Not Likely

Boss-Subordinate Bonding Experience

Okay before you start: Trigger Warning 

There are going to be topics of self-harm and suicide mentioned here. Read it if you're up for it. It's a small portion of their conversation but it plays an important role in explaining some stuff. If you are feeling depressed and are edging towards such tendencies, please find help. 

Ok now read. 

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I feel like I have been over-sharing, so I am going to keep the rest of the conversation out of the narrative. All you have to know is that Nishant was super sweet and funny and charismatic (quite similar to his little bro, but sans the attitude problem).

It was around 2am when we finished the other two movies (for some reason, they decided to choose Lord of The rings) and by the end of the second one, Dhruv had been roped into a call with the US team so he had slid off to the balcony outside. We continued to watch the movie while my eyes kept drifting off to the balcony outside, where I saw him pacing back and forth, seeming absorbed in the call.

I wanted to go out and hang out with him, but I didn't want to make it even more obvious to Kavya and Nishant, who were already sniggering at how much I kept looking away from the movie.

"Man, I am tired." Nishant said, yawning as the credits rolled in. "I could fall asleep just like that."

"Me too, actually" Kavya said, stretching on the couch like a lithe cat. "Let's go to bed?"

What the hell! They promised a fun all-nighter and they were tapping out at 2?

Kavya saw my scandalized expression and giggled. "I am sorry man, but honestly we had an 18-hour shift, and its almost magical we stayed up till this long."

"Yeah, I usually just come back home and crash, but this time, we wanted to learn more about you," Nishant continued, flashing me a quick grin. "You're kind of cool."

Well, that was a good compliment but what the hell am I supposed to do now?!

"You can talk to him", Kavya said softly, inclining her head towards the balcony where we could see his silhouette seated in the outdoor couch. "He is a night owl."

Was this all a massive setup?

This felt like a massive setup!

But also, this felt like the kind of setup I actually like. Talking to him would be a breeze! And being two to three beers in, I knew that the exact way to get rid of these errant feelings was to talk to him as much as possible and normalize him in my eyes.

If I see he has a bad habit or is a mean drunk or something, that's it, game over. Goodbye crush, and hello normal Dhriti.

That's the kind of game I like to play.

"Uh...okay", I said uncertainly as I got up. I stole the two a suspicious look. "This isn't a trap, right?"

"What, no!"

"Trap? What trap?"

"There's no trap."

"I don't even know what you mean- anyway, we are getting super late, so we better get to sleeping", Nishant yawned again. "Bye! Have fun!"

I stared after them as they more or less scuttled away and turned my eyes back to the balcony.

You know what? Screw it. I want to talk to him.

His eyes fixed on the distant sea, the balcony dark except for the lights outside.

He didn't acknowledge my entry until I sat down next to him and took a sip of my beer, looking at the pretty view in front of me.