𝐀𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐲𝐚
I'd sworn off of love and men after the fiasco that was my last relationship. Until I spent one steamy and passionate night with a dark haired stranger. A man that I thought I'd never see again. Until I found out that he was my new boss...
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It had been a few days since I'd reported Tina's misconduct to the board and they were still deciding. Dad had obviously gotten wind of all that was happening here and had reassured me several times that he'd do his best to sway the board of directors so that we'd be rid of Tina once and for all.
I, on the other hand, was worried. Big time. Aaliya had seemed distant lately and had refused my offer to come and see her. It had been five days since the incident and since she'd taken a week off, but I missed her badly. Five days of not seeing her was equal to me being deprived of oxygen. I needed her. I felt like a mad man right now. Which was why, here I was, standing in front of her apartment building and feeling a sense of deja vu.
The doorman let me in, having recognised me already and buzzed me upstairs as I knocked on her door. It opened as Aaliya came into view, wearing a pair of shorts and one of my t-shirts that had suspiciously been missing for a long time.
"Hey," I smiled. "You got a minute?"
"Yeah sure." She smiled at me, but there was something lacking in it. Like she was exhausted.
"Oh!" Mira stood up from the couch as she glanced at her best friend. "You're here. I'll be in my apartment, I guess." She sent Aaliya a weighted look, conveying something with her eyes before closing the door behind her. What was going on?
"Is everything okay?" I asked, rubbing her arms up and down before pulling me into her embrace. "You know you can talk to me, right?"
"I know." She sighed. "But you go first. I'm assuming that since you're here, you want to talk about something as well?"
"What if I just missed you?" She rolled her eyes at that. "Fine." I conceded. "I did want to talk...but I also did miss you."
"Well, go on then. Don't keep me waiting."
We both sat down on the couch as I took a deep breath and relayed all the events that had taken place in the last few days.
"So you're telling me that Tina is facing a suspension for an indefinite period of time? And she could be fired as well? Not to mention the lawsuit she'd be facing. Damn." Aaliya whistled as her head hit the backrest. "Karma's a bitch."
"Damn straight she is." I chuckled. "But I also came here to let you know that you could still come to work, you know? Your leave is officially ending in two days, so if you're open to coming back..."
"Yeah, uh, about that." She cleared her throat before turning to fully face me. "I don't think I could ever see myself working at Dellite again." She admitted softly, laying her hand on top of mine.
"What? But...it's your dream job."
"I thought it was." She corrected as I gaped at her in surprise. "The only reason I got into finance was because of my father. Because I wanted to please him. I wanted him to be proud of me." She said the last sentence bitterly. "Anyways, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I can't go back to that office again. I feel humiliated, you know? Even though we didn't really do anything wrong. I just...can't imagine myself there."
