Chapter 2: Habiba Haque
Chapter - 02
"Umm... Excuse me... Excuse me. Coming through," a girl's voice was heard as she tried to make her way through the crowd, trying to get on the elevator. It was weird to have such a crowd gathered in front of a single elevator.
"Ahh... I am sorry," the girl appologised as she stepped on someone, trying to make her way forward. She was already late for her appointment, and the situation was not in her favour as well.
When the others looked in the direction of the voice, they impulsively backed off, making way for her. And from the looks on their faces, it was not out of respect or courtesy. The girl could easily discern the repulsiveness in their eyes.
The girl, on the other hand, was quite different from everyone else. She had a greyish-black cloth draped around her head. It covered her hair and her cheeks all the way to her neck. Only the front of the girl's face, her forehead, eyes, nose and lips were visible.
Though the girl was beautiful, those around her tried not to look at her, stealing glances. And this was nothing new for the girl. She was used to such unfriendly gazes.
It was not always like that. Many did not really care about who the girl was and the background she had. But some things from the past still lingered around in the memories of the people, which sowed the seeds of bias in their minds.
It was not that the people would come and pick a fight with her. No, it was quite the opposite, they feared her and tried their best to be wary of her, and to some degree, she could understand that.
"Ninth floor, please," entering the elevator, the girl softly asked the man standing by the panel to punch the button for her destination. But the man was hesitant. Instead of pressing the button, he looked around, trying to gauge the mood of others in the elevator.
Following his gaze, the girl turned to look at others in the elevator. They were all standing at least a foot away from her, squeezing into one another.
'Aahh... Not again,' The girl sighed, but she knew it was the best thing to do.
"I guess... I will take the stairs," the girls smiled nervously and got off the elevator. And no one decided to stop her. They felt sympathetic towards her, but their concerns overshadowed their pity.
Walking out of the elevator, the girl with a brave heart headed toward the stairs. But when she looked up the number of stairs she had to climb, her heart almost gave in.
'I shouldn't have acted nice,' the girl thought again. But there was no time to dwell anymore. Slowly, with the support of the railing, the girl began to climb up the stairway.
Finally, it took the girl about ten to fifteen minutes to reach the ninth floor, but she was all sweaty and dead tired. And despite being in such situations multiple times, she still felt down. Just because of a certain few, everyone else was paying the price.
'No... Don't think about that right now,' the girl lightly slapped her cheek and tried not to think about it, at least not right now. It took a great deal of courage from her to come here, and now that she was here, she did not want to sidetrack.
So, throwing every other thought at the back of her head, the girl pulled open the door and looked around, trying to decide which way she was supposed to go.
In front of her was a glass door which read, 'Design Department.' Reading that, the girl knew she was in the right place, but whom should she meet?
'I should go inside. I am sure someone will help,' The girl thought. She slowly opened the glass door and peeked inside to have a look. Inside, she found ladies working with fabrics scattered all over. Some were discussing among themselves, some glued to the computers, while others were busy snipping the cloth.
Slowly opening the door and, without making much sound, the girl made her way inside. Inside, she stood far from everyone else, silently watching everyone work and cooperate with everyone else with great ease. This was what she wanted. This was what she was here for. She was here to fulfil her dream.
While she was lost in thoughts, one of the ladies saw an unknown guest standing at the door, looking in their direction, transfixed. The lady nudged another one of them, working on her laptop and pointed her attention towards the unknown girl.
The lady sitting in front of her laptop looked in the direction of the entrance and slowly took off her spectacles as she stood up from her chair.
"Get back to your work," the lady working on her laptop said to the one who nudged her. She then made her way toward the girl standing by the entrance to the office.
"Is there something I can help you with?" The lady asked as she approached the young girl.
Her voice brought the girl back to her senses. She looked towards the elegant-looking woman standing in front of her and unknowingly took a step back, "I... I am sorry... I mean... I am not sorry... I am here for... You know..."
While the girl was stammering to introduce herself, the lady was in no rush to speed things up. She was patiently waiting for the girl to come up with the right words.
"This..." Finally, the girl extended the folder she was holding on to towards the lady.
"And this is...?" The lady asked as she took the folder into her own hands.
"My designs. I... I... sent my designs here and got a call yesterday asking... asking me to be here today," at last, the girl told the lady her reason for the visit.
The lady nodded after hearing the girl, "I remember about it. You are Habiba, right?"
"Yes..." the girl's face bloomed with a smile, and she nodded hurriedly, "Habiba Haque."
"Hmmm... Your designs were really good," the lady said as she looked through the folder, "By the way, I am Amber. I am the head of the Designs here at Trendz." The lady introduced herself.
Habiba gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement.
"The designs here also look nice and refreshing," Amber said, closing the folder, "Come, follow me."
Saying this, Amber walked past Habiba and made her way out of the office. But Habiba stood rooted in her place.
"C'mon, no need to stand rooted there. Let's get it over with," Amber said as she looked behind the young girl.
Habiba, hearing Amber, followed behind her with hurried steps. Trendz was a small fashion startup, which was more like a boutique for now. The staff didn't even reach up to twenty in number, and they didn't even own the floor. The ninth floor was leased out by the company to have it at their disposal. They had no other department other than Designing, and everything was managed by one person, their CEO and founder.
"As you can see, we are a growing company," Amber opened her mouth as they exited the Designs department, "We have a lot of room to grow and flourish. Having you here will make it relatively easy for us."
"Thank you. I will tr... try my absolute best," Habiba was getting more comfortable around Amber. Though she looked strict, Amber was polite and respectful in the way she conversed with her.
Amber nodded, and the two of them stopped outside the door next to the Designs department, which read CEO.
Habiba was fidgeting with her fingers in nervousness. If Amber was such prim, proper and elegant, Habiba was sure that the CEO would be on a different level with a cold attitude in addition. After all, running a company, however small it may be, was not everyone's cup of tea.
"Whatever happens inside, try to bear with it," Amber warned Habiba before they entered the CEO's office, "There is a slight issue with our boss," Amber told Habiba. But she did not elaborate much about it.
Now Habiba was super sure that she was right in her assessment. The big boss must surely be cold and short-tempered. And now Habiba was even more anxious to step inside.
But not paying much attention to what Habiba was feeling, Amber knocked on the door lightly. And they waited for a response from the inside.
"Come in," they heard a voice giving them approval.
"Mind your steps," Amber said as she opened the door to enter.
* * * * *
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone