Arvind wrapped up his meeting & sat in his car. His heart was beating super fast. Did he sense it right? But how come he did not understand earlier? What if only his emotions were high? Thoughts clouded his mind, and he just could not think clearly. He put on the music & drove back to the office.

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Revathy called up Ashwin. “Ashwin, did you meet Arvind today? How did it all go?”. There was so much excitement in her voice.

“Calm down, Revathy. It went just fine. I will email the minutes of the meeting to you. Have a look. okay. And do not stress over all this. Just take rest & get well soon.”

Ashwin kept the phone down & looked outside his office window. The cars honking below the road, the maddening crowd, the rush, the chaos… but somehow he felt still within. As if he had got a missing piece that was lost long ago. He had not felt something like this in a long time!

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Mr. Subramanium was listening to Arvind vent everything that he was holding within.

“But you do not understand. It isn’t that easy, especially when it is work. I never want to mix my personal life with professional work. And what if it was just me ! You are a witness to every difficult situation that I have faced since relocating to Bangalore. And here, Ashwin is a South Indian, & I am from the North. It will all be very chaotic!”

” But what does your heart say?”

” Well, that is the problem! It says not to worry & express everything that I feel.” Arvind wanted to call his mom & say everything, but he felt so restless that he could not even do that,

Just then, Deepa knocked on the door.

” Arvind, can you please check your WhatsApp & send an ok to me so that I will know that my leave for tomorrow is approved?”

Mr. Subramanium burst out laughing while Arvind looked clueless, trying to gauge the courage displayed in front of him.

” Well, Deepa, just tell me one thing. What should one do when one wants to confess love but can not ?” Mr. Subramanium asked as he winked at Arvind.

” This is so simple. Just say it out loud, da! And who is getting love these days? One would be a moron to think of not confessing their feelings anyway. Isn’t life too small to lose people you love?”

Mr. Subramanium smiled and looked at Arvind.

“Well, your leave is approved”.

A new message popped up in Arvind’s phone. It was from Ashwin.

“Hi Arvind. I can not ignore what I felt during that handshake, & I do not know if it was mutual. But I am gathering all my courage. It may not be perfect, but I have a feeling that it is real, it is solid. Can we meet over Coffee sometime may be?”

Arvind could not stop blushing.

Glossary: Da – Da in Malayalam means friend.

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Disclaimer: All the names & events in this are fictitious & any resemblance to any person or incident is purely Coincidental

Love,

Chinmayee

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025