City of Almosts - Between Two Futures

The office hummed with its usual rhythm, keyboards clacking, phones vibrating against desks, chairs rolling from one cubicle to another.

At one corner of the floor, Avinash sat beside Varsha, both leaning towards the same laptop screen.

"No, no, if we put the testimonials section above the services section, the client will complain again," Varsha said, pointing at the screen.

Avinash nodded. "True. Their entire business is built around custom solutions. They'd want visitors to see that first."

Varsha clicked a few things.

"What about the colour palette?"

Avinash shrugged. "I think their current blue looks a little too corporate. They sell handmade products, not insurance policies."

Varsha laughed.

"Good point."

A few metres away, inside the glass cabin, Prachi sat with her laptop open.

Except she wasn't really looking at her laptop.

She was looking at Avinash.

Specifically…

The first button of his shirt.

Or rather, the absence of it.

She looked away.

Opened an email.

Typed half a sentence.

Looked at him again.

There he was, casually talking to Varsha, occasionally leaning back in his chair, absolutely unaware that his shirt collars were spread apart like they had declared independence.

Prachi exhaled.

No.

Ignore it.

She resumed her work.

Thirty seconds later, she looked up again.

Still open.

She rubbed her forehead.

This is ridiculous.

Then she looked up again.

Still open.

Finally, she picked up the desk phone.

"Avinash, can you come inside for a minute?"

He looked towards the cabin, slightly confused.

"Coming."

Varsha smirked.

"Good luck."

Avinash frowned.

Varsha simply grinned and returned to work.

Seconds later, Avinash entered.

Prachi was already pretending to be busy.

"Sit."

He sat down.

She opened some random client document.

"About the Veridian account…"

"Yeah?"

"Did we send them the revised homepage proposal?"

"Yesterday."

She nodded.

"And… did they approve the SEO keywords?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

She clicked around her screen.

"Hmm."

Avinash waited.

Then she asked,

"And… what about the mobile authentication issue?"

He blinked.

"Resolved this morning."

She nodded again.

"Good."

Silence.

Avinash stared at her.

Prachi stared at her screen.

Another silence.

Then she finally looked up.

"Also… close your shirt."

He blinked.

"What?"

"Your shirt."

He looked down.

"Oh."

He chuckled.

"Actually, I've lost that button."

Prachi frowned.

"Then at least keep the collars close. Why are they spread out like that?"

Avinash stared at her for two seconds.

Then a smile slowly appeared on his face.

"That was the whole point of calling me in, wasn't it?"

Prachi instantly found herself on the back foot.

"What? No."

He folded his arms.

"It was."

"No, it wasn't."

"It definitely was."

"It absolutely wasn't."

He grinned now.

"You asked three completely random questions before getting to this."

She immediately opened another tab on her laptop.

"Because those were important questions."

"Were they?"

"Yes."

He tilted his head.

"Prachi."

She finally sighed.

"Fine. Yes."

He burst into a laugh.

She pointed towards him.

"Don't laugh."

"I'm trying not to."

"It's a workplace."

He nodded dramatically.

"It is."

"You can't roam around like that."

"Like what?"

"Like…" she gestured vaguely, suddenly realising she had no proper explanation.

"Unprofessional."

He grinned even wider.

"Unprofessional because my collar is open?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"And don't make that face."

"What face?"

"That smug face."

He laughed.

"Understood, ma'am."

She immediately waved him away.

"Alright, leave now. I have a lot of work to do."

He stood up.

"Sure."

He reached the door.

Then turned around.

Prachi didn't even look up.

"Get out."

He chuckled and left.

Outside, Varsha immediately asked, "So? What happened?"

Avinash sat and smiled to himself.

"Nah, nothing."

Varsha looked confused.

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLk2VNWUkN7

The days that followed began slipping by faster than anyone realised.

At Stratagrow, every new morning seemed to arrive with a bigger to-do list than the previous one.

The company was growing, but not comfortably.

Growth, they quickly learned, wasn't glamorous. It wasn't magazine covers and celebratory LinkedIn posts. It was uncertainty disguised as progress.

The office started opening earlier and closing later.

Akansha, true to her nature, became even more demanding. Her expectations rose with every small success the company achieved.

Sometimes she'd assign Avinash three tasks at once.

Sometimes five.

On certain days, he'd barely finish one before another appeared in his inbox.

Update a client's landing page.

Optimize SEO.

Fix bugs on a campaign website.

Analyze website traffic.

Build presentation material.

The list never ended.

And Avinash never complained.

If anything, he quietly accepted every additional responsibility as if he had somehow signed an invisible contract with struggle itself.

Prachi noticed.

Of course she did.

She noticed the growing pile of coffee cups near his desk.

The increasing number of nights he stayed back.

The way his replies had become shorter.

The way he occasionally pinched the bridge of his nose before diving back into work.

One evening, long after everyone had left, the office had become unusually quiet.

The city outside still buzzed with life, but inside Stratagrow, only two screens remained illuminated.

