Novels by Fauzia Malik

CARMELA THOMPSON"Could you bring these papers to Mr. Steele and have them signed?" I looked up to find Ms. McCarthy, my trainer, looking at me with a worried look.I sighed as I put my pen down. I nodded at her and took the papers from her. She looked at me for awhile. I can tell that she wants to ask me something but when I avoided her gaze, she just left without saying anything.I knew this would happen. Sooner or later, I knew I will speak to him, but for work at least. Trying my best to put on a poker face, I walked my way towards his office and gave myself a minute before knocking."Come in." I heard him say.I struggled a little as I am holding quite a lot of papers but I managed to open the door eventually. My eyes immediately fell on him and he's busy with his laptop. He didn't say a word nor looked at me as I stepped inside and again, the pang in my chest didn't go unnoticed.Clearing my throat, I said, "Ms. McCarthy wanted you to sign these, Mr. Steele." I said as I walked

For the past fifteen minutes, I've been silently praying to God to keep me and Cyrus safe, especially now that he is driving like a mad man leading us to a place only he knew where.We kept passing through big trucks and other vehicles and I am starting to wonder why the cops aren't following us yet when he has been over speeding as hell. I can't help but hold onto the seatbelt that is keeping me safe ever since we hit the road.The night is still young and cold, as cold as this man beside me. He never spoke nor looked at me after we got out of the club. I could still tell that he is mad but he has calmed down a bit, thank goodness! I don't think I can handle another beast like Cyrus at the moment.Even the nausea has gone off by now and just a tiny bit of headache is giving me a hard time but I know I can endure it. Finally, the car stopped and I looked outside the window and realized that we're nowhere near the city. He brought me into the woods. The fucking woods.My heart started

CARMELA THOMPSONI kept glancing between Cyrene and our boss--Cyrus, for what seemed like an hour. There's this heavy silence lingering around us the moment Cyrus stopped us from our trance a few minutes ago.Cyrene scoffed disrespectfully at our boss then without a notice, she grabbed me by my arm then dragged me back to our feet."I said stop." My heart leaped at how cold and demanding he sounded but that didn't bother Cyrene as she just kept going, dragging me along with her."Cyrene, I think Mr. Steele is mad." I whispered. She just smirked to herself and I can't help but wonder where she gets this confidence to disrespect our boss."He should be." She said meaningfully and hearing nothing more from our boss, she successfully dragged ourselves to a very famous bar.My head is filled with Cyrus and his weird actions were thrown outside the window the moment we stepped foot inside the bar. I wasn't even shocked anymore to see famous celebrities partying in here. Young people trying

"Carmela?" I heard someone call my name. I didn't move from my bed and just hugged my huge pillow tighter.Then, I heard the door creaked open. A small light lit my room and I did my best to avoid it, not liking how it's blinding my already swollen eyes."Carmela, honey.""What are you doing here, Miss Lopez?"Yes, I knew it was her the first time she called my name so I didn't bother moving."I came to visit you. You've been absent for four days now and I am starting to get really worried." There was sincerity in her voice.I sniffed and tried to swallow the saliva that's starting to form and hid my face even more. I am not in the right mind to talk to her and I don't want my boss to see me in this state."I can't do this... I... I want to resign." I admitted."But why?" She asked as my bed sank down. I felt her sitting near my feet."I just can't take it anymore. I can't stand Mr. Steele's attitude towards me. He despises me and I don't know why or what I can do to make him like me.

I have been staring blankly on the walls for the four hours now and I think I could stare at it until it's time to get off work.I could still feel my heart beating, my breath still unsteady and my hands and knees shaking. Trying to calm myself, I took slow but heavy breaths but it's not helping."Arrrrgh!" I groaned in frustration. Throwing my head right in my table, I kept mumbling curses and hoped that the floor would just open up and swallow me now. I can't take the embarrassment anymore.I can't help but feel conscious after what happened inside his office. I never expected him to do that. I can't believe he sniffed me like I'm a perfume he can't get enough of, and the fact that he knew that I was with Tristan made me wonder how the hell he found out! Like, you can't just say who I was with by merely smelling my skin right? It's not like Tristan sprayed perfume that made it cling to my skin and we weren't even close to one another. As far as I can remember, there was about a mete

"Coffee?" I asked, smiling at my boss who just came out of the elevator.He looked petrified when I appeared out of nowhere but he immediately looked at me with distaste. He moved aside and walked straight ahead, went into his office and shut the door close with a loud bang.I just sighed and gulped down the coffee that was intended for him and coughed right away when I burned my tongue."Ouch." I rubbed my tongue with my forefinger and thumb and decided to go back to my seat and think further on how to get in his good side."So, how's it going?""Miss Lopez. Good morning!" I exclaimed.She smiled at me and took the vacant seat across me."How are you keeping up with him?""I... I don't know, really. It's been three days since I got here and I think that he really hates me."It's been three long days since I started working as his secretary but within those days, I never got the chance to speak with him because, first, I never received phone calls nor guests to say that they need him