"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

-C. S. Lewis

C H A P T E R   O N E

Abuja, Nigeria.
Thursday, 7th October 2021.

Mehreen placed her cup of coffee down and pushed back the seat she was settled on, and stood up. Her boss had called for her, she slowly made her way towards her office, which has 'Manager' written boldly in a calligraphic style on it. She knocked, softly and only entered when she got a reply from her boss, Mss Imani, the owner of 'Victorian Fashion and Luxury.

Imani offered her a sit and proceeded with what she called Mehreen for. "We are having a very important shoot in collaboration with Valter Antunes in Paris, for the newest designs of Christian Louboutin shoes and bags. The model who will be featuring the brand is Diana Graff."Mehreen nodded and Imani passed a black file to her. "You are handling this project, and this file contains all the information about the shooting sites and also a little bit of information about Diana that I thought you should know about, she is very tough."

"Okay, Ms. Imani, it will be done."Mehreen collected the file and kept it in front of her.

"Good. You'll be leaving for Paris next week. Sarah Lois and Taheera Lawan Aliyu will go with you. Ms. Mehreen, this shoot is very important to me and the company, I trust you that's why I'm letting you handle it, so don't disappoint me."

Mehreen smiled a happy one. She couldn't believe she is going to Paris, it feels surreal. "You don't have to worry about a thing Ms. Imani, I'll take care of everything, In sha Allah."She assured, confidently.

"You can go now, if you've any questions regarding the project you're free to ask."Mehreen nodded with a small smile, that anytime from now may turn into a guffaw. She was so happy she couldn't wait to get out of the office and screamed out of joy.

Taheera ran out to Mehreen and threw her arms around her. "Gosh, Alhamdulillah Reen!!! We're going to Paris..." she yelped, excitedly breaking out of the hug.

"I know, right I can't wait. I don't think I'd be able to sleep this whole week."Mehreen hyped, gripping the file tightly as though her life depended on it.

"Same here, I'm so anxious."Taheera squealed again, and together they walked to their respective desks. "Ammi will be so happy to hear this, you know."

Mehreen's smile dropped a little when her mind drifted off to her father. He won't be happy about it, will he even let her go to Paris alone and stay there for a whole year?

"Mum will be happy too, but I don't know about Daddy, this is the kind of situation where his 'strict mode' get activated, but I'll try my best to convince him."Mehreen faked a smile.

"Don't worry it'll turn out positive, and you're not going alone I'm with you, "Taheera said to cheer her up, and they fist bump each other.

Taheera Lawan Aliyu is also the same age as Mehreen, her best friend, her best pal, she is just like a sister from a different mother. They grew up together as they were neighbors, they established friendships since during their childhood, and they're still friends with the same goal in life, Photography!

"We are going to have so much fun."Taheera squealed again, and Mehreen looked up from the file she was given earlier.

"And also focus on the project."She closed the file to look at Taheera. "Ms. Imani said it's very important for her, we can't lose the project."Taheera nodded and shrugged.

"C'mon don't be a bore," Taheera whined, rolling her eyes skywards and Mehreen chuckled lightly. She isn't a bore, but the job is very important.

"Now forget that, let's go through Diana's profile," Mehreen suggested while Taheera was typing something on her phone, after she was done she turned the screen to Mehreen to see.

"This is her Instagram account, we can also check about her lifestyle and all."

Mehreen smiled. "That's a wonderful idea actually, let's leave this aside."She pushed the file away and moved forward peeping into Taheera's phone. "And focus more on this, they're both equally important."She ended by emphasizing 'equally'.

"That's more like it." they fist-bumped each other, and continued stalking Diana's Instagram page, it won't be easy working with her, in all the modeling pictures she looked tough, like flashing a small smile at the camera won't do any harm right?

•

"Mom......"Mehreen yelled circling her arms around her mother with a toothy grin. "I'm so happy today.."She squealed, making her mother more confused about the reason why she looked so happy.

Mehreen broke out of the hug, jumped on the couch beside her mother, and took a hold of her hands, her mother smiled, perplexed. "I'm going to Paris for a project, mom Paris."She repeated enthusiastically. "Can you believe it? I've always dreamt of going to Paris and my dream is finally coming true mom, Alhamdulillah."

