So, yesterday, I accepted the chocolates in the end because the kids did not allow me to leave the cafe without it. My biggest fear in taking the chocolates home was answering mom and Salima about from where I got it — which hasn't happened yet but definitely will within the day.

At least if the kids weren't around, I could've lied to my family, saying Naomi or some other friend gave it. But now if I lie, I'd get caught. Mom is at least okay because she is gullible, but it's not the same case with Salima. My sister almost always finds out when I lie.

Luckily I had my regular meeting scheduled with the boomers today. So, I came here early in the morning, before any questioning session could even start.

Anyway, before I left home, I gave the box of chocolates to mom and asked her to give a share to Salima. So, probably tonight I will have to answer a few questions.

In a way, I don't even know what I am trying to hide. I mean, the truth is that Zayan gave it to me as a client — so of course there's nothing wrong about it. Also, it's just chocolates. Not drugs, right?

But you know, when you are a girl who has never received chocolates or any form of sweet gesture from a guy before, then it might come out a little strange for your family. More like a shock!

And at the rate of desperation my family is now, I'm sure they'd start thinking of the chocolate gifter as a potential suitor for me and might even start daydreaming of a possible marriage scenario between us — and that's the last thing I want them to do. Zayan and I are nothing like that! I have a slight crush on him and that's about it.

He is just a client and my family need not know anything about him! In fact, after Sameer, I decided that I will never reveal to my family about any of my interactions with men — be it romantic or unromantic.

As I keep thinking of what possible lies I could tell about the chocolates, the boomer CEO's words interrupt my thoughts, "This is great, Ilhaam. You are doing a good job!" I smile and say, "Thank you, Michael." Oh, I love the boomers! They are my easiest clients when it comes to impressing. I can do nothing and still impress them.

Even the other two clients they introduced are easy to handle, because again, those companies are managed by boomers too, so they do not know much about marketing, and therefore they agree with my suggestions without debate.

Amer is by far the most difficult client. I don't know whether it's his age or his intelligence but it's very hard to convince him. He only does things that he feels positive about. As for Zayan, I'm yet to find out. It's been just a week, right? So, it's hard to judge right now. I really hope he agrees to my suggestion about influencer marketing. Perhaps I should drop him a text.

"Okay then. Keep working on it, Ilhaam. Let's meet next week" says the boomer. I say "sure" and get up to leave his cabin.

As I walk out, I type a message for Zayan, "Hey 😊 What do you think about getting some influencers involved to promote Second Chance?" Soon after I send it, I receive a reply from him, "Does it work? 🤔"

I walk into Naomi's cabin typing out a reply for Zayan when Naomi's excited voice says, "Hey Ilhaam! Good to see you!" I smile and say, "Yes, me too! How are things with you? How's therapy?" She smiles and replies, "All good. Therapy is great. Another two more sessions and we would be done, I guess."

We continue to talk about a few more things and Naomi asks, "So, anyone new in your life?" I smile and say, "No, it's just me and work for now. Life is good this way."

Naomi sighs and says, "Aiyo Ilhaam! You just have to let yourself go and open up to love again." Seriously, Naomi? Open up to love again so that I could let a second guy ruin my life like your husband did to you? I have so many things that I could tell her but I don't, because I don't want to hurt her. She may have forgiven her husband but I still hate him for what he did to her.

Serious relationships and getting too close to men are something that I'd like to avoid as much as I can! One Sameer is enough for life! So, I shake my head and say "Nope not ready for it."

At the same time my phone vibrates and it's a text from Zayan that reads, "let's discuss this 😊 Possible to drop in today?" Wow! Did Zayan-freaking-jawline just ask me to meet him for the second consecutive day?

It's all official I know, but still my stomach has this feeling of butterflies and I'm smiling. Ugh! I have to stop this. Can't believe I told Sameer that I'd love him forever and I've already started crushing on someone else. Ewww Ilhaam!

"Who is it? You are smiling! Tell me all about it!" says Naomi. "Just a client" I say with an awkward smile because that's the truth, right? Naomi says, "Okay, so tell me about this client." Well, I don't think I can hide it from her anymore. Besides, it's no big deal. So, I tell her a bit about Zayan and my crush on him.

"Is he single?" asks Naomi. "I guess so. Just once, he mentioned about a girl breaking up with him two years ago. I don't know whether he has anyone now" I say. To be honest, I never thought about it until Naomi asked this. Zayan could be even engaged or married to someone, right?

"Why don't you clarify that first?" asks Naomi. "Why would I want to know that?" I ask with a chuckle. "So that you can give it a try. I mean, what if you are meant to be?" asks Naomi. There you go! Typical over-excitement about my love life. This is exactly what she said about Sameer too.

I smile and say, "There's nothing to try. Love and marriage with a dude who is as perfect as Zayan is out of my league and not my interest either. I just like talking to him. A sweet little crush like the teenage days. That's all. I don't expect anything beyond this."

"Haha how perfect is he? Can I see a picture?" asks Naomi. "I don't have a picture. This guy is so strange that he is not on social media either. The only way you could see him is if you go to the cafe" I say. For real, it's hard to find anything about Zayan because he doesn't exist in the online world. He is more or less like a ghost. Damn, now that makes me think...is Zayan even real? Could I be hallucinating like they show in movies? Oh crap! I hope not.

