"Sandal! Listen. You have to identify Shoaib's body so we can complete the formalities and take them home. Okay? Everyone is waiting there. Your mother is waiting. We have to hurry." Says a familiar masculine voice.

"Let's go, Sandal." Says a feminine voice.

White...

Red...

White sheets and red stains.

Bloodstained white sheets... as far as I see.

"This way." A masculine voice said.

In the corner, I saw bodies with their hands uncovered.

"Sandal! Look, their hands. Can you recognize which one is Shoaib's?" Someone asked me.

"The third hand. It's... Shoaib's watch. But... why here? ... why does he have blood on his hand? What happened to his hand? Why..."

"Don't touch! He was shot in the hand and ..." a voice said.

My eyes shot open as I feel a sharp pain in my chest. Like someone had squeezed my heart. Clutching my bedspread, I sit straight, trying to calm my heavy breaths.

Ya Allah...

Suddenly, the speakers of the mosque switched on and the Fajar Azaan started. Slowly, I got up from the bed and open the window. I have always loved hearing the voices of Azaan coming from mosques and its echoes in the silence of dawn.

I close my eyes, feeling the cold breeze caress my face. It's like all my pain flew away with it and I am in peace. At this moment, it's just me and my Allah, calling me to him and everything else has vanished.

I stood there, closing my eyes until a pair of small hands embraced me from behind. I opened my eyes.

"Assalam o Alaikum, bajjo." Hareem says as she tried to squeeze me. It makes me smile, normally she does that when she wants something.

"Wallaikum Assalam! I was about to wake you up."

"Hmm!"

"What happened, Hareem? Do you need anything?"

"Na-ah! I don't need it but you do."

"I need what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A hug." She says, squeezing me a little harder.

"Okay! And may I ask you why I need a hug?" I asked, holding both of her hands.

"Cause you had a bad dream." She said in a low voice and I kept silent.

"Hey, bajjo!" After a moment, she calls me again.

"Hm?"

"You smell like flowers." She says slyly and it made me chuckle.

"Hareem, what are you? A dog?" I asked her jokingly.

"Nope! A cute little puppy."

"Okay! Then what does my cute little puppy say about Areeba appi?"

"A roasted chicken that was burnt during cooking." She said bluntly and I hit her hand which was still around my waist. Both of them had never got along, they are used to fighting for every little thing.

"I heard that, shortie!" We both hear a voice and turn around to see Areeba standing at the door. Hareem is quite small for her age, she will be twelve this year but looks like ten years old and she doesn't like the fact that she is small. She stuck out her tongue to Areeba and ran into the bathroom.

"Assalam o Allaikum bajjo, you have a moment?" Areeba asks me, coming into the room.

"Wallaikum Assalam, Yes!"

"Bujjo, what happened yesterday? What made you faint and where had you met Zohma baji?" I was expecting it. She always does that mother type interrogation. Especially after the death of Papa and Shoaib.

"Apparently Zohma is my boss's sister and our meeting yesterday was a coincidence."

"You mean Ahmed Wali's sister? No way." Her eyes widened.

"Yes, way! It was a shock to me too you know. I never thought that a dear friend of mine would be a sister of a jerk like him." I said, sitting on the bed and she chuckled.

"Tell me bajjo, why do you hate him so much?"

"I don't know if it's hate or what. It's just whenever I see him, I feel like hitting him with the nearest thing I could grab. You know, it's the first time of me hating a person like this."

"No, it's not. You said the same thing about Samad too. Remember your classmate?" she says, trying to hide her smile.

"He was a different story, Areeba."

"Ahan! So...Bajjo, tell me. Is he really handsome?" She asks, sitting on the bed beside me.

"Says who?"

"Says Sobia baji."

"Then go and ask her, because I don't know if he is handsome or not. People have different tastes. Now go, I am going to pray."

"Okay! I'll go and wake Ami." She says and got up from the bed.

~*~

"That won't be needed today." I heard a masculine voice from behind me when I was about to change my sneakers. I turned around and find Ali smiling.

