"How could it be that he could hear and understand my silence so perfectly?"- Isma Taib.

Hisham Hosseini!

The old Hisham Hosseini!

The carefree Hisham Hosseini!

That's all a very much dumbfounded Ethan was reminded of as he watched Hisham prop himself on the company's much extravagant reception desk and with his eyes fully set out on the entrance, as those of a hawk waiting for its prey, he said...

"Correctly define the word LATE!"

Quite taken aback by the much impromptu question, Ethan remained silent, totally clueless but all he really had to do, to be able to answer correctly, was to follow Hisham's eyes that were fully glued on the entrance and notice how they immediately lit up like sparks, the very second Isma walked in through the revolving glass doors just but a minute late.

Oblivious to the fact that his aura took a complete turn within seconds, Hisham wasted absolutely no time in loudly calling out to her...

"Miss Taib!"

A strange kind of a warm fuzzing feeling immediately gushed through his entire body and he quickly passed his hand over his beard multiple times, in an attempt to hide a laugh, the very second he saw how strongly she rolled her eyes upon noticing him.

Her every step towards him felt like forever and he looked everywhere but at her, not at all being able to wait for it to go down between them.

Boy had he been glad that she had actually walked in late.

Again!

Even it was just by a minute!

Petty?

Yes, pretty much and he very much knew it but then again he hadn't wasted all morning in the shower, thinking of some really fiery comebacks just for nothing!

So if you could all please, just excuse him!

She reluctantly greeted him, her voice nothing short of a feather like whisper, something that was just so not her which caused Hisham's eyes to fall on her briefly and the very next thing he did was to jump off the reception desk and with a voice filled with nothing but immense concern, he asked...

"Miss Taib, are you okay?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Sir! Never been better!"

He didn't believe her at all!

Not even for a second!

Letting out a small cough, she uncomfortably shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her eyes strongly fixated on the ground and in a bid to read right through her much more clearly, he said...

"I hope you do realise that you're late once again, Miss Taib!"

No response!

"That too by a MINUTE!"

She looked up, her eyes meeting his dark ones for a split second afterwich she quickly looked back down in an attempt to hide the tears that were threatening to stain her eyes and with a voice that was once again barely a whisper, she said...

"Sorry!"

Sorry?

Just sorry?

What?

Was that it?

Excuse me?

Someone please...

Not at all knowing why he felt so frustrated by her indifference, frustrated him a tad bit, if not a whole lot more, causing him to rake his hands through his hair numerous times.

Wait...

Why was this even bothering him?

Why did he even care?

I mean, he had barely met her three days ago!

She was supposed to make no difference to him!

No one was supposed to make any difference to him!

Most especially a woman!

That's what he had promised himself!

That's what he had very much religiously stuck to for the past four years!

Then why the sudden change now?

You know what?

Reality check!

Feigning another one of his signature expressionless faces, he crossed his arms over his chest and with a tiny winy bit of hope still reigning deep down within the chambers of his heart, he said in the meanest way he could possibly pull off...

"Yes! You should be sorry! Very very sorry! This is like I don't know, the fifth time you're late in like what? Just three days?"

"Sorry, Sir!"

What?

Again that so called 'sorry'?

No!

He didn't want her to be sorry!

At all!

Ever!

He just wanted her to...

Wait!

What?!

Hadn't he just given himself a whole ass TED talk about this like what? A second ago?

Ugh!

Loudly clearing out his throat, he pretentiously rolled his eyes at her so called 'sorry' and with a face that now meant nothing but pure business, he said...

"Anyways, we have a site visit today. Let's go!"

She looked up only to see his already retreating back and all she could really do was meekly follow him while trying her best to keep up with his overly long strides.

To say that she was somewhat breathless by the time they got to the car park would be quite an understatement only for him to further take her breath away the second he help open the car's backdoor for her.

He always did this!

Opened doors for her!

Yusuf on the other hand...

Closed them!

Closed them behind him and only she knew of the grave things that transpired behind.

"The site visit is very much today, Miss Taib!"

Her thoughts were quickly cut short by his much firm voice and she quickly got into the car, her hastiness causing her to somewhat plop onto the backseat which was nothing short of salt to her still very much fresh, wounds and bruises.

Closing her eyes, she bit her lips as tightly as she could, in order to prevent herself from screaming from the pain but despite her immense effort, a small tiny wince still managed to escape her lips.

A small tiny wince that didn't at all go unheard by Hisham!

Gently closing the door behind her, he stood still, an empty expression on his face but deep down inside, everything was the complete opposite of the word empty!

His entire being was filled with questions!

Many many questions!

A wince!

A wince simply meant pain!

Pain simply meant hurt!

She was hurt!

How? Why? What? Where? When?

