Being Mrs Dantata

35

Zayd gently placed one of the mugs he held on the top of the dark table. It caused her to look up from the numerous documents spread out in front of her. He shot her a warm smile. "Take a breather, Nehita. You're going to break down at this rate."

Hanan smiled back at him and turned back to her work while he pulled out the chair on her right so he could sit. She spoke then. "Once I finish with this, I won't have any other work to do this year and that's what I want." She flipped the page. "Let's just get this out of the way."

He leaned in. "What is this?"

"Budget approval for the coming year and also balance sheets for this year." She glanced at him. "The figures never cease to amaze me."

His smile shrunk but stayed. "You'll get used to it. Is there anything I can help you with?"

She shook her head. "No, not really. You being here is enough though...I'll be done in about an hour. Is that okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it is. I'll just watch you."

She risked a few seconds to raise her head and look at him, her smile wide. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He watched her with a heart which just as heavy as it had been since Friday night. It was now Wednesday and there were so many things he had noticed which made him wonder how he had missed them in the first place. In the nearly four months they had been married, she had shrunk into herself and she played it so cool that no one noticed, not even him.

He kept watching as she signed the authorization pages after ensuring everything was perfect. For some documents, she marked out areas that needed to be worked on for clarity's sake so they were no problems when policies were being implemented.

She wore black sweatpants and a grey top with a sweetheart neckline that exposed her beautiful collarbone and flawless skin. Her hair was packed up loosely and a pair of working glasses which she had recently gotten sat comfortably on her nose. She was always going to be beautiful, no matter what she wore and Zayd was more than grateful for that. Looking at her brought calmness he always wanted to stay.

Hanan did not touch the tea he had gotten her until she was done. When she took a sip, her face scrunched in mild disgust. "Why this flavour, Sa'ed?"

He smiled. "Because it's going to waste if no one takes it. Why don't you like this particular flavour? Lemon grass and honey is popular."

She took another sip of the warm liquid. "Among people who haven't stepped out to explore other flavours, you mean. Who got this flavour anyway?"

"I think Melody did." He replied, referring to her day help. "I think I can recall her saying she didn't see any other flavour so she bought it for that period until she went to the market again."

She nodded slowly, still sipping. "That makes sense." She took one more sip before she put the mug back down and arranged the documents. She then put them aside and gave him her full attention. "If we request for an official change of company name, how long will it take to be implemented?"

"I don't think it takes so long but I'm not too sure." He put down his almost empty mug. "Why? You want to change the name from Zayd's?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I want to. If that's okay with you, of course."

"It's alright with me. Well it depends on what you want to name it but I have faith in you so..."

"I wanted to change it to Hayd's." She said slowly. "I didn't want to completely change it and I wanted something that has a touch of both of us in it so..."