"Assalam o Allaikum!" He says.

"Wallaikum Assalam! Can you repeat again what you just said?"

"No!" He says while walking to me and when I didn't say anything, he chuckled and said, "Sir Ahmed is not coming today. So it's okay if you don't change."

"You sure?" I ask him as we started to walk side by side to the elevator.

"Yes, I got a call from him. He says he had a little accident last night. So, he won't be coming."

"Is he alright?" I asked, remembering last night, his hand was bleeding very badly.

"He says he is fine, but I am not sure about it. It is unusual for him to take a day off like this."

"So you are my boss for today?" I tried to change the topic, I don't want to remember last night.

"Not at all. I am sure he will call you soon and give you instructions about today's work."

"Hm, okay. See you at lunch."

"Sure." Ali said

We don't work on the same floor, so I got out when the elevator stops on the eleventh floor and walk to my office.

~*~

Calling Sir Ahmed was a heedless thing and I regret it instantly when I heard his voice. I like his voice, just his voice. Because compared to his personality, his voice and his way of speaking are quite charming. He isn't a talker and chooses his words carefully. Especially when it comes to business. He knows how to get what he wants. It seems easy for him to get everyone's attention whenever he speaks, even mine too and I like listening to him, especially when he is not taunting me.

"Hello?" I came out of my thoughts on hearing his voice.

"Hello Assalam o Alaikum Sir!"

"Wallaikum Assalam! Yes, Sandal?" He said in a calm manner.

"Ah... Sir... actually Sir... I call you to ask about the documents which require your signature. What should we do about it?"

"Use common sense Sandal, my right hand is injured. Of course, I won't be signing it." He said in an annoyed tone.

Why did I call him????

"Oh! Yeah. Sorry." I mumble.

"Anything else?"

".... Sir, how is... your hand?"

There was a long silence from the other side.

"Hello?" I said when I didn't hear any response.

"Sandal, tell Ali to call all our architects and have a meeting with them. Come up with new ideas about Talal Saleem's project. Tell them that I need something more traditional and you won't be going home before giving me the meeting's briefing. That's it for now." He said in a strict voice and disconnected the call, completely ignoring my question.

What a jerk! I was just asking about his injury.

I recite Tauz o Tasmia several times to control my anger before walking to Ali's office. Sir is not here, so I'll be doing whatever I want.

~*~

It took me 35 minutes to give him the briefing of the meeting.

"Hm! Now listen, I want all these details on paper tomorrow by 10 am sharp."

"But Sir, it's too much work. It's not possib.."

"Then make it possible. I don't take 'no' for an answer, Sandal." He cut me in the middle and disconnected the call. This time I recite Tauz o Tasmia near fifty times but still fail to control my anger.

Ya Allah, what did I do to deserve a boss like him?

"Endure it, Sandal. Endure it. You're strong. Innallaha ma Asabireen." Closing my eyes, I repeat it again and again. When I calmed down, I start working, cursing the day when I agreed to work here.

~*~

At exactly 9:30 am sharp, I put the file of yesterday's briefing on his table. He takes the file and starts looking at it.

"Good work! Now listen, tomorrow night we are going to one of our important client's wedding anniversary and when I say important, it means really important. So get ready by 8 pm, you will be going with me. I'll pick you up from home. Wear a mature kind of dress. You look like a college girl, even if you're dressed up formal. He says, looking into the file I gave him.

"Mature dress, Sir?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes matu....." he paused for a second, staring into space then says, "complete all of the work till break time. Okay?" I nodded and left the office.

College girl?

I will take it as a compliment.

~*~

"Sandal, take your stuff and come with me. I'll drop you home later." He says, barging into my office. I was startled and stood up at his sudden entrance. I didn't even hear what he said.

"Sorry, what did you say, Sir?"

"I say, take your bag and come with me." He says, frowning and left.

Why is he always angry?

