Chapter 9: The Office Grapevine

Monday morning, Priya looked like she’d just heard the apocalypse: "The sky’s fallen—Mr. Arjun has a girlfriend!"

I nearly choked. "What?"

"There are hickeys on his neck!" she whispered, eyes gleaming.

The office WhatsApp group was on fire:

[You can tell she’s wild. There’s more than one hickey on his neck.]

[I think those are bite marks.]

[So jealous, he’s really being well-fed.]

[He isn’t even hiding it—showing off on purpose.]

[Maybe his girlfriend’s marking her territory, all these female colleagues after him.]

I nearly fainted. Guys, your imagination is wild. Those were my bite marks. Even though no one knew, I was on edge all day.

Thankfully, I had a business trip to Lucknow the next day. At the airport, I wheeled my suitcase over to find Director Suresh—but instead, there was Arjun, in jeans and a plain kurta, looking calm as ever. "Morning, Team Leader Kabir."

"Where’s Director Suresh?"

"He’s unwell, so I’m taking over."

Mere toh pairon tale zameen phir se khisak gayi. Luck just doesn’t favour me, does it?