Recap: I fell for him again..

I giggled, darting across the sandy beach. The tiny gravel beneath my feet tickled as I ran alongside the breezy wave, sending my hair flying back and forth.

"Wait… I’ll catch you soon."

A voice rang out behind me, but stopping was not an option—nope, not until I was suddenly scooped up from behind. I giggled even harder, half in surprise, half in sheer joy. I wrapped my arms around his huge, wide shoulders. His body felt warm against my skin as I hid my face in the crook of his neck. The fresh minty fragrance numbed my mind.

"Gotcha!"

The voice chirped, not even remotely winded, like carrying me was the easiest thing in the world. But, let’s be real—I’m no feather. Yet here I was, effortlessly hoisted up as if I weighed nothing more than a pillow.

This was it! My happiness!

"Aisha," the voice purred, as sweet as chocolate, so smooth and warm that it made me think of... well, someone else, someone who...

"Aisha"

Okay, now it was getting a bit annoying.

"What?"

I giggled peeking at the distorted face of the man, which scared me a bit, to be honest.

"Aisha...Wake up!"

The voice was much sharper; it made my ears ring, unlike the other one, followed by a not-so-gentle nudge to my shoulder.

"Mhm." I stirred, blinking groggily.
My vision was still fuzzy, but I could make out a figure leaning over me.

Naveen?

I blinked again, trying to focus.

Why was Naveen standing over me? And why did my neck feel like I’d been sleeping on a pile of bricks?

Wait a minute. Shit!

The harsh fluorescent lights, the papers strewn across the desk, and the computer screen still glowing finally made sense.

I wasn’t on a beach enjoying the waves; I was in the office.

I shot up in my seat, almost knocking over the coffee cup on the table.

"Oh crap! Did I fall asleep?"

Naveen nodded, his expression somewhere between concern and amusement. He looked far too fresh and alert for someone who had also pulled an all-nighter.

"You’ve been snoring for the past fifteen minutes."
I groaned, rubbing my eyes with the heel of my hand. My hair felt like it was trying to escape my scalp in all directions.

Before I could fully process the situation, a shadow loomed over my desk. I slowly looked up to see Ryan standing with an eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

"So," Ryan began, his tone icy yet somehow amused, "are you awake now?"

My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I probably looked like a fish out of water, gaping up at him.

Words... what happened to my learnings?

Ryan didn’t wait for an answer. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to suppress the urge to strangle me or fire me. I gingerly scanned around the office.

Thank goodness!
At least there’s no one else here to witness.. this!

But of course, it had to be Ryan who caught me in the act.

Why couldn’t it have been someone.. I don't know a little less terrifying?

"You’ve got five minutes to wash your face and start the presentation. And try not to snore during the meeting."

Naveen let out a snort that he quickly tried to disguise as a cough when I shot him a glare. This was not funny. Except... okay, maybe it was a little funny, considering the way Ryan was looking at me like I’d just been caught dozing off in class, and he was the strict maths teacher about to give me detention.

"Yes, sir!" I squeaked, scrambling out of my chair so fast that I almost tripped over my own feet. I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the glass door as I rushed out of the room, and I winced. My hair was a disaster, my eyeliner was smudged, and I looked like I hadn’t slept in a century.

I dashed to the restroom, splashing cold water on my face and trying to smooth out the bird's nest on my head. As I patted my face dry with a paper towel, the fear began to creep up on me.

What if I bomb this presentation? What if I make a fool of myself in front of Ryan and Naveen?

But there was no time to dwell on it. With one last deep breath, I straightened my back, put on my best 'I’ve-got-this' face, and marched back to the meeting room, ready to pretend like I hadn’t just woken up.

I entered the meeting room with as much confidence as I could muster. Naveen shot me a thumbs-up, which was probably meant to be encouraging, but instead, it sent a wave of panic through me. Why?

Because Naveen wasn’t going to present it. The pressure was solely on me now—whether I ace or fail, it totally depends on me.

Ryan stood at the head of the table, his arms still crossed, wearing a cold, 'I'm your boss' expression that made me swallow a lump. He motioned for me to begin, and I quickly connected my laptop to the projector, silently praying to the tech gods that everything would work smoothly.

