Meera felt it.
Her fingers tightened around her dupatta. Her eyes stayed on his face, trying to understand the shift, trying to catch up to what had just happened.
He stopped in front of her. Close enough that she had to lift her chin to meet his eyes.
“Two days.”
The words were low, yet they carried weight.
“Shade across the path to entrance. Multiple water stations. Seating along the walls.”
Her lips parted. Nothing came out.
“I don’t care how it happens,” he went on. “It gets done before someone else falls and does not get up.”
The courtyard fell still.
Meera swallowed. Her grip on her dupatta eased, then tightened again as she drew herself back together.
“Understood, Boss.” Her voice remained even, but the ease was gone.
Their eyes stayed locked for a breath. Then, he stepped back and turned.
A young man hurried forward with the laptop. Abhinav took it without looking and moved across the courtyard.
The crowd parted on its own.
People stepped aside as he passed, one after another, making space without being told.
He did not respond.
Yet he felt it.
The respect. The expectation. The place forced onto him.
It followed him as he walked.
Behind him, Meera stood still. Her pulse had not settled. She turned, her eyes moving over the courtyard again.
The exposed stone. The thin strip of shade. The crowd still gathered.
And now… she saw it. Exactly as he had said it. Her breath finally, finally stabilised.
Two days.
Fine.
She would make it happen.
Chapter 11
Sleep refused him.
Abhinav lay in the dark long enough to recognize it. Restlessness pressed in from all sides, thoughts circling without end. He stopped pretending, pulled on a shirt, and stepped out.
No destination. Just movement.
It had always worked. When his mind wouldn’t settle, he let his body take over. Walked until things aligned again.