Gauhar's POV
I nodded at her, expressing through my eyes exactly how important it was to me. She seemed to understand exactly how I felt about it as the frown on her face cleared and she leaned forward, placing her elbow on her knee and her head on her hand "Alright then, shoot away Haru, I'm all yours love."
I grinned at her, feeling a warmth bloom within my chest as I noticed how she managed to understand exactly how important this was for me without me needing to tell her about it. Her hazel eyes were brimming with understanding and a lot of curiosity. She enjoyed challenges and this one was a perfect little mystery for her to solve.
I cleared my throat "That file I showed you has all the accounts concerning our transactions with Tremblay and Co." I explained.
She opened the file and stared at the figures written on it that appeared to be in some sort of sinister alien language to me "Yeah I can clearly see that. What I need to understand is why exactly is it that you want me to check it, Is something off."
She looked up from her examination of the papers and looked at me straight in the eyes "Have you been hiding something from me Gauhar?"
"Well I wouldn't exactly frame it that way, you see... I never actually got the-"
"You always do this Gauhar, how do you expect me to be alright with being kept in the dark when something bothers you and suddenly having the information dumped on me whenever you feel it convenient?"
A warm sticky tide of guilt settled somewhere between my chest and stomach, the way she worded it made me feel as if I was only confiding in her because I needed help….it sounded almost as if I was using her.
I fiddled with the overlong sleeve of my t-shirt not wanting to meet her eyes "I didn't exactly try to hide anything from you." I began earning a scoff from her, indicating that she clearly didn't believe my bull-crap.
"Hmm alright then, do share what your excuse is this time."
I sighed and looked up at her, noticing that she had an eyebrow raised, as if waiting for me to spill the truth "Ah well alright, I did hide it from you because I didn't want you to get worried. I know how panicked you get when I have any sort of trouble." I pulled at my hijab as I continued "And I wanted to be of some use to Baba without anybody's help." I looked down at my sneakers as I sighed again.
"And how did that work for you?" Daniya asked, her exasperation clear in her voice.
"Well as you can clearly see, I can't even do the most basic stuff without requiring help. I tried to pry information from those who clearly are aware of what is going on here, but well…it seems like everyone wants to keep stuff from me for some reason."
"I wouldn't deny the fact that you're an incredibly daft woman who doesn't understand that getting help from others isn't that bad of a thing, especially from those who worry about you." she fanned herself in irritation, as if just talking about it was riling her up "You are going about all in the wrong way you dumb dumb sweetheart, no worries though, you have me now we'll definitelyfind a way out of this. Together."
I clenched my fist as I looked into Daniya's greenish-brown eyes that reminded me of warm autumn afternoons "Kinda makes me feel useless you know, needing help all the freaking time." I gave her a bitter smile.
She stood up and placed herself beside me on the sofa, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and silently lending me her warmth and support.
Reminding me something that I tended to easily forget- that I wasn't alone in this.
It was funny that her silence was what assured me more than her words, but it did. Just her presence and the knowledge that I wasn't completely alone seemed to fill me with strength and a newfound resolve.
"So, what do you think has happened?" she looked at me inquisitively, squeezing my hand as she willed me to answer her question.
I looked at our joined hands and then up towards her expectant face "Well, long story short. Our company is in a crisis. We hardly have any money to pay our employees and we're afraid we are going to have a huge turnover this year. And my father thought I should be 'protected' from this information."
She tightened her arm around me, her eyes gentle as she watched me battle with the emotions within.
I let out a soulless laugh feeling a dull ache in my chest "You know why? Because he believed that he could handle all those hardships on his own without us knowing."
"It might be insensitive of me, but I think I have to say this at least once. You, my lovely boarheaded friend are repeating the same mistakes as your father. You seem to notice, even resent his folly but you are doing the exact same thing." I closed my eyes as I felt myself choke on a sob, I felt Daniya gently rub my back.
I took a deep breath before continuing "Well, that didn't turn out as he planned as everything he built fell apart in front of him. And yes you may be right, I might be going down the same rabbit hole as him.... So I intend now to make sure I don't repeat history. But for now all that has gone amiss is because of this deal." I pointed at the file placed on Daniya's lap.
