Flawless // z.m

Five.

My body instantly stilled when Mr. Malik stepped forward to greet his dad. The man behind me radiated warmth whilst the one in front of me gave off nothing but coldness. The stark contrast between the father and son was apparent. Mr. Malik seemed to be the complete opposite of his father, which led me to believe that maybe he had taken after his mother.

"Zayn, nice to see you again," Zayn's father completely ignored Mr. Malik's outstretched hand and pulled the stiff man into a hug. I held back a chuckle as Zayn's father attempted to pry a reaction from Mr. Malik, but he stayed still as a board.

"What are you doing here, dad?" Mr. Malik pushed away from his father's arms. A look of disappointment flashed in the older man's eyes before they turned to me and lit up.

"I'm here to meet your new assistant, actually." He sent a full smile my way which I gladly returned and introduced myself. I learned that Zayn's father's name was Yaser, and he liked to be called just that. He was quite the exciting character, much like my dad so it wasn't hard to believe they were close.

"I've heard a lot of good things about you, Miss Samuels." Yaser smiled.

"Please, call me Arabelle," we had all moved into Mr. Malik's office, against his will of course, and were passing time with leisurely conversation. Mr. Malik was rather quiet in the presence of his father but that didn't seem to bother Yaser much, almost as if he were used to it.

"I actually wanted to invite you to our daughter's birthday party this weekend," Yaser informed me. The invitation was sudden but not at all forced. He looked genuinely at ease, "your parents will be there so I thought why not?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Mr. Malik spoke for me, his hard eyes trained on his father. I blushed profusely and let my eyes fall to the floor. I wasn't sure if Yaser had picked up on his sons' dislike for me, but if he couldn't see it now, he was a fool.

"And why's that?" he challenged, his eyes equally as harsh. The air in the room had suddenly tensed and I took that as my cue to speak up.

"I'm busy this weekend anyway, thank you so much for your offer" I offered him the brightest smile I could muster as I stood from the couch. My cheeks were still heated with embarrassment, "I'll get back to work." The room was silent as I walked out and I was ungrateful for that. I could feel their eyes burning into my back as I tried to make my departure in a haste.

The rest of the day went by rather slow and I worked undisturbed till it was time for me to leave. I quickly gathered all the papers that were messily sprawled across my desk and shoved them into my bag that I hitched up my shoulder. I flicked the small lamp off before walking over to the other side of the room and knocking on Mr. Malik's office door. Yaser was the one to open the door and he stepped aside to let me in.

I stepped just beyond the threshold and turned to Mr. Malik, "is there anything you'd like me to take care of before I head out?" Mr. Malik quickly shook his head and dismissed me. I sighed in relief as I began exiting the office, thankful I didn't have to stay after, seeing as though I had a class to attend tonight. Yaser was still stationed at the door and gladly held it open for me as I stepped out.

"How are you getting home, sweetheart?" His nickname oddly twanged a bit pain in my chest as it reminded me of my dad and how much I missed him. The resemblance between my dad and Yaser was uncanny. There were no physical similarities, of course, but their personalities were almost to a t. He was so youthful but also carried himself in a business-like manner. It was easy to see that he genuinely cared about the people around him.

"I'll be walking. My university is not too far." He immediately frowned and his shoulders slumped as he took in my response.

"It's too cold out for you to be walking, it's also a good twenty minute walk from here" he said. I shrugged at the information I already knew and tried to excuse myself. Yaser grabbed my elbow gently and stopped me for going any farther. He pulled me back into the office and shut the door behind me. I looked to Mr. Malik who wore his lips in a tight line, his glare penetrating his dad.