Flawed Hearts

Chapter XIX: A Truce?

Lale rubbed her temple, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose as her anger began to evaporate.

"I can't do that, I'm only days away from going corporate, and there's so much work left to do," she mumbled into the phone, tucking a strand of hair that got free back into her Shayla. "I have a paperwork to sign, meetings to attend and what not."

"I know but this is the last photoshoot you'll do for the agency and then you're free to do whatever you want," her manager replied.

"Okay fine," Lale huffed. "When does it start?"

"Three in the afternoon."

"Fine I'll be there," Lale mumbled, slamming the receiver unto her desk.

She took in a deep breath to compose herself before stepping out of her office and into the work station, her heels clicking on the marble floors.

"Miss," Lale's secretary approached her. "There's someone here to see you."

Her brows snapped together as she regarded the lady standing next to her. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Kartal ma'am," the lady replied.

'Why in God's name... she balled her fists, counting to ten in her head.

"Where is he?" she managed to say through her anger clogged mind.

"In the reception area, I'll have him sent up to your office immediately."

"Don't bother, I'll go down myself," she waved the lady off and turned towards the elevator, bracing herself to meet her sworn enemy.

{••}

"What are you doing here?" she questioned, folding her arms over her chest.

"I came to talk to you," Asil responded nonchalantly, trying to gauge her emotions. Her face was passive making it hard for him to read so he returned his gaze back to the cup of çay in front of him.

"Today is not a good day Mr. Kartal, I am really not in the mood for any games right now," she snapped, gaining a surprised expression from him but she couldn't really care much. She had a lot of work to do and he was only stalling her.

"So I am going to ask you again. What are you really doing here?"

He twirled the spoon in the cup, not knowing how to answer her. In truth, he had no idea what he was doing there. He had found himself driving towards her building without knowing the reason why.

"I have no idea," he replied after a beat.

"Well then, you can sit there and drink your çay while you figure out what really brought you here. In the meantime, I have some work to do."

She turned around to leave but he quickly shot up and placed his hand on hers, halting her step. She was taken aback by his sudden movement then glared at the hand holding her.

He released his grip on her but didn't move away. She glared at him again, trying to move past him but he blocked her again.

"What do you really want?" she asked exasperated, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I need some company," he mumbled, shoving a hand through his disheveled hair. It was then Lale took in his appearance.

He was wearing a black button up shirt with jeans and his sideburns looked a little bit unkempt which was odd. From the time they've spent together, she came to realize how much he took care of his appearance.

"Shouldn't you prefer the company of someone who doesn't actually hate your guts?" she scoffed, folding her arms.

"Do you really hate me?" he questioned, his grey orbs zeroing on hers.

"I don't particularly like you," she shrugged, giving nothing away.

"Look what happened months ago," he shoved his hand through his hair again— something Lale came to realize he did when he was nervous— falling silent, unable to utter another word.

She stared at him for a while, releasing an inaudible sigh.

"Let me make it easy for you. You came here to apologize for hitting my car months ago even though you should've done that immediately instead of being an obnoxious, arrogant guy and shove money into my face."

He frowned assessing her words then shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Something like that."

"Well I'm not exactly the type to harbour malice for such a very long time so," she shrugged, rocking on her feet. "What happened was a mistake on both our parts but I won't apologize for hitting your window, you deserved it. I'll do so again to anyone who proves to be an arrogant person like you," she stated, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Understood. So we call it a truce?"

"Not really," she shook her head, making an effort to leave.

He gave her a lazy smile, stepping out of the way so she could move out. She stared at him for a while before stepping out of the reception area, glancing back to see him watching her.

She shook her head to clear off her mind a little. She had no idea what just happened. She and Asil had spent over ten minutes together without being on each other's throat, a new world record broken by them. They deserved an accolade she thought as she walked into the waiting elevator. She hit the button for the top floor as her mind reeled over his disheveled state. She couldn't help but wonder what was bothering him so much that he had come to her. It couldn't have been just to apologize for hitting her car, it must have been something else.

{••}

After a long tiring day at work, Lale came back home to find Najmah sulking.

"Hey what happened to you?" she questioned, taking off her shoes.

"I don't know," Najmah replied disoriented, staring at the gleaming chandelier.

Lale furrowed her brows, craning her neck. "How can you not know?"

"Boy problems," Najmah rolled her eyes with a bored tone.

"Tell me about it," Lale sighed, flopping down on the bed next to her.

"How was work today?" Najmah queried, swinging her legs off the bed.

