[Author's POV]
The Oberoi Café buzzes with quiet elegance—soft jazz humming in the background, polished marble floors reflecting sunlight pouring through the tall glass windows.
Aarav walks in, but his facial expression is unreadable. He looks bored, distracted, and clearly annoyed that he had to come here. He glances at his watch once, then again.
A young woman waves from a corner table. As he approaches, she stands up with a warm, familiar smile. "Hi, you must be Aarav. I'm Naina Maheshwari."
He gives a stiff nod and takes the seat opposite her. No handshake. No smile.
Naina, dressed in a soft purple kurta, tries to keep things light. "I hope the traffic wasn't too bad. This city's been a mess lately."
"I manage," Aarav replies curtly, eyes already drifting toward the window. His fingers tap against the table not out of nervousness, but impatience.
A moment of silence hangs awkwardly before Naina continues, "So... you work at Infinitum Tech, right? That's impressive."
He sips his water and shrugs. "It's just work."
Her smile falters a little. "I've heard great things about the company. My cousins are in the same field. Says it's hard to get in."
"Then your cousin should work harder," he says, not even blinking.
Naina blinks, unsure if she heard right.
She pushes gently, "It's kind of interesting though... I mean, you work there of all places. Isn't that company yo—"
"None of your business," Aarav cuts her off, voice icy.
Naina blinks. The unfinished sentence hangs between them like a crack in a mirror.
She tries to recover. "I was just saying it's—well, impressive. That's all."
Aarav leans back, finally looking at her properly for a second. "Do you always talk this much?"
Naina flushes, caught between confusion and hurt. "I'm just trying to have a conversation."
"Well, don't. I'm not here to make friends," he says coldly.
She stares at him, stunned. "Then why are you here?"
He exhales sharply, almost laughing without humor. "Because someone keeps scheduling these pointless meetings. And I was told you were okay with it."
Naina's lips tighten. "I am."
Another pause. His phone buzzes. He glances at it under the table.
Message from: 'Private Eye'
"Sir, madam didn't go for lunch. Still sitting at her desk all alone."
His fingers pause. His brows pull together, barely noticeable to anyone else but that tiny shift says enough.
Aarav locks the screen. His appetite, already absent, vanishes altogether.
"She's skipping meals now?" he mutters under his breath, more to himself.
Naina raises an eyebrow. "Sorry?"
He gets up. "I've seen enough."
"You're leaving?" Naina asks, her voice quiet.
"I was never really here," Aarav mutters, tossing a polite-but-empty "Nice to meet you" over his shoulder before walking out without waiting for her reply.
Naina sits frozen for a moment, her fingers tightening around her coffee cup. Whatever she expected from this meeting... it wasn't this.
[Back at Infinitum – Priya's Desk, Afternoon]
The soft hum of air conditioners and distant typing fills the open office. Most employees have returned from lunch, chatting in low voices or sipping hot cups of chai at their desks.
But Priya stays quiet.
She sits with her shoulders slightly hunched, eyes fixed on the screen. The cursor blinks at the end of a line of code she's been revising for the past ten minutes. Her mind is alert, but her body's running purely on willpower.
Tanya returns to the desk beside her, unwrapping a small packet of chocolate.
"You didn't come with us," she says gently. "At least have something?"
Priya gives her a small nod and a faint smile. "I wasn't really hungry."
Tanya doesn't push. She places the chocolate on Priya's desk and turns back to her screen.
Priya exhales quietly, adjusts her chair, and dives back into her work. Typing. Editing. Debugging.
Her phone buzzes: Incoming Call: Maa
She hesitates, then quickly picks it up and walks toward the far end of the corridor near the window.
"Hello?" she whispers.
Her mother's voice is soft, full of concern.
"I just wanted to ask... are you okay now, beta? You were crying last night..."
A tightness rises in Priya's chest.
"I'm okay now, Maa," she replies. "Just caught up in some work..."
There's a pause.
"You didn't eat, did you?"
Priya looks down. "I will. In a little while."
"Please take care of yourself, Priya. I get worried."
A small smile tugs at her lips despite everything. "I'm fine, Maa. Promise."
They talk for another minute, just enough to soothe her mother's heart, and calm her own.
Then she ends the call, tucks the phone back into her pocket, and returns to her desk.
Chocolate bar untouched. But the code in front of her? Flawless.
