Chapter 7- Meant to be

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Amyrah

The opening of Palm Hotels was coming near, in fact it was 2 days away and the billboards were supposed to be ready by then. Everything was done, all we needed was to print it out. The photos were taken, the image was created and so was the amination.

We decided to put in a bit of animation for one of the billboards, since there were 5 of them, 5 different of them- so two of them are animated

"Amyrah, this is done" said Micah, handing me the plan for Bonds Tech.

"Thank you- where is Esha?" i asked him and he nodded towards the other section of the creative arts department

"Tell her i need her in the office now" i said, walking to the elevator

"Amyrah ma'am- Apple.Inc is on line 2- emergency" said Render and i nodded getting into the elevator

Pressing the top floor button, i waited impatiently as it ascended

Once it opened, i shrugged off my coat and walked to my desk

taking the call from Apple.Inc, i put it on speaker

"Good evening, Amyrah Saleh" i said as i picked up the documents pending on my desk

"Good evening to you too, Miss. Amyrah" the accent was British, of course it was Caleb Merrith, Apple. Inc's marketing manager

"Mr. Caleb" i said, smiling as i walked around my desk, picking up things and placing it at its right place

"Well, since we are over the introduction, I have called for yet another assignment for you" he said

"Which is?" i asked him, taking my stress ball and putting it on my desk

"Its for the new smart watch we are designing. We want a video advertisment on some people who will test it as pilot- think you can pull it off?" he asked me and i smirked

"A challenge, i see" i said and he laughed

"'course not. But with your partnership with us in the last 2 years, we saw immerse profit- so what say?" he asked me

"Its a good one. Tell you what, i will ask my managers to meet you and then we can work on some deals?" i asked him

"Of course, say on Friday at the Palm Hotels Opening?" he asked me and i smiled widely

"Of course! Two birds with one stone. Good one- we shall" i said and he laughed

"Alright then, Miss. Amyrah. We shall meet then. Have a blessed day" he said

"Same Mr. Caleb" i replied, hanging up

The intercom buzzed and the receptionist spoke

"Miss. Amyrah, you have a visitor- she says she knows you" she said and i rubbed my temples

"Who is it?" i asked pressing down the reply botton

"She says her name is Lore'll" said the receptionist and i wrecked my brain as to who she is

"Send her up" i replied and set on my chair, facing the city

I am so tired

Five days ago we had a blizzard and now i am exhausted at the amount of pending work

"May i come in, Ma'am?"

I looked up to see a tall, petite girl, perhaps in her late teen years, standing there

"Yeah sure" i said, standing up

I observed her as she entered.

She wore woolen sweater and jeans and boots, her dirty blonde hair in a braid over her shoulders. Her eyes were sapphire blue and she had freckles on her nose and some on her cheeks

"Lorel?" I asked her and she nodded, smiling slightly

"You met me at the training centre, almost a month or so ago" she said and my eyes widened in recognision

she was the cheerful girl, training the kids there

"Ah yes! Hello Lorell" i said gesturing her to the chaise and she gratefully set down

I took a seat opposite to her

"So Lorell, how are you here?" i asked her and she sighed

"Recently there has been.................... alot of talking going on." she said and i raised an eyebrow

talking?

"Talking?" i voiced my thoughts

"Yes, the talks. They were saying things like closing down the center and putting all the orphans kids away- away in a sense, giving them up for adoption" she said and i nodded

"Adoption? Thats a good thing, right?" i asked and she shook her head

"Adoption is a better way to put it. What they are doing is Auction!" she said and my eyes widened in horror

What?

"How do you know such things?" i asked her

Tears brimmed her eyes as she tried to conceal it

"M-My mother- she- she works there. The kids are being given away to anyone who wants it. They are not safe. Its not a corrupted scheme they are planning, no- its just something they are compelled to do since their funds are out- one of them deceived the orphanage and walked away with the money- they have nothing, Miss Amyrah, nothing!" by now she was fully crying

I stood up and immediately went to console her

I knew the orphanage well. It was ran by Ms. Greet, the old lady was kind enough to give anyone a place to stay in return for some money for her orphan kids. I had stayed with them for almost 3 months when i first came to Canada to study

"Its alright Honey, its alright. We will do something about it" i hushed her slowly and soon she ceased crying, only her sobs were heard

We set there, she told me more things about the orphanage and i made a mental note to visit it by tomorrow to see the damage done,

"Alright Lorell, Calm down and go home. I promise we will do something" i said and she nodded, smiling weakly at me

"Thank you Miss. Amyrah. You are indeed very kind" she said and i nodded

"Good bye" with that she walked out of my cabin after being there for almost an hour

I set back on the chaise and let my mind wander all over the place

the orphanage

who was so heartless to do so?

