Chapter Sixty-Four: Caught on Camera (And They Know It)
The morning started normally enough.
Jay sat at her desk, organizing files, when Keifer's message popped up.
Keifer: My cabin. Now.
Jay: I have work.
Keifer: I'm the boss. I'm reassigning you.
Jay: To what?
Keifer: Me.
She laughed, stood, and walked toward his cabin with practiced casualness.
The door closed behind her.
---
Twenty minutes later, Percy burst into the office.
He'd come to "discuss business" with Keifer, which really meant he wanted free coffee and to cause chaos.
He headed straight for Keifer's cabin.
Yuri was already there, filming something random in the hallway.
Aries followed, carrying coffee, looking for Ella.
Percy reached the door.
It was slightly open.
He peeked inside.
His eyes went wide.
He spun around, grabbing Yuri and Aries. "GUYS! GUYS! COME HERE! NOW!"
Aries sighed. "Percy, what—"
"JUST COME!"
They looked through the crack in the door.
Keifer had Jay pressed against the wall, kissing her thoroughly. Her legs were wrapped around his waist. His hands were—well, they were busy.
Aries pinched the bridge of his nose. "Again?"
Yuri was already filming. "THIS IS GOLD! PURE GOLD!"
Percy pulled out his phone. "I'M CALLING EVERYONE!"
---
Within minutes, a video call was connecting.
Shreya's face appeared first, sleepy and confused. "Percy? It's midnight here."
"SHREYA! LOOK!" He angled his phone toward the crack in the door.
Shreya's eyes went wide. "OH MY GOD! ARE THEY—"
"YES! IN THE OFFICE! AGAIN!"
Akshi's face appeared beside Shreya's, shoving into frame. "WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED?"
"KEIF AND JAY! KISSING! IN THE CABIN!"
Akshi screamed. "NO WAY! LET ME SEE!"
Percy angled the phone better.
On screen, Jay and Keifer were completely oblivious—still wrapped up in each other, still very much occupied.
Akshi was dying. "THEY'RE SO ROMANTIC! LOOK AT THEM!"
Shreya covered her mouth, laughing. "Percy, you're going to get murdered when they find out."
"WORTH IT!"
---
C.N.'s face appeared on the call. "Why am I getting a group video at—" He checked the time. "—9 AM?"
"LOOK!" Percy angled the phone again.
C.N. stared. Then slowly grinned. "Mother's getting some."
"C.N.!"
"What? She is!"
Rakii joined the call. "Is that—are they—in the OFFICE?"
"YES!"
"This is going in the family album."
---
Mithun joined next, looking calm as always. "Percy. It's late here."
"MIT HUN! LOOK!"
Mithun looked. His expression didn't change, but his eyes crinkled slightly. "Ah. They're... busy."
"BUSY IS RIGHT!"
Chethan's face appeared, rubbing his eyes. "What's happening?"
Percy filled him in.
Chethan immediately perked up. "THEY'RE AT IT AGAIN? IN THE OFFICE? THIS IS AMAZING!"
---
Felix and Bridget joined, both laughing.
David and Freya appeared, David already wheezing.
Mica and Calix joined, Mica screaming with laughter.
Even Grace appeared briefly, Grazel in her arms, before quickly covering the baby's eyes. "Not for baby eyes!"
The call was chaos.
Seventeen people watching Jay and Keifer through a crack in a door.
---
Then Akshi had a realization.
"Wait. Are they even AWARE we're watching?"
Percy paused. "I don't think so."
"Then we need to make them AWARE!"
Shreya looked at her. "Akshi, no."
"Akshi, YES!"
Chethan leaned in. "What's the plan?"
"We ALL yell at once! Through the phone! So they HEAR us!"
Percy's eyes lit up. "GENIUS!"
Mithun sighed. "This is going to end badly."
"BEST KIND OF BADLY!"
---
They counted down.
Three. Two. One.
Everyone on the call screamed at the top of their lungs:
"HEY JAY AND KEIF! WE SEE YOU!"
---
Inside the cabin, Jay froze.
Keifer froze.
Their eyes met in horror.
Slowly, Jay turned her head toward the door.
The crack.
The phone.
Percy's grinning face.
Yuri's camera.
Aries's resigned expression.
And on the phone screen—seventeen faces, all waving, all laughing.
---
Jay's scream could have shattered glass.
"PERCY!"
Keifer grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at the door. It bounced off harmlessly.
Percy howled with laughter. "YOU'RE FAMOUS! ALL OF INDIA SAW!"
Akshi's voice came through the phone, loud and clear. "HI JAY! HI KEIF! WE MISS YOU! ALSO YOU'RE VERY ROMANTIC!"
Shreya was crying with laughter behind her.
Mithun, calm as ever, waved. "Good evening."
Chethan was bouncing. "THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!"
---
Jay stormed toward the door, Keifer following, both adjusting their clothes.
She yanked it open.
Percy stumbled back, still filming with his phone.
Yuri kept his camera steady. "Statement? Any statement?"
Jay grabbed Percy's phone. "GIVE ME THAT!"
On the screen, seventeen faces stared back at her.
