Too much traffic between us

Love or Duty

Vidisha sat in the firehouse kitchen, staring down at the untouched cup of coffee in front of her. The cold, silent air inside the station was a stark contrast to the chaos raging in her mind. Last night had left her shaken. The kiss, the raw emotions she’d shared with Raunak, still lingered on her skin like a burn she couldn’t soothe.

She knew it wasn’t supposed to happen. She’d told herself that giving in to her feelings would only complicate things, that it would interfere with her duty. But all her rationalizations, all the mental walls she had carefully constructed over the past few weeks, had crumbled the second Raunak kissed her. And the worst part? She wasn’t sure if she could put those walls back up.

Her heart tugged in two directions, torn between the undeniable connection she had with Raunak and the responsibilities she had sworn to uphold. She had worked so hard to be the best at her job, to protect those who relied on her, and now that conviction was being challenged by something as messy as love.

The door to the kitchen creaked open, and Vidisha’s thoughts snapped back to the present. Her colleague, Sameer, stepped in, looking more tired than usual.

“Hey, you good?” he asked, noticing the untouched coffee and her far-off expression.

Vidisha forced a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, just tired.”

Sameer eyed her carefully but didn’t press. He grabbed a cup from the counter and started brewing his own coffee. “Well, the latest on the arson case came in. Looks like the fire we put out yesterday might have been a decoy. They think the real target is somewhere else.”

Vidisha straightened, her professional instincts taking over. “Where?”

“They’re narrowing it down. But the chief wants us all on high alert. We’re spread thin, and if this guy’s moving locations, we need to be ready for anything.”

She nodded, focusing on the case like it was a lifeline. Work had always been her anchor, the thing that kept her grounded, especially in moments like these when everything else felt out of control.

But as she listened to Sameer rattle off updates, her mind drifted back to Raunak. He had become part of the investigation, analyzing the burn patterns and gathering medical evidence to help track down the arsonist. They had worked together before, but now it felt different—everything between them felt different. Every time she saw him, her pulse quickened, her thoughts muddled. And the way he looked at her, with such intensity, made her feel like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, teetering between falling and holding on.

Sameer finished his coffee and left to brief the rest of the team, leaving Vidisha alone with her thoughts. She knew she needed to clear her head, to push Raunak out of her mind and focus on the task at hand. But no matter how hard she tried, his face lingered in the back of her mind.

---

Later that day, Vidisha found herself in yet another briefing, the tension in the room almost palpable. The fires were escalating, and the arsonist had become more brazen, leaving fewer clues and targeting more vulnerable areas of the city. The latest fire had nearly destroyed a community center, and they had barely managed to contain it before it spread to the surrounding homes.

As the briefing concluded, Vidisha stood to leave, but before she could make it out of the room, Raunak approached her. His expression was unreadable, but there was a quiet determination in his eyes that sent a shiver down her spine.

“We need to talk,” he said softly, his voice steady but firm.

Vidisha tensed, every instinct telling her to keep her distance, to protect herself from whatever he was about to say. But she couldn’t avoid him forever.

She nodded, following him out of the building to the alley behind the station. The air outside was cool, a welcome relief from the stuffy tension inside. Raunak turned to face her, his gaze intense, his lips pressed into a thin line as if he were struggling to find the right words.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Vidisha started, her voice wavering slightly. “And you’re right. We need to stay focused. Whatever happened last night—”

“Vidisha,” Raunak interrupted, his voice rougher than usual. “It’s not just about last night. This has been building for weeks. You know it as well as I do.”

She swallowed, unable to deny the truth in his words. She did know it. She had felt the pull between them, the undeniable connection that had grown stronger with every passing day, no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

“We can’t do this,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “You know we can’t.”

Raunak took a step closer, his eyes locked on hers. “I’m not asking you to give up your job, or to break any rules. But pretending like we don’t feel something is a lie. I’ve been lying to myself, and I can’t keep doing that. Not when every time I see you, I…” His words trailed off, but the emotion in his voice filled the silence between them.

Vidisha’s breath hitched. She wanted to fight it, to tell him that they couldn’t risk their careers, their lives, for whatever was between them. But standing there, with Raunak’s eyes burning into hers, she couldn’t find the strength to push him away anymore.

She took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. “What are we supposed to do, Raunak? We’re in the middle of a manhunt for an arsonist. People are depending on us. If we get distracted—”

“I know,” he said, his voice softer now. “But denying what’s happening between us isn’t going to make it go away. We need to figure out a way to deal with this, together.”

Vidisha stared at him, her mind racing. He was right. They couldn’t keep pretending nothing was happening. But the risks—the consequences—they loomed over her like a shadow.

“I don’t know how,” she admitted, her voice barely audible.

Raunak took her hand, the warmth of his touch sending a jolt of electricity through her. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, his voice steady. “But we don’t have to do it alone.”

She looked down at their intertwined hands, the weight of his words sinking in. For so long, she had shouldered everything on her own—her career, her responsibilities, her feelings. But maybe, just maybe, she didn’t have to carry it all by herself anymore.

The sound of a fire truck siren in the distance broke the moment, and Vidisha pulled her hand away, reality crashing back down around her.

“We have to stay focused,” she said, her voice firmer now. “We can’t afford any distractions.”

Raunak nodded, but his eyes never left hers. “Agreed. But that doesn’t mean we have to ignore what’s between us.”

Vidisha swallowed hard, torn between duty and the undeniable pull she felt toward him. She knew she couldn’t afford to let her feelings interfere with her job, but she also couldn’t deny the connection they shared any longer.

As they headed back inside, Vidisha couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted between them. And no matter how hard she tried to fight it, she knew that their relationship—whatever it was—wasn’t going away.

But with every step they took, the lines between duty and love blurred a little more, leaving Vidisha wondering how long they could keep walking that tightrope before it snapped.