𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟖

ARZO

The day of my internship, anxiety fills itself in the pit of my stomach.

I’ve been nervous since last night. I couldn’t sleep, I tossed around in my bed thinking of various scenarios about how this day could go wrong. I got half an hour of sleep then woke up to pray Tahajjud and made tons of dua, including that the day goes well.

I couldn’t eat breakfast properly because I thought I’d throw up. But then I regretted not eating breakfast and ended up snacking during recess while completing an assignment.

Now, I’m standing outside the F&F Innovation building with anxiety creeping back into my body.

The exterior of the building is sleek and contemporary, with clean lines and a facade of glass and steel that reflects the sunlight in dazzling patterns. The building stands tall and imposing, its angular silhouette cutting sharply against the sky.

Glass panels stretch from floor to ceiling, offering glimpses into the bustling interior. From this vantage point, I can see the reception area, where a desk sits beneath an expansive awning, welcoming visitors inside.

Above the entrance, the company logo is displayed prominently, guiding visitors and employees alike to their destination within the building.

A mix of excitement and nervousness travels through my body as I take a deep breath, clutching my bag tightly. Reciting Bismillah, I step forward and enter the building.

The cool air hits me as I enter the building. Some people are standing by the reception- students my age- asking for guidance.

Just when I make my way towards the reception, the students go in a different direction and the receptionist looks at me with a smile, “Hi, welcome to F&F Innovation, how can I help you?”

I smile and wave before taking out my phone and typing on it.

Hi, I’m here for the internship. I can’t speak so I’m communicating with my phone.

“Oh, of course. Your name?”

Arzo Saeed.

“Alright,” she types something on her computer then nods and takes out an identity card from her drawer, “here you go, here’s your identity card.” she hands it to me, “kindly take the elevator to the fifth floor, all interns are in the meeting room. Miss Kylie will be conducting an introduction.”

I nod then type, okay, thank you very much.

She smiles, “no problem. Have a great day.”

You too.

I make my way towards the elevator and step inside. I press the button to the fifth floor and the door to the elevator closes.

After a moment, the elevator opens on the fifth floor. I step out of the elevator and make my way towards the glass meeting room through which I can see interns sitting inside, talking.

I enter the room as quietly as I can and thankfully, no one looks up or stares into my soul. I take my seat and put down my bag.

“Hey,” a girl from beside me says with a smile, “I’m Camryn. What’s your name?”

I take out my phone and type.

I’m Arzo, nice to meet you.

She frowns a little, “Why did you type that?”

I can’t speak. This is one way of communicating aside from sign language.

“Oh, okay, sorry,” she awkwardly smiles then slowly turns back to talking to the other girls- which are probably her friends.

I blink at the sudden reaction from her then divert my attention.

This isn’t the first time someone did that. I’ve encountered many people who just stop talking when they find out I’m a mute. When that happened for the first time when I was young, I came home crying telling api that people hate me.

Then over time, I ignored it. Some people still try to make conversation despite knowing I’m mute and some just stop talking as if I told them that I’m deaf as well.

After a while, a beautiful tall red-head woman steps into the meeting room, wearing a smile, “hello, everyone,” we greet her back, she makes her way towards the end of the room where a projector is placed, “I’m Kylie Martinez, I will be conducting this meeting to kind of show you all what you will be doing during your time here, who your leaders or team members will be and what are some rules and regulations of the company, is that understood?”

We all collectively nod and some say, “yes,”

“Alright, let’s get started, shall we?”

The room’s lights dim as the projector starts rolling different slides. Kylie starts with the introduction of the company, who are the owners and when was it found.

“So, this company was founded by two computer graduates Faizan Malik and Farhan Sikander..”

My eyebrows shoot up a little at the familiarity of the first name of one of the owners and Hafsah’s brother-in-law. Common name, I guess.

Kylie continues with her introductions, the departments of the company, rules and regulations and many other important stuff.

“Alright, so, furthermore-” Kylie is interrupted with a knock on the door.

Our attention turns towards the door as it opens and in comes a familiar face.

Faizan’s friend.

“Hello, everyone.” he says with a welcoming and friendly smile, “So sorry to interrupt you, Kylie but I wanted to check on our new interns,"

“That’s alright, Mr Sikandar.” Kylie says, “Everyone, this is Farhan Sikander, one of the owners of F&F Innovation.”

My body immediately locks at his name while everyone claps.

Wait, if he’s one of the owners then-

No. Nope. There are more Faizan in the world and he can have other friends whose names are also Faizan.

“Thank you, thank you.” he says, bowing his head making some interns laugh at his dramaticness, “Congratulations to all of you. We welcome you to our company and hope that you will learn and best your skills during your time here. Do not hesitate to ask any questions, everyone here is very easy going. Well, my friend might look intimidating but he has the company's best interest at heart- there he is,”

Farhan’s attention diverts outside the meeting room as someone steps out of the elevator. Because of the glass walls, we can clearly see who comes or goes.

My heart skips a beat when a familiar muscular build steps into view, dressed in a well-tailored black suit with a white shirt underneath. He keeps one hand in his pocket while the other stays out as he walks, looking intimidating and cold. His face remains expressionless.

Out of all the companies, he had to own this one.

Farhan excuses himself and steps out of the meeting room to go meet his friend. Faizan stops in his tracks and attentively listens to what Farhan says. In between, his eyebrow rises a little until he relaxes his face again then follows Farhan to come in the meeting room.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my friend and the other own of this company, Faizan Malik,” Farhan introduces.

As soon as Faizan steps into the room, everyone- except Farhan- around me tenses up, even Kylie. I carefully look at everyone, some look like they’re holding their breaths, some won’t make eye contact with Faizan. All smiles vanish and people start looking as if they were caught doing something illegal.

He’s a human, not a monster.

“I was welcoming our new interns and giving them a little speech,” Farhan says, Faizan looks at him, “do you want to say a few words?”

Farhan’s eyes tell Faizan to be nice but Faizan doesn’t look like he cares.

He turns his head towards us and says, “we expect the best from you if you want to continue working here in the future. Too many mistakes and you’re out.”

It honestly feels like no one except the three of us is breathing.

“Geez, way to ruin a moment,” Farhan mutters before he pushes Faizan out of the meeting room. Faizan doesn’t seem to mind either, he gladly leaves and doesn’t turn back.

Everyone in the room finally releases a breath, coming back to life.

“Geez, he’s worse than what I’ve heard about him,” one of the interns say and the other agrees with him.

Kylie clears her throat, glaring at those two and they sit straight.

“Uh, don’t mind him. He really does have the company’s best interest at heart,” Farhan says, defending his friend.

“You don’t have to cover for someone like him,” someone comments.

Farhan forces out a chuckle but it shows on his face that their comments hurt him even though they’re not directed at him.

“Alright, enough, everyone.” Kylie says.

“Please continue. I’m sorry for interrupting,” Farhan says with an apologetic smile before he exits the room.

Kylie goes back to continuing the meeting. I look at the guys who commented about Faizan and find them muttering something to each other then muffling their laugh. I roll my eyes and ignore them, trying to focus on the events that play out for the rest of the day.