Cheers erupted in the room as I congratulated my team on the remarkable 45% increase in profits for the quarter.
"I'm beyond proud of each and every one of you. Your hard work and dedication have truly paid off," I exclaimed, with a smile as everyone looked at me with happiness.
"As a token of appreciation, I want you all to take an extra week's leave on top of your current paid leave days and a bonus. Use it as you see fit throughout the upcoming year. You've earned it!" The announcement was met with applause, and the room buzzed with excitement.
After congratulating the seniors and welcoming the freshers, I excused myself, bidding farewell to my amazing team.
They worked hard and they deserved every bit of the leave and bonus.
I quickly packed my things and got into the car as Jai greeted me. We made our way home, the city lights glittered in the night, making my heart happy.
"Ma'am, there's a paper kept under the pocket of your seat. Please have a look." Jain spoke as he looked at me briefly from the mirror with a smile.
I bent down and pulled out the paper frowned in confusion, I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was definitely not a pink paper with glitter all over it.
You're going to find this glitter everywhere for the next years now.
"What's this?" I asked with curiosity, unwrapping the paper as Jai remained quiet.
Once the paper was opened, I gasped upon reading the scribbled handwriting.
The Wonder Women of Jiya's life- my mommy, my granny and my guardian angel.
Just below the names, she had cut out pictures of her mom, her grandma and me and decorated with flowers and glitters all around it.
"She has trouble pronouncing your name and I once explained to her what a guardian angel is, she like to believe you're hers. I may be asking for a lot here, ma'am, but would you please me able to take some time out and go to her school tomorrow afternoon with sir? It's women's day tomorrow, all the kids are comings with their role models, Jiya begged me to ask you if you could. She has never met you, but she's very excited to. I'll absolutely understand if you can't, I just thought I'll put forward her request to you."
"Don't you dare do that, Jai. She won't be alone tomorrow, I promise." I said making a list of things I wanted to do the little girl tomorrow.
"Thank you so much ma'am, the school has been good to her but she's still adjusting. I can't believe she's 5 already, I'm very proud of her." Jain said, his eyes twinkling as he spoke of Jiya making me smile.
Soon, after five minutes or so we reached home, I quickly said goodbye and headed inside hoping Zack was back already.
Except he wasn't.
I looked down at the clock and noticed that it already ten thirty making me sigh.
I glanced at the clock and saw that it was already eleven thirty, making me sigh. Zack had been dealing with challenges at his newly opened office in London. Now, he had two prime teams to manage, and things hadn't been going smoothly. To put it politely, there were difficulties in finding common ground and understanding creative ideas between Zack and his London team because of which Zack and flown the team down to New York for a week.
Slowly feeling exhausted, I walked into our bedroom and changed into a comfortable pair shorts and T-shirt. Despite the late hour, I decided to head into the kitchen. Cooking always served as therapy so I decided to make some pasta from scratch, along with a cake.
Did he remember? I don't know.
I picked up my phone and dialled Zack number until he picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey" I greeted, a smile embracing my face the moment I heard Zack's voice
"I'm sorry, love. I know I haven't come home on time for more than a week now. I promise I'm trying to wrap it up." Zack apologised as the sound of papers being shuffled around in the background come through the phone.
"It's alright. Please come back soon, I'll be waiting for you, okay?" I asked, hoping that would speed him up a bit.
"Sure, love. Please eat your dinner. I'll try to be quick, I have to go now. Bye"
"Goodby-" before I could finish the line went dead.
Alright then.
I set the table for dinner and sat down on the chair shuffling through my phone.
As the clock ticked closer to midnight, anticipation mixed with a tinge of disappointment.
I real hope he comes back soon, I miss him so much.
I kept looking at the clocking ticking with each second until midnight approached, but there was no sign of Zack.
He's been working so hard, he also needed to take care of himself, I doubt he had taken the time eat lunch either.
I waited and waited, looking at the door, hoping to hear his familiar footsteps.
Time passed, and exhaustion settled in. The disappointment grew as Zack remained absent. I sat there, still in my anticipation, staring at the door until fatigue took over. Eventually, I fell asleep at the dining table, hoping that when I woke up my husband would be by my side.
♥️
I think the epilogue would be in three parts, still not sure but let's see 🤝🏼
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