Not A Simple Engineer Boy! | ✓

072 • night & day | four

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Scrollstck- Suganthi Lakshminarayanan

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Is everything fine? Why aren't you texting? Krithika messaged Rathna.

It had been five days of complete silence from Rathna on her WhatsApp notifications. This was very unusual, given his habit of constant harmless flirting and meme sharing. She somewhat missed that.

Balancing work at night and her day trips to the hospital made it difficult to talk to anyone. After spending the whole day with Xavier, she would retreat to her room to work on deadlines. They weren't allowed to work from home, but she had requested her manager, and for some fortunate reason, her request had been approved.

Sleeplessness had always been a struggle for her, and for the past four consecutive nights, she had kissed her sleep schedule goodbye. Migraines and vertigo had become her new best friends. She missed her sleep and, more importantly, Xavier's calls and frequent texts—the way his voice soothed her mind. He was like an addictive balm to her chaotic life.

But she understood his situation. He did text her occasionally, which was sufficient for the time being.

Her friends had asked about her absence, and she had lied again. It had become a habit to lie, but Rathna hadn't asked about her whereabouts or anything. She could have let it go, but he was a good friend, one who had become close to her in a very short time.

And from what she understood about him, he was, for sure, acting weirdly. She needed to find out. After all, she was the Chakudi for him.

But... everything could wait. She had to sleep for a day before she could go to war and wield her sword.

"Rathna?" she knocked on his cabin door, impatiently waiting for a reply.

"Come in."

She entered his cabin and saw him working on some files. A bunch of red roses sat proudly in the corner of his desk—an unusual sight. It's not like he never received compliments, but this was his cabin. He preferred his workspace clear of any emotional attachments. Just like her, he believed in boundaries.

You have no boundaries, you kissed your boss in his cabin... Oh, wait, you begged for it.

Okay, shut up.

She cleared her throat, but he didn't spare her a glance. This wasn't the Rathna she knew. The Rathna who had become her friend would've at least smiled or cracked a flirting comment about her high ponytail.

Why is he being rude?

"Do you have anything to talk about, Ms. Krithika?" His voice was cold, eyes still glued to the papers in his hand.

"Ms. Krithika!?" she screeched. "So, you're going to call me that?"

"Isn't that your name?"

She ground her teeth. "If you're not in the mood to talk or just want to be done with me, at least have the courtesy to say that out loud."

"You don't owe me anything."

"And I thought we were good friends... Wow!"

He shot her a seething glare. "Good friends, I see," he scowled. "Are you a good friend, Ms. Krithika?"

"Don't beat around the bush, why are you acting weird?" She strode toward him.

She had brought his Tupperware to return and placed it on the coffee table next to him. Turning around, she asked, "Did I do something to hurt you?" She looked at him with concern. "I don't remember doing anything wrong. Is it something to do with that strange note?"

He sat in silence, and she studied his face, looking for any clue as to why she was being hit with this sudden bout of rudeness from the charmer, Rathna Raja Rathore.

Turning to face her, he started, "You call me a friend but hide secrets and spew lies. You could've been honest with me. You could've told me you're with him and that's why you weren't interested in me." He glared at her. "Don't look at me like that... It's not like I don't take a no for an answer. I did take your 'no' seriously. But you lied. That was hurtful."

Shit!

Do tell me what you feel about this and the upcoming chapters, always open to positive criticism.