One inside Prachi's cabin.

One at Avinash's desk.

Prachi stepped out after finishing a call and immediately spotted him.

He wasn't working.

For once.

He sat leaning back in his chair, eyes closed, fingers pressing against his temples as he slowly massaged his head.

Headache.

She disappeared for a minute and returned with a small container of balm.

Without saying anything, she placed it beside him.

He looked up.

"Oh."

She pointed at it.

"Let me massage it with this."

He smiled faintly.

"Nah, it will be fine."

She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, why don't you save yourself the toil of arguing, knowing you're never gonna win against me."

Before he could protest, she opened the balm, took a small amount onto her fingers and stood behind him.

"Prachi…I am fine..."

"Don't move."

He sighed in defeat.

Seconds later, her fingers gently began working around his temples.

He closed his eyes almost immediately.

"See?" she said. "Your body has already surrendered."

He chuckled softly.

"Traitor."

She smiled.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Only the soft hum of the AC filled the room.

Then she said,

"I should ask Akansha to stop torturing you."

His eyes opened.

"No."

"Why no?"

"It's between me and Akansha. I'll manage."

She continued massaging his head.

"You're saying that while your brain is visibly overheating."

He laughed.

"No seriously. The company's at that stage right now. Extra hours are unavoidable."

Prachi sighed.

"I know."

Her hands slowed a little.

"The problem is… we're still bleeding money."

He looked up at her.

"Our savings are shrinking faster than we'd expected. Every new client helps, but the expenses just keep multiplying."

She leaned against the side of his desk.

"Sometimes it feels like we're trying to fill a bucket that secretly has a hole at the bottom."

Avinash nodded.

"Welcome to entrepreneurship."

She scoffed.

"Who made you wise all of a sudden?"

"Twenty thousand rupees a month and one food truck."

She laughed softly.

"Fair enough."

Silence settled again.

Comfortable silence.

The kind they had become very familiar with.

After a while, she spoke again.

"I miss the beach."

He smiled faintly.

"Me too."

"I miss doing absolutely nothing."

"Me too."

"I miss making fun of random strangers."

"Me too."

"I even miss watching you judge my Spillr addiction."

He opened one eye.

"You've stopped using it?"

She groaned dramatically.

"I haven't even had time recently. Imagine that."

He gasped.

"That's huge."

"I know."

"The world is healing."

She threw a pen at him.

"Shut up."

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoXLHyrIPc

Days turned into weeks, and slowly, for the first time in a long while, the future didn't seem so terrifying anymore.

Things were changing.

One startup had shown serious interest in signing a long-term contract with Stratagrow.

If the deal worked out, it would become their biggest client so far.

At the same time, Akansha had begun returning from meetings carrying something unfamiliar.

Optimism.

A few investors had started showing interest too.

Nothing was official yet.

No signatures.

No announcements.

No champagne-worthy celebrations.

But doors were opening.

And that alone felt significant.

One night, the office had once again become nearly empty.

Avinash sat glued to his screen, typing continuously.

Prachi emerged from her cabin and stopped beside him.

"Did you eat, Mr?"

Without looking up, he answered.

"Not yet."

She sighed.

"Of course."

She walked back into her cabin and returned with her lunchbox.

"I'm fine."

"Get yourself a new response, please."

"I'm actually fine."

She opened the box anyway.

"I'm not hungry."

She ignored him.

He continued typing.

She took a spoonful of food and simply held it in front of him.

He didn't react.

She kept holding it there.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

Finally, he sighed and took the bite while still looking at the screen.

She smiled to herself.

"There we go."

He shook his head.

"One day you're going to become very dangerous."

"I'm already dangerous."

"Fair."

She sat beside him.

"So here's the strategy."

He looked at her.

"For the startup deal?"

She nodded immediately.

"Akansha and I discussed everything today. We're not going to pitch ourselves as a marketing agency."

"What then?"

"A growth partner."

His eyebrows rose.

She continued enthusiastically.

"Instead of selling services, we'll sell outcomes. They don't care about social media posts or ad campaigns. They care about customers and revenue."

He nodded.

"Smart."

"And for the investors, we'll present the startup deal as proof of scalability."

He smiled.

"Smarter."

She grinned proudly.

"Exactly."

He returned to his screen.

For a few moments, nobody spoke.

Just two people sitting in a half-empty office.

One working.

One talking.

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROMVmFQTvQ

A few days later,

The office was unusually lively for a weekday afternoon.

Phones rang from different corners, someone was discussing campaign budgets near the pantry, and Akansha could be heard speaking rapidly on a call inside her cabin.

Avinash sat at his desk, moving between three different tabs at once, occasionally scribbling notes on a notepad.

Then he heard a familiar voice.

"Excuse me, is this where I file a complaint against a certain liar?"

He looked up.

Vijay stood there with his hands inside his pockets and an overly serious expression on his face.

Avinash smiled immediately.

"What are you doing here?"

Vijay pulled a chair and sat beside him.

"Oh, don't act normal."

