My Ex - Crush

Episode 46

Arjun's POV:

Is she safe now? Did Joshitha drop her back properly? Or is she still alive after that death-defying ride?

I can’t believe Joshitha’s been driving around in that car without knowing even the basic details! And Deepika just jumped in without a second thought—what was she thinking?

"Arjun, what exactly is our work for today?" Bhavani’s voice cut through my thoughts, snapping me back to the present. She was looking at me from the passenger seat with a clueless expression.

"We need to observe foot traffic in the area," I said, suppressing a sigh. "Count the number of people, note their gender, age group—basically gather data that’ll help design the intervention."

"I don’t get it! Why do we need to know all that just for a small bus stop?" Indhu asked, clearly annoyed.

"That’s how the project works," I said, trying not to roll my eyes. "Strong data makes a strong design. We can’t just pull numbers out of thin air."

"Why not fake the data?" Anusha suggested with a sly smile. "It’s just a design exercise, right? Who’ll know if the stats are a little off?"

"Nope, we’re doing it the right way," I said firmly.

I really couldn’t explain the importance of on-site data and urban rehabilitation to these nut heads!

The only person who’d get it was Deepika. She’d understand exactly why this data mattered. But she wasn’t here—she was off somewhere with Joshitha in that reckless car, and I wasn’t even sure she was safe.

"Hey, we need to be back at the hostel by 6:30," Anusha announced as if we were on some kind of leisurely field trip. The clock was already creeping up to 5 pm.

We finally reached the site, and the girls got out, chattering away. As soon as they were distracted, I slipped back to my car, desperate to make a quick, secretive call to Joshitha.

"Hey Arjun!" came her chirpy voice the second she picked up.

"Joshitha, hey, just checking in. Everything got sorted out, right?" I asked, trying to sound casual, scratching my head like I wasn’t dying to know about Deepika.

"Oh, I see what this is," she said, her voice dripping with amusement. "You’re worried about Deepika, aren’t you?"

"What? No! I’m just making sure you both didn’t crash into a ditch or something," I said, trying to downplay it.

"Yeah, yeah, keep pretending," Joshitha teased, laughing. "Don’t worry, Deepika’s still alive. Barely. I dropped her safely at the bus stop. Now she’s probably squished into a crowded bus on her way home. Happy now?"

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. "I mean, yeah. Just checking on both of you, that’s all."

"Sure, Arjun," she said, and I could hear the smirk in her voice. "Checking on 'both of us.' You know, it’s cute how you’re pretending like you don’t care when it’s written all over your face."

"Okay, thanks for the update. Stay safe," I said quickly, cutting off the call before she could tease me any further.

Finally, I could focus on the work without worrying about Deepika... or at least, that’s what I kept telling myself, even though my thoughts seemed to drift back to her every few minutes.

Just then, Vinoth and Arul pulled up to the site on Vinoth's bike, their usual energy filling the air. The seniors quickly assigned us different spots near the bus stop, and we got down to counting the foot traffic.