CONTINUATION...

"Just what exactly was Hisham Hosseini's problem? Could someone please care to explain?"- Isma Taib.

Their banter was cut short when they heard loud shuffling near the room's huge glass door and for the next entire minute or so, both father and son watched in great astonishment as Isma literally and I mean literally began to...

PULL ON THE HUGE PUSH DOOR.

That too with all of her might!

An 'are you seriously serious right now' look instantly took all over of Hisham's face as he keenly watched her for what could be said to be a minute after which he quickly stood up to go help her but not before saying...

"Simply two things about her! Either she is Plain Stupid or Plain Dumb. Choose one!"

"I choose Plain Nervous!"

"That wasn't an option!"

Hussein slowly shook his head as he chuckled to himself and with the cheekiest of all grins ever, plastered all across his face, he said...

"Awwww and there goes Cinderella's Prince to save her. How simply adorable?"

"Me? Prince? Her Prince? You're wrong! Terribly wrong! I am none other than the Evil Step Mother here! Simply watch me!"

"Sure! Sure! Whatever sails your SHIP, Hisham! Whatever sails your SHIP! Also, if we are choosing, can I be the Fairy God-Mother?"

"Only and only if you promise to make her disappear!"

"Nah! Never mind! Il choose to pass!"

Loudly snorting at his father's reply, Hisham got to the huge glass door, his eyes meeting with Isma's for a brief second and extremely hot and burning blush instantly crept up her cheeks due to nothing but pure embarrassment, the very second Hisham gently PULLED open the door for her from the INSIDE.

Great!

Just great!

Like what even?

Could the earth please just do her an immense favour and just open up to swallow her and that too with immediate effect?

No like really; now would really be the most appropriate time!

The most tremendous waves of all types of embarrassment that ever chose to exist, gushed through each and every single little fibre of her body and the only thing she ended up doing was....

Stuttering!

Greatly greatly stuttering!

"I...I...I am terribly sorry....I...I...I got late. I don't know, I ummm...I got lost. The conference room... There just were so many rooms... I couldn't...I mean this building...I mean I am just terribly sorry! Really sorry!"

Before Hussein could say that it was more than pefectly fine, Hisham at a pace faster than lightning, quickly interjected with...

"Well that's more than perfectly okay. I mean we only but waited a whooping THIRTY MINUTES for you! That's totally incomparable to all the hours of the day we still have left with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE TO DO!"

The amount of sarcasm that dripped from each and every single syllable of Hisham's words made Hussein want to literally smash his head up against a solid brick wall at least once or maybe twice and he quickly took a step forward, wanting to come to Isma's defence and that too, by all rightful means because he very well knew, that she wasn't really at fault.

I mean, it was only but her first day!

They probably should have gotten someone to show her around the company but what however stopped him from speaking up for her and what ended up greatly impressing him was how Isma took it all with a straight face and what impressed him even a tad bit more was how she ended up apologising for something that wasn't entirely her mistake for the second or was it for the fourth time in a row since she had entered the room.

"I...I...I am sincerely very sorry, Sir. I promise that it will NEVER EVER happen again."

"NEVER? EVER? This is the THIRD time you are late! I wouldn't be choosing to use those two particular words if I were you!" exclaimed Hisham.

"Second!"

"Sorry what?!"

"It's only but the second time I am late, Sir!"

"Third!"

"Second!"

"Third!"

"Second!"

"Wow! Just wow! Who would have even thought that you ALSO don't know how to count?"

"Whatever do you mean by ALSO?"

"I mean like it's quite clear that you also don't know how to read or do you think that we are just going to choose to ignore the entire PUSH and PULL incident, like it never happened?

"It would have greatly helped if the door had actually been labelled to begin with!"

"Labelled with what? A NO ENTRY SIGN?"

Hussein most immediately got into a serious coughing fit having choked on plain air and in a quick bid to stop things from getting way out of hand, he asked...

"Guys, please can we at least TRY to pretend to get along?"

"NO!"

They both loudly blurted out in unison!

Isma then tightly shut her eyes, took in a long deep breath and then said...

"Sorry, I mean yes, Sir. We can TRY to get along but it's just that he is the one who starts it every single time!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

As much as he enjoyed every single bit of their bickering, Hussein still had all intentions whatsoever of remaining sane and therefore while palming his face he softly called out to them...

"Guys."

No answer!

Well, maybe a bit of sternness would do.

"GUYS!"

Nope! Not even a flinch!

He then resorted to being a bit more individual-specific.

"Isma?"

It was either him or the argument for her. She chose argument!

"Hisham?"

There was clearly only one more person existing in the room for Hisham and trust me when I say that it was definitely NOT Hussein!

