Chapter 20

The worst part about this?

Mehul wasn't even doing anything.

That was the problem.

He wasn't trying to get my attention. He wasn't going out of his way to interact with me.

And yet, I couldn't stop thinking about him.

I had spent the last few days telling myself I was fine. That I was still in control.

But today?

Today proved me wrong.

The conference room was full, stuffy, and way too serious.

The client was going over final numbers. Someone was taking notes. People were nodding along.

I was trying to focus.

But Mehul was sitting next to me.

And somehow, that was all I could think about.

His elbow was inches from mine.

The faint scent of his cologne lingered in the air.

When he turned a page, the sound was way too loud in my ears.

I forced myself to keep my gaze on the report, to actually absorb the information.

But then, out of nowhere, he shifted.

And for half a second, his knee brushed against mine.

Just a touch. A fraction of a second.

But it was over.

Every single thought in my head vanished.

My pulse spiked like I had been electrocuted.

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to act normal.

He didn't even react.

He just kept flipping through the document, completely unaffected.

Meanwhile, I was sitting here trying to remember how breathing worked.

This was ridiculous. I was ridiculous.

I needed to get it together.

After the meeting, I was determined to be normal.

I went back to my desk. Opened my laptop. Took a sip of my coffee.

And then—

"Vihaan."

His voice was so smooth, so calm, so effortlessly distracting.

I looked up too fast. "Huh?"

Mehul blinked at me. "The report. Did you check the final numbers?"

For a second, I had no idea what he was talking about.

Because all I could think was:

He said my name.

It wasn't special. It wasn't even the first time.

But it was different now.

I had spent way too much time thinking about him, about the way he spoke, about the way his voice sounded when he was talking to me.

And hearing it now? It hit differently.

Mehul was still waiting.

I scrambled to recover. "Yeah—uh—the report. Right."

I grabbed the file and stood up too fast.

My elbow hit my coffee mug.

The mug tipped. Spilled.

Right onto Mehul's desk.

For five horrifying seconds, I just stared as the coffee spread across his neatly organized workspace, creeping toward his laptop.

Mehul moved fast, grabbing tissues and lifting his laptop away just in time.

I, meanwhile, was still frozen in pure horror.

Finally, I snapped out of it and grabbed tissues, helping clean up. "Oh my god. Oh my god. I am—this is—"

Mehul sighed, completely unbothered. "It's fine."

It was not fine.

I had spent the last week internally losing my mind over him.

And now?

I had just dumped coffee all over his desk like a love-struck idiot.

I wanted to crawl into the floor and never come out.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally cleaned up the mess.

I was still dying inside, fully expecting Mehul to never speak to me again.

But instead—

He just… handed me his extra pen.

I blinked. "What?"

Mehul looked unimpressed. "You dropped yours in the coffee."

I looked down. Oh. Right.

My pen was still lying on his desk, completely ruined.

I hesitated before taking the one he offered. "You don't have to—"

"It's just a pen, Vihaan," he said, turning back to his laptop.

But it wasn't.

Not to me.

Not when my fingers brushed against his as I took it.

Not when the warmth of his hand still lingered on the pen.

Not when my heartbeat picked up over something this stupid.

I swallowed, gripping it too tightly. "Right. Thanks."

Mehul just hummed, already focused on his screen.

Meanwhile, I sat there, staring at the pen like it was the final proof of my downfall.