Avinash blinked.

"Should I panic?"

"Absolutely."

Avinash laughed.

"Okay, what happened?"

Vijay folded his arms.

"You lied to me."

That got his attention.

"What?"

Vijay leaned forward dramatically.

"You lied to me for years."

Avinash stared at him for a moment.

"Have you joined theatre classes recently?"

"I'm serious."

Avinash chuckled.

"About what exactly?"

Vijay narrowed his eyes.

"Spillr."

The smile on Avinash's face paused.

Just slightly.

Vijay immediately pointed at him.

"Aha."

"There it is."

"The face."

"What face?" Avinash asked.

"The 'I've been caught' face."

Avinash sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"How?"

Vijay burst into laughter.

"You're terrible at hiding things."

Then he explained.

"I was cleaning up my old laptop."

"The old college one, which I used?"

"Yeah."

"You had forgotten to log out from your backup Google account. While deleting it, I came across a bunch of files, old emails, developer documents and screenshots."

He grinned.

"And there it was. Spillr."

Avinash shook his head and laughed softly.

"Great."

Vijay stared at him for a second, then his expression changed completely.

The playful act disappeared.

"Dude..."

He let out a disbelieving laugh.

"I still can't believe you actually did it."

Avinash looked at him.

Vijay shook his head again.

"No seriously."

"You actually built it."

"Our stupid college dream project."

"The thing we used to talk about at two in the morning."

"The thing we kept saying we'd build someday."

He laughed again, almost in disbelief.

"And you actually did it."

Avinash smiled quietly.

Vijay pointed at him.

"And you didn't even tell me."

There wasn't anger in his voice anymore.

Just a hint of disappointment.

"I had to accidentally discover it from old files."

Avinash looked down at his desk for a moment before smiling awkwardly.

"I didn't think it was a big deal."

Vijay immediately scoffed.

"Not a big deal?"

He leaned closer.

"People are using it."

"It's growing."

"It's solving an actual problem."

He spread his hands excitedly.

"Do you understand how insane this is?"

Avinash stopped typing.

Vijay sat up straighter, excitement taking over completely now.

"No seriously, hear me out."

"We can take this to another level."

"We can build a team."

"Scale it."

"Monetise it properly."

"Get funding."

"Expand communities."

"Add features."

He grinned.

"Dude, this could become massive."

Avinash's fingers rested on the keyboard.

He looked at the screen for a few seconds.

Then at the notepad beside him.

Then back at Vijay.

His thumb absentmindedly rubbed against the edge of his pen.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

It stayed there for a moment before fading into something quieter.

He leaned back in his chair.

His eyes drifted somewhere else entirely.

A small hostel room.

Sleepless nights.

Hundreds of lines of code.

The excitement.

The failures.

He exhaled softly.

Then reached for his keyboard again, though he didn't type anything.

Vijay noticed the hesitation.

The pause was brief, but noticeable.

So he didn't push further.

After a few seconds, Avinash said,

"We'll talk about it."

Vijay nodded.

"Tonight?"

Avinash chuckled.

"Maybe."

Then he glanced toward Akansha's cabin.

"If Akansha catches me wasting time right now, there'll be no detailed conversation tonight."

Vijay laughed.

"That bad?"

Avinash returned to typing.

"Worse."

He lowered his voice dramatically.

"I'll have no option except packing my things and leaving."

Vijay burst into laughter.

"You're exaggerating."

Avinash looked toward Akansha's cabin again.

"Am I?"

Almost on cue, Akansha opened her door.

"Avinash."

He immediately sat upright.

"Yes?"

"I sent you another file."

"On it."

She nodded and disappeared back inside.

Vijay stared at him for two seconds before laughing even harder.

"Okay."

"Maybe you're not exaggerating."

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ67l1PXbn2

The following week began with Avinash staring at a progress bar he desperately wanted to stop looking at.

The office was busy as usual.

Keyboard clicks filled the room, phones vibrated every now and then, and somewhere near the kitchen, Abhay and Tarun were arguing about whether pineapple belonged on pizza.

Avinash, however, wasn't paying attention to any of it.

He sat staring at his screen.

Or more specifically…

At the unfinished SEO migration progress bar.

Ninety-one percent.

Seven hundred and eighty-three unresolved issues.

Two days left.

He sighed.

Then sighed again.

Then opened the client's website.

Then closed it.

Then opened it again.

Then sighed for the third time.

Varsha noticed.

"What's with the funeral face?"

He turned his chair slightly.

"I'm behind schedule."

"By how much?"

"Enough to make Akansha dislike me more than she already does."

Varsha chuckled.

"Oh, please."

"No seriously."

He pointed at his screen.

"I need more time."

"Then ask for more time."

He stared at her.

"Do you hear yourself?"

She laughed.

"Fine. Good luck."

He looked toward Akansha's cabin.

She was smiling.

Smiling.

That itself felt suspicious.

Still, he got up and walked.

A quick knock.

"Come in."

He stepped inside.

"Akansha, I… needed to discuss something."

