The lunch meeting and the next few days were filled with work and pretty uneventful except the digs we took on Chaudhary. Late nights in the office had become quite normal, our mini late night tea-parties that consisted just the two of us had become our daily ritual, and texting each other after reaching home was the norm.

We had become office pals. Or perhaps more than that. We never addressed the elephant in the room that grew day by day. We chose lighter, more fun and hassle-free topics that didn't require hearts going berserk at every touch or every stare, didn't bring the feels of wanting to melt into a puddle right then and there...

Yes, it was becoming more horrible by the day. And the sadder part was, I couldn't do anything. If I should have stayed away from Abeer, then well, it was pretty late to regret that. There was no going back from where we were. It was just another morning in the office, and I was entering my cabin to start the day, when a voice halted me in my tracks.

"My my, if it isn't the workaholic Aashi Singhania. No calls, no texts, where have you been Ms. Aashi Singhania?" I stared as my best friend fake-glared at me from my chair, her face threatening to burst in a grin.

"Taira! What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked to find her sitting in my cabin, all poised and crossed legged.

She pouted. "You meet your bestie after days, and all you say is 'what are you doing here'? Tch tch."

Meet Taira Kapoor. Daughter of the founder of the company I work in. And my best friend. We had met during the 10th anniversary party of our company, and had instantly clicked. We had spent the entire evening chit-chatting like old friends and refusing men who were asking us to dance. It had been pure fun. She was totally opposite to me.

While her ways were to preach, non-violent, and way too patient for my liking, I was the teaching, more handsy with violence kind of person with an impulsive view to life. Not many people knew she was our company's founder's daughter. Neither had I, until one day we were hanging around in CCD and just happened to discuss our parents.

She didn't work in our office. It was one thing we had in common. Make your own life. She worked in another firm, refusing to be labelled the 'boss's daughter' and live off the benefits. She would eventually inherit her place in the company as the biggest stakeholder of the firm, but before that, she wanted to be capable enough to handle the position.

Naturally, my days and nights had been consumed by work and Abeer to spend time with Taira.

"You forget that this is my father's company, Aashi. I can get in whenever I want, you know," she said, twirling a pen in her fingers.

I threw my bag on the couch in the corner, and with hands on my hips, I turned to look at her sternly.

"First of all woman, get off my chair. It's hard earned," I tipped up my chin haughtily. "And what was all the talk about not wanting to live off the benefits of being the boss's daughter, ha? Just aise hi?" Getting up from my chair, she hit me with a file.

"You don't have any right to boss over me. I wasn't the one to have wiped from the face of the earth with no phone calls or texts from over a month!" Drama. I grinned sheepishly.

I turned to face her 5'7" high stature, with a playful half-smile on my face.

Oh, did I forget to mention Taira was all tall and slim and beautiful and unathletic? By mistake, of course. It had nothing to do with my minor complex of being the shorter, more curvier one in the two of us, with no guy chasing after me at all.

"I just had a bucket load of work, yaar, nothing else."

"Just work or a certain Abeer Sen too?" she taunted, a smirk already playing on her lips. I groaned. It was sick to be friends with the boss's daughter.

"Aisa kuch nahi hai yaar. It's nothing. We practically work in the same department, have the same freaking work, and a joint project now. Isliye we have to work together on hours end nowadays."

"So there is something cooking here, after all! I had just heard snippets of something being the matter, but this is a whole story! I wanna know EVERYTHING. Shoot!" She clapped her hands in glee and pushed me on a chair and seated herself opposite me.

I glared at her. "Taira, are you serious? There is NOTHING between us. Like, nobody has ever liked me that way since school now-" She opened her mouth to refute, but I cut her short.

"-plus its office, Taira. It's unprofessional to invite friends over and have a chit chat in office hours," I said, not meaning a word of it. But it shut her up, just as I knew it would. She nodded solemnly, and stood to take leave.

"But you better call me woman, or I will invite myself to your place!" She said before leaving, which I knew was a threat without merit. Barging into houses was my thing, not hers. I shook my head and went back to work.

Seems like I would have to ignore calls now.

It had been a terrifically hectic day after Taira had left. Which meant my dinner schedule was severely hurt once again. It had been quite some time since I had had anything, and I was positive I won't make it home before collapsing if I didn't get a granola bar before leaving. So, halfway through the reception I turned and headed towards the cafeteria to grab the honey and almond granola.

I was munching on my bar and humming softly, striding down the hallway when I heard muffled voices. I halted in my tracks and looked about myself, trying to find the source of the voice. I turned to the reception desk, my suspicions turning true as I saw the silhouettes of a man and a woman leaning on the desk.

The man seemed angry, judging by how he was struggling to keep his voice down. The woman was drawling something in a south Indian accent. And there was only one woman freshly landed from Andhra Pradesh with a Tamilian drawl, Maya - our stunningly tall, petite receptionist, known exclusively for her spidery long legs and sheer physical attractiveness.

I went a bit further, dodging the chairs and desks to not alert them. As I leaned against a wall that effectively hid me from their line of sight, but gave me a perfect view of the scene unfolding before me, I was met with the shock of my life.

The 5'9" muscular stature and messy brown curls were unmistakable. Abeer and Maya?

My heart constricted in the most weird way, but I stood my ground. I was torn between giving them privacy and satisfying my curiosity. The latter won, of course. Abeer started walking away and I quickly hid behind a wall to prevent them from thinking I was eavesdropping. But I could see the drama from there, as much as I could smell its tense aura.

"I won't let you leave this time," Maya said, sliding her hand over his collar and pulling him closer.

"You were crazy then and you are crazier now," Abeer replied, trying to free himself from her grasp. But she held him strong.

She pushed him onto the reception table, cornering him and leaving him no place to escape. Her hands slid from his collar to to his torso, and then all the way down to his belt. I gasped, but quickly covered my mouth for the sound to not escape. Maya's other hand went at the back of Abeer's neck, and pulling him closer, she peppered kisses down his neck.

My nose scrunched. Ew, gross.

I was half a mind away from turning on my heels and fleeing as fast as I could, until I heard something falling with a thud. I looked back to find Maya on the floor with a scowl on her face, Abeer sporting a similar, but much more intense look on his face. My heart swelled, the earlier melancholy long forgotten. He wasn't interested in her.

"Don't dare touch me! It was years ago, and I had made it crystal clear from the day I had joined in here. You are nothing but an ordinary employee to me."

"But you loved me! And you still do! I can see it on your face. You, lusting over my curves, my..." she said while getting up and trying to push her bosom in his face.

Doesn't the woman have an ounce of shame? He isn't interested, why does she want to get humiliated? I shook my head. Some people just don't learn.

"You are CRAZY!" Abeer snarled, making me jump in my place. I had never heard him raise his voice. He pushed her away, and picking up his bag from the floor, he rushed out of the office.

"Yes crazy for you and I will make you mine," Maya screamed and banged her heels hard on the marbled floor so that it produced an echo in the lobby while their words kept echoing in my heart.

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