My Ex - Crush

Episode 53

Deepika's POV:

As soon as we arrived at the village for our second day of work, I set Rajesh the task of measuring and plotting the roads on the left side of the village. To my complete surprise, he took to it without complaint, working with a focus I’d never seen in him before. Even Meera and the others were noticing.

“What did you say to him?” Meera whispered, as she watched him measure a section with Sundar.

“Is this really Rajesh? It’s like he’s possessed,” Gayatri said in disbelief.

“Am I dreaming? Is that actually Rajesh working hard?” Aysha chimed in, as amazed as the rest of us.

I could hardly believe it myself, but there he was, working diligently. Grateful for the unexpected change, I refocused on our own task. “Good for us, anyway,” I said with a grin. “Let’s note down the number and placement of streetlights and water taps. We’ll cover the left half of the village today.” The group nodded, and we dispersed to get to work.

As Meera and I roamed through our section, jotting down details about the water supply, I couldn’t help feeling both content and strangely peaceful. The sun was bright, its rays warm against our skin, but a cool wind kept things comfortable. It felt wonderful being out here, absorbing village life.

We took a quick break, sitting in the shade of a small house. The local water was cold and refreshing, tasting even better than bottled water, and I refilled my bottle from a public tap nearby. The people there explained that their water came from a nearby stream and dam, which also irrigated the surrounding fields. I could sense a calm simplicity in this place, so different from city life.

By lunchtime, the whole team gathered in a small public hall, enjoying a delicious meal, courtesy of Indhu’s dad. Afterward, we found a sunny spot in the open courtyard of the village temple to rest. The gentle, chilly breeze, combined with the sun’s warmth, made it tempting to just lie back and drift off to sleep, but we had more work to do.

“This is heaven,” Rajesh sighed, stretching out beside Tarun, his eyes shut in bliss. It was oddly satisfying to see him so relaxed, considering how hard he’d been working earlier.

Then, I noticed Joshitha hurrying toward us, her face tense and worried. “Deepika, I need your help!” she said, urging me to follow her. Meera quickly joined us, while the rest of our group dispersed to continue working.

“What's wrong?” I asked, sensing her urgency.

“It’s a mess! Sanjay and Daniel are arguing with Rahul, and they’re not listening to anyone! You need to step in!” she explained, practically dragging me to the small market area at the heart of the village.

When we arrived, I saw Daniel and Sanjay squared off against Rahul, who already had a large bruise on his face. Manoj was trying to pull Sanjay back, his face strained with worry.

“What happened?” I asked Joshitha, already feeling a mix of irritation and frustration. Part of me had seen this coming.

Manoj came over, exasperated. “Rahul lost all the layout measurements from yesterday, then blamed Daniel for it. Daniel was calm at first, but Rahul kept provoking him. They started arguing, and then… Daniel punched him. Sanjay tried to step in, but then Rahul started accusing Sanjay of not working seriously and of hanging around the village with Mithra like he’s on a honeymoon.” Manoj’s voice trailed off, looking disheartened.

My jaw dropped. I could feel my irritation boiling into outright frustration. This was exactly the kind of behavior I’d expected from Rahul, and a big part of why I’d switched groups in the first place. And now poor Sanjay, who had been so hopeful about his team, was left dealing with this chaos.