Felt and Fell

Forty-Seven

Aditya

I stepped into Zoya’s office, the familiar scent of coffee and paperwork immediately hitting me.

It was past lunchtime, and as I glanced around, I could see the usual chaos that surrounded her desk—a stack of files, her laptop screen cluttered with open tabs, and Zoya herself, fully immersed in a conversation with one of her assistants. She hadn’t even noticed me come in.

I checked my watch.

We had an appointment with her gynecologist in less than an hour, and knowing how Zoya operated when she was in work mode, there was no way she’d remember.

I sighed, raking a hand through my hair as I made my way to her desk, determined to remind her—gently.

“Zoya,” I called softly as I reached her, my hand resting lightly on her desk.

She didn’t look up, her eyes focused on the document in front of her. “One sec, Adi,” she muttered, scribbling something down before handing the paper to her assistant. “Get this approved by legal and send me the final copy.”

The assistant nodded and left, leaving us alone.

Finally, Zoya looked up, blinking as if she were seeing me for the first time. “Hey... What are you doing here?” She glanced at the clock on the wall, her brows furrowing in confusion. “Wait, do we have dinner plans or something?”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Dinner? No. But we do have a pretty important appointment in about... forty-five minutes.” I raised an eyebrow, hoping that would jog her memory.

She stared at me for a second, and then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh my god, the doctor’s appointment!” Her hand flew to her forehead, and she groaned. “Adi, I completely lost track of time. I’m swamped with this project. I don’t think I can—”

I cut her off gently. “Zoya, we need to go. It’s important.”

“I know,” she said, flustered, already reaching for her phone. “But there’s just so much going on here, I don’t think I can leave right now. Can we reschedule?”

I sighed, leaning against the edge of her desk, crossing my arms. “Zoya, enough already. This is your health we’re talking about, not just some casual thing we can keep pushing. You’ve been running yourself ragged.”

She bit her lip, clearly torn. “Adi, I get it, but this project is crucial. I can’t just leave in the middle of everything.”

I exhaled slowly, trying to keep calm. I understood her dedication—I loved that about her—but this was different. “Zoya, I know how important your work is....but the baby is important too. You’ve barely taken a break in days. We need this check-up.”

I stood there, leaning against the wall outside her office, my eyes glued to the clock.

Thirty minutes.

That’s all I’d given her, and every second was stretching my patience.

I could feel the tension building in my chest as the minutes ticked away.