I quickly grab my phone and bag and start following him. Walking behind him, I kept looking at his bandaged hand. He was using his phone with his left hand, which means his injury is not healed. I really don't understand what happened that day. Did the glass or whatever broke by accident? Or he broke it on purpose? But in both cases, it seems impossible to have such injury, unless he...

I look up to his broad back as he said something to the driver.

"Come." He says to me and sat in the backseat of the car.

At that moment, I snapped out of my thoughts as he told me to sit beside him. The driver opens the other door for me to sit, but I didn't move.

"Sandal! Hurry up, I am not very fond of wasting my time." Sir Ahmed says in a harsh tone.

I hurried up and sit inside and stick to the corner, trying to keep as much distance as I can. After almost 40 minutes of the ride, our car stopped at the entrance of a big shopping mall.

Why.....Why are we here?

"Come!" Sir says to me and got off from the car. I silently follow him, not knowing what else to do. He walks into an expensive-looking boutique. As we enter, a girl about my age came to us smiling.

"Hello, Mr Ahmed. How can I help you today?" He said something to her, which I didn't hear and she guided us to the place where ladies' dresses were. Sir starts looking at various dresses on the racks and I start looking at the price tags of the dresses with wide eyes. All of a sudden, he turned to me and spoke while pointing at the four dresses he selected.

"Choose one."

"Huh?"

"Choose any one of these dresses."

But why should I choose?

I wanted to ask but kept my mouth shut and pointed my finger to a white frock suit. He nodded and turns to the saleswoman.

"I want this dress in her size."

Wait, what?

The saleswoman nodded and left us.

"Sir, why do you want that dress in my size?"

"For tomorrow."

"I have my own dresses, Sir. I don't need it." He looked at me, from his face I could tell he is annoyed but he didn't say anything but walk to the counter for the bill.

No, he won't!

I quickly take out my credit card and was about to give it to the cashier but Sir took it from me.

"What are you doing?" He says, raising an eyebrow.

"If I am going to wear it, then I'll be paying for it."

He glared at me for a brief moment but didn't respond. Then he puts my card in the dress bag and gave his credit card to the cashier.

Does he think I can't pay for my dress?

I frowned at him. I had never been fond of people aside from my family and friends spending their money on me and especially rich people like him. Also, Sir Ahmed is not my family, neither is he my friend.

Without thinking, I turned on my heels and walk back to pick a dress I liked the most in this place. It was a tea pink colour dress with light hand embroidery on it. Looking at the price tag, I gulped. It is double in price from the dress Sir has bought for me.

I am going to regret this later!

I paid for the dress while Sir stands silently beside me fully annoyed me.

When we got out, he drags me to buy matching sandals and clutch. This time, he chooses probably one of the most expensive pairs of sandals and clutch.

Is this a game for him???

"Sir, that's too much. You shouldn't waste your money like this." I finally was able to say.

"It's my money, Sandal! I don't want to hear from you on how to spend it. And if you're thinking that I am doing this for you, then don't get overboard. It's not for you, it's for work. I don't want to build a bad impression." He replies in a calm voice.

Go to hell, idiot!

I walked away from him. Taking out my phone, I called Areeba.

"Assalam o Alaikum!"

"Wallaikum Assalam! Areeba, listen. You go with Hareem today to the doctor. I am coming home early so I"ll take care of Ami. Later, go to the market and ask Sobia baji if she can help you. I'll tell you the details on texts, okay?"

"Okay bajjo." Areeba says.

I turn back and find Sir standing there.

"Shall we go?" He asks and I nodded.

Afterwards, I was dropped home. The car ride was silent and uncomfortable as he kept glancing at me from time to time with a triumphant look on his face. It made me self-conscious and somewhat angry. I thank Allah when I got off from the car.

"Allah Hafiz, Sandal." I heard his voice from behind. I froze for a moment then turned to the car again.

"Allah Hafiz, Sir." I said. He nodded and the car moves forward.

Walking home, I looked at the bags in my hands.

I wonder what he will do when he notices.

_________________________________________