Maisara's pov

One week later

"With this, we end today's meeting. Thanks everyone for your active participation."

Poppy's robotic voice plays in the background as I try my hardest to concentrate on what's on the last slide since I zoned out again. Sounds of paper rustling, laptops closing, and people chattering start to disappear as they leave the room while I sit here staring ahead at the projector screen until it goes black suddenly. I turn my head to Poppy and stare at her blankly trying to understand why she has suddenly adopted the job to turn off the projector when her assistant is standing right beside her.

She gives me a more blank look before saying, "The meeting is over, Kamal."

"So I heard," I reply, closing the lid of my laptop. That's my cue to leave. Gathering my stuffs, I turn around to leave. As I cross Poppy, she stops me. I give her a questioning look. She returns a stoic one.

"Yes?" I prompt, hoping that she will reveal the mysterious reason for which she has stopped me. She keeps the blank look for a few more seconds before saying, "Your responsibilities have expended now. That means your work has also increased. Be careful, Kamal. Don't hesitate to come to me if you need help."

I smile at her, or at least try smiling. "Thanks. I will keep that in mind."

She doesn't look away. Her expressionless look creeps almost everyone out in the office. But I don't mind. However, I don't have all day for her. Excusing myself, I walk out of there as her assistant, Jeremy, the former intern on whom Chloe had a crush opens the door for me.

That wasn't what she wanted to say. And she wasn't judging me either. She was concerned about me because she saw something in my face that I see every time I look in the mirror. A dead set of eyes, dark circles at least half an inch deep and one inch long, hollow cheeks, and chapped lips. She can't see it but hair is just as bad as the face. The only better thing is probably my dress up because the dress code is strictly maintained in the office and anyone can get into trouble for that.

Sleepless nights, irregular eating habits, and abnormal changes in my daily routine have already started showing their effects on me. I can tell that my life has changed completely and I can't find a way to bring it back to the tracks. I'm trying everything. Busy schedules and overtime have become normal for me. Tiredness is a constant companion. I keep doing all that to keep my mind sane and out of places it has no business going into. But it's of no use. I can't sleep no matter how tired I am. Sleeping pills and relaxation videos have stopped working a long time ago. Left with long sleepless nights, the only thing I can do is keep praying to Allah SWT.

In one way, it's a good thing. I mean, technically, that's exactly what I wanted. Still, I can't find my peace. I'm reluctant to admit that my life has turned upside down after he left but it's true. Now there is no way of going back and changing my decision. I wasn't going to anyway. But somewhere, deep inside me, I might have a regret that will never go away.

I'm not even sure how good my decision was because even if I spend more time in prayers now, all my prayers revolve around him. My thoughts revolve around him more now than before and I have no idea how to stop it. I don't see any other way but to keep praying to Allah SWT and believe in Him to take away my pain and discomfort and put me at ease one day. I believe in Him to help me move on and live a normal life one day.

After I enter my office room and have just taken a seat behind the desk, someone knocks on the door. Letting out a groan, I reply with a loud, "Yes?"

After a soft click, the door is pushed inside and Chloe's head pops in through the gap. As she stares at me with her bright eyes, I suppress another groan and nod curtly. She slips inside the room and closes the door behind her.

After Oliver gets busted, he is obviously fired and Poppy is promoted to his position. People in the office may not like her for her strict and stoic demeanor but everyone definitely respects her for her work ethic and style. So, no one has a problem with it. What everyone has a problem with is that an intern is promoted to the position of the branch head's assistant. There are other people aiming for that position and now they are speaking all sorts of things. Personally, I think Jeremy is talented enough to gain that position. It has never happened before but I don't exactly see a problem with it.

And finally, I am promoted to Poppy's position. I do not think I deserve it. I deserve a promotion, of course, but not this much. On top of that, Chloe has been aiming for this position for a long time. And I honestly think she deserves it way more than me. But she hasn't said anything about it after the promotion. She has been behaving quite normally actually. But I feel a slight guilt in my heart about it. With the rumors of Jeremy, no one else has really batted an eye on me for which I'm thankful.

