3. Saved

"Sheharzaad, please take this order to table number 5," her coworker requested, passing her the tray. She gave her a nod and delivered the tray before coming back again on the counter. 

It's been almost a week. No company called her and she was jobless. She used to work in a cafe as a waitress before but given her friend's health condition, she had taken a break. And during those break days, she got the offer from Syed Enterprises, due to which she didn't go back to the cafe, thinking she would lock the offer at that company. But sadly, she didn't. When she was back at the cafe, they already had hired someone else at her place. Stressed and tensed, she went to every lengths to acquire a job so atleast she could get grocery for the house. And atlast after numerous efforts, she got one but they paid less. At the same day, she also got a job offer from another place as well and they were paying good as well but the thing that caused hesitation in her was that she would have to work at night instead of day. She didn't trust the society and men around her, so she declined it and only continued working in the new cafe on a morning shift. 

They were making her work 24/7. They were short of staff so the work load was too much and given the hard work she was putting in, she deserved more pay than what they were giving her.

"Sheharzaad, go take the table order from table no. 7!" Alina, her co-worker, brought her out of reverie and she instantly rushed to take the order.

She was tired. It was already 5 . It was a 9 to 6 job and monthly they were paying just 7500, that weren't enough as Amna's medicines were expensive and she also had to get food for the house. She was living hand to mouth.

"Now, I'm thinking of considering that job, Alina," she said to Alina, while giving the order chit to Jameel, who stood on the counter as well.

Jameel took the chit and went in the kitchen as Sheharzaad once again retarded onto the stool beside the counter.

"What job?" Alina asked.

"Umm..... I don't know what it is. But it's of night... like night shift. From 11 p.m to 4 in the morning,"

"Where?"

"It's some hotel. The blue....something, I don't remember it's name,"

"How much do they pay?"

"Unbelievable and too good to be true, literally 30,000 a month. But I was hesitating to go for it as it was of night,"

"Why not? You should go for it. They are paying good. Atleast you should give it a shot," Alina advised, while writing something on the register.

"I feel it's fishy,"

"It's Lahore, Sheharzaad. Lahore doesn't sleep, believe me. And if there would be something fishy then turn the offer down but not before going there,"

"Hmm.. cool. I'll go tonight there and check the status of the job. If it fits, I'll join,"

"Yeah, absolutely. Until you won't step in, you won't know. We need to take risks,"

"Got you. I will give it a try,"

.....

That night, at the given address, she reached the location which that man had told her. It was one of the customers at the new cafe who had given her the job offer.

She could feel her heart beating a mile a minute as she felt afraid. The sky was dark and the area wasn't too rushy and crowdy. Quiet abandoned. Yet the exterior of the building was posh and opulent. Not wanting to waste too much of a time, she went inside and headed towards the reception.

"Assalam alaikum, I'm here for the... the job," She informed to the receptionist, who was busy applying more make up on her already caked face. She looked extravagant. Too extravagant for her liking. It wasn't that she was judging but she knew how receptionists dressed and she was too much dressed up for the job. And her clothes were tight and revealed every curve of her. Her shirt had a deep neckline and it was too weird for her to see a receptionist dolled up like that. And she wasn't even wearing a uniform like most would do.

Yet she couldn't care less. It was her life, she could dress up as she wanted. And she was no one to judge her. She was only here for the job.

"Referral name?" The receptionist asked, while applying highlighter on her cheekbones as she looked into the small mirror in her hand.

"Usman," She told, recalling that person names

"Usman Raheem?" She asked, while moving the make up brush against her collar bones.

"Yes. That's his name," Sheharzaad replied, annoyed by her attitude. She was talking to her and she wasn't even sparing her a glance.

As soon as the name left her lips, the receptionist stopped and instantly looked towards her. She eyed Sheharzaad from head to toe while closing the mirror in her hand and putting it down along with the brush.

"Oh so you're sheharzaad?" She asked, cocking her brow.

"Yes,"

"Floor 5. Room 24. Your shift will start fifteen minutes later, at 11,"

"What kind of a job is it?"

"Waitress," She answered, "Go to that room. You'll get your uniform there as well as directions. That way," The receptionist told, pointing towards a corridor, showing her the way.

