The clock on the twenty-third floor of AstraNova Studios struck six in the evening, but the office was far from empty.
Monitors still glowed.
Keyboards still clicked.
Deadlines didn't care about working hours.
"Yuvika!"
A cheerful voice interrupted her concentration.
She looked up from her laptop to find three colleagues standing beside her desk.
"You're coming to dinner tonight, right?" one of them asked. "The whole team is going."
Yuvika already knew what kind of dinner it would be.
Two hours of food.
Three hours of gossip.
And endless discussions about who was dating whom.
A nightmare.
Still, she offered a polite smile.
"I'm really sorry, guys. I have a few assignments to finish tonight."
"A few assignments?" another colleague groaned. "You always have assignments."
Yuvika laughed softly.
"I know. But these deadlines won't complete themselves."
"Work-life balance, Yuvika."
"I'll think about it," she replied with a smile she had perfected years ago.
The group sighed dramatically before finally leaving.
As soon as they disappeared, Yuvika turned back to her screen.
Peace.
Silence.
Exactly how she liked it.
Then her eyes drifted across the office.
A few desks away sat Vardhaan Rathore.
Still working.
Still expressionless.
Still looking like he hadn't moved in hours.
One of the same colleagues had already approached him.
"Vardhaan, dinner tonight?"
Without looking away from his monitor, he answered.
"No."
The colleague blinked.
"Just no?"
"No."
"Any reason?"
"Work."
That was it.
No smile.
No explanation.
No apology.
Nothing.
The poor colleague walked away looking mildly offended.
Across the room, Yuvika shook her head.
People always misunderstood him.
They thought he was arrogant.
Rude.
Unfriendly.
The truth was much simpler.
Vardhaan treated every conversation like a coding task.
He used only the words he considered necessary.
Anything beyond that was inefficient.
A few minutes later, the office became quieter as employees began leaving.
Yuvika focused on her laptop again....
Sure. If this comes immediately after both of them deny the office dinner, it flows better if Yuvika is simply thinking about Vardhaan's behavior before her friend calls.
The office had become noticeably quieter.
Most employees had already left for the team dinner, leaving only a handful of people behind.
Yuvika packed her files into her bag and headed toward the elevator.
As the doors closed, a certain conversation replayed in her mind.
"No."
That was all Vardhaan Rathore had said.
Just one word.
The poor guy who invited him had looked personally offended.
Yuvika shook her head.
"Could he be any ruder?"
Then she paused.
No.
That wasn't right.
She had seen him around the office for almost two years.
He wasn't rude.
At least not intentionally.
He simply spoke like every word cost money.
No greetings.
No explanations.
No unnecessary conversations.
Just enough words to get through the day.
Honestly, she couldn't decide whether he was difficult to understand or simply uninterested in understanding anyone else.
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
The screen flashed.
Rhea Kapoor Calling...
Yuvika immediately frowned.
Rhea never called this many times unless something dramatic had happened.
She answered.
"What happened?"
"YUVIKA!"
The loud cry made her pull the phone away from her ear.
"We broke up!"
Yuvika closed her eyes.
Of course.
Again.
"Where are you?"
"At Café Bloom."
"I'll be there."
Without another word, Yuvika changed directions and headed toward the parking lot.
---
Twenty minutes later.
Rhea sat dramatically in a corner booth, looking as if her entire world had collapsed.
The moment she saw Yuvika, tears immediately returned.
"He doesn't love me anymore."
Yuvika sat down calmly.
"What happened?"
For the next fifteen minutes, Rhea explained every detail.
The messages.
The argument.
The assumptions.
The overthinking.
By the end of it, Yuvika was almost certain the relationship hadn't actually ended.
This was probably Breakup Number Fourteen.
Or Fifteen.
She had lost count.
"You'll patch up."
"We won't."
"You will."
"We won't."
"You will."
Rhea glared.
Yuvika sipped her coffee.
An hour later, Rhea's phone lit up.
Aman Calling ❤️
Yuvika didn't even look surprised.
Meanwhile, Rhea's entire personality changed in less than three seconds.
After the call ended, Rhea smiled sheepishly.
"We patched up."
"Shocking."
The sarcasm completely flew over Rhea's head.
"You knew it would happen?"
"I left my work for this."
Rhea grinned.
"And that's why you're my best friend."
Yuvika sighed.
Sometimes she genuinely wondered why she kept showing up.
Then again...
For all her drama, Rhea had never failed to show up when Yuvika needed someone.
So perhaps that made them even.
"Next time," Yuvika said while standing up, "schedule your breakup in advance."
Rhea burst out laughing.
And despite herself, Yuvika laughed too.
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