- Noor's POV -

I'm waiting in the lounge, flipping through some magazines. Many of them have Mr. Yasir Khan's face plastered on them: Harvard Business Review, Forbes, WIRED, The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, Entrepreneur.

This is... insane. These are top notch business magazines. Even getting a small section in one of these is a big deal, let alone a cover shoot.

"Ms. Malik?" A male voice calls out.

I turn around and nod. His face looks so familiar.

"Good morning." He flashes a charming smile. "I'll be training you today and helping you through some paper work. My name is L—"

Suddenly, it hits me. "Lateef? Lateef Asad?"

He was taken back. "Yes...? How do you know?"

Oh, shit. This isn't good. Why did I say the name out loud?

Stupid Noor!

"I–uh–I went to the same high school as you. I was a sophomore when you were a senior." I quickly say.

He raises a brow, waiting for me to explain how I know him specifically.

"Oh, please. Don't pretend like you and your group of friends weren't the most popular people at that school." I say.

In reality, I had the fattest crush on him for two years.

Two. Whole. Years.

Maybe even after that because right now, my stomach keeps fluttering and I need it to stop. He still looks just as handsome but more grown up.

"Were we that popular?" His tone laced with amusement.

"You were. You knew it and loved every second of that popularity." I laugh.

"Man, I wasn't that self-centred." He chuckles. "I haven't come across many people from that high school after graduating. Noor Malik, right?"

"Correct." I nod.

"Glad to see a fellow Weston Wolf doing well for herself." He says.

"Please don't refer to us like that. I always found that cringey." I dramatically shield my face with my hand as a joke.

We went to Weston High School. The school was a mix of rich, privileged kids mixed with upper-middle class kids because there wasn't any snobby, wealthy private school close enough so those snobby, wealthy kids had to mingle with normal people. And our mascot was wolves.

Weston Wolves. Sounds weird to me.

Oh, and can anyone tell I really hated it at that school?

"Awe, come on. No school spirit?" He frowns.

"Do I look like someone with school spirit?" I sigh. "Besides, I hated that school anyways. I was so glad to be out. That high school was toxic as hell."

"Oh, Ms. Malik is Ms. Mad, Who Holds Grudges." He laughs.

Ya Allah, he still has that wonderful laugh.

"Forever." I smile.

"Now that we are well aquatinted, shall we begin?" He says.

I nod as he explains he'll take me on a tour of the office first.

It took us three hours and a half to explore only 30% to maybe 40% of the office. He said I don't have to care much about the other parts of the building unless directly instructed to care.

When we stop at the cafeteria on the main floor, he explains how it works.

After we finish the food, we scan the barcode at the bottom of the tray to have it charged to our employee account and we can either insert our employee card or our own cash/card to pay.

You can't cheat the system either because the cafeteria lady scans your employee pass after taking your order so you'll be charged either way. The machine just confirms it so you can pay for it at the end of your meal.

Again, this is awesome.

He motions for me to take a seat in front of him at the cafeteria table.

"You guys are really high tech." I comment after examining many of their machinery.

"Yasir insists we be the best of the best. He's too much of a perfectionist." He says.

"He looks like a complete robot unless someone says something he doesn't like, then he acts like an asshole." I think back at the time at the shawarma place.

I gasp realizing I just called my boss an asshole to the man who works for him. I really did that to myself.

Stupid Noor!

"I'm so sorry. My words just slipped up. I didn't—"

Lateef bursts into a fit of laughter. "I'm upset that I didn't know you in high school. You're quite funny."

"Of course you didn't know me. First, I was a sophomore. Second, you were a part of the rich kids crew. We lived in two different worlds but in the same school."

"I–I guess you're right." He says, feeling stumped.

"No need to feel bad. I'm glad I went through all of high school unnoticed. It was better for my mental health that way." I wink.

Would've been nice if you noticed me though.

"Definitely would've been nice if I knew you though." He says and my heart skipped a beat because it sounded like he heard my inner thoughts. "Most of the people around me were boring and bland."

As we have lunch, I notice a lot of the women staff members passing by. They're always in and out of the building in their perfectly kept bun, business attire and luxurious heels.

I look down at my clothes, realizing I stick out like a sore thumb. Why did my dumbass decide to wear casual attire to an extravagant office?