She looked up from her laptop.

"Yeah?"

Then Avinash started overexplaining.

"So the Mason client website… the issue is, their internal structure is very outdated and while technically I could complete the migration before the deadline, I don't think rushing it would be a good idea because it could affect their search rankings and then we'd have to fix those issues later and I was wondering if maybe we could ask for…"

He paused.

"...an extension."

Akansha simply nodded.

"Okay."

He blinked.

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

"I'll speak to the client."

He blinked again.

No lecture.

No sarcasm.

No life lesson about deadlines.

Nothing.

She simply returned to her screen.

"Anything else?"

He stood there two more seconds.

"No."

"Alright."

He slowly walked out.

Confusion was written all over his face.

Naturally, his feet carried him straight to Prachi's cabin.

She looked up from her laptop.

"What happened?"

"I think something is wrong with Akansha."

She frowned immediately.

"What happened?"

"Akansha agreed to something she would never normally."

Prachi blinked.

"Agreed to what?"

"Deadline extension."

"And she didn't scold me."

Prachi immediately smiled.

"Oh."

"That's why."

"Why?"

She leaned back in her chair.

"Samarth is coming."

Avinash frowned.

"Who?"

"Akanksha's boyfriend."

"Oh."

She smiled.

"They've been together since college."

That genuinely surprised him.

"Seriously?"

Prachi nodded.

"Yep."

He looked toward Akanksha's cabin for a second.

"I don't know why, but that's actually surprising."

Prachi laughed.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just always imagined her working since birth."

Prachi burst into laughter.

"That's because you've only seen the office version of her."

He smiled.

"Fair enough."

Just then, a voice appeared at the door.

"Good morning."

A tall man stood there carrying a small paper bag and an easy smile on his face.

Prachi immediately pointed toward the next cabin.

"She's in there."

Samarth smiled.

"Thanks."

He nodded politely at Avinash too before walking away.

Instinctively, Avinash glanced toward Akanksha's cabin through the glass wall.

The difference was immediate.

She looked lighter.

Happier.

Even her posture had changed.

Avinash smiled to himself and sipped his coffee.

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJ5wm3QwIA
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftfDZjVFxB

Somewhere between late dinners and unfinished presentations, another late night found only Avinash and Prachi inside the office.

The office had once again become quieter than usual.

Most lights had already been switched off. Only a handful remained illuminated near the workstations.

Outside, Mumbai was still very much awake.

Inside Stratagrow, however, exhaustion had finally started winning over ambition.

Avinash leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms.

He glanced at the clock.

It was later than he had realised.

His eyes instinctively moved towards Prachi's cabin.

He got up.

Partly for a break.

Partly because, over the past few weeks, visiting her cabin had somehow become part of his routine.

He reached the door.

Then stopped.

Prachi was asleep.

Her head rested on her folded arms on the desk.

The laptop in front of her was still open, an unfinished presentation occupying the screen.

A few strands of hair had escaped and fallen near her face.

He smiled.

Just a little.

Then quietly walked in.

For a moment, he thought about waking her up.

Then decided against it.

Instead, he sat down on the chair opposite her.

The office around them was unusually peaceful.

No deadlines.

No notifications.

No discussions.

Just silence.

The kind of silence that didn't feel awkward anymore.

He absentmindedly picked up a paperweight from her table and started rolling it between his fingers.

Then…

Clack.

It slipped and hit the desk.

Prachi immediately sat up.

"What happened?"

Then she blinked twice.

Her eyes landed on him.

She frowned.

"Wait…"

"How long have you been sitting there?"

Avinash shrugged.

"Long enough."

She narrowed her eyes.

"That's creepy."

He laughed.

"I was about to wake you up."

"Sure."

"I was."

"No, you were definitely planning to blackmail me with sleeping pictures."

He smiled.

"I don't know why that's the first thing you assumed."

"Because I know you."

He nodded.

"Fair enough."

She glanced at the clock.

"Oh no."

He stood up.

"Pack up."

She immediately shook her head.

"No."

"Pack up."

"I still have work."

"So do I."

"Then why are you asking me to leave?"

"Because you've earned it."

She rolled her eyes.

"No."

He folded his arms.

"Prachi."

She stared at him for a few seconds.

Then sighed dramatically.

"Fine."

Then pointed a finger at him.

"But only if you're leaving too."

He smiled.

"Not a chance."

"Yes, you are leaving too. Or I am staying longer, choose one."

"Fine, let's pack up".

Ten minutes later, they stepped outside the building.

Instead of booking a cab immediately, they simply started walking.

The weather had become surprisingly pleasant.

Cool breeze.

Less traffic.

Less people.

Mumbai somehow looked slower than usual.

Which was rare.

They talked about random things.

A bug that had wasted two hours.

Varsha's obsession with coffee.

How Akanksha somehow knew who was wasting time without even looking up.

Two streets later, they finally booked a cab.

Prachi sat near the window.

Avinash beside her.

The ride had barely begun when her phone rang.

