Not in her wildest dreams would she have believed that the resolution to those emotions would’ve come with his touch, anintimate one at that. Vera couldn’t remember when she had felt so consumed by another man. Every emotion—good and bad—had seemed to focus on a single individual to the point where she forgot everything else.
Vihaan’s touch had beckoned to something within her soul that was bigger than her conscious being. Which was why, when she felt his firm fingers trailing up the naked skin of her thigh, she hadn’t stopped him. When he’d finished inside her, she hadn’t pushed him away. What the hell had she been thinking, allowing that to happen? How could she have been so reckless? Sheneverhad unprotected sex.
But therein lay her problem. Shehadn’tbeen thinking. Her mind had been blank, her body—a vessel of desire. She’d needed to feel something other than abject terror and despondency. What had followed had felt like relief.
Which, now that her fear had abated, made zero sense. How was Vihaan a source of relief?
She’d been tempted to bury herself in bed until logic returned, but missing work meant allowing Vihaan to think he’d gotten the best of her. So, Vera had dragged herself out the door like she normally did. Even though it’d felt like she was being squeezed by a Yeti when she’d taken the elevator up to her floor. Even though the air-conditioned offices of Ethos felt like she was filling her lungs with noxious fumes every second she stayed.
It didn’t matter that she had bags under her eyes, or that she’d zoned out at her team meeting twice, apologetically asking to postpone it so she could get her bearings straight. It didn’t matter that she’d taken her mug to the bathroom instead of the break room for a coffee refresher.
Sigh.
She trudged along slowly, blowing out yet another leaden breath that did nothing to reduce the heaviness in her chest. Just as she entered the coffee area, she noticed three of her team membershuddled, so engrossed in their chat that they didn’t register her presence.
“Did you see her this morning? I wonder what’s going on.”
“Who?” Olivia asked.
“Vera. She doesn’t seem like herself today.”
“Another way for her to get attention,” Olivia guessed unkindly before scoffing, a reaction Vera wasn’t sure what to make of.
Vera didn’t know what to do. On one hand, she was eavesdropping. But it was about her, and she wanted to know what Olivia was going on about. What had she done to turn the young woman against her?
“Attention for what?” her friend questioned, as confused as Vera herself.
“Oh, just wait. She’ll find something,” Olivia huffed immediately, flipping her hair over her shoulders. “She didn’t mention the archive room to you both, did she?”
“What do you mean?”
“What she means,” Vera interrupted, understanding exactly what was happening, “is that I was trapped in the archives room yesterday. For hours.”
The shock on the three women’s faces did little to distract the twisting ache in Vera’s chest from tightening at the recollection of being in that room alone. The dank smell of old files had seeped into her skin, reminding her of the countless moments where escape had seemed impossible. Her stomach flipped, her insides rolling like they were preparing to expunge the meagre breakfast she’d consumed, right there on the clean, grey, tiled floor.
“Apart from me and whoever opened the door,” Vera continued, her palms growing increasingly clammy, “the only other person who could have known this happened is the one who locked me in.”
Vera approached the group, her focus on Olivia who was glaring at her through her round glasses. “I screamed myself hoarse yelling for help. Did you hear me and still walk away?”
Olivia’s lips tightened as she stared stonily at Vera, ignoring the horrified gasps of her friends.
“Why?” Vera questioned, her voice cracking from strain.
Just when she thought she wouldn’t get an answer, Olivia stepped forward, her face twisted with an emotion too ugly to name.
“Because you take everything!” she hissed. “Just because you’re good looking and have everyone’s attention. I was supposed to be the team-lead, I was supposed to be the one getting noticed. Instead, I became your errand girl. I graduated with a marketing degree from Mumbai University and you? We all know you went to night school and barely scraped by. Who knows what you did to get picked instead of me. But soon, people will realise that you don’t deserve this promotion.”
“What do mean? What did you do, Olivia?”
“I can answer that,” cut in a baritone voice that made everyone go still.
Olivia stiffened, her face growing ashen as Vihaan stepped into the room, the lines of his face so severe that even Vera felt apprehension rush through her.
She’d seen him be glib, charming, self-assured, even cruel. She only realised now that she had never seen him angry. It was as if all gentility had been peeled away, leaving behind raw emotion. His jaw flexed, and Vera got the sense he was holding back from unleashing everything within him because of the audience they had.
He stalked towards them with the lithe grace of a large panther on the prowl. Vera wasn’t his prey, but she felt the shift in tension as physically as a pashmina draped over her body.
“Care to repeat what you said, Ms. Singh?” he asked in a voice so silky, it screamed danger.