But there's something else that's sitting uneasy with me... the women–they all look so similar. If I didn't think hard enough, I wouldn't be able to distinguish them at first look. They all have the similar dark brown hair, similar outfits, even similar face structures.

"You look fine. It's not even your official work day yet." Lateef reassures me.

He's probably seen be frantically looking around at everyone else.

"I'm supposed to look good everyday? That's going to be tougher than the actual job." I say.

He laughs again. "You're seriously funny! I'm sure Yasir will like you."

I forgot I'm supposed to work for Mr. Yasir Khan and not Lateef. Sort of disappointed he's not my boss, but also sort of glad because I'd be blushing all the time like a school girl since he's my literal school girl crush.

"Shall we move onto your workspace?" He asks. "Then, we'll go over your work contract, if that's okay."

I nod excitedly.

• • •

My desk is right outside of Mr. Yasir Khan's office. It's a large enough desk to make the space feel spacious and comfortable. I think I'll really enjoy my time at this desk just because of the privacy. It's separated from the rest of the office because it falls between the hallway and his office. Even to get to the hallway, there's a door. So technically, I have my own office.

"Just tap your employee card on the corner of the desk and you'll be clocked into the system. Tap your card again to punch out for break, then tap again once you're back from break to have the system calculate your break time. And then at the end of your shift—"

"Tap again to clock out. Got it." I finish the sentence.

He tells me to take a seat and he takes a seat opposite to me.

"Breaks that are 60 minutes and under are paid." He smiles.

"Seriously? Woah!" I say in a genuinely surprised tone.

I've never heard of such a long paid break. But then again, this company is flourishing, Mash'Allah.

As he explains my contract in detail; he mentions details such as, contract expiration (which expires in one year and can be renewed), payment for overtime (the moment I work outside of my designated shift, I get paid a time and a half!), employee benefits, and the list goes on.

"Good afternoon, Lateef." A voice calls out.

We look up and it's Mr. Yasir Khan. I'm going to refer to him as Mr. Yasir, instead of Mr. Khan, to not confuse him with his father.

"Ay! It's my favourite person!" Lateef grins.

Mr. Yasir ignores my existence at first until Lateef brings me to his attention.

"This is your new secretary, Noor Malik." He introduces me like I have never met Mr. Yasir.

He only nods in my direction and I just stare. How do you respond to a nod? Nod back?

Where's a small greeting? It wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Oh, come on, Yasir. Don't be such a bummer. Guess what? She's from our high school!"

Our high school? Mr. Yasir went to our high school?

He raises a brow. "And?"

"You two were friends in high school?" I blurt out the question.

"If you knew me, you knew him and vice versa. We were inseparable."

I start thinking. "Oh my God, he's Yasu?"

Lateef nods enthusiastically. "Yes!"

He doesn't look like what he did in high school. I wouldn't have recognized him even if I wanted too... maybe that's why something in my mind went off when I saw him at the shawarma place.

I do know him! He used to be a funny kid, full of life. A lot like Lateef.

He didn't look like what he looks like now though. Not that he looked bad. He was good looking, just on the skinny and sort of pale side. He had a geeky, cute look going for him. But everyone loved him; he was funny and sociable, always referred to him as Yasu.

Now... now he looks like he jumped out of a modelling magazine; he could compete with the likes of runway models or athletes. His body is jacked up and his aura is strictly business.

What happened to him?

"Do not ever bring up that name, do you understand?" His tone of his voice is deadly.

I gulp. "Y-yes, sir."

"Don't be so hard on her, Yasir. That's what everyone in high school knew you as."

"I'm Mr. Yasir Khan here, Lateef. There's no more Yasu and there never will be." His brown eyes darken with anger.

The tension in the air became extremely constricting.

"I'm looking forward to be working with you, sir." I say to break the tension.

"We will see if you look forward to it for long." And with that, he leaves to go back to his office.

"He's no fun." I comment.

"No, not anymore." Lateef sighs.

- - -

- A/N -

• I'm bringing in some high school past stuff along with the present time. Should be fun! 😗✌🏼

• This corona thing has me on house arrest and I'm LOVING it! 🤣

Next Update: Every Friday and Saturday, Insha'Allah!

Please vote and comment and let me know how y'all feel!!