Tears continuously trickled down Isma's pretty face due to the immense pain she was experiencing and she very much hastily kept wiping them away in an attempt to hide them from Hisham, thinking that he would join her in the car any passing second.

The seconds however turned into minutes.

Still quite teary eyed, she did a quick search for him through the car's heavily tinted windows, only to find him standing quite close but by the side, somewhat lost in very deep thought but at the same time, he seemed to be very much patiently waiting for someone.

Waiting for who?

Right upon that very moment, realisation dawned upon her!

Hisham and her had never been alone together!

Ever!

Well, the only one time it had almost happened, was on the day of her interview but even then, Hussein Hosseini had barged in only but a few seconds later.

Either, the universe had its way with it!

Or maybe, just maybe...

Hisham Hosseini himself, simply didn't allow it!

Which was really which?

Also, why did the simple thought of the latter make her stomach greatly churn and make her heart do multiple flips?

If you actually came to think of it, every small attempt by Hisham to keep them apart, seemed to only but magnetically pull Isma closer and closer towards him whereas every attempt by her fiancé- Yusuf to try to get closer and closer to her only but seemed to magnetically repel her further and further away!

Hisham Hosseini and Yusuf Ali!

More like day and night!

Wait...

Why on earth was she even comparing them?

They were both men!

Equals!

Meaning they were both simply the same!

Isn't it?

Yeah right!

Also, wow Isma, wow! Who would have ever thought that she would actually start lying to herself and that too in broad daylight?

Well, the bottom line here was that she hated men!

They both were men, right?

Yes, they were and that was it!

Period!

But then again...

Hisham Hosseini!

Aaargh!

Just what was it with the guy?

Why was he like a mystery?

A mystery she seemed to be very much willing to unravel?

Why was he like a hard covered book?

One that screamed not to be judged and one she seemed very much willing to read chapter by chapter, word by word?

What?!

Just what were these thoughts?

The hell?!

Luckily or unluckily for her, her these very much questionable thoughts, were abruptly cut short by the sound of extremely loud laughter and a small smile couldn't help but light her much dull face, the very second her eyes fell on the laughing trio of Hisham, Yasir and Khaleel or much more simply and accurately put...

The Hosseini Brothers!

As much as she tried her very best not to, she couldn't help but watch them with great amusement, their conversation unfortunately being very much out of earshot but that didn't at all stop her from involuntarily laughing along with them, barely two minutes into their conversation.

Whatever their conversation was!

You all know those times when...

The laughter is much funnier than the joke?

That's exactly how one could describe Khaleel's laughter!

It was as ridiculous and as infectious as it could get!

No wonder she was laughing her heart out despite being a mile away!

They laughed and laughed and she too laughed and laughed along with them- the most she had ever laughed her entire life but what however stole her entire being away and that too in barely a second was...

The Bromance!

Like what in the world was that?

Was it just a Hosseini thing?

Why didn't she have this with her sisters?

She had two sisters too!

Her heart broke just by thinking about it only for it to break more and more as she came up with not only one but millions of reasons as to why this could never be them.

Let's just begin with her younger sister being a complete snitch!

She couldn't dwell much on these newly germinated thoughts because what caught her eye almost immediately causing her mouth to remain wide open and that too for quite some time was Khaleel pulling out an entire stack of sandwiches from the inside of this three piece suit!

Huh?!

The sandwiches ended up being gobbled faster than they had surfaced but what ended up disappearing even faster than that were the three brothers themselves.

In a state of complete confusion, Isma looked around quite bewildered only for all her confusion to get cleared the very second Hussein Hosseini opened the passenger's side door and as he got into the car, he said...

"Asalam Aleikum, Isma."

"Waleikum salam, Sir!"

"How are you this morning?"

"I am good, Sir! What about you?"

"Alhamdullilah!"

Blood rushed up her cheeks due to embarrassment for not replying in the same way and she quietly stared down at her nails for what felt like the longest time ever, only to quickly look up the second Hisham entered the car and took his place on the driver's seat.

Their eyes met again briefly for the umpteenth time that day, only for him to quickly look away, put on his Ray Bans and then reverse the car without saying a word.

Isma let out a sigh as she rested her head against her seat, completely oblivious to the fact that she was about to get briefed on some...

Driver Seat Rules!

Mind you this time the driver being none other than...

HISHAM HOSSEINI HIMSELF!

***

PLEASE DO VOTE AND COMMENT!

I HOPE YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER!

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LONGER BUT THAT WOULD MEAN THAT I WOULD TAKE EVEN LONGER TO UPDATE.

I PROMISE YOU THAT I TRY EVERYDAY TO UPDATE BUT THINGS ALWAYS COME UP IN MY LIFE THAT REFRAIN ME FROM DOING SO.

I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND PATIENCE.

THANK YOU!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

ASALAM ALEIKUM.