[Aarav's Office – Late Afternoon]
The office is dim again. Back to its usual stillness. Cold, clinical, and far too silent for how loud Aarav's thoughts are.
He enters swiftly — no wasted movement. The Oberoi Café had been just ten minutes away, he drove back like a man escaping something.
But it all shifts the moment he opens his laptop. He sits at his desk, the glow of the large monitor reflecting off his sharp features.
A soft ping breaks the silence.
"Live feed is active." A message from the man who'd hacked the fifth-floor security cameras.
Aarav's fingers move swiftly over the keyboard. Within seconds, multiple small frames light up his screen with different angles of her desk side, the open workspace where Priya sits.
His jaw tightens when he spots her. She's alone at her desk.
Everyone else has returned from lunch, some still chatting, others laughing over something on their phones.
But Priya? Still working.
Tanya silently places a small chocolate bar on her desk — a quiet gesture of concern.
Priya glances at it... then simply slides it aside. She doesn't even unwrap it. Her eyes stay on the screen, lost in thought.
He watches her adjust her chair, type something, pause. The overhead camera catches her face looks pale, serious, focused. Then, she walks toward the far end of the corridor near the window, phone in hand.
Aarav leans closer instinctively. When she presses the phone to her ear, something in his chest twists.
He can't hear the conversation. But he can see her face. The soft smile. The way her shoulders slightly relax.
By the time she returns to her desk and resumes working, Aarav's expression has darkened. Not angry. But quietly, deeply frustrated.
He mutters under his breath, "Why aren't you taking care of yourself, Priya?"
A knock on the door breaks his focus. He quickly minimizes the feed, eyes flicking toward the door. "Come in."
It's just the housekeeping staff. They leave a fresh cup of coffee and quietly exit.
Aarav doesn't touch it. He turns back to the black screen, thinking. Then another thought. Irrational, immediate.
Should I just send her lunch? A tensed breath catches in his throat. But how?
They're not even friends. She's already scared of him.
"If food shows up at her desk, if she finds out it's from me, she'll panic."
She'll pull away. He presses his fingers against his lips, gaze fixed on the blank screen, brain spinning faster than ever.
"I have to be her friend first."
The words leave his mouth like a decision, not a thought. Then, slowly, almost absently, he opens a new browser tab.
And begins searching something ridiculous:
"How to approach a girl without scaring her."
The moment the words appear on the screen, he stares at them, blinking once. Then twice.
"God, I sound like a serial killer," he mutters, running a hand down his face.
The search results are loaded with cheerful blogs, Reddit threads, and YouTube thumbnails that scream '10 ways to impress her!' or 'Be confident, King!'
He slams the laptop shut. "What am I even doing?" he says under his breath. This... this is not him.
He negotiates million-dollar deals before breakfast. Shuts down boardrooms with a single look. He has men watching her apartment and tapping company feeds like it's nothing.
And yet here he is, typing out teenage-level search queries like a nervous schoolboy.
This is ridiculous.
But just as he leans back in his chair, something clicks. A sharp shift in his expression. Aarav doesn't stumble around feelings. He acts.
He reaches for his phone, all hesitation gone. Taps a number from memory — the direct line to the reception desk on the 5th floor.
A woman's voice answers on the second ring. "Hello, Front Desk, Product Engineering."
"This is Aarav," he says, voice smooth, authoritative. "There's an intern in your wing. Priya Singh. Send her to my cabin."
A pause. "Um... right now, sir?"
"Yes. Now." He hangs up without waiting for confirmation.
Leaning back in his chair, he watches the glass door, heart ticking just a little faster than usual.
Just one conversation.
Where he controls everything. Where he'll make sure she doesn't feel scared this time. Even if he has no idea what the hell he's going to say.
Priya is still at her desk, hunched slightly forward, fingers resting on the keyboard though she hasn't typed in a while.
The light from her screen casts a soft glow on her face, and around her, the office has mostly settled into a post-lunch lull.
That's when someone clears their throat near her desk. She turns.
It's the receptionist — a woman she's seen around but never spoken to.
"Hi... are you Priya Singh?" Priya blinks, confused. "Yes."
"You're requested in Mr. Aarav sir's cabin." Her heart skips.
Eyes widen slightly.
"Me?" she asks, her voice quieter than intended.
The woman gives a polite smile. "Yes. Right now."
[Priya's POV]
My hands freeze on the edge of the desk. Did I hear that right? Aarav sir wants to see me?
