Too much traffic between us

Fighting with Desires

Days had passed, and the distance between Vidisha and Raunak had only grown. It was a silent agreement neither of them dared to break. They had fallen into a pattern—working together when necessary but avoiding personal conversations or anything that hinted at the unspoken tension between them. They were professionals first, after all. But underneath that facade, the attraction between them simmered like an untamed fire, growing hotter with every passing moment of silence.

Vidisha had always been good at compartmentalizing her feelings, at least when it came to her job. But Raunak had cracked something open in her, something she couldn’t push back into a neat little box. The problem was, their connection wasn’t just a distraction—it was dangerous. If either of them slipped, lives could be at risk. That knowledge kept her in check, even as her mind betrayed her with thoughts of him.

Tonight, however, was different.

Vidisha was alone in the fire station’s locker room, washing the soot and grime from yet another day of battling fires. The hot water poured down her skin, but it did nothing to wash away the knot of tension sitting heavily in her chest. The arsonist’s pattern was becoming more erratic, fires popping up in places no one had predicted. She was exhausted—mentally, physically, and emotionally.

As she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself, her phone buzzed on the bench. She picked it up and saw Raunak’s name flash across the screen. For a second, she hesitated. He hadn’t contacted her outside of work in weeks. Why now?

Swiping to unlock, she saw the message:

"Meet me on the roof. We need to talk."

Her heart skipped a beat. Part of her wanted to ignore it, to keep the careful distance they had maintained. But something in her stirred—a longing she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in weeks. She couldn’t keep pushing him away forever, no matter how much she tried to convince herself it was the right thing to do.

She threw on her clothes and quietly made her way to the rooftop, her pulse quickening with each step. When she reached the top, Raunak was there, standing by the edge, staring out at the city below. The night air was cool, and the distant lights of the city twinkled like stars. But the beauty of the moment was lost on Vidisha as her emotions swirled into a tempest she could no longer ignore.

“Raunak?” Her voice was hesitant, betraying her internal conflict.

He turned slowly, his eyes locking with hers. There was something different about him tonight—an intensity she hadn’t seen in him before. It sent a shiver down her spine.

“We can’t keep doing this,” he said quietly, his voice filled with frustration. “Pretending like nothing’s going on between us. It’s tearing me apart.”

Vidisha’s breath caught in her throat. She had been preparing for this, for weeks, telling herself that it would be easier if they kept things professional. But now, standing in front of him, hearing the raw emotion in his voice, she realized just how much she had been fooling herself.

“Raunak, we can’t—” she began, but he cut her off.

“I know what you’re going to say. That it’s dangerous. That it’s forbidden. But, Vidisha, I can’t stop how I feel about you. I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried. But every time I see you running into those flames, every time I have to stand by and watch you risk your life, it feels like I’m being torn apart from the inside. I can’t keep pretending that you’re just another colleague. You mean too much to me.”

His words hit her like a freight train, breaking through every wall she had put up. She wanted to argue, to tell him that he was wrong, that they had to stay apart. But she couldn’t. Because deep down, she knew she felt the same way.

“Raunak,” she whispered, her voice barely audible as she stepped closer to him. “You think I don’t feel the same? That I haven’t been fighting this every single day? But we can’t do this. It’s too risky. If something goes wrong, people could die. We can’t let this get in the way of our jobs.”

He closed the distance between them in two swift steps, his hands gripping her arms gently but firmly. “Do you really believe that? Or are you just scared?”

She didn’t know how to respond. Was she scared? Maybe. But it wasn’t just fear of what might happen if they gave in to their feelings. It was fear of what it would mean for both of them if they didn’t.

Raunak’s voice softened. “I’m not asking you to throw everything away. But we can’t keep running from this. Whatever this is between us—it’s real. And we need to figure out what that means.”

Vidisha stared up at him, her heart pounding in her chest. His face was so close, his breath warm against her skin. Every logical part of her mind screamed for her to pull away, to walk back down those stairs and keep pretending like nothing had changed. But her heart, her heart had other ideas.

Without thinking, without planning, she leaned in. Their lips met in a rush of heat and desperation, all the tension of the past few weeks exploding in that single moment. It wasn’t soft or slow—it was raw, intense, and filled with all the emotion they had both been trying to bury.

The kiss deepened, and for that brief moment, the world outside ceased to exist. There were no fires, no investigations, no rules. Just the two of them, lost in each other.

But as quickly as it had started, Vidisha pulled back, her breath coming in ragged gasps. “We can’t,” she said, though her body screamed for the opposite. “This... it’s too dangerous.”

Raunak’s eyes darkened with frustration, but he didn’t argue. He just stared at her, the weight of their connection hanging heavy in the air.

“I know,” he said quietly. “But that doesn’t make it any less real.”

Vidisha’s heart clenched. She knew he was right. What they had—whatever it was—was real. But that didn’t change the fact that it could get them both killed, or worse, cost innocent lives.

“We need to figure this out,” she said, her voice shaking. “But not like this. Not tonight.”

Raunak nodded slowly, his hand still resting on her arm. “I’m not going anywhere, Vidisha. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

She gave him a sad smile, her heart aching with the weight of their unspoken connection. As much as she wanted to give in, to let herself fall into whatever they had together, she knew they couldn’t afford to do that. Not yet.

With one last glance, she turned and walked away, her body screaming at her to go back, to let herself fall into his arms. But she couldn’t. Not when the stakes were this high.

But as she descended the stairs, the heat of their kiss still lingered on her lips, and she knew—no matter how hard they tried, the fire between them wasn’t going out anytime soon.