"Isma and Hisham?"

Okay, why was he even trying?

Letting out one of the most overly exaggerated, not forgetting to mention; huge, long and a very much loud sigh, Hussein said in the most sarcastic tone ever...

"Okay, fine! Take your time! In fact, take all the time but just KINDLY let me know whenever you guys are done! Il just be here sitting and pretending not to exist! Actually, I don't even know why I should be pretending when I'm actually not existing for you guys in LITERAL sense!"

It was either...

The sigh or the sarcasm!

One of them seemed to have meticulously done the trick because they both quickly turned towards him and said...

"WE ARE DONE!"

"Are you both sure?"

"YES!"

"Like sure, sure?"

"YES!"

"No like really if you guys want to continue; you can go ahead. I really don't mind! We still have all day and even tomorrow and the day after, if need be!"

Turning to look at each other, both Isma and Hisham shared a very much intense though momentary eye lock and they both quickly opened their mouths to say something, deeply contemplated as whether to or not to and the only thing that finally ended up happening was Hisham silently gesturing for Isma to take a seat across from him on the conference table.

Not wanting to waste even a micro of a second more, Hussein; with all the agility he had to spare, quickly sprang from his seat to start an introductory presentation mainly for Isma and him turning his back to the both of them as he began talking, served as an immediate cue for Hisham to most excitedly delve into the humongous giant like carton he had earlier walked in with and had placed in the seat right in front him.

With his eyes brightly sparkling with nothing but immense delight, the very first thing he of course chose to pull out was...

A huge family pack of Oreos!

His very first loud crunchy bite was something that caught Isma's immediate attention and it would be a complete and utter lie to say that her mouth didn't hang and stay open for the next entire minute or so as she watched in great bewilderment as Hisham shoved one Oreo after the other into his mouth.

Then, him being Hisham, he of course had to take things to a whole new EXTRA level.

He once again reached out into the carton before him and this time much to Isma's immense bafflement, he pulled out a huge carton of milk and a glass!

Like what the actual fish?

Finding it all overly amusing, Isma quietly cleared out her throat as she tried to divert all her attention back to the presentation but seeing Hisham pull out a huge candy cane next, did it for her.

In a very much desperate attempt to hide her laughter, she deliberately pushed her ink pen off the table, bent down pretending to pick it and in the process, had one heck of a SILENT laugh.

Using a good amount of effort to best try sober herself, she sat back up after a good while only for her face to be filled with dismay the very second her eyes fell on the huge Dairy Milk Chocolate bar Hisham was currently holding in his hands.

She loved loved loved Dairy Milk!

She then let out a small sigh causing Hisham to look her way and for something like the umpteenth time that day; their eyes met once again but before they both averted their gazes, Hisham didn't at all fail to notice the immense longing in her eyes; causing him to quickly follow her gaze with his own, only for his eyes to finally come and settle on the huge chocolate bar that currently lay in his hands.

What?

HELL NO!

She was the last person on earth he would share his chocolate with!

Like no!

Never!

Nope!

Never gonna ever happen!

Okay fine!

Maybe just a little bit!

Rolling his eyes, he very much reluctantly broke the bar into two equal halves and trust me when I say he even much more reluctantly, slid it across the table towards her.

Greatly taken aback by his gesture and feeling greatly torn for a while as to whether or not she should accept something from her ENEMY; she too reluctantly reached out for it with trembling hands and just in time before Hussein turned round and excitedly said...

"Great! Now with the introductory part done, we can now move on to our new project which you both shall be working on!"

"Well, it's going to be a mall. The idea behind this particular project is similar to those streets lined up with only jewellery shops. Now imagine a mall only and only designated for jewellery shops. Something like a jewellery mall! You never know, people might even end up referring to it as that..."

Isma's eyes immediately brightly sparked up due to lots of interest and excitement and she quickly and very much unknowingly thought out loud...

"Wow, just imagine if the building gets to be shaped and coloured like an actual PEARL. Now that would be supercool!"

Hisham's head immediately snapped towards her, his eyes instantly seething with nothing but a hot burning fire.

Did she just say PEARL?

That word PEARL...

FLASHBACK...

One month!

Just but one month!

Their one month of being together...

THEIR ONE MONTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!

As cringe as it may sound for many, just the thought of it made Hisham's heart race ferociously against his chest and hot boiling blood immediately rushed to his cheeks as a shy laugh escaped his lips the very second, his beautiful wife stood on her toes and placed the tiniest of all kisses on his jaw and then whispered...

"Happy one-month anniversary, Hisham!"

"Happy one-month anniversary to you too, my love!"

