Too much traffic between us

Confession or Confusion

It was nearly midnight when Vidisha finally left the fire station, her muscles aching from the day’s grueling events. The fire they’d faced had been one of the worst yet, leaving her team exhausted, battered, but thankfully, alive. They had managed to save every resident trapped inside the apartment complex, but the victory felt hollow. The arsonist was still at large, and the fires were only getting more dangerous.

The tension in the city was thick, with everyone on edge, waiting for the next blaze. But tonight, Vidisha wasn’t thinking about the fires or the case files that would await her the next morning. Instead, her thoughts kept drifting back to Raunak.

She hadn’t been able to shake the feeling from earlier—their moment in the office, the fleeting touch when they handed off the little girl. Raunak was under her skin, and it was driving her mad. The friction between them had turned into something else entirely—something she didn’t know how to handle.

And she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

By the time she reached her apartment, her mind was a swirl of conflicting emotions. She kicked off her boots and collapsed onto the couch, her body exhausted but her mind racing.

Just as she started to relax, her phone buzzed on the coffee table. She reached for it, expecting a message from one of her crew members, but her breath caught in her throat when she saw Raunak’s name flash on the screen.

“Are you awake?”

Vidisha hesitated, her fingers hovering over the screen. Why was he texting her now, of all times? And why did part of her feel a surge of excitement at the thought?

She sighed, running a hand through her hair, then tapped out a response. “Yeah. What’s up?”

A moment passed, then another, before his reply came. “Can we talk?”

Vidisha frowned, confusion settling in. Raunak wasn’t the type to reach out like this—at least, not to her. They had spent weeks locked in a push-and-pull of arguments and tension, but now he wanted to talk?

She typed back, feeling a mix of curiosity and wariness. “About what?”

“About us.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Us? Since when was there an “us” to talk about? She stared at the screen, her pulse quickening. Whatever was happening between them was about to come to a head, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for it.

A part of her wanted to tell him to forget it, to leave things as they were. But another part—the part that had felt the spark between them during those stolen moments—wanted to know what he had to say.

Before she could overthink it, she sent one last message. “Where?”

---

They met in a small café a few blocks from her apartment, one of the only places still open this late. The air between them was thick with unspoken tension as they sat across from each other, the flickering candlelight casting shadows on their faces.

Raunak was quiet at first, his eyes fixed on the table as if he were gathering his thoughts. Vidisha crossed her arms, feeling strangely vulnerable in his presence. She wasn’t used to this kind of situation—this was far removed from the fires and the intense teamwork they were used to. This was personal. And messy.

Finally, Raunak spoke, his voice low but steady. “I don’t know how to say this, but… something’s been bothering me.”

Vidisha raised an eyebrow, leaning back in her chair. “Something about the case?”

“No.” He shook his head, meeting her gaze for the first time. “About us. About what’s been happening between us.”

Her heart thudded in her chest. She hadn’t expected him to be so direct, but then again, Raunak wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied, trying to keep her voice steady. “We’re just doing our jobs.”

Raunak’s expression tightened, a hint of frustration flickering in his eyes. “Don’t do that. Don’t pretend you don’t feel it too.”

Vidisha swallowed hard, her walls coming up instinctively. She had spent so long keeping people at a distance, and Raunak was pushing past every barrier she’d built. “Feel what?”

“This.” He gestured between them, his voice gaining intensity. “This thing that’s been going on between us since the first day we met. The arguments, the tension… It’s not just about the fires, Vidisha. It’s about you. It’s about me.”

His words hung in the air, heavy and undeniable. Vidisha felt the heat rise in her chest, her pulse quickening. She had spent weeks trying to ignore it, trying to focus on the job and not the way Raunak made her feel. But now, sitting across from him, she couldn’t run from it anymore.

“What are you trying to say, Raunak?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He leaned forward, his gaze intense. “I’m saying that this isn’t just professional anymore. I don’t know when it happened, but I can’t stop thinking about you. Every time we argue, every time we’re in the same room, I feel it. And I know you do too.”

Vidisha’s breath caught in her throat. She had been fighting this for so long, but hearing Raunak say it out loud made it impossible to deny. The friction between them, the constant push and pull—it wasn’t just annoyance or rivalry. It was attraction. And it was dangerous.

She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. “I can’t do this.”

Raunak’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t move. “Why not?”

“Because it’s not right,” she said, her voice shaking. “We’re in the middle of an investigation. People are depending on us. I can’t let this… whatever this is… get in the way.”

Raunak stood up too, his expression hardening. “So what, you’re just going to pretend it’s not happening? Keep acting like we’re nothing but colleagues?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice firmer now. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

The silence between them was deafening, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Raunak stared at her for a long moment, his jaw clenched, before he finally spoke.

“You can lie to yourself all you want, Vidisha. But you can’t lie to me.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the café, leaving Vidisha standing there, her heart pounding in her chest.

As she watched him go, a wave of conflicting emotions washed over her—anger, confusion, and something she wasn’t ready to name.

Raunak was right. She couldn’t lie to herself. But that didn’t mean she was ready to face the truth, either.