Mission Love

Nine

Recap: I've got a competition?!

As I sat on the bench, trying to calm my racing heart, anxiety bubbled up inside me. Serena’s words echoed again and again in my mind like a drumbeat:

you’ve got competition...

you’ve got competition...

you’ve got competition...

I tried to shake off the paranoia, but it clung to me like a second skin. The thought of Ryan and Naveen in that room together, talking about God-knows-what, made my stomach churn.

What if Serena was right? What if there was something going on between them that I had no idea about?

But that didn’t make any sense.
Ryan was... well, Ryan. My cold, distant boss who barely said more than two words to me unless it was about work. And Naveen—he was just doing me a favour, pretending to be my boyfriend for a day to help me out of a sticky situation.
They are both colleagues, with greeeat looks. Their relationship was only that of an employer and employee.
That didn’t mean anything, right?

Right??

I leaned back against the wall, taking deep breaths to steady myself. I was overthinking this, and I knew it. But no matter how hard I tried to focus on something else, my thoughts kept circling back to the same question: What if Serena was right?

I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to know what was going on in that room. With a deep breath, I got up from the bench and moved toward the door. My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear anything else, and my hands were clammy as I reached for the doorknob.

I hesitated for a moment, my hand hovering just inches from the door.

But...was I really about to eavesdrop on my boss and my pretend boyfriend?

Yes. Yes, I was.

Before I could second-guess myself, I pressed my ear against the door, hoping to catch even a snippet of their conversation. At first, all I heard was the muffled sound of voices, too low for me to make out any words. But then, Ryan’s voice cut through the quiet, cold and precise as always.

"...not your concern," he was saying, his tone clipped.
"This is a personal matter, Naveen."

A shiver ran down my spine.
Ryan didn’t sound like he was in a good mood. In fact, he sounded downright pissed. But why?

What were they talking about?

Naveen’s voice was softer, more controlled.
"I just think we should be transparent about this. It could affect our work."

What??
What could be affecting their work?

My mind was racing, trying to piece together the puzzle with only a few scattered pieces.

"I’ll handle it," Ryan replied, his voice firm. "You don’t need to get involved."

I heard the sound of footsteps, and I quickly pulled away from the door, my heart leaping into my throat.

Dammit! Were they coming out?
Was I about to get caught?

But the footsteps stopped, and I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding. They weren’t leaving. Not yet.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, louder than anything else. I had no idea what was going on, but one thing was clear: whatever Ryan and Naveen were discussing, it was serious.
And it had nothing to do with me—or so I hoped.