Banerjee was surprised when Haider showed up at the office. He was even more stunned when his boss asked him that he want to meet the interns. Nevertheless, he pushed back his thoughts and got straight into following his orders.

Haider stood against the glass window with his palms into his pocket and kept staring out at the ongoing traffic. Just then, there was a knock at the door, and he turned around to find Banerjee entering the cabin. A small smile crept on his face as he was informed that his orders were done.

Haider adjusted his coat as he entered the board meeting room. The large hall was filled with chairs and interns were seated in the first row. The chattering died out as soon as he came in and everyone stood up. Haider straightened whilst gliding his gaze through the people. His observation stopped at the beautiful young woman he had met earlier. She gulped as their eyes met. To not make things awkward, Haider looked away.

Banerjee asked two peons to get a chair for their boss and he stood beside him as Haider took his seat. The interns too sat along with him. Banerjee cleared his throat and asked the person on the extreme right to start. Haider remained quiet and moved his gaze towards the young confident man who stood up. Luckily, the woman Haider was interested in sat two persons next to him.

'Hello, sir. I am Mikael Jaffery and I have graduated from IIT, Kharagpur.' He informed boldly and sat down. The next person, a girl stood up.

'Good morning, sir. I am Meera Jain and I have graduated from Manipal Institute of Technology.' She said and sat down. From her constant fidgeting with her nails and broken voice, she appeared nervous. The person, a young man stood up next and introduced himself as Ravi from Mumbai.

Haider shifted in his place, moving his leg on top of the other and sat straight watching the young gorgeous woman stand up. She licked her lips and tugged the hem of her grey suit.

'He—hello,' – she gulped, - 'I am Alina, Alina Hooda from—I graduated from Oxford college of engineering, Bangalore.' She said quickly and took her seat. Then, she sighed closing her eyes and shaking her head. Haider eyed her for a second longer before moving his gaze to the next person.

There was a total of ten interns this time. All young and extremely motivated. If they excel in this internship, they would get a permeant job here. Haider noticed the girl, Alina, her eyes widened for a moment and her lips curved into a smile that quickly faded.

▪⎯⎯⎯∞⎯⎯⎯▪

The steams from the hot shower covered the tiles and the life-size mirror in the bathroom. Haider emerged from the bathtub and gasped, running his palms over his hair. He exhaled and rested against the bathtub, resting his arms on the tub and his head against the marble tiles of the bathroom wall. As soon as he closed his eyes, flashes of the beautiful woman he had met today appeared before his eyes. He snapped his eyes open and sat straight.

She had been on his mind ever since; he had seen her in the office, crumpled at his feet. Her slim figure, sleek straight lustrous mid-back hair, thin lips, everything about her was very enticing. Haider closed his eyes and took another plunge into the hot water.

Minutes later, he emerged from the inside. He rested against the tub again. Thoughts of the same woman from earlier today flashed before his eyes. She had dashed into him and almost fell in his arms. Dressed in a grey suit, she stood among the new interns. Finally, he found her. The woman who was driving him crazy. But she was close, very close.

'Alina.' Haider breathes out and smirked recollecting her gorgeous smile.

He wrapped a towel around his waist as he stepped out of his steam bath. He shivered with the sudden change in the temperature and quickly wore his bathrobe. He walked towards the recliner chair that was placed next to a fireplace. On top of the fireplace was a decorated mahogany plank placed with few decorative. Haider was about to sit but his gaze fell on a slightly tilted artifact. He walked up to it, observed it for a moment before arranging it neatly. Then, he took his seat, leaned forward, picked his laptop and a pack of cigarettes alone with the lighter. He lit his cigarette whilst opening the flab of his laptop. He ran this gaze through the list of interns and stopped at the name- Alina Hooda. He clicked on it and all her details popped up. He scanned the details and fixated his gaze on a photo of her. It seemed like a recent photo only her nervous smile was replaced with a bright and confident one. Haider read her qualifications, achievement and was thoroughly impressed. Along with being pretty, she was also intelligent.

As he stared at her photo,he wondered what was so special in her that he was instantly attracted to her.He had been with tons of women who were prettier than she was, also been withwomen who were intelligent and successful in their fields. Yet the innocence ofthis timid girl strongly pulled Haider towards her. He knew he can't, andshouldn't, get so deeply involved with someone. Still, he wanted to take achance. But why? Was this girl supposed to fill the void in his heart? Finally,will he be able to find peace and love that he had searching for since, sincehis childhood?

Okay, Haider is totally flat over Alina *_*

And the girl is oblivious, I wonder how she will react once she finds out about his strong, very strong attraction *smirks*

So, guys? How was the chapter? What are your thoughts about Haider and Alina? Drop your thoughts in the comments *muaaah* *muaaah* and Stay Tuned for the next update *winks*