Clueless Love

I have been sleeping all night long since we arrived on the island Mykonos in Greece. It’s morning now but I am still sleepy because of the jetlag. It’s 10:00 a. m. already. I woke up earlier to pray Fajr (morning prayer) but went back to sleep.

I am meeting Ismail in the resort restaurant to go over some files that he needs my help with. I step into the restaurant and see him at the far end, close to the beach. I walk over to join him.

While sitting down, I remove my sunglasses and my Panama hat, but my hair is still covered with a hijab cap. This causes Ismail to greet me with his beautiful, but annoying laughter.

“Have you looked in the mirror this morning?” Ismail asks laughing.

“I know I look horrible but surely not that bad.” I know my eyes are bloodshot and red from lack of sleep. There are bags under my eyes, making me look grim, but I doubt I look bad enough to make him laugh.

“Please put on your sunglasses and hat before someone thinks you are the walking dead,” Ismail sniggers.

“You are not serious, and I doubt I look that bad!” I say picking up my phone to use as a mirror to check out my face. Ismail is right, I do look bad.

“I will be back in a couple of minutes,” I say, quickly walking to the restroom to splash some water on my face. After I am done, I walk back outside to see Ismail has already laid out the papers I am assuming he needs my help with.

“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah)! You look like a human being now,” Ismail chuckles.

“This is why I don’t like you,” I say sitting down.

“I know, you love me. But anyway, let’s begin,” Ismail says smirking.

“Alright, let’s begin.” I shake my head at his statement about loving him because that would never happen.

“Okay, I need you to help me review this document,” Ismail hands me a printout.

“Alright, this document states the names of the people who came for the project, what they are assigned to do and who they are paired to work with,” I say reading the document.

“Please read out the names.”

“The names are paired, so I will read it that way. They are Udar and Fatima, John and Aaron, Chris and Zoe, Susan and Khloe, Ben and Kim, Ismail and Umit.”

“Please make sure every intern is working with an employee.” Ismail says.

“Alright and yes, everyone is paired up correctly.”

“That’s good. Now tell me how many people will oversee the hotel and tour projects.”

“Six people are in charge of hotel projects, while four are in charge of tour projects.”

“If that’s the case then we are done,” Ismail says collecting the papers he has in front of him.

“I have a few questions,” I say, handing him the document. He nods his head for me to ask.

“One. Why do you and Udar always do joined projects. Two. What is the tour project? Three. Why did you make sure I was paired with you?” I say ticking of the points one by one on my fingers.

“Wow, woman! So, you don’t know that Udar and my company is one?” Ismail asks.

“Wait! I don’t understand,” I say confused.

“It’s one company. I handle the software aspect, while Udar handles the hardware aspect,” Ismail explains, laughing at me for not knowing.

“Hey! Stop laughing at me. It’s not my fault that I did not know,” I say feeling foolish in front of Ismail for not having figured it out.

“It’s not your fault, I guess,” Ismail says smirking.

“But why do you need hardware support people on this trip?” I remember some of the names I called out are people who work in Udar’s side of the company and I wonder why they are here if they normally look after the hardware side of the company.

“They are here because we need our best people to help make this project work as fast as possible,” Ismail explains.

“Oh, that makes sense, now answer my other questions.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“The tour project is an app to help people get the most out of their travels in different countries. The app is going to have landmark places, directions as well as history about the places they visit.”

“Wow, that’s actually very nice. So, now my last question.” I say really wanting to know his reason for pairing me with him.

“The reason I paired you with me is, because I feel you are the best person to help me with my own aspect of this project,” Ismail replies seriously.

“Wow, thank you for trusting me.” I smile surprised with his reply because Ismail is doing the main work in this project. He will be having meetings with hotel owners to convince them to sign with the app, and I am more than happy he trusts me enough to help him achieve that.

“You are welcome,” Ismail says.

“I must ask, but where are the others?”

“They are in another hotel not far from here.”

“Why?” I ask not understanding.

“Umit, no disrespect, but I will not put my staff up in a five-star hotel,” Ismail says chuckling.

“We are in a five-star hotel?” I ask shocked.

“Yes,” Ismail says smiling, “we’re in the best hotel the island has to offer.”

“I thought we were in a very nice hotel, but Ismail don’t you think it’s a bit too much you letting me stay here? People might find out I am your sister-in-law.” I am worried this special treatment might be viewed differently by the other employees.

“I don’t care if they find out.”

“Really?” I ask smiling because I won’t lie… I do enjoy the nice benefits I get from being related to the CEO.

“Yes, I don’t care anymore.”

“Alright then, I might enjoy it while I can by going to get myself some food,” I say smiling while heading toward the breakfast buffet service.

“I will be back in a bit, let me drop this off in my suite,” Ismail says walking towards the entrance of the restaurant.

I make a cup of coffee for myself because there was nothing I really liked to eat there. I am walking back to my seat when I almost pour my coffee on Ismail because I wasn’t looking where I was going, instead enjoying the amazing view. I was able to stop just in time because Ismail shouted my name like the world was about to end. That’s when I noticed I was close to pouring the coffee on him.

“Wow! That was close,” I say putting the coffee on our table.

“That was the first time you didn’t pour coffee on me while holding one that close to me,” Ismail says.

“I know right, and I am happy I didn’t even though the other times were not intentional. But why did you get me fired every time?” I ask taking my seat.

“What are you talking about?” Ismail looks confused as if he doesn’t know what I am talking about. Which is weird considering he is the reason I lost my part-time jobs when I was at university.

“I am talking about how I got fired because I poured coffee on you.”

“I never got you fired.”

“You did not? I don’t believe you,” I say unsure he is telling the truth.

“I am serious. I never got you fired. I am just finding out now that you were fired because of those incidents,” Ismail says sincerely.

“Wait, so you are really saying you never got me fired?” I say realising I disliked Ismail all these years for something he didn’t do. I feel very bad for being mean to him and for misjudging him.

“Yes, I never did,” he responds sounding very serious.

“Then I am sorry,” I say feeling quite bad for how I have acted toward him all these years.

“For what?”

“For being mean to you and disliking you for something you didn’t do.”

“You don’t have to apologise for it because I was mean to you. But anyway, I am sorry too and I accept your apology,” Ismail says smiling.

“I accept yours too and thank you,” I reply smiling too.

“But wait, what was it that distracted you to almost pouring coffee on me?” Ismail asks.

“I was just enjoying the view. Now that I think about it, I think I got fired because I was always distracted. And maybe when I poured coffee on you, it was proof of just how distracted I was,” I say recalling my bosses complaining about how distracted I was during work.

“It’s possible,” Ismail says.

“Yeah. Can I order something because I don’t like what they have at the buffet,” I say holding my stomach.

“Yes, you can.”