He then pulled out for her a fairly large bouquet of a HUNDRED red roses that he had been hiding behind his back and his heart broke upon seeing how she barely gave them any sort of acknowledgment before throwing them down on the plush carpet.

An act of hers that he quickly ended up brushing off as a 'spur of the moment thing' the very second she tightly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him closer and closer and then gently called out to him...

"Hisham?"

"Yes, Habibty?"

"Where is my gift?"

"Gift?!

"Yes, gift!"

"I just gifted you a HUNDRED of the reddest of all roses, my love!"

"You gift me red roses every single day, Hisham..."

"These are different, Zulekha!"

"How are they different, Hisham? They are still roses! Red ones again for the thirtieth time this month!"

He smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, pulled her even more close, bridging the tiny gap that was remaining between them and while lovingly staring down at her, somewhat lost in her beautiful eyes, he said...

"These are different in the sense that they are a HUNDRED! That represents by how many folds my love has increased for you since you became mine! They also are the deepest red! That's how deeply and madly in love I am with YOU and only YOU!"

Not uttering even, a single word for the amount of love he had just professed for her, she gently laid her head against his chest making him to instantly bend down to place a hard loving kiss on her head and his heart quickly sank when the only thing she ended up doing in return was whining.

"I still want my gift, Hisham!"

"What gift, Habibty?"

"The one I have been hinting at all week!"

"What? What hints? You gave me no hints!"

"THE PEARL NECKLACE!"

"What?!"

"I even sent you its picture!"

"You said that you were sending that picture to a friend but accidentally ended up sending it to me!"

"Exactly! That was a HINT! Not everything is meant to be taken literally, Hisham!"

Raking his hand frustratedly through his hair, he let out a huge long loud sigh and then said...

"Habibty, it's only been a week since we came back from our honeymoon in the Maldives. I also just but got back on track at work. I PROMISE to buy it for you, I really do BUT not now."

"I want it, Hisham!"

"Zulekha, please."

"It's the store's LAST piece!"

"I PROMISE to buy you ALL their other future pieces! Just give me some time, please!"

Not at all wanting for the special moment they had seconds ago been sharing to get ruined, he quickly bent his head down wanting to kiss her cheek, with hope that it would make her forget only for her to quickly wriggle out of his arms and say...

"You promised me the world, Hisham!"

"Wrong! I promised you the Universe, Zulekha!"

"An empty one?"

Anger coursed through him for a split second and he forcefully pulled her back towards him, tightly locked his arms around her waist and then bent down to whisper in her ear...

"The Universe I promised you can never ever be EMPTY Zulekha because from the very second you became my wife, it became filled. It became filled with the most prized possession. My heart!"

Speaking of heart, she once again gently placed her head against his chest, a tiny gasp escaping her lips upon hearing how thunderously his heart was beating for her and while lovingly passing her hand over his heart, she looked up with lots of tears in her eyes and asked...

"Is this how I make you feel, Hisham?"

Gently getting hold of her hand, he brought it to his lips, kissed it hard and then replied...

"You make me feel this and much much more, Zulekha!"

"Then simply how can you DENY someone you feel so much for?"

"Habibty..."

"Please Hisham, please!"

Seeing tears in her eyes broke him to an unexplainable extent and he immediately began wiping away her tears using his thumb and without giving everything a second thought, he quickly blurted out...

"Let's go! Let's go that necklace!"

"What? Really, Hisham?"

"Yes! Now let's go!"

Seeing her happy made him happy and a small permanent smile couldn't help but glue itself on his face right from that very moment to every other moment thereafter.

However, there was one thing about this particular permanent smile of his...

It didn't quite reach his eyes!

As soon as they had gotten to the jewellery store and even before he had properly parked his car, she had hurriedly and very much excitedly gotten out of it, run down the street as fast as her legs could carry her; much to his amusement and the only thing she told him the second he joined her was...

"Everything's ready and packed, Hisham! You just have to pay!"

Getting out his wallet, he somewhat reluctantly reached out for a blue credit card and nothing but hot tears stained the corners of his eyes as soon as he handed it over to the cashier.

That...

That wasn't just any credit card!

That was a card whose every single cent held a memory!

Happy memories!

Memories of him and his brothers!

Every single year, right from a very young age, the three brothers had always look for a reason or for an occasion to gift each other with a greater part of their pocket money.

What he meant was that for instance, if it was his birthday, both Yasir and Khaleel would take out more than half of the pocket money and gift it to him.

It never really mattered what one did with the money but he, Hisham had always saved every penny of it!

Saved it with an intention to create a good cause for the less fortunate so that they too could be able to create their very own happy memories.

A good cause that would have been partaken by him and his brothers.

Knowingly for him and unknowingly for them!

