MIRA

30. Confidence!💪

Mira quietly sat down in her cubicle with a bottle of water. Despite having drunk some water, Mira felt a large lump in her throat. Jyoti approached her and said,

''The fraud's intentions were wrong from the start! You remember how he stole your part in the New York conference, I knew something was wrong there & then! You shouldn't have given him your slides Miraaaa''

Mira didn't say a word, she remained silent with her hands on her forehead.

''Mira!? Are you listening? You know what, you should go tell Richie right now! It's the only way that Ananth will be shown where he stands! If you don't then I will!'' Jyoti said and turned.

But Mira grabbed hold of her wrist when she turned to leave and said,

''No Jyoti, not now. It will only create a scene in front of everyone.''

''Then when Mira? Can't you see? You should be in there! Not that fraud!'' Jyoti said gritting her teeth.

''Jyoti please, leave it. Besides, He's only stolen my idea, not my brain.'' Mira pleaded to Jyoti who gave a sigh and said finally,

''Oh Mira, you can't be naive now. That fraud should be taught a lesson...I won't go now if you promise to do something about this soon.''

Mira promised Jyoti.

***

That weekend, Mira went to the park to jog, despite it being too cold. She felt she needed to run outside badly even if that meant that she had to do it in three layers of clothes including a jacket. Running at a temperature of about 10 degree Celsius was easier said than done. Mira had barely run for about ten minutes when she could feel the cold wind pierce through her cheeks and palms, while her throat and lips dried instantly and her nose became all runny. Nonetheless she pushed herself to last about 20 minutes.

Mira wanted to temporarily escape the frustration and anger that had accumulated inside of her from the week's events. She felt defeated and vulnerable so she ran faster until her stomach ached and her heartbeat raced too fast to keep going. She slowed down and sat on a bench in the park with her head down, as her heartbeat gradually went back to normal.

Mira felt thirsty, and realised that she forgot to bring her water bottle from home that morning. Just then, a water bottle was held in front on her. Mira looked up to find Vikranth sporting a black beanie, black sweatpants with a olive-green jacket, he had a concerned expression on his face. In desperate need to quench her thirst, Mira took the bottle and drank from it, then said,

''Thanks.'' taking a deep breath.

''You alright Mira?'' Vikranth asked with concern as he noticed that Mira's face was pale in the cold.

Mira let out a sigh and looked at her feet.

''You know, running in this cold isn't such a good idea unless you wanna fall sick. ''

Mira was still staring at her feet. Vikranth sensed something wrong from her troubled behaviour.

''Ohhhkay then, I'm gonna go to the dome to grab a coffee. You wanna come? Or you can stay and get frostbite...'' he said and shrugged, hoping to hear some response from Mira.

She remained silent. He had to call out her name twice to get her attention,

''You coming?'' he asked.

Mira finally stood up and walked behind Vikranth to the cafe inside the dome at the park.

***

Mira and Vikranth sat down in the cafe with their drinks, Vikranth had his coffee while Mira had some green tea. The warmth that the green tea brought to Mira as she took her first sip was bliss. At that moment, Vikranth appeared to by Mira's biggest saviour, she was greatful that he had done just the right thing by bringing her inside first, without asking her anything about why she was out in the cold in the first place. But now that they were inside, Mira knew that any minute, he would ask for an explanation to her stunt. Vikranth watched as she rubbed her hands together and kept them on her face and asked after he took a sip of his coffee,