Hired To Be Mine

Chapter 8

Nicole couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned but all the time, Salim's voice echoed in her ears. I have room for all four of you.

Does he really mean that? Will he accept my kids along with me? What if they don't like him?

Many thoughts were echoing together and making it impossible for her to sleep. She groaned out loud and pulled her phone from under the pillow where she usually keeps it after charging it to hundred percent.

She dialed the only friend she could openly talk to and immediately hung up. She didn't want to disturb Anna. She would be asleep. It was 2 in the night after all. She decided to count numbers. It always did the trick and bought immediate sleep to her.

She counted and counted and when she reached sixty eight her phone rang.

Anabelle Foster. It flashed and she immediately picked it up.

"You don't dial my land-line in the middle of the night and then hang up. Did you know I had to walk all the way from my bed to the living room to get it?" She said in a groggy voice.

" Sorry" Nicole said sheepishly,

"No you are not" Anna snorted and Nicole smiled smugly to herself. "this better be good" Anna added.

"I kissed Salim" Nicole said. She was not the one to beat around the bush. She was damn straight forward.

"Goood" Anna hummed groggily .

"Actually he did, but I kissed him back too. So..."

"has he asked you out yet?" Anna said cutting Nicole's rant,

"Well, he kinda implied it, but I cut him off.." she trailed off. Suddenly she was disappointed with her decision to stay away from Salim.

"Why did you do that?" there was no accusation in Anna's voice, just an honest curiosity. She was not among those girls who would jump at any man who looked rich and delicious. She was a person who paid importance to character and feelings. That is why Nicole preferred her around her kids as a nanny. And the same similarities among the two women made them best of friends in no time. In fact, they were confidantes rather than friends. They could share anything and everything with the other and expect a reaction with no prejudice.

"I got scared" Nicole whispered, finally opening up her heart to her friend.

"Do you think he is good enough to give him a shot?" Anna asked, ignoring the reply her friend gave because it doesn't take a genius to guess what Nicole was scared of. Her kids.

"I don't know" Nicole sighed and rested her head on the pillow closing her eyes. Anna just humed in response. A couple of minutes followed in silence when Nicole spoke out of nerves, "Well, I am glad you aren't suggesting anything. But on a serious note, I think I could use a suggestion or two" she said. Anna chuckled lightly and took a deep breath.

"You will never know if you like something unless you try it, honey. And I know what you are scared about. But honestly, we women give chances to so many jerks and get our hearts broken, then why not give a chance to Salim. I mean it is true, that we have to kiss a thousand frogs before we meet our prince charming. Just give it a try. If you truly enjoyed the kiss then if nothing works out, at least you can say that you had some good moment", Nicole could picture the small naughty smile on Anna's face.

"I can't try someone, just so that I can know if we are sexually compatible" Nicole whisper yelled, suddenly feeling her cheeks getting hotter. I mean, she did enjoy the kiss after all.

"You don't expect him to get on his knees and pop the question, do you?" Anna asked curiously. To speak honestly, that's what Nicole had been hoping for. Though she moved on after the death of her husband, she always expected to get married again, at some point of time to a man she fell madly in love with, who will accept her along with her children. Providing a father to her kids was what she always hoped for.

"No, but.." Nicole answered after hesitating a minute. Anna didn't need another word from her friend to understand what she had been hoping secretly all the while. Anna sighed heavily.

"Sweetheart, you are a beautiful woman and your boys are wonderful. They will become great men, when they grow up which I guarantee. Any man would be lucky to get a chance to become a father to such great kids. But no matter what you say, or how much he loves them, they will never be 'His'. I mean if it was a daughter then she would have accepted him as a father and he too would have loved her to death. But they are your sons. No matter how much love they receive from him, he will always be an step father. There will come a time, when he will try to advice them o something and they will just say, 'You are not our father so don't try to be one'. You need to accept that. In a man's life, no other man can replace his fathers place", Nicole's throat constricted hearing Anna's words. She was holding her breath to stop her tears from flowing down. She made a small sound at the back of her throat, which was supposed to be a 'Hmm' but sounded like a strangled gasp.

Anna sighed dejectedly at her friend's pained expression. She didn't want to be ruthless or hurt her friend. But she had to be honest. That's what their relationship was like, an honest friendship. "Your boys are not gonna stay with you for the rest of your life. They will go away for college, and then they might wanna move out. They will eventually get married and leave. You will see them only during Christmas and Thanks giving. There is no point in sacrificing your desires and dreams for their sake. It is your responsibilities to think about their future, but don't kill yours for them" she said.

There were no more words said that night. Anna and Nicole went back to bed, one with guilt for hurting her friend's feelings and the other with the heavy heart with jumbled feelings.

No matter what Anna said, Nicole couldn't consider compromising her kids' future, even for a second. May be it was her maternal heart which was making her ignore her friend's warning. Bringing a stranger into her sons' lives can change their life completely, which she couldn't risk. No matter how little time she had with her kids, she would give her hundred percent to them.

She mentally counted how many years she had with her sons. They were three years old, which gave her fifteen years, give or take, for her sons to become legal adults and move out. Fifteen years? Suddenly fifteen years felt so less and there was no chance of trying to control her tears anymore.

