Hired To Be Mine

Chapter 12

After leaving the kids back at the Cafe, Salim drove to his penthouse. He wanted to take Nicole out on a proper date and he wanted it to be perfect. Wahid, a seventeen year old who worked for the building maintenance quickly opened the door for Salim as he walked into the building, "Salaamalekum bhaijaan", he greeted Salim with a small salute,

"Valekum assalam Wahid. Aur, English coaching kaisi chal rahi hai?" Salim asked him. Wahid was a runaway kid from Ahmedabad, India. When Salim found him near the docks a few months ago, he was almost on the verge of collapsing from hunger and exhaustion. Salim offered him a job at the apartment building he owned and practically became his big brother. Salim wanted Wahid to complete his education first, but Wahid had no such intentions. He was more eager to earn his living, than go to school. It had become impossible for him in the beginning to survive in the city when he couldn't speak English at all, so Salim enrolled him in the language center so that he learned the language first. Though it was hard for him to cope up, Wahid quickly picked up the language and managed his daily tasks batter. Wahid has ever since been loyal and thankful towards Salim.

"I am almost perfect in English now", Wahid said with a new found excitement,

"I can see that", Salim smiled at him, "Let me know if you have any doubts, okay", he said and walked towards the elevator. Wahid replied with a grateful nod as Salim disappeared behind the closing doors of the elevator.

He punched the code for his penthouse suite and reached his home in no time. House! he exclaimed. It was a typical bachelor pad, and Salim knew that it was far from home. He wondered how his family would react about him living off his life as a bachelor, and an immediate shudder passed through him. The main reason he was far away from India was his family, which was so conservative and narrow minded that he felt suffocated in there. This was one of those times, when he felt envious of his friend, Raghu.

Krish, Raghu's dad, though cold on the outside, was the most coolest and happening father one could ever ask for. How many times his heart was engulfed in pure envy and jealousy, whenever he saw his friend happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Pari was countless. He wanted that for himself, love, a family. But unfortunately fate had something else designed for him. He lost his first love, Anya, forever and he didn't believe that he could love someone else with the same intensity or passion.

Nicole was like a breath of fresh air. She was the sunshine in his dark life and her kids, were just the glow and happiness he lost somewhere along the time. He saw a family with her, a family which he craved. And his attraction towards Nicole, was beyond physical. He loved... no! He didn't love her, but he was sure, that he was falling, and that too very hard.

He sighed, and poured a drink for himself, before taking his phone out and calling up his old friend.

It ringed thrice, then the call was taken, "Hello, Progressive Constructions Anuja speaking", came a female voice from the other end of the call,

"Hey this is Salim Sheikh calling from New York, can I speak to Raghu?" he asked politely,

"Just a second sir", and then there was a beep, "Raghu", a gruff voice barked into the phone,

"Oh... wow!!! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, eh?" Salim chuckled as he heard Raghu snort,

"What do you want Salim?" he asked impatiently and Salim could picture him running a hand through his hair,

"I met someone",Salim said with a grin,

Raghu snorted audibly into the receiver, "Did you? How wonderful, You are a jewelry designer in New York city and you met someone. Tell me something dude, do you not meet someone every other day?" he asked sarcastically,

"Okay fine. I met someone special okay?" he sighed,

"Uh huh, now we are talking", Salim heard the laptop shutting close and he imagined Raghu leaning back in his chair, "What's her name?" Raghu asked,

"Nicole Thornton", Salim said with a stupid grin on his face.

"Oh! Doesn't sound Indian", Raghu said in a teasing tone, "Aren't you the one who always said that Indian girls were better than the American goriyan?"

"Shut up will you. You make me sound so bad", Salim chided, "And by the way, I never said I didn't like American women. The truth is, Nicole is the first women who caught my eye, unlike any other women",

"Hmm. Well, if she makes you happy then I am happy for you bro", Raghu said in complete sincerity.

"Thanks. But look, I need your suggestion. I never took her out on an official date so, where do you think I should take her?" Salim asked Raghu, because Raghu was the intense romantic guy while Salim was the more playful easy going, 'I can charm my way into women's bed' kind of romantic. Currently he needed Raghu's expertise to win Nicole's heart and approval.