Sheharzaad gave her a nod. She didn't know but something was odd about this place. She could feel danger bells in her ears but she considered it as over thinking and moved into the corridor.

As soon as she was out of the sight of receptionist, she stopped in her tracks and retreated her steps. That woman seemed suspicious to her.

She reached the near end of the corridor, closer to the reception and saw that woman, still busy in her make-up when she stopped and dialed a number.

"Hello," she said someone on the other side of phone, "that girl is here. I've sent her to Room 24," she informed.

The dialogue itself wasn't suspicious but the way she said it seemed fishy to Sheharzaad.

"Oh fuck, is he coming? No way. Why didn't you tell me that before? Would I have to send someone after party?" She asked, when the man on the other side of the phone said something.

"Fine I'll have all the arrangements done," She said, whilst smiling.

She hung up the call and swiftly began to analyse herself in the mirror. Sheharzaad eyes moved and saw a man approaching the reception. He was wearing a mask. Sheharzaad's couldn't quiet gauge out what he looked like as only his side pose was visible to her.

"Are you available?" he asked.

"We've an important guest coming sir but I'm available," she said

Yet the very next second, her eyes bulged out when she realized what was happening infront her eyes. That receptionist was  literally opening the buttons of her shirt even infront of the man, while looking at her seductively.

She stood up from her chair and unbuttoned her front giving that man a full view of her chest. 

Her grey eyes were left wide-opened, witnessing her actions.

And they widened more, when she literally saw that man holding the edges of her shirt and ripped it open, revealing her body to him. 

A spark enter in that woman's eye as she immediately held the lapels of his shirt.

"There's a room sir," She pointed with her thumb towards the room behind the reception counter as she moved towards him and sat on the table infront him. And that person also began to move his thumbs on her inner thighs and soon they both were off to the room where she pointed at.

Sheharzaad's face lost all her colors as she saw the obscene scene folding infront her eyes.

"What place is this?" She asked herself, still in a shock to digest what she saw when a voice from her behind startled her.

"Sheharzaad,"

It was Usman, the same person who referred her this place.

She turned around and found him standing at the end of corridor. She immediately normalized her face expressions and looked at him.

"By chance, did you see anything?" He asked, while moving towards her.

Ominous.

He sounded ominous and she was about to step back, when she stopped herself. She won't show it to him.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, sounding confident.

"I mean, anything unusual that you haven't seen before," he sounded like a maniac and now her heart began to beat a mile a minute. He was upto no good. She knew that he came to know, he had seen that scene. 

"Yes, I fucking did. Fuck you bastard!" She spatted and speedily ran away when he lunged at her and she didn't know when he caught her.

"HELP!" She screamed, wanting to bite at his thumb but he slapped her. She fell on the floor.

"HELP!" She shouted again but nobody came when she saw him taking out a gun out of her pocket.

"That was too soon for you to know all this, Sheharzaad," he said, viciously. His eyes sparkling with evil.

She instantly stood up and that man almost lunged at her. Finding the opportunity, she managed to threw his gun away and ran for the door.

"HELP! PLEASE HELP!!" She screamed to her fullest as she was running towards the main door. Her eyes widened when she turned her head to the side and saw that man rushing towards her. She dashed across the corridor and stepped out on the road. Luckily, the guard was not there. 

As soon as she placed her foot on the road, he fired a shot that made her loose her footing making her fall on the floor. She looked down at her leg and there was no blood there which meant that he had fired the shot in the air and not at her.

"Where will you go?" He asked, coming closer.

"Who are you? What I have done?" She asked desperately.

"Nothing. Just saw something you weren't supposed to see,"

"What did I see? I know things like that happen in Pakistan, why killing me for this?" She reasoned.

"And do you know what your job was?"

"N..no. Let me just go, please!"

"You were to be a prostitute here or maybe sold out to someone as their slave,"

"Wh...what?"

"Yes. Now would you prefer doing job here?"

"Yes, because I need money and I can do anything for money," She lied, trying to manipulate him, "and what bad would I do to you or your organization? Nothing. I can't do anything then why are you taking an innocent like for this reason. Don't you fear your God?"

"Shut up, woman. If you would have witnessed that scene later after doing job here then that wouldn't have been a problem but not now. The timing is wrong. I know you will create problem and I don't want any problem,"  

"Please don't kill me," She cried, when he pointed the gun at her and saw a determination entering his eyes.