Well, guess not all dreams always came true!

He ended up buying her the pearl necklace using the 'close to his heart childhood savings' and the second they had gotten back home, she had rushed towards their lounge's tall mirror, discarded the packaging on the floor and then quickly put on the necklace.

He leaned against the wall as he silently watched her and a loud gasp couldn't help but escape his lips upon seeing how breathtakingly beautiful she looked with the pearl around her neck.

Not being able to control himself, he quickly walked towards her, tightly wrapped his arms around her from behind and before he could even tell her how much she actually complimented the pearl, she pulled out of his embrace and said...

"Please Hisham! Not now! I need some much needed space!"

With that, she had quickly stormed off upstairs leaving a very much heart broken, speechless and dejected husband behind.

With a sad sigh, he had picked up the discarded packaging from the floor and as he threw them away into the trash can, he couldn't help but feel the very same way as the contents of the can.

He felt exactly like...

TRASH!

TO BE USED AND THROWN AWAY!

***

Pearls!

He hated pearls.

He hated women even more!

Slamming his hands violently onto the conference table and with his voice laced with nothing but pure venom, he shouted...

"What? Baba, so you're just going to accept that hideous idea of hers of having the mall shaped like a Pearl?"

To say that both Hussein and Isma were utterly shocked with Hisham's sudden and very much uncalled for outburst, would be a complete understatement and before Hussein could even say anything, Isma was the one to quickly reply...

"That was just a mere random thought I had, like what? A whole five minutes ago?"

Totally choosing to ignore her entire existence, Hisham let out a very much loud and sarcastic laugh and then said...

"You know what? It's actually a pretty good idea if you put some thought to it. It probably would help do a great amount of business for anyone who plans to open a shop there. You know why? The Pearl! That's just but enough to attract all the USELESS women to the mall. In fact, no need for marketing even..."

Each and every single word of his hit home for Isma and she too slammed her hands onto the table and with her eyes flaming with a hot burning fire, she asked...

"Excuse me? Whatever do you take women for?"

"I take them EXACTLY for who and what they truly are!"

"What would that be?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't have the heart to hear it!"

Feeling greatly agitated, the only thing Isma did was let out a frustrated huff and then say...

"Well, just know that whatever you take women for is EXACTLY what I take every single man out there to be as well!"

A look of disbelief immediately settled all over Hisham's face and he slowly crossed his arms over his chest, let out a small laugh and then asked...

"Whatever problem could you be having with MEN?"

"Well I doubt we have the time because trust me, it will take us the entire day, if I do choose to start!"

"ONLY a day? Well, for me it would take us months! Months to even try describe just a single second!"

They then both angrily stared at each other.

Both of them knowing how it truly felt deep down.

Both of them wanting to scream their lungs out.

Both of them having hidden tears in their eyes.

However, there was only one difference...

They both didn't know that the other knew and felt the very same way!

Feeling utterly wasted and with a slight tremble in her voice, Isma turned towards Hussein and said...

"I am really sorry Sir but I cannot at all work with him!"

"Well, it's very much likewise from my end too," said Hisham.

Hussein simply disapprovingly shook his head and then said...

"He is your Boss, Isma. You will have to learn to work with him!"

"Exactly! You heard him! He said BOSS. I am your BOSS and YOU, you're FIRED!"

"You cannot fire her, Hisham!"

"And why not?"

"I hired her! I will fire her! Simple!"

"Well then I am sorry Baba but you will have to choose. Either me or her!"

"I choose both!"

"That's IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Well, there is a POSSIBLE even in IMPOSSIBLE, Hisham!"

Hussein then moved away from the head of the table, came to stand very much close to the both of them and then said...

"How about we all take a lunch break since it's very much close to time? Let's all go steam off and then get back to work? I will mail the both of you the rest of the details."

They both then silently stood up, both feeling somewhat ashamed for what had transpired and both knowing that, that was not who they truly were deep within.

Hisham made it to the door before her and as he held it open for her, they couldn't help but share one more of their hidden eye locks.

An eye lock that tried best to decipher to the other that they both weren't what the other thought them to be!

Just before they both stepped out, Hussein quickly stopped them; remained silent for a while and then said...

"Guys, it's quite clear that you both have a whole lot of 'differences' but I am pretty much sure that you both also have at least one thing in common if not many."

"FIND THAT ONE THING!"

***

PLEASE DO VOTE AND COMMENT.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE WRITTEN IN A WHILE.

I REALLY STRUGGLED TO WRITE AND YOU MIGHT NOTICE A LITTLE DISCONNECT HERE AND THERE!

ANYWAYS, I REALLY HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

ASALAM ALEIKUM.