The next morning, Aarvi felt like she was walking into a storm she didn't know how to escape from.
Her palms were cold.
Her heart was restless.
And every step toward his office felt like stepping into something she wasn't prepared for.
Because after last night, something had changed.
Not on the outside — the world looked the same.
But inside her… inside him… the air between them didn't feel professional anymore.
It felt charged.
Alive.
Too close to something she didn't want to name.
---
Riyan noticed the moment she entered
He didn't even pretend not to.
He looked up the instant her footsteps reached the glass door.
And the way he looked at her…
Soft.
Quiet.
Searching.
It made Aarvi stop breathing for half a second.
"Morning," she whispered, trying to sound normal.
He nodded once, but his eyes lingered on her longer than they should have.
And she felt it — the way he wanted to say something but couldn't.
She hurried to her desk, grateful for the small barrier of space.
But space didn't help.
Not when her thoughts refused to behave.
---
He called her in earlier than usual
"Aarvi," his voice came through the intercom, steady but lower than usual, "come inside."
Her stomach twisted.
She walked into his office, forcing herself to meet his eyes.
He didn't look angry.
He didn't look distant.
He looked… conflicted.
Like he was fighting two parts of himself — the CEO and the man underneath.
"Close the door," he said.
She did.
He motioned to the seat across from him. She sat carefully, her hands folded tightly in her lap.
Riyan watched her in silence for a moment too long, then finally spoke.
"Last night," he began slowly, "you seemed… unsettled."
Aarvi looked away. "I was just tired."
He shook his head.
"You're afraid to tell me the truth."
Her breath caught.
"Sir, I—I'm not afraid of you."
"I know," he answered quietly. "You're afraid of what I'm becoming in your life."
Her pulse stumbled.
She hadn't expected him to say it out loud.
And he didn't look away after saying it — he held her gaze, steady and unguarded.
"Sir, please don't make this more complicated than it already is," she whispered.
Riyan leaned forward, elbows resting on his desk, his voice low and controlled.
"It already is complicated, Aarvi. Whether we say it or not."
Her throat tightened.
---
Then something happened he didn't plan
Her phone buzzed.
Aarvi jumped slightly and reached for it, trying to silence the notification.
But Riyan saw the name flash on the screen — Hospital.
His expression changed instantly.
"Aarvi," he said, voice tightening, "what happened?"
"It's nothing, the doctor just—"
"Don't lie to me."
His words weren't harsh — they were terrified.
Aarvi swallowed, shaking her head.
"I don't want you to worry."
"I already am," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
The honesty in his tone made her chest ache.
She didn't want him carrying her burdens.
She didn't want to become something he had to worry about.
But he already did.
She looked at him slowly.
"Why?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Why do you worry so much about me?"
Riyan didn't speak for a long moment.
He didn't look away.
He didn't hide.
He didn't pretend.
Finally, he said the thing he'd been holding back for days—
"Because I care about you, Aarvi. And I can't keep pretending I don't."
Aarvi's breath caught sharply.
The room was silent except for the quiet fall of her heartbeat and the slow, heavy exhale he released after saying the words neither of them could take back.
She stood up too quickly, overwhelmed.
"Sir… I don't know what to do with that," she whispered.
"You don't have to do anything," he said softly.
"Just don't walk away from me."
Her eyes stung.
She didn't walk away.
She couldn't.
But she also couldn't move closer.
She was standing right in the middle — the most painful place to be.
And for the first time, both of them realized:
Their feelings weren't hiding anymore.
Not from each other.
Not from themselves.