When Naira walked into the office, scrolling through her phone, she did not expect the scene in front of her.

"Naira!" yelled a chorus of deep voices as footsteps shuffled towards her.

She glanced up, raising a brow at the worried expressions on their faces. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"We thought you were going to quit," explained Wesley. "We are so sorry we weren't more careful about the media. We usually are, but for some reason they slipped past and-"

Kyle elbowed him in the ribs. "Stop rambling. She's already had a rough night."

Naira shrugged. "It's alright. No use crying over spilled milk," she dismissed, resuming her walk to her office.

The three men were hot on her tail. Rayan was unusually quiet, but she didn't spare him a glance because she knew the second she met his gaze, her vulnerability would shine through. He'd decipher her silence and indifference.

"I swear to you Naira, we checked every security footage to see who leaked the video of you talking to Rayan. We even went on social media to tell our fans to stand down," said Wesley, making Naira turn to him with a pause. "We are so sorry. You have no idea how awful we feel."

Kyle nodded in agreement, fingers tugging at his disheveled locks of blonde hair. Frustration was evident and written across his forehead in stress lines as he pursued his lips, visibly disturbed by the social media uproar. "They never did this with our old manager," he muttered to himself. "I have no idea why our fans freaked at you for talking to Rayan."

At this, Naira smiled even though it didn't reach her eyes. She knew the answer. "Your other manager was a non-Muslim man, not exactly a threat to fangirls," she said in a hushed tone, noticing the whispers of her grandfather's employees again. Exhaling deeply, she turned her office door knob. "It's okay. The talk will die down eventually. For now, just focus on your upcoming music video."

Before she could hear another word from either Wesley or Kyle, she entered her office, anxiety coursing through her veins like a poison and her breaths were uneven. She didn't want them to worry because none of it was their fault, nor was it hers. Working with an international pop band meant she would be subject to criticism, and she accepted it.

Yet the lingering pain of people denouncing her name, her religion, and everything she stood for still clawed her internally like a strife to an enervated body. Her family spent the whole morning cheering her up, reminding her of all her accomplishments, and she put up a smile, hiding her tears with her head down.

She cried so much on her father's shoulder that her eyes were dry.

A gentle knock hit her door, jolting Naira back to reality.

Turning on her heel, she saw Rayan leaning against the doorway, watching her with sympathetic eyes, a calming sea to the storm that raged within. The gentleness of his gaze brought heat to her cheeks, the intensity of his stare causing the sheer veil of vulnerability to slip, cascading into layers of cloth as her emotions were open as if he could read her like a book.

Feeling impatient, Naira snapped. "What?"

His eyes never lost their kindness. "You can't scare me away," he whispered, voice so low, so warming like a jar of honey that she almost melted. Rayan pushed himself off the doorframe, approaching her. "You can try, but I'm not going anywhere."

She scoffed, placing her purse down on her chair. "You don't know what you're talking about."

He chuckled, the sound rumbling towards her in heated waves and engulfing her in their soothing melody, a comfort and pleasure wrapped in one. "I'm sure I don't," he smiled, pocketing his hands in his Nike hoodie. "But I know that you're an amazing manager. I was so happy talking to you that I didn't take my surroundings into consideration."

"I told you, it's okay. I'm not blaming anyone."

"I wish you'd blame me."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What type of reasoning is that?"

"Because if you blamed me, then you wouldn't be doubting yourself or your abilities. You'd tease me for being cocky like you always do or tell me to shut up when I overstepped my bounds," he whispered, staring at her with hooded eyes. "I'm so sorry, Naira. It was my fault."

"Rayan-" she started on a sigh, tired of repeating herself.

"I meant what I said. You're amazing, and you didn't deserve to pay for my mistake." He averted his gaze to the floor, head hung in shame. She could tell the rumors online were cooking into a ballast of tension for him.

"Rayan, shut up."

His head snapped up, eyes narrowed.

"I don't blame you, and you shouldn't blame yourself either. It was an honest mistake." She studied him for a bit, his excessive need to be apologetic mind-boggling to her. "Now, if you don't shut up and let me work, we'll be talking about a few other things."

He threw his head back in a chuckle. "Don't be like that, Manager. I'm clearly your favorite member of the band," he winked.

"Glad to see you back to your annoying self, now if you don't mind," she pointed at the door. "I have a lot to catch up on."

"There was another reason I came in here."

Naira was going to scream. How did he keep finding more reasons to disturb her schedule? She was behind as it was, and now there was more on her list.

"Just say it," she grouched, falling onto her chair with a groan as she glanced up at him.

"The director that casted me for the Pharaoh role wanted you to be on set."

"Why?"

Rayan shrugged. "He had some details he wanted to discuss. I don't know. I'm just the messenger."

"Fine, text me the details." She noticed that Rayan still didn't move from his position, simply observing her with deep eyes, an attempt to lure her with the vastness of his soothing gaze. "Did you need anything else?"

Her voice snapped him from his daze, and a large grin spilled across his lips, white teeth shimmering in her office like stars dazzling a galaxy in their brilliance. "Can't a man admire beauty?" he asked, full of mirth.

"Out."

He went laughing the entire way.

----

Hoodie season all the way. I am in my element :D

I have a lab in the morning, and here I am awake when I should be sleeping. My mother does right by scolding me.

Rayan and Naira don't even need a bunch of dialogue to be iconic. They're so funny XD

What do you think the director wants?

Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!