The invitation arrived at 6:02 p.m.
Aarvi noticed it only because it sat at the top of her inbox, flagged mandatory.
Subject: Annual Leadership & Partners' Dinner
Attendance Required: Senior Management + Key Team Representatives
Her name was listed.
She frowned slightly.
This wasn't routine.
This wasn't just another meeting.
This was visibility.
---
She understood the weight immediately
The dinner wasn't about celebration.
It was about optics.
Alignment.
Who stood where — and with whom.
Aarvi leaned back in her chair, rereading the mail.
Key team representatives.
She exhaled slowly.
This wasn't punishment.
It was scrutiny.
---
Riyan saw it too
From his office, Riyan watched her read the email.
He recognized the stillness instantly — the way she went quiet when something required more than preparation.
He stepped out, stopping beside her desk.
"You saw it," he said.
"Yes," she replied.
He didn't offer reassurance.
He asked the only question that mattered.
"Are you comfortable going?"
Aarvi considered it honestly.
"I don't want to avoid it," she said.
"But I don't want it to become… something else."
He nodded.
"It won't," he said.
"Not unless we let it."
---
The unspoken complication
They both knew the problem wasn't attendance.
It was proximity.
At events like these, lines blurred easily —
not because of behavior,
but because of perception.
One photo.
One misplaced assumption.
Aarvi broke the silence.
"How do we handle it?" she asked.
Riyan didn't hesitate.
"The same way we handle everything else," he said.
"Clearly."
---
The decision they made together
They stood there, not touching, not tense — just aligned.
"We arrive separately," Riyan said.
"We interact professionally. No explanations."
Aarvi nodded.
"And we leave separately," she added.
He smiled faintly.
"Agreed."
Not avoidance.
Boundaries.
---
Why the invitation mattered
That night, as Aarvi prepared for bed, she realized something quietly unsettling.
This wasn't about romance or work.
This was about being seen in spaces that didn't allow nuance.
About choosing dignity over comfort.
And she knew —
how they handled this night would shape how seriously the world took them next.
---
A calm before another test
Riyan stood in his apartment later, staring at the city.
He wasn't worried about temptation.
He was worried about restraint.
Because caring publicly required a different kind of discipline than caring in private.
And tomorrow, the world would be watching again.