Akshi waved. "HI JAY!"
Shreya smiled through tears of laughter. "We love you!"
C.N. smirked. "Mother. Caught in the act. Again."
Jay pointed at the screen. "C.N., I will fly back to India and throw you into the Arabian Sea!"
"Still no sharks there!"
"I'LL FIND SHARKS! I'LL IMPORT THEM!"
---
Akshi, undeterred, launched into her story. "OKAY JAY! SINCE WE'RE ALL HERE! YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT MITHUN DID!"
Mithun's calm expression cracked. "Akshi. No."
"MIT HUN YES!"
Shreya tried to grab the phone. "Akshi, don't you DARE—"
But Akshi was faster. "THREE DAYS AGO! SHREYA GOT SICK! REALLY SICK! FEVER! CHILLS! THE WHOLE THING!"
Jay forgot her embarrassment immediately. "What?"
Chethan jumped in. "Mithun got a call at 2 AM from Shreya. She could barely talk. He was at her door in TWENTY MINUTES!"
Percy grabbed the phone back. "TWENTY MINUTES? IN THE RAIN?"
"IN THE RAIN!"
---
Akshi continued, gleefully. "He brought MEDICINE! And SOUP! And a HEATING PAD! And he stayed ALL NIGHT!"
Mithun's ears were bright red. "She was sick. I was concerned."
"CONCERNED? You checked her temperature every hour!"
"That's what you do."
"You STROKED HER HAIR WHILE SHE SLEPT!"
The call erupted.
Percy fell against the wall. Yuri's camera shook. Even Aries cracked a smile.
Jay stared at the screen. "Mithun. Hair stroking?"
Mithun looked at the ceiling. "She was feverish. I was trying to comfort her."
Shreya's face was the color of a tomato. "Akshi, I'm going to END you!"
"YOU'LL THANK ME AT THE WEDDING!"
---
Keifer appeared beside Jay, taking the phone. "Mithun. Hair stroking. Tell us everything."
Mithun sighed. "There's nothing to tell."
Chethan disagreed. "There's EVERYTHING to tell! He made her BREAKFAST the next morning! In her kitchen! With her pans! He texted ME for recipes! MIT HUN NEVER COOKS!"
Akshi added, "AND when her fever broke, he sat with her for TWO MORE HOURS just to make sure she was okay!"
Mica's voice came through. "THAT'S THE MOST ROMANTIC THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"
Bridget nodded. "Mithun. You're a hero."
Mithun pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to bed."
"NO! YOU'RE STAYING! WE'RE DISCUSSING YOUR ROMANCE!"
---
Percy grabbed the phone back. "OKAY! So we have TWO romances! Keif and Jay—caught in the office! Mithun and Shreya—HAIR STROKING at 2 AM!"
C.N. raised his hand on screen. "I'm starting a betting pool. When do Mithun and Shreya get together?"
Akshi immediately joined. "SIX MONTHS! MAX!"
Chethan considered. "They're stubborn. A year."
Mithun stared at them. "I'm right here."
"We KNOW! THAT'S WHY WE'RE BETTING!"
Shreya buried her face in her hands. "I hate all of you."
"No you don't!"
"...No. I don't."
---
Jay, now fully recovered from her embarrassment, grinned at the screen. "Shreya. Mithun. You two are adorable."
Shreya looked up. "We're NOT—"
"Hair stroking. 2 AM. Soup. Breakfast. That's adorable."
Mithun met Jay's eyes through the screen. "She was sick."
"And you were in love."
He didn't deny it.
The call erupted again.
---
Percy turned to Jay. "So. You and Keif. Office romance. Again. Any comment?"
Jay grabbed the phone. "My comment is that you're all dead. Every single one of you."
Akshi waved. "LOVE YOU TOO, SISTER!"
Shreya managed a smile. "Welcome to the club of being caught."
Jay laughed despite herself. "This club is terrible."
"THE BEST kind of terrible!"
---
Keifer pulled Jay close, speaking to the phone. "Since you've all seen everything anyway... Mithun. Shreya. Stop being stubborn. You clearly love each other."
Mithun was quiet.
Shreya was quiet.
Akshi whispered, "They're BLUSHING!"
Chethan zoomed in with his phone. "HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION! MITHUN BLUSHING!"
Mithun cleared his throat. "I should go."
"RUNNING AWAY! CLASSIC!"
---
The call continued for another hour.
Stories exchanged. Teasing nonstop. Laughter across two continents.
When they finally hung up, Percy turned to Jay and Keifer.
"So. About that video footage—"
Jay grabbed his phone. "Deleted."
"No!"
"YES."
"But the MEMORIES!"
"The memories can stay. The footage goes."
Percy pouted. "You're no fun."
"I'm survival."
---
As they walked away, Jay leaned into Keifer.
"Our life is insane."
"The best kind of insane."
"India is still haunting us."
"Haunting? Or blessing?"
She smiled. "Blessing. Definitely blessing."
He kissed her forehead. "Love you."
"Love you too. Now let's go home before Percy finds another crack to film through."
"Agreed."
---
End of Chapter Sixty-Four