"Well, romantic candle night dinners are too... you know, not the best idea for a first date if you want this to last. Take her out of the busy city, somewhere quiet and peaceful. A long drive out of the city, then a small picnic in the evening, a walk perhaps, and... you know stuff like that", he said

"Uh. I love you man, I knew you were the right person to help me out" Salim said with a huge grin, already planning the date in his mind. A sudden thought crept into his mind, which made him speak, "Listen, she has three kids. I was wondering whether I could take them with us on the date as well?" he added and he could hear Raghu falling out of the chair, in which he was leaning back.

Raghu cursed, "What?", he barked into the phone, "dude, please tell me you aren't banging any fifty year old snob", he pleaded Salim.

Salim barked out a laugh and began telling him everything from the start.

*****

"How's the presentation going?" Kelly asked as she entered the office on Sunday morning.

"It's almost done, but if you could check it out for me..." she trailed off with a puppy dog look on her face,

"Isn't that why you called me up on a Sunday morning?" she asked with a smile,

"Sorry", Nicole said sheepishly, "but you could do that for a friend, can't you? I mean, you can call me up on any day for any kind of help and I wouldn't say no to you", she shrugged and gave Kelly a playful smile,

"Keep saying things like that and I will hold you onto them someday", Kelly returned the smile and both of them started working on the presentation. Kelly made a few changes and briefed her on who all will be present and their behavior. She warned her about the bitches and bastards who will be there in the meeting, who wouldn't miss a chance to degrade her presentation. She also gave her a few tips and suggestions which boosted Nicole's confidence a lot.

When finally Nicole was satisfied and confident with the presentation, she copied it into her pen-drive, mailed it to herself and also Salim and Kelly, just to be sure. And as if all of that was not enough, just to be extra careful she uploaded the presentation in her google docs account and hide it in the private folder named, 'Confidential'.

"Why are you being so paranoid, Nick? You are doing great", Nicole sighed and Kelly laughed, as they made their way towards the Barista that was just a couple of blocks from their office.

"You know, I actually don't deserve this job. I got it under fluke, and now that I am Salim are.. you know, people are gonna talk", she said nervously nibbling on her lower lip,

"Just ignore them", Kelly waved it off, "You know everybody in the office thinks that I got this job only because I am banging Richard and he recommends me to the boss". To say that Nicole was shocked with this information would be an understatement. She gasped involuntarily and her eyes were as big as saucers,

"Are you?" she asked accusingly, placing hands on her hips, "I am gonna kill you if you say you are and didn't tell me about it", Kelly laughed even hard as she pushed the Barista's door open and walked to the counter,

"You know you will be the first person I will confide in, if something happens between me and him. And by the way, its a rumor, like there is another that Salim's gay and he and Richard are a secret couple", Nicole burst into a fit of laughter at that.

"O-okay, t-that is so not true", she spoke between laughs,

"I know right. People are just so useless, that they make these stupid rumors just to pass the time. So, just don't heed any attention to them", Kelly said as she gave her order for a coco latte and a strawberry pie.

"I will have a cappuccino large, please" Nicole gave her order and both of them sat in a booth that was away from the window. Neither of them liked watching the traffic, though some found it interesting, living in the New York city and travelling through the bustling traffic everyday, they decided to just stay away from it, as much as possible.

"How are the boys by the way. I heard Salim took them to the park", Kelly asked as she tore a peice of her pie and chewed on it,

She sighed again, "Zion and Ryan are cool about him but Ray... he's just.." she trailed off again,

"Relax honey", Kelly placed a hand on Nicole's to comfort her, "Give them some time. It's a huge thing for them as well. It's common to react like this" she said

