THE DATE (1)

"Zaya, my love…Soon…" Zafar teased as he headed for the exit too.

Zafar left the store to go about his daily business. Zaya waved the conversation she just had with Zafar out of her mind. It did mean much to her, it was just Zafar being his usual self and teasing her like always. Zafar also calling her 'my love' didn't mean anything to her. Zafar liked to address her with endearment and every of her employees was well aware. They did not in the slightest think that they were both dating but found it to be a normal thing for the two of them considering how far their relationship had gone.

Zafar and Zaya had been business partners for so long that they had practically become friends. Zafar would usually address Zaya with names like; My love, My world, My Queen, Habibi, My Star….

To Zaya, it wasn't anything but to Zafar, deep within himself, he knew just how much meaning those words had.

As Zafar left the store, Zaya also busied herself with her duties. She had a meeting with her accountant. Payday was approaching fast and she needed to calculate all her incomes as well as stock up on some items that were not in the store.

As Zaya did her work, so did Kabir. Today was a Friday and Kabir usually closed early from work on a Friday. He would always be back home by seven p.m. On Kabir's weekends which consisted of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Kabir usually spends it all at home with Zaya. Although he would stay at home on weekends, he didn't really engage in a conversation or anything with Zaya. He would usually be locked up in his room all day long.

But Zaya, on the other hand, would be grateful and filled with excitement that Kabir was at home. She would make him breakfast, lunch and dinner which she would leave on the dining table. One thing was for sure, Kabir would always eat the meals and clean up the dishes. When it first started, Zaya was startled at Kabir actually eating her food and would frantically search the dustbins to see if Kabir did eat it or he threw it out.

Zaya's doubts were finally cleared. Kabir was eating her food but also giving her the silent treatment. At least that's something. It became their weekend routine. She would make meals for him and leave them on the dining table, he would come out later to eat it and wash the dishes. It was their unspoken interaction.

Zaya decided to finish early today and be home to prepare a meal for Kabir before he came back. She promised to leave by 4pm today. Zaya was able to finish all work before four and left, leaving her Senior employee and part-time personal assistant to take care of the rest of the day. As Zaya exited the store and got into her car, she received a notification on her phone and decided to check what it was.

It was a text message from Mrs Salma, her mother in law and it read;

"Get ready to go on a date with Zafar this evening. I have already informed him. He will arrive by 7:30pm. Make sure that you leave the house when Kabir can see you. Dress beautifully and seductively. I also told Lara to tell Kabir that she is unavailable for the night. Operation Kabir is in action. Good luck💜"

Zaya sighed out loud after reading the message. She needed to call Zafar to confirm. She put a call through to him and he picked up immediately.

"Hey, Zafar. Did you also get a message from Mrs Salma?" she asked after he had picked up the call.

"Yes. Not quite long before your call came in" Zafar replied.

"She said we are going on a date" Zaya said.

"I know. What about it?" Zafar asked.

"Are we actually going on one?" Zaya asked back.

"Not really. It's just a fake date to get you out of the house and make Kabir jealous, falling for your beauty because of the way you dress. We aren't going anywhere. You'll just spend the night at my house" Zafar explained.

"Your house?!!" Zaya asked, alarmed.

"Yes, my house. Is anything the problem?" Zafar inquired.

"No, nothing. Nothing is wrong at all" Zaya said.

"Good, then I'll see you at 7:30pm" Zafar uttered.

"Fine" Zaya said and the call came to an end.

Zaya let out a sigh in her car while Zafar smirked in satisfaction. He was actually in a board meeting when she called him but he instantly paused everything to answer her call. He was beginning to like the idea of being her fake boyfriend. Soon enough, his position might elevate.

Zaya ignited the engines of her car and made her way back home. She arrived and took a rest before going to get dressed for the fake date night. Today would be the first time ever that she wasn't making a meal for Kabir before his arrival.

Zaya, after taking a rest went upstairs to prepare for the date night. The time was 6pm and she had an hour and thirty minutes left to go. Truth be told, Zaya had a lot of seductive dresses which she brought with her because she thought that the marriage between her and Kabir might be good. She never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would end up using the dress for something else. Most of the dresses were gifted to her by Mrs Salma in order to 'spice up her marriage' but the only spice that the dresses had ever done was to spice her wardrobe until now.

Zaya took a shower, got out and did the necessary things she needed to do, applied light make-up and did her hair before putting on ... .THE DRESS. She looked at herself in the mirror and admired the fact that indeed she was beautiful. She glanced at the time from her bedside clock and saw that it was 7:15pm. Zafar would be here any minute.

She picked up her phone to take some pictures of admiration for herself when she got a notification on her phone from the house system manager that someone had accessed the building. It could only be none other than one person …Kabir.

Kabir had arrived and Zaya was starting to panic. What would she do now? Should she call Zafar and call it quits? She was having second thoughts. Zaya flashed a look at herself in the mirror, she had never felt so beautiful within. No! There was no going back! She was going to do it. Operation Kabir is in action!