Sadique 3

'Lunch is on me today'

'Lunch and dinner is reserved for my husband and twins',

'It really is hard to find you, isn't it? How about brunch, tomorrow at 11, before you get the twins? Don't run away from this one. Or else I will kidnap you' Sadique laughed out knowing that he might be accompanied by a barrage of 'life lessons' and a refusal.

'11 am is game. But no kidnapping. What are you, the mafia?' she quipped before cutting off the conversation.

After the audit task, she and Sadique had become friends, one could even say best friend. They would hangout together or with her husband whenever they could. He was easy to get along with, never made sexist joke, had an awesome sense of human and their conversations were easy to navigate through, from the most mundane like the dire of consequences of cheating on her salonist and the most serious like politics, the money market and family. His company was comforting and he was her harshest critique at times when she was about to do something stupid. What she liked about him was the fact that he was like an open book and never sugarcoated his disapproval. He liked something or didnt like it. He was decisive and would never stand on the sidelines. It felt like encountering another version of herself. Only that it was male.

The fluidity between them was so natural one could think that they had been working together for quite a long time. Everyone else except them could notice the spark between them, even Paul could. In a spark of jealousy, Paul burst out. Being a passive aggressive person, Paul raised the issue as a normal by the way conversation.

'Hey, you never do that for me', Paul complained.

'Do what?'

'Order my drink with that kind of detail'

'Well, that is because your drink and mine are different. His drink and mine are similar and he likes it the way I like it.'

'Even the snacks?'

'Snacks are just snacks Paul'

'You never specify the flavor I like'

'Oh, I don't?'

'Yeah, you don't'

'Oh'

The conversation ended with an 'oh'. They were not sure if it was an 'oh' in realization of a new fact or an 'oh' to close the conversation. Later, after complaints that she spent more time with Sadique, she cut down on the occasions they can meet. Not because she felt that what she was doing was wrong but to keep Paul's heart at ease. The brunch was the first meet up they would be having after two weeks of seeing each other. They both arrived at the same time at the underground parking lot of the Cafe. Standing in front of him, she captured his tie thereby forcing him to kneel towards her. Still puzzled and fearful of her next step, she caught his head in a playful neck lock.

'Why! This little brat' he exclaimed while trying to extricate himself from the neck lock. He caught a whiff of her subtle yet pleasant scent and thought that he would not mind a lifetime of her neck locks. He dismissed the thought as soon as it materialized and applied more strength to get her off him. Holding her arms and getting them off his neck, he found himself holding onto her shoulders and staring into her beautiful glimmering eyes. Stunned, he felt like he was sinking into them. He was called back to reality by tiny hands waving at his face. Subconsciously, he caught the arms in his, brought them down and uttered a hoarse 'let's go', omitting the words 'before I do something I might regret'. On her part, once his strong and fair hands caught hers, she had been entranced and only came to after the reminder that they should get going.

The brunch was only awkward at the beginning but the atmosphere was broken by their random conversations which extended to almost 12.00 when she got a reminder that she had to pick up the twins. Sadique watched her run out with a complicated gaze. He thought she looked adorable while running in a flurry and flustered. He struck down the thought wondering why he kept noticing the minute actions of his friend's woman. The two immersed themselves in work, with one forgetting her momentary trance and the other tormented by his thoughts that kept revolving around the woman. That was regardless of the work pile.

They did not realize how far they fell for each other. All they knew was that they were unable to stamp down this feeling. One evening, they were discussing the final phase of the audits and the direction the accounts would take. While listening to his quarterly plan, she was mesmerised by his genius and ruffled his hair muttering a playful good boy. Her eyes glimmered in admiration as her hands messed up with his hair. Lost in those eyes, he gently held the moving hand in place, stood up and met her lips. He softly nibbled at them before gently kissing her. His other hand held her neck as he gently took in her test. Unaware and her eyes closed, reciprocated the gentle kiss that made her feel like she was floating on fluffy clouds, her free hand clutching the sides of his shirt. Music tore through the room and on impulse, she pushed him away. Flustered, she took her backpack and phone and got out of the office, forgetting her laptop which they had been using during work. The only thought that ran through Sadique's mind as he stared at the wall while running his hands through his hair was how much he had messed up.