Combining and Shortening Prayers for an Employee Working Outside the City

The Shaykh:
And upon you be peace.

The questioner:
I say to her, O Shaykh. I am an employee outside the city, Madinah al-Munawwarah, about twenty kilometers away. When the time for the midday prayer comes during work, we pray the afternoon prayer with it, shortening and combining them. Is that permissible, O Shaykh? And I arrive in the city before the call to prayer for the afternoon prayer; I arrive in the city?

The Shaykh:
There is nothing wrong with that if you combine and shorten, but it is better that you pray only the midday prayer. Then, when you arrive in your city, you pray the afternoon prayer when its time enters, in congregation. This is better.

The questioner:
Okay, O Shaykh, no offense, do we pray the midday prayer as two units or four?

The Shaykh:
You are traveling, so you shorten it to two units.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you.