The second day should have been easier.
It wasn't.
If anything, morning felt heavier, as if the air inside AR Designs had shifted overnight into something sharper, something that pressed against her skin with every step she took down the hallway.
She clutched the files to her chest, her dupatta brushing her arm like a reminder to breathe.
"Just another day," she whispered to herself.
Her voice sounded too small.
The elevator chimed.
She stepped out.
And froze.
Because Arnav Singh Raizada was already there.
Standing in the middle of the corridor like he owned not just the building but the air she needed to breathe. Dark suit, darker eyes, expression unreadable—controlled to the point of cruelty.
He didn't look at her.
Not directly.
But she felt it—felt him—like an invisible force pulling her nerves tight.
She swallowed.
"Good morning, sir," she managed.
His eyes flicked to her.
One second.
Sharp, assessing, too intense.
"Conference room," he said.
No greeting.
No softness from yesterday.
Just… clipped command.
Khushi's fingers tightened around the files.
Had she done something wrong?
She followed him, her heartbeat too
loud in her own ears. The hall felt long and narrow, the sound of their steps too synchronized, too aware.
Every time his shoulder brushed the air near hers, her breath hitched.
She hated that.
She hated that she could feel him without him touching her.
The conference room door opened, and she stepped inside.
Aman was already seated—calm, focused—but his eyes lingered on her with a small, knowing flicker.
NK waved dramatically from the far end of the table, grinning like he'd been waiting to rescue someone.
"Khushiiii! You survived your first day?"
His voice was too bright for the tense morning.
She smiled weakly. "Barely."
Before NK could say more, Arnav entered the room behind her.
And the temperature dropped by five degrees.
NK's grin faltered.
Aman straightened.
Khushi stiffened.
Arnav didn't say a word, but his presence consumed the room instantly, the way a storm consumes the sky—silent at first, deadly underneath.
He took the head seat.
Khushi took a seat near the side.
Her pulse refused to settle.
----
Distance.
He needed distance.
He repeated that word in his head like a mantra, like the last line of defense he still had against the chaos clawing inside him.
Yesterday, she'd walked out of his office with trembling fingers and soft eyes that haunted him all night.
He hadn't slept.
He hadn't managed more than two hours before her face slipped into his thoughts again—uncertain, curious, devastatingly gentle.
So today, he came armed with control. Walls. Boundaries.
He thought they would hold.
They didn't.
Because she walked into the conference room with files in her arms and hesitation in her eyes, and the sight hit him like a strike to the chest.
Too bright.
Too soft.
Too distracting.
He forced his gaze away.
He forced every emotion into tight, cold corners.
"Let's begin," he said.
Aman started the brief.
NK dropped pens twice.
Khushi flinched at every shift in Arnav's tone.
And Arnav?
He pretended not to notice her.
Pretended not to feel the way the air changed when she adjusted her dupatta.
Pretended not to hear the small catch of her breath when he spoke too sharply.
Pretended not to want to look at her again.
This pretending was killing him.
---
She checked the file again.
Everything looked correct.
She waited until Aman finished speaking before standing and stepping forward, placing the folder on the table in front of Arnav with careful hands.
"This is the compiled schedule, sir."
He opened it.
One page flipped.
Another.
Then—
His brows lowered by a fraction.
Not anger.
Not disappointment.
Worse.
Precision.
"You entered the wrong department code."
His voice was low—unforgivingly controlled.
Khushi blinked.
"What? I—I checked everything—"
His eyes lifted, pinning her in place.
"Clearly not."
The words weren't yelled.
They didn't need to be.
They cut anyway.
Heat rushed to her cheeks, humiliation curling in her stomach.
She looked down and saw it—a tiny detail she had genuinely missed. The date was right. The content was right. But the department code… one digit was off.
"I… I'm sorry, sir. I'll—"
"Fix it now," he said.
She nodded quickly. "Yes."
NK opened his mouth to lighten the moment, but Arnav's glare silenced him instantly.
Aman gave her a quiet, sympathetic look.
Her throat tightened.
She'd worked so hard that morning. Double-checked. Triple-checked. And still—
Still she messed up.
But what hurt wasn't the mistake.
It was the way he looked at her.
As if yesterday never happened.
As if he'd built new walls overnight.
As if she suddenly meant nothing.
She took the file and stepped back, the sting sharp enough to make her eyes burn.
She would not cry.
Not here.
Not in front of him.
---
He didn't mean to snap.
Not at her.
Not like that.
The moment the words left his mouth, something inside him recoiled—not guilt, but… something uncomfortably close.
Because he saw her expression shift.
Her shoulders stiffen.
Her fingers tremble as she reached for the file.
That flicker of hurt in her eyes—brief, but impossible to ignore.
He hated it.
Hated that he caused it.
But what was he supposed to do?
Look at her gently?
Speak softly again?
Let the warmth from yesterday slip through and shatter the last remnants of control he still had?
No.
Coldness was necessary.
Coldness was safe.
Coldness was the only weapon he had against himself.
He interrupted Aman and continued the meeting, forcing his tone sharper, colder, harder than necessary. Every clipped order was a punishment—not for her, but for himself.
Because when she stood there looking small and embarrassed, he wanted to reach out.
Wanted to tell her it was fine.
Wanted to say her name.
And wanting that was unacceptable.
He didn't look at her again.
Not until the meeting ended.
Not until she tried to leave quietly, slipping toward the door.
Then—
Then his eyes lifted on instinct.
She paused.
Just a fraction.
As if she felt it.
As if she always felt him.
Their eyes met across the room.
A single breath.
A single heartbeat.
Something electric snapped through the space between them.
And then they both looked away.
---
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