Hired To Be Mine

Chapter 6

Nicole was on cloud nine. She did it, she finally did it. Now she has a stable job that can lay off her debts quickly. She can now start saving for real. For her sons, their college tuitions, their future. A lone tear of happiness escaped her eyes as she thanked the lord for making everything go so perfect.

She needed to share this newd with her family. Her sons. Though they will barely understand the meaning of this, she still needed to tell them of her success. Her new job.

She ran the last ten meters towards her house and rang the door bell with all the enthusiasm she was feeling. She could hear the excited yells of her kids as soon as she rung the bell, and a smile grazed her lips. Though they were just toddlers they knew when their mum arrived. And each time she sees the excitement and love that they have on their faces for their mum, she realizes that it is all worth it.

"Hey Ana" she greeted her friend and baby sitter, but even before her friend could acknowledge the greeting, three little monsters ran towards her.

"Mumma" she heard their excited giggles as they ran her way. She kneeled down to their level and soon she had her three kids in her arms. "Mumma!"

"Hey boys! How was your day?" She asked looking at them.

"It was assum" Zion said thumping his little fist in air.

"Were you good to aunt Ana?" She asked almost accusingly, narrowing her eyes at them

"Oh, they were darlings" Ana said with a dismissing wave of her hands.

"Yes mumma... we read po- po - etry" to her stammered Ryan. Her poor baby. She wondered how long it would take for her baby to get his speech right. It was a reason why he was so silent all the time.

"Wow... poetry huh?" She looked at her friend who was staring into a wall with a smile on her face. " Honestly Ana, were they good? I mean did they trouble you at all?" Nicole asked as she steered her friend away from the kids.

"You worry too much Nicole" Ana said with a reassuring smile.

Nicole sighed heavily, "can't help it when you have three kids, that too boys of the same age. You know how they are" she looked at her boys who were now chasing one another into their bedroom.

"What ever you are talking about. I think they are adorable" Ana said while her friend led her towards the kitchen island.

"Coffee?" Nicole asked her friend and started on it while her friend continued to admire her kids.

She couldn't help but chuckle when Ana said that her boys would be true heart breakers. "Why are you laughing?" Ana asked sipping her black coffee.

"Why shouldn't I? You were saying as if you can actually see them" Nicole said and immediately regretted it. She cursed herself for not keeping her thoughts in check.

Yes, Anabelle Foster was blind. She couldn't see a thing except darkness. But she hated when someone pointed out her weakness to her. Nicole knew het friend well and hated herself for the momentary slip.

"Ana... I.." before Nicole could apologise, Ana touched her hand after tapping the counter a little and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I know. I don't have to see in order to recognise true beauty. I know these boys of yours are gonna ve heart breakers. Because despite how they look, they are very charming and very nice"

"They are kids" she mumbled still embarrassed about her slip up.

"That makes them even more adorable" Ana said with a genuine smile.

Nicole how such a beautiful woman could be cursed with such a default. Anabelle was a natural blonde with golden beach hair, that shines in the sunlight. Her turquoise eyes had a sparkle which made it impossible to guess that they were blind. Her high cheek bones and flawless face with the hour glass figure, she could easily surpass as a model and make billions at it. But destiny has been cruel to her by pushing her into a forever darkness.

Her coming from a well off fanily didn't make a difference either. She was a great friend when they first met in her coffee shop and still are great friends till date. Ana's riches didn't defer her modesty and simple life. A trait of Ana that Nicole admired a lot.

This made her wonder. Would Ana know who the Eugene Winston was? Ana was not really a social person very much, despite her wealthy background. Would she know the social circle even though she hasn't been an active participant?

"Ana? Do you by any chance know a Eugene Winston?" She asked. Ana looked taken aback for a moment. This kind of reaction was something Nicole didn't expect from her friend. "what?"

Ana composed herself quickly and gave a shaky laugh, "Nothing" she shook her head ad if to get rid of her thoughts, "Yes. I have heard of him. Very descriptively in fact. Why do you ask?" she said with a sly smirk.

"He happens to be my boss's best friend. He looked taken aback when I said I have no clue who he was. So I would like to brush up on my social gossip a little so that I am ready for tomorrow's work" A mischevious smilee formed on Ana's face which drilled curiosity into Nicole's brain,

" Okay" Nicole said carefully as her own smirk started to form on her face. " spill the beans already" she said.

" Nothing" Ana gave a dismissing wave before continuing, "He belongs to the top lader in the society. Rich. Not born rich but he climbed up the stairs all by himself. Thiry years old and is among the eligible bachelor of the town. He stays in the spot light mostly with the paparazzi hot on his heels all the time" she paused to sip her coffee

"But why?" Nicole asked not understanding the speciality of this Mr. Winston.

"He was in military in his youth. He has earned a scar on his face during some mission he was involved in. I don't know personally but I have heard the scar is pretty ugly and spoils his handsome features completely" Nicole noted that though Ana was speaking the facts, there was no judgement or even a tiny bit of flicker in her face while she mentioned the ugly scar.

"Yea. Salim did mention something on the lines of a 'Scarred Billionaire '" she said nodding as she began to understand a little bit about her boss's friend.

"Yup. That's what the social media calls him. He is pretty famous with the name" Ana said in a chirpy tone

"You seem to know a lot about him" Nicole said nudging her friend with the elbow, "does someone have a crush?" She said wiggling her brows suggestively though her friend couldn't see it.

