My Ex - Crush

Episode 51

Deepika’s POV:

That was... weird. I’ve never seen Arjun act like that before.

Hmmm.

Maybe he was in a bad mood. Maybe I should have just gone with him when he asked instead of teasing him about Anusha. He looked too down for me to be messing with him like that.

Why can't I just focus on my work?

But no matter how hard I tried, my mind kept wandering back to Arjun. His face flashed in my head, that darkness in his eyes, the way he abruptly drove off without a word.

Why does he affect me so much? I bit my lip, shaking my head. I needed to snap out of it, but Arjun's image refused to leave my mind.

Before I could spiral further, Sri Devi ma’am snapped us back to reality with instructions. She wanted us to prep for the village visit, specifically focusing on studying hilly and sloped terrains. My team was paired with the physicals team for a collective study.

My heart sank the moment I saw Rahul in the discussion table. I had purposely avoided that team just to get away from him. He was an obnoxious, annoying distraction, and I knew I had to stay far from him for the sake of my mental peace—even if it meant staying away from friends. 

My team was tasked with mapping out roads, electricity connections, water supply, and basic amenities in the village. It was complicated because the village was on a hill, making it tricky to measure and model everything accurately.

"Using SketchUp, with the GIS and Google Maps option, we can generate the terrain of the entire village into a 3D model," Rahul said, as if it was some kind of genius revelation.

Sanjay nodded in agreement, of course. "That would make our work easier."

I rolled my eyes. "It wouldn’t be as accurate as direct measurements."

Rahul turned to me with that smug look I hated. "Excuse me, our team is the one making the layout of the village. Your team’s just going to add the details."

"Which is exactly why your layout needs to be perfect," I shot back. "Otherwise, your sloppy work will mess up my team's entire project."

Gayatri muffled a laugh, clearly enjoying the tension between us.

Rahul, as usual, saw this as an opportunity to rile me up. "Hey, Deepika, do you like me?" he asked suddenly, with a cocky grin plastered on his face.

Sanjay and Joshitha looked at him, clearly embarrassed, but I was furious.

"What? Hell no!" I practically shouted, disgust evident in my voice.

"Oh, I see," Rahul continued, his voice dripping with mockery. "Are you trying to set up some enemies-to-lovers trope here? Is that your plan?"

"Enemies-to-dead-zombies, maybe," I spat back. "Not even in your wildest dreams."

Rahul leaned in, still trying to provoke me. "Then why are you so hell-bent on opposing every idea I come up with? You trying to get my attention, Deepika?"

I let out a loud, disbelieving laugh. This guy was unbelievable.

"Rahul, your useless attention is the last thing I need," I said, my voice rising. "And for the record, your ideas are just as worthless as your brain."

Daniel and Manoj glanced over at Rahul, probably wondering how they ever put up with him in the first place. At least my friends knew who I actually had feelings for.

I expected Rahul to fire back, but instead, he just smiled that smug, infuriating smile. And then I noticed something. Joshitha’s expression shifted. Her eyes darted between me and Rahul, and suddenly I realized—she was buying into Rahul’s stupid act, thinking there was some truth to what he was implying.