"Don't say it," I tell Chloe at the same time as she asks, "Are you sure you are okay?" I let out a groan throwing my head back on the headrest of the chair in response. "I won't be if you keep bothering me with that dumbass question all day."

This is the fifth time she has asked it today. I have enough reason to get frustrated about it. By the look on her face, I can tell she is about to argue more but decides to change her mind at the last second. "Okay, I won't bother. But you keep ignoring your assistant. Maybe answer her?"

I let out a sigh. "I wasn't ignoring her. I just.........forgot."

"You forgot you have an assistant?" She raises her eyebrows, not quite buying it. She has a reason for that. Because I have lied. However, I return a blank look before stating, "Tell her to come talk to me herself instead of sending you."

She shakes her head furrowing her eyebrows. "She didn't send me. Moreover, I think someone else is here to meet you."

My heart leaps up at her statement. The name instantly comes to my mind before I can stop myself. I grip the edge of the desk to physically restrain myself from leaping out of the chair. The quickened pulse almost makes me see blurry.

I have no reason to feel this hopeful, or hopeful at all. It has been one week and there is no contact from the other side. I'm not complaining because that's what I asked for. I'm just reasoning. There should be no reason for him to show up now. He is gone and he won't be back in my life. I need to accept the fact by now.

Despite that, I can't stop the small hope bubbling inside me which makes me squeak out. "Who?"

Chloe smirks, definitely seeing my reaction. I don't even want to know what conclusion she has reached with that. Shrugging, she turns to leave. "I don't know. I am sending your assistant over. She can tell."

I bite my tongue to stop myself from saying anything else and curtly nod as she walks out.

Silence follows as I take some deep breaths and stare out of the big window on my left at the sky. Nothing calms me down anymore. But looking at the sky feels like a habit nowadays. I feel like a poet when I do that as I start comparing myself with the clouds, the birds, the sun, the moon, or even the stars. Today's sky is, however, awfully clear, a vast emptiness of blue. That's quite similar to the state of my mind.

My chain of thoughts is interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. I yell, "Come in."

The door opens hesitantly. A blonde woman walks in slowly keeping her head down. That's my assistant, Jenna Everly. She was Poppy's assistant before. I don't know why I can never really interact with her easily. I don't know how to describe it. There is something weird between us. I can't exactly pinpoint where it is or what it is. It wasn't that much of an issue when she was Poppy's assistant. But now that she is mine, the situation somehow feels worse. And I didn't get the chance to solve it with everything on my mind.

"Yes, Miss Everly?" I say, waiting for her response. My heart starts thudding with anticipation when I remember what she is about to report. She clears her throat before looking at me over her glasses and speaking, "A representative of ExpoArt is here to meet you."

My heartbeat goes back to normal and I slump back on the seat, feeling defeated. ExpoArt is an art agency that is working on a project in collaboration with our company. Of course, they are here to meet me. There is no reason to feel defeated. However, I can't control my mind to stop feeling this way when I let it become hopeful for no reason.

"Did they have an appointment?" I ask because I don't remember such a thing. But then again, it might have slipped out of my mind with everything else going on.

"Ah, yes, they did. At 11.30," Jenna replies pushing her glasses back. I check my watch to find it showing 11.25. They are early. Good. I prefer punctuality. Moreover, I am free at the moment. So, it shouldn't be a problem to attend the meeting early.

"Okay, let's go," I say, gathering my things and getting up to leave. Jenna rushes toward me to take them from my hand, but I stop her with a gesture.

"I prefer to carry them on my own," I say walking over to the door. Jenna follows me mumbling an apology to which I say nothing. It's not because I'm acting arrogant. I don't exactly know what to say.

I should definitely have a talk with her about the weird energy between us.

Heels-clicking sounds follow us as we walk to the small meeting room attached to my office. As we enter, the representative gets up and walks towards us to greet us. My heart drops when I see who the representative is.

"Good morning, Miss Kamal. This is Ian Rivera, a representative of ExpoArt. Nice to meet you."