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Naira's new office was already set up for her when she walked in on the first day, a small office close to her grandfather's, white walls, desks, and floor, each cleaned until left spotless. A chain of lights glided from wall to wall, a picture frame portraying a simple daisy.

She idly rubbed a small smudge on her desk, smiling when it was just as spotless as before. 

All that rested on her desk were a few ballpoint pens, sticky notes, an organized calendar, and her silver laptop, a fine addition to her plain office. Naira loved simplicity, not finding reasons to adapt a bold, tawdry style where an overwhelming amount of furniture would make her new workplace a tangled heap of distractions. 

She had a goal set and a plan to achieve it. 

"So, I see you're fitting in nicely," said a husky voice from the door. 

Naira didn't need to look up to know who it was. "What do you want, Rayan?" she asked, expression bored as she glanced through her new emails. "As you can tell, I'm busy."

Without needing an invitation, she heard the shuffling of footsteps as his shadow towered over her seated position and keyboard. Annoyed, Naira tilted her head, staring at him with the same impassive visage, lips set in a frown. 

Rayan's eyes gleamed like pearls hidden by the ocean's embrace, his eyes a blend of a forest given life through a rainstorm, cloudy and precise, yet gentle with a touch of longing. His lips curled into a smile, slow and sweet, the type to make ice melt on a wintry day, to heat the glaciers that threatened his path. 

Slipping a hand into his pocket, he took a step back, putting some distance between them. "You can never be too busy for a talk with one of the sexiest men alive," he winked, flashing a lustrous grin. 

She leaned back against her seat, arms crossed. "Really, now?" she said as her eyes swept across her room. "Let me know when you see him."

Instead of the bruised ego and fallen expression that she was expecting, his grin only widened, his eyes full of mirth as the creases around his eyes deepened, voice letting out a melodious chuckle, deep, refreshing, and revitalizing. For a moment, her guard was down, and shock filled her. 

How is he taking my insult so well? This isn't supposed to happen. Ya Allah, who is this man? 

"You're pretty cold," he said, still smiling. "It's a nice breath of fresh air."

"Why are you still talking to me?"

"Because..." he trailed off, a nervous fidget added to his confident stand. "Well... I..."

"If you're going to fall apart at a simple question, I'd prefer it if you left. I have some documents to prepare."

"You intrigue me," he blurted out, eyes wide as if in disbelief. Rayan cleared his throat, straightening. "I mean, I'm sure you get that a lot given how beautiful you are. I mean... no. That's not what I meant to say." Rayan groaned, a hand sliding down his face. "Man, I'm such an idiot."

At this, Naira cracked a smile, laughing quietly at Rayan's sad attempt to fumble for a liable excuse. She was never one to pay attention to silly pickup lines or men tripping over their feet to get her number. If anything, she couldn't remember a time that some man lost the words in his mouth just by glancing at her. 

"I don't think you're an idiot," she said gently. "I think you're an awful flirt, but then again how would you be a successful member of a boy band if you weren't?"

"Wait, you think I'm just flirting with you?" 

Naira pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, eyes darting back to her laptop. She wasn't sure why his question prickled her skin with a crawling dread, making the light in their conversation dissipate into dust and far into the cold, rigid air.

Perhaps it was that Rayan really was a flirt and a man that only saw the persona she played on the outside, the pillar of strength she emulated every day in an effort to be noticed for her intellect. 

Yet there was always a vulnerable part that wanted to be seen as any other woman, as someone who enjoyed a few compliments, as someone who people could befriend and hangout with. She shared that type of relationship with a few people in her life, but there were days she wished to be in the spotlight instead of on the sidelines. 

Being a prop behind the scenes was never fun, nor was it energizing and lively. 

She tried to focus her gaze back to her screen, the unread emails seeming less interesting now. Just stare at them until he leaves, she told herself. Pretend he doesn't exist.

Rayan noticed her silence. "Hey, Naira?"

"Yeah."

"It's okay to let loose sometimes. It's okay to enjoy banter," he whispered so low that she felt his voice touch her skin, making goosebumps appear as her fingers stilled above her keyboard. "I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm fine."

"And I'm not just flirting with you," he emphasized. 

A defensive wall rose to barricade her emotions once more, caging the ache that resided in her chest. "I didn't ask," she stated, meeting his gaze fiercely. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. I understand."

His visage twisted in uncertainty, eyes cloudy with his ambivalence, but he decided to drop the subject. "If you insist," he said, gaze soft as he stared into hers. "I'm sorry about disturbing your work."

She tightly smiled. "Don't worry about it. Is there anything else you need?"

He shook his head. "No, I'll be going now."

As she watched his retreating back, Naira wondered why the tense air suffocated her, why his fleeting footsteps dented her heart, and why his wistful eyes imprinted themselves within her. Words were left unspoken between them, the hypothetical hanging loosely like a string unraveling from a ball of emotions. 

Ya Allah, what's happening to me?

----

You swoon, you sigh, why deny it , uh-oh!

Can't wait till I put the Disney references in. Dina would be so proud of me. 

Anyone else swooning over Rayan attempting to flirt with an ice queen? 

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


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