When he didn't grab the cup from her, she mustered enough strength to look up only to see him still shooting daggers at her through the midnight pool of his dark eyes.

'RAHIM!" He shouted on top of his lungs, still mauling her through his eyes which sent jolts of chills down her spine and the cup fell lose from her grip, landing straight on his scoured black shoes.

White lilies!

Definitely. That's what I'm gonna ask Asmara to use for décor. My funeral should not be mundane. People should know Safa Hayat died. The classy, sassy woman, yo!

"Here, sahab ji (sir)" Rahim (the head of the working/cleaning staff) came in hurry with a freshly ironed black T-shirt dangling from his hands while Safa gaped at him, brooding on from which dimension he conjured up since he didn't live with them.

I need to reel down. Too many magic-non-magic shit to ingest for a day. Someone give me a freaking breather.

"Thank you!" Azlan chirped as he took the shirt from Rahim. "Also," he gestured at Safa, "this worker over here is highly unprofessional. Give her a re-training or hire someone else," he commanded as Safa's eyes extended to full extent and Asmara stifled a giggle.

"But, sir..." Rahim tried to expound him but Azlan thrust his hand up. "No excuses."

With that he strode in to the corridor.

Once both Rahim and Azlan were out of sight, Asmara broke into fits while Safa turned around towards her, her cheeks scarlet and nose tinged rosy.

"Did he just call me a cleaning lady? Which I, by the way, have no problem with. God, I love that queen! Always there to clear up my mess. But I'm a teacher, ffs."

Still laughing.

Safa's eyebrows scrunched as she smacked Asmara on her bicep, "Why the hell are you laughing so hard? It's no joke, that excrement of cockroach!"

"What did you just call him?" Asmara asked with another round of guffaws.

"Excrement of washroom-cockroach! That's what he deserves to be called," she repeated as she took her cashmere off. "And by the way, what the hell is he doing in our house? And why didn't you tell me he was here? Oh My God! That spare room. Is he gonna live with us? Shall I leave? And from where the fuck did Rahim pop up?"

"God, Safa, just take a break for a second. Too many questions." Asmara walked towards the fridge to retrieve a water bottle. "And no one's leaving. Also, I've finally emptied your swear-jar. So your liberty of profaning is finally over."

"Give me the damn answer or I swear..."

"What? Call me names?" Asmara asked with a sheepish grin and Safa slithered towards her with long strides in an attack-like movement.

"Alright, alright, I'm telling. Jeez, Laraka aurat! (fighting-woman)" She threw her hands up after putting the bottle back in the refrigerator. "Okay, so technically speaking, it's his house, not ours."

"So? That doesn't mean he should come and start living with us. Doesn't he have manners? I know it must be really difficult for him but he can at least try."

"Gosh, Safa! At least let me finish, you moron." Asmara convulsed her head.

Safa apologized and asked her to continue.

"He has kinda like a shack few kilometers away from here where he stays whenever he comes for a visit and is here to collect few of his things from the spare room he left in last time on his excursion." Before Safa could raise the question she knew she would, she answered beforehand, "And NO, we didn't live together under the same roof, it's some of the school work things he had asked me to put in the room since his shack is left unguarded once he leaves."

Safa's thin cherry lips turned into an immaculate 'O' after which she threw another question. "But that still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me he was here."

"I was going to but you started blabbering. And Rahim was here to press his shirt." She gave Safa a disapproved look while she pouted. "Now enough with the interrogation. Lemme go and check up on him and see if he needs anything," she said as she headed towards the corridor and Safa yelled after her.

"Just because he's pretty doesn't mean you have to chaperon him."

"You're pretty, too. Have I ever chaperoned you?" She yelped back, her voice losing its depth with each passing word.

"YEAH! TOO BAD, I'M STRAIGHT," she bawled before Asmara was out of ear-shot.

******

Knocking the door, Safa entered Azlan's office in the school. Just half an hour had passed since his arrival and he had already called for a meeting.

