Silver Lining | Grooms #3

XIII. Five Seconds

Having to return to Portland came sooner than she'd have liked, but she couldn't complain either. She had held back on texting Nikhil till she was in town. She wanted to have the guts to tell him face to face, not hide behind a text message.

Tuesday, when she returned to work, the first thing she did was look at her schedule and email Julie about the next meeting with Nikhil. Due to the breaks, not a lot of work had gotten done - that is the excuse she gave Julie in wanting to set up a meeting with him.

Julie had replied roughly two hours later with a quick apology for not replying earlier as they were in a meeting. She asked if tomorrow they could meet for an hour, since he had meetings all day today and tomorrow, but with the hour gap he had during lunch, it could work if she came to the office and saved the time of him having to drive there and only give them half-hour to discuss things, which wouldn't get far.

Esha had answered, saying she wouldn't mind driving to his office.

Julie had replied, saying she'd put it on his schedule, and a quick note that since it was lunchtime, she wouldn't be joining them for the meeting. Esha, again, didn't mind that. It was probably for the better.

And so, the day had passed by in anticipation for her as she tried to focus on working, but also all the ways she could tell him what she needed to. At the end, the next day, when she met him, none of the scenarios that had played in her mind did justice.

Julie greeted her upon entering the office floor. She informed after the greetings, "He's in his office." walking beside Esha to lead her there. She opened the door without knocking, and apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were still..."

Julie never did have to knock before entering his office since she always knew if he was in a meeting or not. If Nikhil wanted to be left alone for a while, he'd simply call her office desk to make sure no one disturbed him.

Nikhil got up, away from the woman who was standing in front of him. "It's alright, Julie. Sonia was just leaving." It was his way of telling her to leave.

Sonia tried to hide her tears, but Esha spotted her red eyes. She offered Sonia a smile, not knowing who she was, and Sonia looked away before leaving the office.

Julie began to ask, "Is...?"

Nikhil nodded, "You can leave for lunch. It's fine."

Julie acknowledged and left the two in the office. For a second, Nikhil just looked at her face. He thought she looked refreshed, figuring that the Holidays must have been good for her. Nikhil waved at Esha to take a seat. He wanted to be professional but didn't have the heart to be blunt to her. So, he decided to go with small-talk, and at the same time pushing aside the conversation he had just had with Sonia, his ex-girlfriend. "Hey, how are you? I was a bit surprised to see you on the schedule today."

Esha took the seat across his desk, "Yeah, we have some things to discuss."

"On the project?" He asked, curious. "What about? It's too soon for..."

She quickly interjected, "I know. I didn't want to wait. Seeing the places, I had ideas in my mind already so I worked on it."

"Alright. Let's see them." He leaned forward to get the file she had placed on the edge of the desk in front of her.

Before he could lift it, however, she placed her hands on them with considerable strength so he couldn't move it even the slightest. His brows arched, questioning her actions. She asked, "What's the rush? Aren't you going to get lunch first?"

Still cautious of her, he retrieved his hand and got up. "Come, we can go to the office kitchen."

She teased arching a brow, "What, you don't trust me to be in here by myself?"