"Well, at least that saves you from one problem" says Naomi. I look up confused and ask, "what?" She chuckles and says, "A man who doesn't use social media is a lot better than one who still interacts with his ex on IG right? I mean, that was the main issue with Sameer, wasn't it?"

I burst into laughter because it's funny and true at the same time. A man without social media is a luxury in this age! Although there is also a possibility of him being a psychopath who invests his time and hunts down exes in a total different way than us social media fanatics!

"You know what? You need Saad to help you with this!" says Naomi. "As if he could. He talks like a love guru but knows nothing" I say with a chuckle. "But he did help you a little with Sameer, right?" says Naomi with a wink. Of course she is joking. There is no way that anyone would take Saad for a serious person!

"Haha then all the more reasons why I should avoid getting help from him. Perhaps relationships fail when you follow his advice. By the way, where is he?" I ask. "Must have gone out for sales. We hardly get to see him at office, these days" says Naomi.

My phone vibrates and this time it's not Zayan but Salima. Ignoring what Naomi is speaking about, I quickly reply to Salima so that she wouldn't assume anything further.

Salima: Who gave u chocolates? 🤔
Salima: Caira spoke about an uncle 😉
Me: Just a client 😑
Salima: but the kids sounded like it was a young guy 😜
Salima: are u hiding something from me? 🤨
Me: that's coz they are kids 💁🏾‍♀️
Me: they are probably talking about someone else they saw at the same time
Salima: Oh my dreams 💔😪
Me: so dramatic 🤦🏾‍♀️

"Okay then, I better get going. Zayan wanted me to come there today" I say and get up. "Oooh a date! Don't forget to ask him whether he is single!" says Naomi with a wink. I shake my head and walk out. My friend and my sister are equally crazy!

I enter Second Chance and find Zayan seated in a corner with a book. I've seen Saad and many other men with books, but trust me, none of them have ever looked this attractive. This is just a whole new level of charisma!

I walk upto him and say, "Hello! You look quite busy!" See, I'm getting better. I didn't stammer. Perhaps I'm over the crush phase too. I guess I'm seeing him only as a client now and appreciating his flawless jawline for what it is. That's all. Nothing else. Normal human behavior.

"Oh hey! Not busy. Just reading. And I didn't expect you to come this fast. Take a seat, please" says Zayan. I sit and say, "umm..uh...I was close-by." Phew! That was hard to say! Perhaps I could talk without awkward pauses when I don't look at his jawline or stare into his eyes. The moment I do that, the stammering comes. Pretty sure that he thinks I have a speech problem.

"Do you read? This is a good one. You should try it" says Zayan pointing at his book, which looks like some serious philosophy book. Not my cup of tea, obviously. But if I tell him that, he would think I'm stupid, won't he?

Just a few days back, I started reading self-help books and thought I was becoming smart. But after seeing Zayan's idea of a good read, I feel stupid now.

"Umm...not really a big fan of reading" I say. Let him judge my intelligence if he wants to! I have to impress him only with my work. Not anything else. Before he speaks, I say, "Can I take a picture of it though? It looks nice." Zayan smiles and says, "Sure. But why would you click a picture just because it looks nice?"

"For my Instagram story. This book looks smart. So, when people see this, they'd think I am smart" I say with a chuckle. Okay, now I'm being overly honest with him for no reason at all. Wonder what he must be thinking of me.

Zayan laughs and asks, "Wow, do people really do that?" I shrug and say, "Yeah, social media-obsessed people do it. See, done!" and show him my story. "So, what happens after this?" Zayan asks with a smile. Seriously, this man doesn't know how IG stories work? Let me enlighten him!

"This stays only for 24 hours and people can view it and reply to it within that time. It also shows a few insights like this" I say as I try to show him how it looks, and I don't believe what my eyes see! "Holy cow!" I exclaim and Zayan asks, "Why? Anything wrong?"

"My ex just viewed my story!" I say. Yes, Sameer has truly checked the story that I posted a few minutes ago. Does this mean he is stalking me? Perhaps he wants to get back? It's not like I'm going to accept him but it would be cool to reject him, you know? So, I kind of feel excited at the thought of it.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" asks Zayan looking confused. "I don't know. But it's strange because he is not even following me" I say with a chuckle. "You look happy though" says Zayan with a smile.

"Maybe I am. It's just so unexpected!" I say with a chuckle. "You are still interested in him, are you?" asks Zayan. Wow! Zayan-freaking-jawline is asking me personal questions! Can you believe it? Isn't this cool? Which is cooler? This or Sameer viewing my stories — I don't know!

"Umm..I don't think so. It's just..I don't know..some kind of feeling. Anyway, this is what you miss when you are not social media. You can't keep tabs on your exes" I say with a wink. "Why would I want to know about someone who is no more part of my life?" asks Zayan. Is he seriously not interested in knowing about his ex? Maybe this answers Naomi's question. Perhaps it's because he has a loving girlfriend and he doesn't care about the past anymore.

"Well, maybe you don't get the urge to do it because you are happy with someone else now. But I am not, right? So, that's why" I say. Zayan laughs and says, "I'm not with anyone else. I'm single as much as you are!"

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If in case Sameer comes back, will Ilhaam reject him like she thinks? 🤔

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