Chapter 4

Two months passed by in a blur.

Moving to the city and getting herself and her kids settled to the new life was utter chaos and she will be eternally grateful to Kate for her help throughout.

Ava settled on her desk going through the statistics and figuring out how to stop the company from going bankrupt.

It was not difficult for her to find a job, since she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the London university, being the top of her batch.

The company she is working in is a family owned business of The Maxwells.

It was one of the leading business ventures in the UK up until the CEO Mr Rudolf Maxwell fell ill due to his old age.

The day was already a tough one for her since it was the first day of school for her little munchkins.

Morning was a tough nut to c****. She smiled thinking of the morning incident.

Zian and Zada were bawling their eyes out, hugging onto her legs saying they don’t want to go to school. Zahir just stood there crossing his arms across his chest looking at his siblings with a bored expression on his face

"Zian! Zada! Look, you will love school. You will make new friends. You can play with them. You can learn numbers, letters, you can colour pictures." Ava had tried to placate them.

"No Mumma. Don’t leave me." Zada cried.

"You know after school we can go to the park, Zian. And I will take you to your favourite ice cream shop, Zada," she had resorted to bribing them.

"Can I have two scoops of ice cream, momma?" Zahir asked.

When did she even offer him ice cream?? God! Trust Zahir to strike deals at the right time.

"Of course, baby. You can" she said, forcing a smile at her most difficult child and he grinned in return.

"Now off you go. Mumma has to go to the office too" she had said and kissed them on their chubby cheeks.

"Don’t worry Momma. I will take care of them" Zahir said and she wondered whether she should be happy that he would take care of them or whether she should panic that he is going to take care of them.

They walked inside the school and Ava looked at the school again and wondered whether she would be able to see the school in one piece in the evening, as she had just dropped off the most dangerous group with the most dangerous leader at the school gate.

Ava was brought out of her thoughts when her cell phone beeped indicating an incoming call. She looked at it and saw that it was a call from the school.

She picked it up immediately.

"Hello."

"Hello. Is this Ms Dupont?

"Yes, speaking."

"This is from Choice International School. Your son Zahir Ahmed punched a boy from his class and refused to get inside the classroom until his mother comes," she said and Ava sighed in disbelief.

What is she going to do with Zahir?

"I will be there in fifteen minutes," she said and hung up.

She met with her immediate boss and asked for a half day leave saying family emergency.

The lady in late forties, Alexis Moore, had taken an instant liking to Ava from the first moment she saw her a month back.

And she had also heard about the three little devils to know what the family emergency would be and immediately let her take the leave.

Only after Ava left, did she remember that she forgot to inform Ava regarding the new CEO joining the office tomorrow. Ava will have to find an alternative to deal with her kids as the new CEO is a monster in the business world.

***

Ava reached the school in fifteen minutes as promised and was ushered to the kindergarten classroom where her kids are.

As soon as she reached, she saw Zahir standing leaning on the classrooms walls with his hands tucked inside his pockets, and the look on his face indicated that he is capable of taking down Alexander the Great on his own.

But as soon as he saw Ava his expressions changed, his lips trembled indicating a full-blown cry on tow.

"Mummaa" Zian and Zada shrieked and ran towards her, hugging the life out of her.

The teacher came out of the class and glared at Zahir which he returned with equal intensity.

God!! Is there anything that could scare him?

"Ms Dupont. Zahir punched Aaron during the lunch break. And the boy had a bleeding nose. His parents already took him home. Zahir wasn’t even ready to apologise. He was adamant on not saying sorry and arguing that it was not his fault," the teacher said, throwing a disapproving look in Zahir’s direction.

"I am sorry for what he did. I will talk to him. Can I take them home now?" she asked

"As it is the first day. I can let you take them home. But this is the last time Ms Dupont. Please make sure Zahir doesn’t behave like this again," the teacher said

She sighed and took the kids to her car.

"Mummaa, can we go to the park? You promised," Zian said

"Ice cream Mumma," Zada reminded her.

She looked at Zahir through the mirror and saw him sitting silent.

Obviously, he must be planning something, her brain pointed out the obvious.

As soon as they reached the park, she let all three out of the car.

They raced towards the swing and she followed after them.

"Zian! Zada! Don’t go out of momma’s reach okay. Momma is going to have a talk with Zahir." Zian and Zada nodded and Zahir made a face at that.

"Zahir. Come here," she called him sitting on the bench. He came and crawled into her lap hugging her and placed his head on the crook of her head.

She could feel tears on her shoulder and she sighed.

He didn’t waste a single second.

If it was Zian or Zada, she would have believed they are really sad and they are crying.

But this is Zahir we are talking about. He only cries according to his convenience.

"What happened baby. Why did you punch Aaron?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"He was poking Zada with a pencil from behind her, momma. He made her cry," he cried out and she couldn’t help the smile that spread on her face.

According to Zahir only he has the right to make his siblings cry. No one else messes with his siblings!

"Next time, go and tell your teacher okay. Don’t punch your friends, baby," she said and he nodded.

"Zahir. You can stop crying now. Mummaa is not going to scold you," she said and he stopped crying as if a switch was turned off and ran off to his siblings leaving Ava in disbelief.

***

Meanwhile in Ahmed Palace, Zidra, Zayed was packing his bags when Rosaline entered his room followed by Basim.

"Zayed. You don’t have to do this, you know!! You could always say no to dad." Rosaline said

"Mom. Rudolf Maxwell does not have the habit of listening to a NO. You know your father better than me. And he didn’t ask me to say no. He just demanded I take over his company," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Zayed. You have become insanely addicted to business. Is Ahmed industry less that you have taken upon Maxwell Industry also?" Rosaline asked in exasperation.

"You invest too much of your time in business since Ava left." Basim said

"Don’t," Zayed warned.

"What don’t? How long are you going to do this, Zayed? You forgot to live. Along with Ava, your happiness too left." Basim said.

"Stop it, Basim. My happiness has nothing to do with Aveline. And I am telling you for the last time. Don’t you dare utter Aveline’s name again in front of me ever again," he roared.

"You can’t always run away from reality, Zayed." Basim said

"Really?? Look who’s talking? You chase away any woman who threatens to get close to you and you are giving me lectures." Zayed said sarcastically.

"That is different. I have not found any sort of connection with any women in my life. Can you say that about yourself?" Basim asked, making Zayed livid.

"I don’t have time for this loose talk, Basim. I am leaving," he said and walked out without a backward glance.