"No Kel, I am not worried about Zion or Ryan. They have always been the sharing type. They would easily accept Salim with open arms, but Ray. He has always been possessive. Not just with me, but with everything that he called 'his'", Kelly looked confused so Nicole sighed and elaborated, "Remember, there is a bunk bed in the kid's room", Kelly nodded remembering the house from the time of her visit, "I couldn't afford a three level bunk bed, so I got them a two level bed. Zion and Ryan share a bed while Ray sleeps alone. No matter what happens, he never shares his bed with anyone. Same goes with his toys. Zion and Ryan let each other play with his toys and exchange their clothes as well, but Ray, never. If something is his and it is his alone. He would not let anyone touch it, not even me", Nicole shook her head and Kelly fell silent,

"Oh... that's intense" Kelly said after a moment of silence,

"It is cute sometimes. The way he becomes possessive, he is way damn protective towards me and his brothers. But again, I also feel a little worried about what will happen to him when he grows up", she added silently,

"Nothing will happen to him. He is a great kid, all your boys are. You raised them good", Kelly reassured her with a bright smile and they both changed the topic back to office gossip.

Nicole was so relaxed and happy that, when she came home and saw Ana petting the boys to sleep on their beds, she walked up to her and hugged her tightly.

Ana shushed her as she kissed all three of them good night and walked back to the living room with a grinning Nicole. "So, what got you in a good mood?" she asked Nicole teasingly,

"Just had a good day with Kelly", Nicole shrugged and started the coffee pot,

"Thank Kelly. I was so worried that, with the way you left, you would come back depressed. I guess Kelly cheered you up, huh?" Ana asked with a smile,

"Yeah. You and Kelly, I wonder what will I do without you two?!" Nicole gave out a happy sigh as the coffee pot beeped. She poured two mugs of coffee, one for each of them,

"So, how's your Scarred Billionaire?" Nicole asked teasingly,

"Still not mine. But wait for a few more weeks and, he will be", Ana said with a naughty grin,

"Oh my god! Look at you, so naughty and all. Tell me everything, what's going on in your dirty brain", Nicole asked excited for more gossip,

Ana laughed out loud at Nicole's excitement, "I think you had too much coffee honey. I was just kidding", she said as Nicole pouted.

"You are bad", Nicole chided.

"I know", Ana said and both of them talked. Mostly about Salim and Eugene, about how they were so close yet they acted so different when they were together. And how Eugene invaded Nicole's cafe and turned her office into his own personal table.

"He likes you for Salim, that's for sure" Ana said when Nicole mentioned Eugene,

"What makes you so sure?" she asked,

"I know him enough to be sure. A guy always need to approve his best friend's girl friend, they kind of feel it's their right to judge. True friends do that you know and Eugene, he is a loyal friend. I am sure, he must have already dug up your entire past and verified your background thoroughly. He is very protective that way, of the one's he love", Ana said in a as a matter of fact tone.

Nicole hummed in response, "Hey, don't fret yourself. He definitely likes you, or else, he wouldn't want to spend so much time at your cafe. You see he is very anti-social. That is the very reason he became a P.R manager and he is so good at it.

"I know he likes me. He haven't said it out loud, but he definitely consider's me his friend", Nicole said finishing up her coffee.

As Ana left, Nicole ran herself a warm bubble bath and immersed in the warm water. She wanted to relax those tense muscles before the big meeting tomorrow. She almost fell asleep when her phone rang. She looked to the sound of the phone, and saw it vibrating over the towel, where she placed it on the beside the bathtub.

It showed Salim's name and she immediately tensed. She thought Salim checked her mail and was calling her to tell that it was very bad and he didn't like it at all. She gulped at the thought of disappointing him. Because he was not just her boss, but at one point of time, she admired him as a role model.

"hello" she said shakily,

"Hey babe!", Salim said cheerily. Nicole sighed inaudibly at his cheery voice. So, he isn't going to fire me, now.

"Hey. What's up?" she asked, suddenly feeling all warm and bubbly and the bath had nothing to do with it.

"I want to ask you out on a date", he asked with a grin knowing very well she was going to squeal. And she did.

She clamped a hand to her mouth to stop from embarrassing herself even more. Salim laughed from the other side, "So, is that a yes?" he asked and Nicole nodded. Though Salim couldn't see it, he imagined it very well,

"Is that a yes?" he asked again and this time, she replied with a 'yes'.