"Dad."

She answered instantly.

"Hello."

Her face softened.

Then brightened.

"Really?"

"Oh my God."

"Congratulations."

"I'm so proud of him."

She smiled throughout the conversation.

Minutes later, she hung up.

"It was dad."

Avinash looked at her.

"Everything okay?"

She nodded.

"Yeah."

Then smiled.

"Dhruv just got promoted."

"Senior Manager."

"Everyone at home is very happy."

She smiled again.

But this time it didn't completely reach her eyes.

Avinash noticed.

"What's going on in your head?"

She looked outside for a moment.

Then sighed.

"I've always had this strange feeling."

He stayed quiet.

She continued.

"That I come second."

"My entire life."

She smiled awkwardly.

"My brother was always better at studies."

"More disciplined."

"More successful."

She played with her bracelet.

"And my parents never intentionally compared us."

She paused.

"But sometimes comparison exists without anyone saying anything."

The city lights outside flickered across her face as she spoke.

"I think one of the reasons I left corporate and started Stratagrow was because of this."

She laughed softly.

"I feel I have a point to prove."

Avinash simply listened.

Without interrupting.

Without fixing.

Without advising.

She finally looked at him.

"Do you have nothing to say?"

He pretended to think.

Then shook his head.

"No."

She blinked.

"No?"

He smiled.

"I'm too busy focusing on making you CEO of the year."

She laughed.

"Oh, sure sure."

But she smiled immediately afterwards.

The heaviness on her face had reduced.

Minutes later, the cab stopped.

His stop.

"Goodnight."

He stepped out.

The cab drove away.

Then a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

He opened his gallery.

Sent a picture.

It was Prachi sleeping in her cabin.

Three seconds later, his phone rang.

He answered immediately.

"Delete it."

He laughed.

"No."

"Avinash."

"No."

"I'm serious."

"No."

"Avinash!"

He laughed harder.

"I'll frame it and put it in the office someday."

"Delete it right now."

"No."

"Please!"

He paused dramatically.

"Oh wow. We have reached the begging stage too early."

"Avinash!"

He burst into laughter.

"Delete it! I swear you'll regret this"

He could almost imagine her frustrated expression sitting inside the moving cab.

And somehow, it made him laugh more.

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrBpNI4lWv

The following morning, Mumbai woke up before Avinash could finish buttoning his shirt.

The doorbell rang.

He frowned.

Nobody usually visited him this early.

He opened the door.

And Prachi stormed inside immediately.

"You paid the rent."

He blinked.

She turned around and pointed a finger at him.

"You actually paid the rent."

He closed the door behind him.

"You specifically told my cousin not to tell me."

"I didn't tell him that."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't act innocent."

"I'm not."

She folded her arms.

"Why did you pay?"

He shrugged.

"Because I live here."

"That's not the point."

"It kind of is."

She scoffed.

"No, it isn't."

He smiled.

"Prachi, I'm a tenant, not a decorative piece."

She stared at him for a second before rolling her eyes.

"God, you're impossible."

He laughed.

"And good morning to you too."

She sighed.

"Good morning."

Ten minutes later, they sat in a taxi to the office.

The conversation had already moved on to other things.

An investor meeting.

A client presentation.

Akanksha's never-ending energy.

It was a perfectly normal day.

At least for her.

For him…

Not so much.

Throughout the morning, Prachi noticed something odd.

She'd look up.

He'd immediately look away.

Again.

She'd look again.

He'd suddenly become very interested in his laptop screen.

Again.

She frowned.

Weird.

At lunch, the same thing happened.

Then during a client discussion.

Then near the kitchen.

Every time she looked at him…

He looked away.

She eventually started finding it amusing.

By night, they sat opposite each other during dinner.

The office was slowly emptying out again.

She finally put her spoon down.

"Okay."

He looked up.

"What?"

"What's going on?"

He blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been behaving weirdly since morning."

"No, I haven't."

"Yes, you have."

"No."

"Yes."

He laughed nervously.

"Nothing's going on."

She folded her arms.

"Avinash."

He sighed.

"It's embarrassing."

She immediately leaned forward.

"Now you have to tell me."

He looked away.

"No, it's stupid."

"Tell me."

He laughed awkwardly.

Then scratched the back of his neck.

Then laughed again.

Finally, he gave up.

"It's just…"

He paused.

She waited.

"You've looked very attractive today."

She blinked.

He immediately continued.

"So attractive that it's honestly a little intimidating."

He looked down at his plate instantly.

"Which is why I've been weird since morning."

Silence.

Then Prachi burst into laughter.

A genuine one.

He looked up.

She shook her head and smiled.

"Duffer."

He laughed too.

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1P49J9thYE

The following days, office was unusually hectic.

Investor meetings.

Client calls.

Presentations.

The energy inside Stratagrow felt different now.

Excited.

Anxious.

Hopeful.

Everyone seemed to be running somewhere.

But Avinash had been running somewhere else entirely.

For weeks.

Every extra hour after office.