"Tiring but enjoyable and a little bit weird," Lale huffed running her hand through her hair. Najmah didn't seem to have heard what she said so she closed her eyes for a while to relax.

"Have you picked out a dress yet?" she questioned, remembering why she went to see her.

"What dress?" Najmah furrowed her brows.

"Aslan didn't tell you?" she scowled, facepalming herself.

"Tell me what?" Najmah queried. "I haven't seen him since the last three days he walked out on me," she muttered dryly to herself.

"Ya Allah help me!" Lale glowered, throwing her hands up in the air.

"There's a ball taking place few days from now, it is a fundraiser ball to help out the orphans and the underprivileged in the society," Lale explained. "It takes place every year before the month of Ramazan."

"Interesting. My presence isn't needed then," Najmah shrugged. "I have absolutely no dime to offer."

"Which is why you will accompany my dearest brother."

"Yeah I'm not so sure about that," Najmah grimaced at the thought of going out with him. She still hadn't set her eyes on him since he bolted out of the garden and now she was supposed to go to some ball with him.

"Why? Are you guys having a problem?"

"Probably," Najmah pouted.

"Well then I have to go," Lale stated, taking a sharp look at her vibrating phone. "Whatever problems you guys have, fix it. There's no way you're attending a ball in hostile air and don't forget, Basic is opening a few days from now too."

With that, Lale walked out of the room leaving Najmah dumbfounded.

☆☆☆☆☆

For the next couple of days, Lale had spent more time than needed in her new building getting everything set for the opening night the day after.

Strangely so, Asil had frequented his visits to the new building even though she had threatened to throw him out time and time again that he had lost count.

He had no idea why he always found himself in the building or where the sudden urge to see her had come from. Was it the way she secretly smiled when she thought he wasn't watching and glared when she saw him watching or was it the determination he saw in her eyes? Either way, for the time being he would enjoy the not so sweet company of Lale Sadek even if it meant enduring the glares she threw his away halfway across the room.

The shrill ringing of her phone was what saved him from another glare and he was thankful for that. He returned his gaze back to the magazine he was holding which surprisingly to him, Lale was on the front cover as one of Istanbul's youngest entrepreneur.

He continued reading, awed by how determined she was to build up her empire. It was stated that at the age of 16 she was a sought over model and a lot of agencies fought to get her signed to their label.

Her face had made it to the front covers of a lot of fashion magazines and billboards around the world, earning her a name in the fashion industry.

"Hey," she nudged him. "I'm stepping out for a while, behave." He raised an eyebrow up, his signature smirk in place. "I'll be a good boy till you return Miss. Sadek."

"I mean it Asil," she pointed an accusing finger at him. "Be nice and don't flirt with any of my models."

"Now why would I do that?"

"Have you met you?" she scoffed, glaring at him.

"As a matter of fact, I actually have. I'm simply irresistible."

"Don't be so full of yourself," she glared again, stepping out of the work station.

His gaze swept towards the models walking around the room with a bored expression on his face then remembering Lale's glare, he returned the magazine back on the table then ambled out of the studio.

{••}

"I'm glad you made it here," Lale raved, throwing her arms around Najmah.

"Yeah me too, the atmosphere in the house is suffocating," Najmah released a sigh, returning the hug.

"You two still haven't made up?" Lale frowned, looping her arm with Najmah's.

"Nah-uh," Najmah shook her head. "He's avoiding me like the plague. Haven't set my eyes on him for days."

"Hmm," Lale bobbed her head, intrigued by the sudden aloofness in her brother. She only prayed it wasn't what she thought otherwise he would get an earful from her.

"So do you want to see the rest of the building?" Najmah nodded and together, they stepped into the gleaming lobby of Lale's building.

"Wow," Najmah breathed in awe of her surrounding.

The building in all was a four storey building, with the top floor housing Lale's office and her work station. The second floor was divided into three sections. One section was the showroom, the other was the changing room while the last was a relaxation spot for her models. The third floor housed the offices for her workers. The last floor contained a boutique where clothes that have been designed would be put on display for customers. The building had an underground runway and a mini-warehouse.

"This is so wow. I'm proud of you," Najmah clasped her hands together in excitement.

"Thank you," Lale replied, a smile dancing on her lips.

"And now," a mischievous gleam appeared in her eyes. "Let's go find a dress to make my brother's attention stay on you all night tomorrow."

She stirred Najmah towards the elevator, ignoring her shouts of protests.

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