ADHURI KAHANI: A tale of an amnesic bond

44. HASI TO PHASI

ISHAAN'S POV

I stared at her through the glass window, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction wash over me. The floor-to-ceiling glass I had chosen for the office suddenly felt like the best decision I've ever made—because it allowed me to look at her without anyone noticing. Some might call this unethical, but I've long since stopped caring about what people think.

Jealousy—a feeling I once believed I was immune to—now consumed me entirely when it came to her. It was raw, unfiltered, and hit me harder than anything else ever had. Ishaan Shekhawat, the man known for being rational, for making decisions based on logic and clarity, was now anything but when it came to her.

Rationality? It evaporates the moment she enters the room. Logic? It's a distant memory. I've become this teenage boy, hopelessly in love, yet too afraid to confess because the thought of her rejection terrifies me.

I chuckled at myself—me, scared of a girl's reaction, when I've secured deals worth millions without even a flutter in my pulse. But the second I lay eyes on her, my heartbeat goes into overdrive, making me feel like I'm about to lose control.

What have you done to me, Inaaya?

She sat at her desk, eyes glued to her laptop screen, fully immersed in her work as always. One of the things I've always admired about her is that dedication, the way she throws herself into her tasks with so much focus. It's one of the many reasons I can't seem to keep my distance. But as my gaze wandered across her desk, something caught my eye—the boba I'd left for her, sitting untouched in the corner.

My eyebrows knit together in confusion. She usually starts sipping it as soon as she begins her work, like clockwork. Why hasn't she touched it today?

She began shutting down her computer, closing the documents laid out before her, and tidying up her desk as she stood. Is she going somewhere? My first thought was that she might be heading for coffee, but that didn't make sense. She never drinks coffee—at least, that's what 19-year-old me had written in the diary. The reason? I don't know, because I never explained it back then. Just like I never explained why she's scared of water. It was all just a list of statements, no context or reasoning behind them.

My eyes darted to the clock on the wall. 12 o'clock. Of course—it's lunchtime.

She left her cabin, boba in hand, heading toward what I assumed was the lift. I shook my head, trying to redirect my focus to the file in front of me. Focus, Ishaan. I needed to finish this before I joined her in the cafeteria.

I had already instructed the guy not to bring my lunch to the office anymore. I wanted to steal a few more moments with her, even if it meant eating together. Even just a whiff of her presence is enough to make my heart flutter. I smiled to myself, knowing that those few extra minutes would be the highlight of my day.

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I stepped out of the company building, scanning the area, my mind still preoccupied with Inaaya. She wasn't in the cafeteria, which left me with one more possible location—the hotel close by where I'd seen her with her brother before. Shivyansh had mentioned that she and Tanvi often used to have lunch there. That was my next stop.

Just as I was about to cross the street, my phone rang. My heart sank. It was my mother. I already knew what she was going to ask—her usual question. When are you coming back to the USA?

I hesitated, gripping the phone tighter. The truth was, I didn't want to go back anymore. The very thought of leaving, of not seeing Inaaya every day, was unbearable. It felt like someone had plunged a dagger into my heart and was twisting it. The pain was so real, so consuming, that I could hardly breathe.