Every late-night coding session.

Every bug.

Every rewrite.

Every failed test.

He had been building something.

Something he genuinely believed could change Stratagrow.

His laptop screen glowed as lines of analytics appeared one after another.

A website URL.

Then an SEO score.

Then recommendations.

Then automatic code restructuring suggestions.

The software worked.

Not perfectly.

Not yet.

But it worked.

And for the first time in a while, he felt excited about something.

Genuinely excited.

He closed the laptop and walked towards Tanya's cabin.

Twenty minutes later, he walked out smiling.

"Take this to Akanksha, this is really something big," Tanya had said.

"If we can integrate AI automation and monitoring into this, it'll be huge."

Huge.

That word stayed with him.

He reached Akanksha's cabin.

Knocked.

"Come in."

She sat surrounded by papers, her laptop open, phone beside her, another meeting notification popping up every few minutes.

"Yeah?"

He smiled.

"I've been working on something."

She nodded absentmindedly.

"Okay."

He opened the laptop.

"So basically, this automates a huge portion of website SEO analysis. It identifies issues, suggests changes, and automatically restructures certain internal elements."

She kept typing.

He continued.

"If we integrate AI monitoring into this, we can cut hours of manual work every day."

Still typing.

"We'll be able to cater to way more clients simultaneously."

She looked up for a second.

"What do you want from me?"

He immediately answered.

"Some funds to make it fully functional."

She shook her head.

"No."

He blinked.

"No? But why? I don't think you are getting how helpful this can be for us."

"No budget approvals right now."

He stared at her.

"Can you at least see the demo?"

"I'm occupied right now, Avinash."

"But…"

"We'll discuss it later."

He stood there.

Still holding the laptop open.

The screen still running.

The thing he'd spent weeks building.

Still alive.

Still waiting to be seen.

She had already returned to her work.

Something inside him immediately sank.

Not because she said no.

But because she never looked.

He slowly closed the laptop.

Then opened it again.

Almost instinctively.

As if his brain still expected her to suddenly say,

"Wait. Show me."

But she didn't.

He inhaled deeply.

Trying to calm himself.

Trying to be rational.

Trying to remind himself she was busy.

Trying to remind himself she had fifty things going on.

Trying.

Then he stood up.

"You know…"

She looked up.

He wasn't angry.

Not yet.

Just disappointed.

"I always thought something."

She stayed quiet.

He continued.

"No matter what the equation between you and me was…"

"I always believed one thing."

"That you'd never put your ego before the company's growth."

Silence.

He swallowed.

His voice had become firmer now.

"But I guess I was wrong all along."

He picked up his laptop.

Then left.

Without waiting for a response.

The entire afternoon felt heavier after that.

The office still buzzed around him.

People laughed.

Phones rang.

Someone celebrated a successful client call.

But none of it reached him.

He kept working.

But without rhythm.

Every few minutes, he'd open the software.

Then close it.

Open it again.

Then close it.

As if he was trying to convince himself it still mattered.

Hours later, his phone vibrated.

Vijay.

When are you going to make a decision? Time's running fast.

He stared at the message.

Then at the office around him.

Then the software sitting on his laptop.

Then at Akanksha's cabin.

He locked his phone without replying.

And returned to work.

But for the first time in many weeks…

A thought quietly entered his head.

34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiWgaSaLtq

Over the next few weeks, things slowly started changing at Stratagrow.

Not dramatically.

Quietly.

Which somehow made it scarier.

Investor meetings ended without much progress.

Phone calls that once sounded promising gradually became uncertain.

Words like "market conditions", "economic slowdown" and "risk appetite" started appearing more often in conversations.

Optimism in the office had not disappeared.

But it had certainly become thinner.

Prachi spent most of her days jumping from one meeting to another.

Akanksha remained glued to spreadsheets and financial projections.

The Stratagrow runway was getting narrower.

And everyone knew it.

Nobody said it out loud.

But everyone knew.

Avinash, meanwhile, had become strangely distant.

He still worked.

Still attended meetings.

Still completed tasks.

Still smiled occasionally.

But his mind seemed to be elsewhere entirely.

Every now and then, his phone would vibrate.

Vijay.

Ready?

Hours later.

Have you thought about it?

The next day.

Don't overthink forever.

He rarely replied.

One evening, Vijay showed up at his flat.

And unlike his previous visits, he looked unusually excited.

"I have good news."

Avinash looked up from his laptop.

"What?"

Vijay sat down.

"I spoke to some investors."

He smiled.

"And despite the market being bad right now…"

"A few big names are interested."

Avinash stared at him.

"In Spillr."

Silence.

Vijay smiled.

"We already have users."

"We have an actual product."

"We have momentum."

"We just need to build."

He looked at Avinash.

"Dude, we're closer than you think."

And suddenly…

Something snapped.

Avinash stood up.

"No."

Vijay looked at him.

"No?"

Avinash ran his hand through his hair.

"No, because you keep saying all this like it's easy."

His voice had started rising.