Mrs. Abdullah smiled, she was indeed happy about her daughter's success. She is just a little afraid that her father won't be happy about it, not wanting to spoil Mehreen's mood, she shooed the thought away.

"Alhamdulillah, I'm so happy for you, this is great news."Mrs. Abdullah said, with a small smile. "When are you leaving?"

"Next week, the tickets will be ready by tomorrow, In Shaa Allah, "Mehreen replied, the smile never leaving her face. It was as if the smile has been glued to her face.

"I can't believe it my Mehreen is this successful, All thanks to the Almighty, Stay blessed."Mrs. Abdullah prayed, and she replied with 'Ameen' before standing up to go to her room, to freshen up and have lunch when her father came in.

Mehreen felt it was important to tell him about the one-year project in Paris, but she was so happy and also afraid that his reply will only ruin her mood, but she will still tell him about it.

"Daddy, welcome back."Mehreen hugged him and he patted her back lightly with a wide smile.

Mr. Abdullah removed his shoes and walked further into the house wearing only his black pair of socks, and his arm was placed gently on Mehreen's shoulder. She is his one and only daughter, he never wanted her to work or anything as such but because he can't refuse her sometimes he just says yes to her, not because he wants to but because it makes her happy, and whenever she is happy, he is also happy.

"You're so happy today, what's the occasion?"He asked, while his wife took his bag from him and left to keep it in their room, down the hallway.

"You know about my obsession with Paris, right?"He nodded. "And how is always wanted to go to Paris, but with my hard work right?"He nodded again, his smile dropping a bit, he knew exactly where the convo is going.

"Look Mehreen..."He started but she cut in.

"I've been selected to handle the project Daddy, I'm finally going to Paris."Mehreen paused briefly and glanced at her father's sudden change in demeanor. "Daddy."He hummed, his eyes not meeting hers. "It's a one-year project, it's very important, I've been chosen to handle it, Daddy, your precious gem is doing all this by herself, I'm sure you'll let me go right?"

Mehreen knew his weak spot. "My dear, I understand that you're a grown-up now, but Paris is too far away from here, it's not like when you went to Lagos. You're going to a foreign city, where you don't know anyone or you're aware of their foreign language."He concluded with a sigh.

"But Daddy, I'm not going alone, Hibah is also tagging along you see and about their language, this is the 21st century we can always use the internet." She ended up waving her phone over his face to show him.

"Okay, Mehreen you can go now I'll think about it."Mehreen hugged him one more time before skipping happily to her room.

She fell flat on her bed and yelled. "Yes!!!!" and squealed.

⚠ WARNING ⚠

ALL RIGHT RESERVE. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE COPIED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE PRIOR PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.

•DISCLAIMER•

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ALL THE NAMES, CHARACTERS AND INCIDENTS PORTRAYED IN THIS BOOK ARE ALL MY IMAGINATION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONA LIVING OR DEAD, EVENT OR LOCALITIES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.

Author's Note

Assalamu Alaikum everyone. As promised here is the first chapter, not much I know but manage with this one as a starter.

I've a wonderful poem dedicated to this book by __sky_dreams  thank you so much.

•

Something inside me relates to you.
A link that will connect to us forever
It's like the first rain of the season
So pure, so beautiful
Like beauty of the sky at dusk and dawn
So natural, so calm
With only the birds chirping creating a beautiful
Scenery to the atmosphere.
The warm summer breeze spread the scent of the
Flowers in the air.
That's the peace I get when you're with me.

•

I'm completely speechless as in out of words 🥺😩❤️ the poem is so Ma Shaa Allah. Don't forget to follow __sky_dreams on wattpad add up her book library and enjoy you won't regret it In Shaa Allah.

Las las this first chapter is dedicated to mss_amee  best of the best 🥺❤️ she was even counting down the ten days 😂❤️ eagerly waiting for me to publish the first chappie, so here it is dedicated to you and I really hope you've enjoyed itttt ❤️.

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