She cried herself to sleep that night. Not because she couldn't be with Salim whom she really liked. But because she missed her sons, already.

*******

Salim reached his office the next day feeling excited and nervous at the same time. He was excited to see Nicole again. The day before, she left the office hurriedly in a flustered state because of their kiss. He didn't get a chance to say a proper bye to her. And he was also very nervous about how she would react to him after yesterday.

He couldn't afford to begin the courtship from beginning after waiting for nearly a month. He built a trust with her during the past month, a silent understanding. It was too much for him to lose, over a moment of weakness.

Moment of weakness? Who the hell was he kidding? Nicole had him the second he laid his eyes on her. There was no doubt that his feelings for Nicole ran deeper than he wanted to at this point of time.

He shook his head. He will built this relationship in a proper way. He had three kids to consider. Though he never met them, he knew they are gonna play a huge role in his relationship. He never heard Nicole mentioning her parents or other relatives, so it must be her kids who need to accept him.

He was very nervous all of a sudden. Kids'? Three? How the hell is he gonna earn their trust and love? He was not a huge fan of kids! Meaning, it wasn't like he could turn on that charming smile of his and the kids would swoon over him like all the women used to. He groaned loudly, wondering how he was gonna handle them.

10:15

He checked his watch and frowned. Nicole was never late, and then what happened today? Did she decide to not show up because of yesterday? Nah! She wasn't the kind of woman who gets riled up easily because of something like that. The one thing he really admired in Nicole was her strength. She wouldn't take s**t from anyone at the same time she didn't have single hair of rudeness. She was strong and faced challenges with her head held high.

He knew that if any problem came, she wouldn't run away from him like someone he knew. He flinched at the memory. No! Nicole would never leave him, if she ever committed to him that is. He wouldn't let her leave. She will be his forever.

"Mine" he whispered, staring at Nicole's desk. And the thought of her, again made him wonder, why she was late. May be she is running late today, his mind answered. He decided to wait for her for another few minutes before calling her.

"Good morning Mr. Salim" Kelly said in her usual chirpy voice after knocking.

"Good morning Kelly" Salim sighed. Used to Salim's cheerful voice, Kelly frowned at his dejected greeting.

"All good Mr. Salim?" she asked stepping into the office.

"Yeah, all is good" he said and switched his business mode.

"Good then, you have a meeting with Mr. Winston" Kelly said, her tone changing into a quiver when she mentioned his name.

Salim groaned ignoring Kelly's change of attitude towards his friend as he was already used to it. He was rather focused on the meeting that he had been avoiding for a while now. "Do I have to?" he asked like a small kid going back to school after a long vacation.

"Yes" Kelly said as she understood how dreadful a meeting with Eugene Winston can be. Though she has never been in one, she heard a lot about them.

But Salim's concern was not Eugene, but his devilish schemes as his 'friend'. Being the top jewelry designer came with many obligations. He had to maintain his persona in public as a celebrity. And Winston was the man who could make you a super star over night with his brilliant ideas.

He managed most of the celebrities and politicians public profile, like when should they come into the public, what should they say, how should they dress, whom should they go out with, everything was decided and organized by him. If anything ever went wrong with someone's image, he could right it within no time.

He was so good at creating and destroying scandals, that his business as a P.R made him incredibly famous in the high class society. He works solo, doesn't have any permanent employees. Only a few temporary employees who work for a small time period with him on a 'project' and leave as soon as it is done.

And by project he means people. Everyone is a project for him. Creating an identity, making them popular, projecting them as celebs in the society is his work. He goes to any lengths to get his work done. And this what makes him so scary and mysterious.

Eugene was Salim's best friend. And there was no doubt in it, but it was also true that Eugene got on Salim's nerves. Salim was actually a little scared too, to meet his friend professionally.

"Sir?" Kelly's voice bought him out of his thoughts.

"I can't get out of this, can I?" he asked knowing the answer full well. "Fine, let's go right now" he said and got up.

*******

Ryan wailed out, as he puked water. Nicole immediately set Ray on his hip and ran towards her youngest son. She could hear Zion yelling for her too, but she was helpless.

"It's okay baby. Shhhh" she cleaned up Ryan as Ray started to get irritated on her hip. She adjusted him, so that he wouldn't slip and continued cleaning Ryan.

"Mummmaa!!!!" a loud wail came from Zion's lips which Nicole couldn't ignore anymore. She bought Ryan to her hips as well and made a dash towards their bedroom where Zion was supposed to be sleeping.

"Momma" Zion wasn't sleeping anymore, he was crying. All the three kids caught stomach bug, which was making them puke everything they ate. They couldn't even keep water in. They were fussy and were crying relentlessly.

Though Nicole wanted to cry herself, she controlled her tears and stood strong. Tears were pricking her eyes, as she saw her three sons wailing in pain and she was not able to anything for them.

A voice was accusing her for being a bad mother who couldn't care for her kids and again another voice was encouraging her that she can do this. She didn't know which voice to pay attention to, as both were consuming her. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. She placed both the boys on her hip on the bed and supported herself against the bed. Her eyelids felt heavy and she couldn't keep them open anymore. She could hear her boys crying and calling her, but she just needed a minute, a minute to pull herself together.

A moment passed and everything disappeared. Her kids' wails, the light, everything and she slipped into darkness.