"I'm not you, Vijay."

"I'm not fearless."

"I'm just…"

He laughed bitterly.

"A common man."

"I'm capable of writing lines of code."

"I'm capable of serving burgers to feed myself and my family."

"And that's it."

He shook his head.

"This…"

He pointed vaguely in the air.

"This huge risk…"

"I can't do it."

"I just can't."

His voice softened.

"You know what my family has been through."

"You know everything."

"I can't afford another uncertainty."

Vijay stayed quiet.

Then calmly said,

"We already have a good product."

"We already have users."

"And now we have interested investors."

He paused.

"All that's left is a little bravery from your side."

Avinash looked away.

Vijay smiled softly.

"You know…"

"I'm ready to quit my job tomorrow."

"Whenever you decide to pursue this full time."

He stood up.

Then stopped near the door.

"Just remember one thing."

Avinash looked at him.

Vijay said quietly,

"Remember why you're stuck carrying a civil engineering degree today despite being a scholar your whole life."

Because Vijay knew the story.

He knew how Avinash had spent years doing everything society expected from him.

Study hard.

Get good grades.

Choose a safe career.

Never take risks.

Never disappoint anyone.

And despite being brilliant throughout his life, despite always being among the top students, Avinash had eventually ended up pursuing a degree he never truly wanted.

Not because he lacked talent.

But because fear had quietly made decisions on his behalf.

Fear of uncertainty.

Fear of failure.

Fear of choosing differently. Fear that didn't let Avinash take a stand for him and request his family for one more attempt at that engineering exam which could have changed his career.

And Vijay knew that if Avinash walked away from this opportunity too, history would simply repeat itself.

The words landed heavily.

Then he left.

The flat became silent again.

Too silent.

That night, Avinash barely slept.

Because every direction suddenly hurt.

Whenever he imagined leaving Stratagrow…

His family's faces appeared.

Then Prachi's.

The way she'd laugh.

The way she'd sit beside him while working.

The way she'd silently take care of him.

But every time he dropped the thought entirely…

Spillr stared back at him from his screen.

Almost accusingly.

Coward.

The word echoed inside him.

Coward.

Eventually, he realised he wasn't in the right state of mind.

So he requested work from home for a few days.

Tanya approved it without much hesitation.

Prachi didn't know.

She was barely in office herself these days.

Most of her time was being spent outside, trying to find ways to keep Stratagrow alive.

When she finally came back, she went straight to his flat.

Concern immediately visible on her face.

"What happened?"

He smiled.

"Nothing."

"You disappeared."

"Just feeling a little unwell."

She looked unconvinced.

He acted normal.

Normal enough.

At least for the day.

The next day, he joined the office again.

Partly because he was feeling better.

Mostly because he didn't want Prachi getting suspicious.

But his distraction never really left.

She noticed it anyway.

Again.

And again.

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

He had suddenly become a man made entirely out of excuses.

One night, long after the office had emptied again, she walked over to him carrying her tiffin.

"Come."

"I'm not hungry."

She ignored him.

Walked over to his desk instead.

Picked up a spoonful and held it in front of him.

He resisted.

She kept holding it there.

Eventually, he surrendered.

She kept feeding him while he kept staring at his laptop.

Until finally…

She placed the tiffin down.

Then gently held his face with both her hands and turned him toward her.

Her eyes were filled with concern.

"What is bothering you, tell me, please?"

He froze.

Just for a second.

Then smiled.

"Homesickness."

"I hope you are saying the truth."

She stared at him.

Long enough to know he wasn't telling the truth.

But she didn't push further.

A few nights later, he stood beside his window.

Mumbai glowed below him.

But his room felt dark.

His phone rang.

Dad.

He answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh, finally. Mister Mumbai remembered he has a family."

Avinash smiled.

"I was going to call tomorrow."

"That's what you said three days ago too."

"I've been busy."

"Hmm."

His father chuckled.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Just okay?"

"Yeah."

"Work?"

"Work is fine."

"Fine or actually fine?"

Avinash laughed softly.

"Actually fine."

"Good."

There was a brief pause before his father spoke again.

"Your mother was asking about you."

"Where is she?"

"In the kitchen. Making dinner."

"Still refusing to let anyone help?"

"Of course."

They both laughed.

Then his father shouted from his side,

"Listen, your son is on the phone."

A distant voice immediately replied.

"Ask him if he's eating properly."

His father laughed.

"See? Same question every single day."

"I'm eating properly."

"I'll tell her that."

Then his father lowered his voice dramatically.

"Although I don't know if she'll believe you."

Avinash smiled.

"Fair enough."

His father continued.

"And your sister has become impossible."

"Why?"

"She has discovered online shopping."

Avinash laughed.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes."

"Every day a new package arrives."

"Yesterday she ordered some ridiculous lamp."

"What lamp?"

"I don't know."

"Apparently it's aesthetic."

Avinash burst into laughter.

"She's become dangerous."

"Very dangerous."

Then his father called out again.

"Aisha!"

