Aurous Charms

26| Avoiding Him

Published on 29th January 2025
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Hello beautiful people!
Another chapter is here.

Do share your lovely comments.
Have a happy read!

♡ kabhi tera tha jo ab begaana hai woh ♡

– A K R I T I –

For three days, I avoided the site like my life depended on it. Three days of pacing the house, staring at my laptop and pretending I could manage everything from the comfort of my room.

I'm not avoiding him.

I told myself every morning as I checked emails and answered calls.

This was just... a break.

A completely rational break.

After all, everyone deserved a little time off, didn't they?

But no matter how much I tried to focus on the designs, the floor plans or the endless stream of calls from the team, my mind kept circling back to him. To Shlok. To the way he'd looked at me the last time I was there — like I was the one who had lost my mind.

And then there were the messages.

Every day, like clockwork, a new one would pop up on my phone:

"How's the leg? Feeling better?"

"Let me know if you need anything."

"Take care of yourself, Akriti."

He didn't push. He didn't ask where I was or why I wasn't showing up. Just those same careful, considerate messages, as if he were trying to check in without overstepping.

I stared at each one longer than I cared to admit. Sometimes, I even typed out a reply, my fingers hovering over the keyboard:

I'm fine, thanks for asking.

It's better now.

Thanks for checking in.

But I never hit send.

The truth was, I didn't trust myself to reply. I didn't want to sound desperate, or worse— like I cared too much. So, I ignored them, one after the other, hoping he'd take the hint.

By the third day, the cracks started to show. Calls from the team became more frequent, more urgent. Questions piled up and emails went unanswered. I spent hours hunched over my laptop, trying to convince myself that I could manage everything from here. But deep down, I knew it wasn't enough. The site needed me. The project needed me.

More importantly, I needed to show up.

It was late that evening, long after Adit had gone to bed, that I finally stopped running from the truth. Sitting on the edge of the sofa, staring blankly at the mess of papers spread out before me, I realized I couldn't keep this up forever. This was my job, my responsibility.

I had worked too hard to let someone else — anyone else — dictate my actions.

I stood up abruptly, startling even myself. "No more," I muttered under my breath.

The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual. I dressed with more care than I normally would, choosing a crisp white kurta paired with dark jeans. It wasn't fancy, but it made me feel... grounded. Confident, even. As I tied my hair back into a bun, I caught my own reflection in the mirror and paused.