Ana laughed at her friend, "mention his name in front of my family and they will have your head severed" she said.

"What? Your family doesn't live here" Nicole said not reading much into her friends words.

"No. But my brothers and my father have a certain grudge against your boss's friend" she said in a mater of fact tone.

"Oh" Nicole said but decided not to pry. One good thing about their friendship was that though they enjoyed each others company a lot, they never pried into each other's lives too much.

"So... are you going to tell me what happened at the interview?" Ana asked after a moments silence. Nicole sighed and started to tell her friend everything in detail.

*****

Salim couldn't wait for the sun to rise. Last night he couldn't sleep a wink of sleep. Thoughts of Nicole haunted him all night.

He didn't understand his obsession with that woman. He didn't call it love. He was too old to fall in love at first sight. But he couldn't ignore the attraction he experienced towards her either.

He wanted her. Not just in a carnal way but in every sense. He wanted to make her feel happy, safe and many other passionate feelings he couldn't name. He could imagine his life from now on as perfect with her by his side.

A shiver ran down his spine. Not a shiver or excitement or passion but a shiver of fear. The last time he felt like this about a woman, almost destroyed him. No. Not the past again. He reminded himself cautiously. He will not be made a fool again by another woman.

He determined strongly, that this time he would not be the weak romantic fool to wear his heart on his sleave. This time he would make her weak. He would make her fall madly in love with him. He would make her express her feelings and make her propose for marriage. This time he wouldn't do any stupid thing as he did previously.

****

The lift doors parted and Nicole sighed as she took her first step into her new office lobby. It was her official first day, she would sign the required papers and become an official employe of Mr. Salim Sheik.

She couldn't help the fluttering of her tummy. A memory of her college days flashed in ber eyes. How all the girls in her dorm would gush and hush about the sexy Sheik. Everyone fantasized about working with him one day. After all they were all studying fashion and design where Salim Sheik was the God of fashion industry. The deadly combination of beauty and brains. Though she wouldn't call him a beauty. 'Beauty' was a subtle word to describe him, she would describe him as hot and handsome. Yes, raw handsomeness. That's what he was.

For a moment she wondered what her friends would say when they learn about her new job. She bet they would be very envious of her and she reveled in the thought. Her marriage had not just sabotaged her education and career but it also took her friends away from her.

Some friends they have been, she thought as they never bothered to contact her in any way after her wedding. They just plainly ignored her and totally forgot about her existence. The reunion which she unfortunately attended one summer showed her what true friends she had.

"Miss Thornton" said a small female voice which brought her back to the present.

"Good morning" she said with a nervous laugh to the petite woman who was assisting everyone yesterday with the interview.

"Morning" the woman said with a genuine smile. Nicole sighed internally with relief. No b***h drama like in the chic flick romance books! Thank god!

"Call me Kelly" the woman said.

"Then call me Nicole" Nicole replied already taking a liking to Kelly.

"Sure. Salim's not in here yet, so I will start the briefing" she said walking Nicole into Salim's cabin where she had her interview.

"Wait, you call him Salim?" Nicole asked a little shocked,

"Yeah" Kelly said with a twinkle in her eyes, "he hates being called by his last name. I do that to annoy him when he is pissed at me. Trust me, he wrinkles his face whenever he hears it, as if he had to swallow veniger"

"But why?" Nicole asked as her chuckle died down. Kelly shrugged as she put a few papers into the scanning machine beside Salim's table.

"Never asked" she said. "Okay so from today onwards this will be your table." Kelly got only that part when Nicole shrieked a loud "what?".

"Any problem?" Kelly asked.

" Yes. I know I have to work with him but I never thought it would be in a literal sense. I mean.... a girl needs her space to breath right?" Nicole said in the most pleading tone she could manage.

There was no way in hell she would work with Mister Sexy in such close proximity and not make a desperate fool of herself. After all Three years of celibacy could make people desperate and Nicole was no saint. And she wasn't a naive fool to ignore how handsome and drool worthy her boss is.

Kelly was quite shocked to begin with. She never imagined a woman refusing to work with Salim ever before. She understood that Nicole had no clue how many women were dying to be in her place today.

"Well.... you don't have a say in that matter. Boss actually asked for your table to be placed here. Sorry" she said apologetically. And again Nicole's eyes widened. This time not with reluctance but amazement.

Salim want me to work with him? She wondered with a smug smile and then shook it off quickly. She was not supposed to think like that.

Kelly then began to breif how or what her work is going to be and Nicole paid her full attention to her new friend. She took out the small notebook and pencil she bought with herself and started noting the important points as well.

In the next 40 minutes, Nicole got a full view of how things were in here. She understood the do's and don'ts very well. Especially the don'ts which revolved around Salim, which she underlined twice.

She learned that Salim comes in whenever he feels like and most of his work is done in the room that is to the extreme corner of his cabin. Nicole looked at the closed wooden door in the corner of the cabin and wondered how would it be? The room? Salim's working style? The man who revolutionized in the fashion industry worked how? She wondered.

She was arranging her desk when she watched Salim stroll in like he owned the place. That's because he owns the place! Answered a voice in her brain spoiling the fun.

" Morning" she wished standing up as he came in. Salim blinked at her for a couple of minutes then a slow smile formed on his lips.