SoulMates

chapter 10

Kabir walks through the house, deep in thought, still upset about earlier. Suddenly, he hears a loud crash from the living room. His heart starts racing, and he quickly runs towards the noise.He sees Anya standing near a bookshelf that’s about to fall over. Without thinking, Kabir rushes towards her and pulls her away just as the shelf crashes to the floor. They both stumble, and Kabir ends up holding her close to keep her from falling.For a moment, they stand there, breathing heavily, their bodies pressed together. Anya looks up at him, their faces only inches apart. Kabir’s hands are still on her waist, and when their eyes meet, the tension between them grows even stronger.Kabir (softly): "Are you okay?"Anya nods but doesn’t move. Kabir doesn’t either. The air between them feels heavy, and before he can stop himself, he leans in. Their lips meet in a sudden, intense kiss—something they’ve both been holding back for a long time.Anya is surprised at first, but she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she grabs onto his shirt, kissing him back. The kiss is full of all the emotions they haven’t been able to express—frustration, desire, and confusion.After a few moments, Kabir pulls back, breathing hard, realizing what just happened. He looks at her, his heart still pounding.Kabir (seriously): "I shouldn’t have done that."Anya, still catching her breath, looks at him. They both know that this kiss has changed everything between them.

After the kiss, a heavy silence fills the room. Kabir steps back, his eyes dark with confusion and regret. Anya stands there, still breathing hard, her mind racing. Neither of them knows what to say, and the weight of what just happened settles between them.Anya (softly): "Kabir…"He doesn’t let her finish, shaking his head as if trying to clear his thoughts.Kabir (quickly, avoiding her gaze): "I need to go."Without another word, he turns and walks out of the room, leaving Anya standing there, stunned. She watches him go, her heart pounding, her lips still tingling from the kiss. She knows something has shifted between them, but she’s unsure what it means.Over the next few days, the awkwardness between them grows. Kabir avoids Anya as much as possible—leaving early, staying out late, and keeping busy with work. When they do see each other, their conversations are short and stiff, like they’re both tiptoeing around the elephant in the room.At breakfast, Kabir barely acknowledges her, his focus glued to his phone. Anya, feeling the tension, doesn’t push him. She’s confused too, unsure how to handle what happened between them.But the more Kabir tries to distance himself, the more his emotions get the better of him. His usual calm and control begin to slip. At work, he becomes more irritable, snapping at his colleagues and making small mistakes he never used to make.One evening, Raghav notices something’s off and speaks up.Raghav (concerned): "Boss, you’ve been distracted lately. Everything okay?"Kabir, his jaw tight, shakes his head.Kabir (curtly): "It’s nothing. Just handle the shipment and don’t ask questions."But deep down, Kabir knows it’s not “nothing.” Every time he sees Anya, he’s flooded with emotions—desire, frustration, jealousy—and it’s all starting to overwhelm him. He can’t stop thinking about the kiss, about how it felt to have her in his arms, about how much he wants to feel that again. But at the same time, he’s angry at himself for losing control.One evening, Kabir returns home late after a long day. As he enters the house, he sees Anya sitting on the couch, reading quietly. She looks up when he walks in, their eyes meeting for a brief moment.The tension between them is unbearable. Kabir can feel his pulse quicken, his control slipping again. He quickly looks away and mutters a stiff "goodnight" before heading upstairs. But even as he tries to push her out of his mind, he can’t. The memory of the kiss lingers, haunting him.Kabir (thinking, frustrated): "Why is this happening to me? I need to stop this."But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t. The more he pushes Anya away, the stronger the pull becomes.A few days later, Kabir sees Anya talking to another guy at a gathering. She’s laughing, casually touching his arm, and Kabir feels a surge of jealousy rise in his chest. His hands clench into fists as he watches them, his anger bubbling to the surface.Kabir (thinking, fuming): "Why does it bother me so much to see her with someone else?"He storms out of the room, unable to control the jealousy gnawing at him. His emotions are spiraling out of control, and he knows it. But the more he tries to suppress his feelings for Anya, the more they consume him.At work, his temper becomes even shorter. He finds himself snapping at Raghav, losing focus during important meetings, and making decisions driven by frustration rather than logic. He’s not the same sharp, controlled man he used to be, and everyone around him starts to notice.Raghav (hesitantly): "Kabir, you’ve been… different lately. Are you sure everything’s okay?"Kabir doesn’t answer, just storms off, trying to regain his composure. But it’s no use. The kiss, the feelings he’s tried so hard to deny—they’re all catching up to him, and he’s losing control, bit by bit.As days turn into weeks, Kabir’s struggle only intensifies. His jealousy whenever Anya is with another guy, his frustration at himself for feeling this way—it’s all driving him to a breaking point. He feels like he’s losing himself, and no matter what he does, he can’t stop it.