"But you know what the catch is? I think there's something more than what meets the eye here, I have this….feeling that we aren't seeing the whole picture here. The company was more than happy to do business with us, I know that from how excited Baba was, I don't understand how they suddenly decided they didn't like what we had supplied."
I saw Daniya thoughtfully bite her lip as she contemplated my words, mulling them over in her head "So you mean that either someone from among your people messed something up with the shipment or-" she looked down at the file she was holding.
"Or there's something wrong with the accounts." I nodded, speaking out loud what she was thinking.
I sighed to myself as I thought that either way, the fact that someone that my father had trusted and considered loyal to him had betrayed him made the entire fiasco all the more depressing.
Our conversation was cut short, as the sound of heels clacking against the marble floor captured our attention, causing us to turn towards the source of the sound. The flowery skirt and sugary smile that belonged to Miss Hudson came into view along with the two cups of coffee she held in her hands.
"Coffee for Miss Siddique and her special guest." She beamed at us, flashing teeth that would be better suited to a toothpaste commercial she handed the hot cups to us. I knew all too well what had brought on this sudden display of thoughtfulness on her side.
This was her way of apologising to me for her unprofessional behaviour before, and if she thought she could bribe me with coffee- she was pretty damn right.
"Thanks Miss Hudson, that was very thoughtful of you, but I guess you would be more needed at the reception than over here with us." I reciprocated her honeyed smile causing her to blush and nod her head before scurrying away.
"Hey, I know it is hard for you to behave like a civilised human. Your behaviour with that poor woman was uncalled for, she was just being kind." Daniya reprimanded me, her tone making me feel as if I was a five year old that had thrown a ball of mud at her teacher.
"What behaviour are you talking about? I was just thanking her for her immense kindness, surely there's nothing rude about that. Or have the rules of decorum changed since I last checked?"
"That shark toothed smile of yours is enough to make a kid cry and give unsuspecting people nightmares. The glint in your eyes looked as if you were planning all the different ways you can end her life, I'm surprised she didn't scurry away in horror."
I opened the lid of the steaming coffee and took a deep breath, inhaling the bitter aroma of the coffee and feeling it calm my senses "You don't have to be so concerned about her Dani." I waved a hand at her, shooing away her concerns.
"This coffee you see her, is a bribe for me to not report her improper employee behaviour. I caught her talking to her friend on the office telephone with a freaking bagel in her hand in the middle of the day, during work hours. She should be thankful I was placated with just a cup of coffee." I grinned at her. Clutching the warm coffee with both my hands.
"So you see my lovely friend, I am actually the kind one here and I'm pretty sure Miss Hudson would agree."
Daniya rolled her eyes at me, surely cursing me internally for being so damn easy.
As we both sipped our coffee in silence Daniya looked up at me from her perusal of the accounts "Did you contact Tremblay and Co. with regards to this?"
I shook my head as I watched the dark liquid of the coffee swirl in the cup "No, I didn't. I had no means to. Baba's employees seem to be inclined on making sure I know as little as possible. I mean, Dev was adamant that I don't get a hold of these files."
"Then how did you get these?" She tilted her head in question.
I grinned at her, she must have noticed something amiss in the glint of my eyes as she groaned "Gauhar please don't tell me you did something that could land you in jail AGAIN."
I shook my head "I sneaked into Mr. Ryder-Cochrane's office, and searched through his files. It was super convenient that he was at a meeting." the animated recounting of my feet caused Daniya to chuckle.
"Anyway, how would I get in touch with the people from Tremblay and Co.? What do you have in mind?"
"Lord Gauhar, I didn't expect you to be this dense. Just get your brother to get whatever contacts you want, when are you gonna make use of his skills?" she looked at me as if it was a blatant fact that I was blind not to notice.
Welp it seemed like we were gonna have to add another person to our pretty little detective team. How annoyingly convenient that it had to be the bane of my existence.
I didn't want to ask my prick of a brother for any help, but it seemed as if I had no choice. I sighed in resignation as I nodded my head "yeah I will get him to help me, though let me tell you, convincing that prick isn't going to be fun."
Daniya seemed to be proud of my compliance as she smiled at me.