"I'm sorry. You would have to die," he smirked.

Her heart beat accelerated and he was about to pull the trigger when out of nowhere a bullet came from the left side and penetrated the temple of that man, usman and he fell like a sack of potato on the floor. 

She stopped for a second. Sweat beads formed near her temples. Her body went cold and eyes widened. Her brain unable to process what just happened. A sharp ringing sound began to bang at her ears. It felt as if the time stopped for her and so did her heart. 

That man, died. 

Someone murdered him. 

She slowly began to move her head to the left to see who did that.

"Don't or you'll die," a faint whisper said.

Sheharzaad neither looked left nor right, she just stood up and ran away as fast as she could and out of the premises of that hotel. She didn't look back to see who he was because if she did, she would be a witness to a murder and she knew that they won't leave the witness alive.

Then she knew that whisper would haunt her till her death. More than that scene, the sentence was traumatizing for her.

.........

Her whole body shivered the whole nights she couldn't sleep. The scene of Usman falling down on the floor played in her mind, repeatedly. Not an ounce of sleep reached her eye. She felt anxious and too stressed to sleep. Her mind running a chain of what if's within her brain.

What if she was also killed tonight?

What if Usman had actually made her a prostitute?

And what if that unknown man had taken her to that room instead of that receptionist?

The horrendous thoughts kept on bringing a wave of goosebumps on her skin.

And that scene of his lifeless body falling on the ground was making her body to shiver more. 

Now she was too scared to even step out. She did wrong by trusting some random person. It was too wrong. Anything could have happened to her tonight. She near missed the death. Even that unknown man could shoot her as well. One bullet down her head and she would have been buried by now.

Her heart began restless so she got up to pray namaz. She knew if she let her brain get submerged in those thoughts that would lead her to nowhere rather make her more anxious. She wanted to be at peace and get solace so she offered her prayers and when she was done, she closed her eyes.

'Don't or you'll die,' 

That voice rung again in her ears making goosebumps to rise on her skin befire she drifted in a deep slumber. But one question was on her mind,

Who was he?

.............

"No way!" Out of her excitement, she forgot she was on the phone, "no freaking way!" She reiterated, her eyes shining with happiness. She was almost jumping.

"That's true ma'am," the person on the other side of phone answered.

"Thank you! Thankyou! Thankyou! Thank you so much!" She repeated while feeling her limbs getting shaky out of happiness.

"You're welcome ma'am. You can join from today," the man said and cut the call.

"AMNA!!!!!" She screamed to her fullest as soon as the call was off and Amna came running towards her,

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"I AM!!!!!" 

"What happened, Shehar?"

"You know what? I GOT A JOB OFFER!!"

"Oh that's great. From which company?"

"You won't believe!" She told dramatically.

"I will, tell me,"

"Syed Enterprises,"

"No way. How come?"

 "I don't know. I DON'T KNOW! LET'S PARTY!!!!"

"Wait, didn't you tell me they have hired the PA already? " Amna asked.

"I don't know but they have called me today,"

"What's the post shehar? Tell me,"

"I don't know,"

"Did they call other four candidates as well?" Amna asked.

"Again, I don't know. But.... I don't think so. Umm.... maybe yes or maybe no," She answered while scratching her head.

"Listen, out of all the four candidates why did they call you even when they had not conducted your interview?" Amna questioned, raising a point. A week has already passed and Amna was fine now. Sheharzaad had told Amna about what happened last time at the company and she was still on the job hunt as wherever she went, they rejected her due to lack of experience yet she didn't loose faith and today, unbelievably she actually got a call from her dream company. 

"I don't know, again. Why are you thinking so much, Amna? That company is trustworthy. Believe me,"

"You know given that experience in that hotel, I've gotten over protective for you Sheharzaad," Amna told. Sheharzaad had told her about that incident and Amna had gotten so stressed and more and more apprehensive and cautious after that day

"Don't worry, Amna. That company is trust worthy. It's multi national, you know. It's like an office, not some random hotel,"

Amna gave a nod to her still looking at her with anxiousness in her eyes.

"When you'd join?"

"Today. They've called me. Now I'm off to my office," She smiled and rushed into her room to duck in her closet.

Let the fate play its game