When Raghav joined our office, I couldn’t stand him.
He was loud, sarcastic, and had that annoying confidence that made everyone laugh, except me. I worked in the Content department, and he was in SEO, which meant we had to coordinate often. Lucky me.
In his first week, he commented on my facial expressions during a meeting. Everyone laughed. I didn’t. I walked straight to my manager after that and asked for a new SEO partner.
But my manager refused. “He’s new,” she said. “Give him time.”
So, I did what every mature adult does: I ignored him.
For weeks, our conversations were limited to work. I’d message him: “Please check the keywords.”
He’d reply: “Already did.”
That was it.
But life has a weird sense of humor.
One evening, I was struggling with a project that had to go live the next morning. My screen froze, my edits vanished, and I was seconds away from crying at my desk. Everyone had left except him.
He noticed. Without saying much, he walked over, fixed the glitch, and stayed till I finished. When I thanked him, he just shrugged and said, “Don’t worry. Even enemies deserve tech support.”
That was the first time I laughed because of him.
After that, something shifted. We started talking more about random things, music, childhood stories, and office gossip. He wasn’t that bad once I stopped assuming he was. In fact, he was… nice. Thoughtful, even.
Then came Diwali.
A small group of us went out for coffee after work. I’d worn heels that were clearly designed by someone who hated women. The café was on the second floor, and the staircase was steep. Climbing up was fine. Climbing down, not so much.
I froze halfway, gripping the railing like my life depended on it. Everyone laughed except Raghav.
He walked back up, held my hand, and said, “Relax. I’ve got you.”
He guided me down slowly, step by step. It was nothing dramatic, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about it all night.
After that, things changed, quietly but completely.
I started noticing the way he always remembered to ask if I’d eaten lunch.
The way he checked my presentations before meetings, saying, “Just in case you missed a comma.”
The way his sarcasm felt safe now. Familiar.
I told myself it was nothing. Just friendship. Just office banter.
Until one afternoon, I saw another girl laughing at his jokes, the same jokes he once saved for me. And it hit me.
I was jealous.
Not the cute kind. The kind that sits heavy in your chest, reminding you that you’ve fallen for someone you swore you’d never even like.
That night, I stared at my phone, typing and deleting messages.
I didn’t text him. I didn’t say anything.
Sometimes, feelings arrive quietly, no confession, no drama, just the simple realization that you care.
Raghav never found out how I felt. Maybe it’s better that way.
We still work together, still joke around. But every time he smiles at me across the office, I remember the Diwali night when he held my hand, and I knew, for a brief second, I was safe with him.
And maybe that’s enough.
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