Betrayal

Chapter 16

It was a busy day in the kitchen because Burhan and Sons was celebrating their thirtieth anniversary meaning all the workers from branches across the world were going to be attending the anniversary party. Valerie and Liam were in charge of the menu while Mia was the service coordinator. "You good partner?", Liam shouted from the other side of the kitchen making Valerie smile. He always cared about her and Mia. At first, she thought that he was flirting with her but then again he never made a move that was out of the ordinary so she decided to ignore and treat him as a friend even though Mia has said more than twice that Liam had feelings for Valerie. "Am good!", she shouted without looking at him. In the next hour they were informed that the guests were ready to eat so they opened up the buffet. Mia led everyone to the line; the first was the customers, followed by the Burhan family. "Hello there! You must be Valerie", a buff man said making her look up to meet his eyes. He looked oddly familiar making her smile. "Yes, I am Sir. How would you like your steak?", she asked, her smile getting even wider. "Medium rare my dear", he said smiling back. "I will bring it to your table in five minutes", she replied. The man walked away as she prepared his steak. 

"Here you go Sir, enjoy", she said placing the steak in front of the man who was smiling like he had seen Santa Claus. It was weird but she decided to play it cool. On her way back she bumped into Rayan. "Hey there Chef, how are you?", he said cheerfully. "Am good, you look sharp", she teased earning a laugh. She tried looking behind Rayan hoping to see Zain but he was not there. "He is running a bit late. Finishing up a meeting. He should be here soon", Rayan said with a smile and a wink making her blush. She decided to return to her workstation to save herself from further embarrassment. 

"You know Rayan?", Mia asked when she joined them behind the buffet. Liam was looking at her with a serious face as if he was annoyed for some reason. "Yeah, I mean, I live with his girlfriend so I kinda do, why?", she asked wondering what the big deal was. "You mean you don't know who he is?", Liam asked with shock on his face. "I know he is one of the employees in this building. Am I wrong?", she asked while serving the employees who were still in the line. Liam shook his head, "Which world are you living in?", Mia asked her. Valerie was at a total loss and couldn't seem to understand what was happening. "Well, you will be please to know that h-", Mia started to explain. "Oh my god! You look amazing in your Chef uniform and all I need is a picture. Hi...am her best friend and roommate can you please take a picture of us?", Yolanda interfered making Liam chuckle while taking the phone from her. She was a one-in-a-million type of girl. She hugged Valerie almost making them fall. "Landa relax, you're so embarrassing me right now", Valerie whispered but it was not low enough because Mia was busy laughing at her misery. Liam took a couple of pictures of them and then returned the phone to a happy Yolanda who started typing furiously on her phone. "So Liam and Mia, this is my roommate Yolanda. Yolanda these are my coworkers, Liam and Mia", Valerie introduced her crazy friend who went pulling them in a hug and by Liam's smile, she could tell they were going to blend in just fine. "Ok, I have to go find Rayan. See you guys later", she shouted and disappear leaving Mia and Liam struggling to understand her. "Waoh!", Mia said while Liam nodded his head. "I know", Valerie replied with a smile. "Excuse me, Chef Armstrong. Mr. Burhan has requested to see you", one of the servers said cutting into their chat. "Uh! Me?", Valerie asked with a shaky voice. This was the man who owned the whole company so why did he want to see her? "Yes, Ma'am. Please follow me", he said making her follow him. They were heading toward the private elevators that she had no idea even existed. She was not curious, so her only comfort zones were the cafeteria, kitchen, pantry and changing room. "Please enter, he is waiting for you on the thirty-seventh floor", he said paving the way into the elevator. When the doors closed she started inspecting her uniform to see if everything was ok, ran her fingers through her hair hoping that she was not a mess. She looked at her reflection in the elevator walls and her lipstick was on point. She released a breath just in time for the doors to open. 

It was a very manly office, full of wood furniture kind of resembling an Arabic theme. It was very beautiful and calming. As she was looking around a pair of hands circled her waist making her scream her lungs out. She turned super fast and grabbed a flower vase ready to throw it at the person only to see Zain standing with his hands up in surrender. "V, it's just me", he said with a chuckle. "What the hell is wrong with you? You almost killed me with a heart attack! Oh my god", she said returning the vase to the side table. "Am sorry, I thought you knew I was the one calling you", he said calmly kicking some sense right back into Valerie's head. Zain was her boss, he was the president of Burhan and sons, and she slept with her boss. "Oh my god, you are the owner of this place? How is this possible you look...", she couldn't finish making Zain close the gap between them. "Normal?", he asked pulling her to his chest and making her lose all the focus she had left. She could not gather words so she ended up nodding her head. If Zain was a Burhan that meant that Rayan was also a Burhan. Finally, everything made sense, she finally understood why Mia was freaking out.