Why would anyone do such a thing?

take their money and run! Thats straight up outrageous

And now the land lords want the rent and bills that have been pending for over two months now. They have a month to gather all the money and pay or else they would be out and on the streets

I groaned and put my head in my hands as i thought

What can we do?

I know i can pay off their landlords and bills but Ms. Greet will never accept it. She was a woman of high values. She will not merely agree to it

I got up, took my iPad and decided to finish off all the work before the grand opening of Palm hotels, something i was wishing i could avoid

But i can't

First because it was the grand opening of Mr. Kayan Zaeef, my almost highest paying client- and second because i had to settle another deal on the way

That night, i spent it on finalising the designs for the other products of ours, including the new phone billboard of AirTel

The following morning, I was held up by my stakeholders who were, might i add, debating on such an important issue that it did not require my time at all! Please note the sarcasm

I mean they kept me from work, pending signing and what not from the morning, just to debate whether we should invest with the real estate agents or not!

I mean who cares?!

Unless it requires something to do with my business, please keep me out of it!

By the time i was out of the dreaded meeting, I was exhausted and it was 7pm!

"Hey, how was the meeting?" asked Esha as we walked to my office on the top floor

"Horrid. They all kept debating on and on about some real estate agency" I muttered and she laughed

"Anyways, tomorrow night is the night of grand opening. The opening hosts many business people, what will you be wearing?" asked Esha and i shrugged

I never really had time to realize what i was supposed to wear

"You don't know? Girl you crazy? We need to go shopping this instant! Whats the use of keeping so much money when you won't spend it on yourself!?" she asked me and i laughed

I took my coat, my folders and everything i needed to work on today night before we walked out of my office, putting the lights out and shutting the doors

"So which mall?" she asked me and i turned to her incredulously

"What 'which mall'?" i asked her and she sighed

"Amyrah, darling, i think we need to make one thing clear. This will be a huge party with many guests waiting in line. Meaning a whole new publicity. We have been to numerous parties but this one, well this is AN INTERNATIONAL party! Do you get what i mean? Hell i won't be surprised if Bill Gates decides to come!" she said and i chuckled

The whole building was vacated by now since the dispersal time for all workers is 6pm. I nodded to the security guard and he smiled back at me

"Good afternoon, Miss. A" he said and i smiled widely at him

"Good afternoon, Mr. F" i replied to the old man

We walked to my car and i got into the drivers seat putting my things in the back seat

"Alright, so lets go shopping!" she said and i sighed

"You was not giving up, are you?" i asked her and she nodded her head

"We will go home, shower, pray, change and then go shopping. Deal?" i asked her and she giddily nodded

Since we both live in the same building it was quite easy to get through all these

I drove straight home

Once inside my penthouse, i placed my things where they belong, books on the study table, creative notices on the drawing tables and my bag on the outside table

I showered and stood up for Magrib prayers.

Once i was done, i got ready to go shopping

Unfortunately

I wore jeans, dress tops and hijab with gloves, socks and coat- the basic necessity in this weather

I wore my sneakers at the doorway, took my phone and walked to the door

just when i opened the door, Mr. Kayan stood there with his hands in the air

"Oh Salaam! Glad i caught you before you went somewhere" he smiled and i nodded walking out of the door and shutting it behind me

"Was salaam, you were looking for me?" i asked him and he nodded

"Yes. Here is the invite to tomorrow's event. Its an international event so....... be present?" he asked me and i smiled at him

"Of course, In sha Allah, i shall be there- with Esha of course" I said and he nodded, handing me the invite

It was a while since we talked

"So how have you been? You look stressed out" he said and i sighed, rubbing my face

"I guess so" i muttered and he chuckled

"Tell you what- don't stress out over things. In time, all works out" he said and i smiled gratefully at him

"Alright then, i shall see you around. I am sorry but i am getting late" i said and he smiled in understanding

"Sure. Allah Hafiz- by the way, where you off to?" he asked me casually

I turned to him with questioning eyes

He held his hands up in surrender

"Curious. We might be going out too" he replied and i nodded

"Then, i shall see you if we are meant to be"

"Oh we are meant to be!" he winked "-Allah Hafiz"

with that he was gone

left me with the thought

now what did he mean by 'We are meant to be?'