"Alright," I began, my voice surprisingly steady despite the butterflies doing cartwheels in my stomach.
"Let's dive into the proposal we’ve prepared."

As I navigated through the slides, something surprising happened. The more I talked, the more I could see Ryan’s expression change. The usual sharpness in his eyes softened, and by the time I reached the end, he actually looked... impressed?

I wrapped up the presentation with a deep breath, resisting the urge to fist-pump the air.

"And that concludes our proposal. Any questions?"

Ryan was silent for a moment, and it felt like the entire office was holding its breath. Finally, he nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"That was... well done."

Naveen and I exchanged a quick, disbelieving glance.
Did Ryan actually just compliment us?

Ryan leaned back against the table, his expression now completely free of its earlier irritation.

"It’s good," he said with a nod of approval.

Yes! The all-nighter had been worth it after all.

"I’ll take it from here. You guys can go home," Ryan continued, his tone a bit lighter than usual.

I blinked, not quite believing what I was hearing.

"Thank you, Sir. We really appreciate it," Naveen quickly jumped in after realising my perplexed state.

Ryan nodded, already turning back to his laptop, clearly moving on to the next item on his agenda.

With that, Ryan waved us off, signalling that the meeting—and our workday—was officially over.

Oh my gosh! I did it!

"I did it! Yes!!" I screamed in excitement but quickly ducked behind Naveen when the staff gave me weird looks.

"Why are they staring at me like I’m about to sprout wings and take off?" I whispered, wide-eyed.

Naveen chuckled.
"Maybe because you just yelled like you won the lottery."

With a laugh, I hastily gathered my things, already imagining Dina's reaction when she hears the news.

She’s gonna be so proud!
I finally did it.

I practically ran to the elevator with a huge grin. Naveen caught up to me as we stepped into the elevator.

I grinned, feeling lighter than I had in hours.

"So, what are you going to do with your day off?" he asked as soon as the elevator door closed.

"First, I'm going to take the world's longest nap."
I said without thinking much, as the elevator opened and I walked out, swinging back and forth.

Naveen chuckled, shaking his head. "What about—"

My phone buzzed, cutting him off. I took it out and saw that Dina was calling. Naveen gave me a smile and nodded his head while distancing himself from me.

"Aisha! Where are you?"

As soon as I picked up, Dina's sharp voice cut through the lingering fog in my mind.

"I'm at the office, getting out. I got a day off—"

"Great! I'm on my way. Wait for me at the café."

She cut me off abruptly before I could even get to the best part.

"But what happened?" I frowned at the urgency in her voice.

"Aisha... did you check your phone?" Dina's words came out in a rush, like she was delivering some kind of life-or-death news.

I glanced down at my phone, realising that I hadn't even looked at it since waking up. The screen was filled with missed calls and texts from my parents.

"No. Why?"

"Your parents fixed a match for you."

"What?!" I shrieked out loud, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Naveen jolt back abruptly with slightly wide eyes.

"Sorry,"
I apologised hurriedly mortified at Naveen's startled expression. But I was too distracted to explain the reason for my soul-piercing scream. "Dina, what do you mean they fixed a match?"

"Your parents called me last night asking about you, so I explained to them about your emergency situation and somehow managed to convince them that we’d meet him ourselves. They were hell-bent on visiting you," she explained, her voice fading in and out amidst the loud traffic noise.

Have they gone crazy?
I'm just in my twenties—nearly on the verge of stepping into my thirties—but still, they should at least be patient.

"Wait, today? Like... right now?!"

"Yes, Aisha, right now! So move it! We'll see once we reach the café!" Dina commanded, clearly in no mood for delays.

"Uh... okay. I'll be there." The phone slipped from my hand as I tried to wrap my mind around the sudden drastic change of plans. I fumbled to pick it up, but Naveen was faster than me. He gracefully picked it up and handed it to me.

As I glanced at Naveen, who was looking at me with a mix of amusement and curiosity, I wanted to whine and roll on the floor about my not-so-good luck.

Seriously, why me?

Of all the things to happen today, this was at the top of the ridiculous list!
W

hy does it feels like the meeting was about to go hilariously wrong!

Shit! Is this the end of my potential love story?

******

Mission Love Status:

Got an update!

Warning ⚠️

Might overload the system!