My heart skips a beat.
Why would he call me? What did I do now? After what happened yesterday I don't even want to see his face. I force myself to breathe. Calm down, Priya. You didn't do anything wrong. Probably.
But my chest feels tight. And my stomach has completely forgotten it was supposed to be hungry. I glance around, trying to act normal.
Just me. Just this moment.
The whole floor feels like it's leaning in to watch. I push my chair back slowly, trying not to look like I'm about to throw up—and stand.
My legs don't feel like mine. They're stiff. Heavy. It's just a walk across the office, but suddenly it feels like I'm walking into some kind of judgment chamber.
Don't overthink it. Just go. Just go.
I press my palms against my kurti, trying to smooth the nonexistent wrinkles, and take the first step.
But my heartbeat? It's already thundering in my ears.
[Author's POV]
{Aarav 's Cabin}
Aarav looks up the moment he hears the knock. And there she is.
Her fingers clutch the side of her kurta. Her eyes flicker from the floor to him and back, clearly unsure whether she should even be here.
His jaw clenches for a second not in anger. In something far more complicated. What the hell am I doing to her?
But his face softens instantly. This time, no cold expression. No sharp tone. Just... warmth.
"Come in," he says, his voice surprisingly gentle.
She walks in slowly, like she's expecting to be scolded.
He gestures toward the chair across from his desk. "Sit. Please."
She sits, barely making a sound, back straight, eyes not quite meeting his.
He folds his hands on the desk and leans in slightly.
"I wanted to speak to you," he begins, voice calm, almost careful. "About yesterday."
Her head lifts, eyes wide.
"I didn't want to scare you," he says. "That wasn't my intention. I realise now that I probably did."
She doesn't reply. Just listen.
Aarav continues, his tone rehearsed to sound sincere, even though every word is measured. Strategic.
"I was just trying to say that we're at work. And when I saw you and Rajat talking and laughing during work hours, it was not even break time so I lost my temper. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."
He pauses, then adds the part that costs him the most.
"I'm sorry."
It's a word he's never said before. Not to employees. Not to clients. Not to anyone who didn't absolutely demand it.
But for her, he lets it fall from his mouth like it's easy.
"I wanted to clarify things yesterday itself," he says, "but I got pulled into back-to-back meetings. Something urgent came up." he lied.
He leans back now, letting the silence sit for a moment.
"I hope you understand."
Then he smiles soft, approachable, nothing like the man who shut her down in that hallway.
[Priya's POV]
"Did you forgive me now?" he asks, tilting his head slightly, like he's genuinely curious.
I blink, caught off guard by the question. His tone isn't mocking... it's almost careful. Like he's trying to gauge how much damage he caused.
"I didn't say I hadn't, sir" I reply, keeping my voice low.
"But you didn't say you had either," he says, lips quivering into a small smile, too controlled to be casual.
I look away for a second, trying to steady myself. My hands are clasped tightly in my lap.
"I just want to do my work properly. That's all, sir" I say, hoping that's enough to end the conversation.
He nods slowly, as if accepting that.
Then leans forward just a bit. "Good. Because I'd like us to start fresh. No misunderstandings. No... tension."
I meet his eyes. They're calm now. Polished. "Okay, sir." I said quietly.
[Author's POV]
He smiles again, and for a second, it almost feels real. He doesn't look threatening now. No sharp tone. No cold stare. Just a man speaking gently, trying to fix a misunderstanding. At least that's what Priya sees.
His apology is perfectly timed, perfectly worded — carefully delivered to sound like regret. He says he was angry, that he overreacted, that work pressure got the better of him. That it wasn't about her personally.
And Priya? She buys every word.
His eyes look sincere. His voice sounds warm. Everything about him feels... different. Human.
Kind, even.
She doesn't notice the calculation behind the softness. The way his posture leans in just enough to seem open. The way he lowers his voice, like he's letting her in on something real.
She doesn't see it. She wants to believe the best. She wants to believe people change. That he's not the same man who shut her down in that hallway.
So she smiles, small and a little shy, and she nods. He's won her trust. That's all he needed. She thinks this is a beginning.
He knows it's just the first step in pulling her into his world quietly, slowly, until she doesn't realize she's already surrounded.
And she smiles again. Believing it's friendship. Not knowing it's the prettiest lie he'll ever tell.
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To be continued......
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