A voice shouted from somewhere in the house.

"What?"

"Your brother is on the phone."

Immediately her voice grew louder.

"Bhai!"

"Hey."

"When are you coming home?"

"Soon."

"You always say soon."

"I know."

"You missed my presentation."

"Oh no."

"Exactly."

"When's the next one?"

"Next month."

"I'll try."

"No trying."

"You have to come."

He smiled.

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"I'll try my best, promise."

"Fine."

Then she shouted,

"And tell Papa to stop complaining about my shopping."

His father laughed.

"I'm not complaining."

"You're absolutely complaining."

The two continued to argue in the background while Avinash simply listened.

For a moment…

Everything felt normal.

Life.

Then finally, after gathering an entire soul's worth of courage, he said,

"Dad…"

"Hmm?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask."

He hesitated.

Then laughed nervously.

"No, actually… I wanted to tell you something."

His father chuckled.

"You're making me nervous now."

Avinash smiled faintly.

Then looked out the window.

"You know how I always liked computers."

"Hmm."

"And how I somehow ended up doing civil engineering."

His father laughed.

"Yes, I remember."

"And after that… life just kept happening."

"One thing after another."

His father stayed quiet.

Listening.

Avinash continued.

"I got this job."

"I moved to Mumbai."

"And everything has been good."

"Really good."

He paused.

Then said quietly,

"But sometimes I feel like I'm just… following whatever comes next."

His father didn't interrupt.

"So many years have passed like that."

"School."

"College."

"Jobs."

"Responsibilities."

He swallowed.

"And now…"

He stopped again.

His father gently said,

"And now?"

Avinash exhaled.

"And now there's something else."

"Something I built with a friend."

"A product."

"A startup idea."

"We've been working on it for a while."

His father remained silent.

"So far it's doing well."

"We have users."

"There are people interested in investing."

He laughed softly.

"Which honestly sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud."

His father laughed too.

Then Avinash's voice became quieter.

"But if I pursue it properly…"

"I'll have to leave my job."

Silence.

"I don't know if that's stupid."

"I don't know if it's irresponsible."

"I don't know if I'm being greedy."

He looked down at the floor.

"I just…"

"I don't know if I'm allowed to dream that big."

There was silence for a few seconds.

Then his father spoke.

"Then do it."

Avinash blinked.

"That's it?"

His father chuckled softly.

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know… maybe for you to tell me not to take unnecessary risks."

His father laughed.

"Son, we've spent our entire lives taking the safe road."

He paused.

"And there's nothing wrong with that."

"We did what we had to do."

"We had responsibilities."

"We had limitations."

"But every generation hopes the next one can go a little further."

Avinash stayed quiet.

His father continued.

"You've always been different."

"You've worked hard your entire life."

"You've earned every opportunity you've received."

"So if today you have a chance to build something of your own… why would I stop you?"

He paused again.

"Will it be risky?"

"Of course."

"Will it be difficult?"

"Definitely."

"But tell me something."

"When you're sixty years old, what will hurt more?"

"Trying and failing?"

"Or never trying at all?"

Avinash didn't answer.

His father answered for him.

"The second one."

Then his voice softened.

"Money can be earned again."

"Jobs can be found again."

"But time…"

"Time doesn't come back."

He smiled.

"And if this dream is important enough that it's keeping you awake at night… maybe it's important enough to chase."

His father's words were the exact opposite of what Avinash had expected.

He hung up.

Then opened his laptop.

Opened his email.

Started typing.

Slowly.

Carefully.

When he finished, his hand hovered above the trackpad.

Then Prachi's face appeared.

Just a few hours ago.

Her hands on his face.

Her worried eyes.

The way she had spoon-fed him.

He couldn't do it.

He closed the laptop.

The email remained in drafts.

The next night, he opened it again.

Couldn't do it.

The night after that.

Again.

Couldn't do it.

Every night, something stopped him.

And every day, Prachi kept looking more worried.

Then one night, his father called again.

The conversation lasted almost an hour.

And somewhere during it, his father quietly said,

"We're middle-class people, son."

"I was one."

"We've always played safe."

He paused.

"But if someone is capable of breaking that chain…"

"It's you."

Silence.

Then he added,

"If you don't trust yourself this time, a part of your heart will always remain empty."

"You'll always wonder who you could've become."

The call ended.

The room became silent.

Avinash stared at the screen.

Then finally…

Clicked.

Send.

The whooshing sound echoed through the room.

He simply sat there for a few seconds.

Motionless.

Then he simply sat there for a few seconds.

Motionless.

The room was silent again.

For the first time in weeks, his mind wasn't arguing with itself anymore.

The decision had been made.

He eventually shut the laptop and went to bed.

The next morning, he woke up earlier than usual.

Got ready.

Picked up his bag.

Walked toward the door.

Then suddenly stopped.

He turned around.

Walked back to the printer.

Pulled out the printout.

Folded it.

Placed it inside his bag.

And quietly left the flat.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNrAXT2sRm

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