she dialed his number and waited for him to pick up the call

"Hey, what are you doing?"

She asked soon as he picked up the call.

"I'm with Arsalan's. Do you need anything?"

She smiled before answering

"No, I'm ok. I just want to hit you up."

"Sure. I'll pick you from work, ok?"