Almost the entire teaching staff was standing inside the mediocre sized room with alabaster walls. On the front end was Azlan, standing behind his files and papers strewn mahogany desk.

His hands, meticulously going through the files, stopped on Safa's arrival as he craned his neck up a bit. "We are having a meeting as of now. You can clean later," he said returning back to his work.

Before she could utter a word, Asmara piqued in from where she was standing a bit far by the door, "She's not a cleaning lady. She's the new recruit I informed you about."

With the corner of the leaf of the file still tucked between his fingers, he looked up with brows drawn together and forehead creased.

He slammed the file back on the table and stood erect as he shoved his hands inside the pockets of his slacks. "So this is Safa Hayat?" He asked rhetorically with a smirk, his eyes glimmering.

Asmara nodded and he started rummaging for Safa's file.

"Also, I wanted to apolo..." Safa commenced after receiving a nudge from Asmara as she played with the tussles of her cashmere, but soon halted at his irresponsiveness as her nostrils flared in anger. "O hello, mister! I'm talking to you."

Instantly, he looked up and raised his eyebrow at her while Asmara smacked her forehead.

"Yeah, and the mister listens from ears, not eyes," he shot back, his teeth gnashed.

Asmara held Safa by her wrist with a pleading look to not argue back and just simply apologize. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she gave her an 'okay' look as she fixed the dupatta back on her head.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior today," she said as she made a mental note to put poison in his green tea later.

"Define your teaching skills in thirty seconds." Is what he replied back.

"What?" She inquired in confusion, taken aback.

"29..."

"But I just apologized to you. The least you could do is say the exact same thing back to me."

"That is not the part of the lines I made you cram," Asmara whispered to Safa and she jerked her off.

"27..."

"But I've already been interviewed," she protested.

"Not by me. You're losing your time, Ms. Hayat. 22..."

"Alright," she squealed in vexation and hurry. "I'm hardworking."

"I require smart-work." He turned the leaf over, his gaze still fixated on the file.

Madman!

"I... uh... properly schedule the entire course."

"Liar! I take care of that myself." Still skimming through the file.

"I can cut that tongue of yours," she screeched and everyone went silent.

The protruding veins in his forearms rushed with blood due to his strong hold on the file as he shot his head up, completely riled up. His knuckles went bone-white as he glowered at Safa's regretless face.

Within a second Asmara seized her by the arm and dragged her out of the room, muttering something like, "I'm so sorry. God, Safa, you just put your head in the lion's den. Even God can't save you now."

Soon the door was slammed shut, ceasing to stop the "No, I mean, what does that excrement think of himself?" to pass through.

******

Thin streaks of moonlight streamed through the heavy curtains drawn together, enough to cast his silhouette on the adjacent wall; his legs propped up on the table, head leaned against the head-rest of the revolving chair he was sprawled in. The only thing lighting up the darkness-bathing room was the cigarette tucked in the cocoon of his fore and middle finger.

"Safa Hayat!" Azlan let out as he flicked the cigarette. "Or shall I say Hafsa Ameen?" He chuckled, humorlessly. "Nice jumbling with the name, though. Too bad, you couldn't utilize it entirely."

Thrashing the head of the cigarette in the ash-tray, he snuffed it out and standing up, walked towards the window, his hands in pockets.

" 'Who the hell does he think he is?' you ask. 'Your worst nightmare', I answer."

A diabolical snigger crept up his lips.

******

which you all already know but damn stupid policies! *Dramatic Eyerolls* Just trying to be safe tho.

Anyhoo! It was a pretty long chapter, innit? (Just wanted to use 'innit' in a sentence. Quite cool, no?)

Also, what do you guys think about this book as of now? I'd love to hear your reviews/feedback. Make the author smile, ya'll. I have been abandoning my uni work for ya'll. The least you can do is tell me it's worth it and uni should definitely be cancelled for loading so much work on our emaciated shoulders. Where should all the innocent students like me go, hun? Sheer cruelty!

Vote and Comment <3