Jia's POV:
"When is your client meeting gonna end? I will pick you up" I asked Amara cause she has a client meeting today for some upcoming big project. "I don't know, I don't even know why they included me in this meeting; none of the other interns will be there," replied Amara in annoyance. "That's fine Ama, what if this is your chance to shine?" I told her to assure her because I know from childhood she has her trust issues ."By the way next Sem is gonna start and my internship is still has 15 days to be completed," I told her because of I was a little stressed about missing lectures.
"You can take extra classes after completing the internship. I will talk to your professor and will give an application about your internship. Will that work?" suggested Amara ."Yeah it will " I replied to her excitedly and we shared a hug from childhood. This was our simple routine to tackle problems together helping each other .
Amara's POV:
I was inside my taxi when I was stuck in traffic, and each second was passing like an hour to me."Ahh, this traffic," I whispered to myself, feeling a bit helpless .It's been half an hour since I've been there, waiting for traffic to get clear but no I was just wasting my time here. I quickly grabbed my wallet from my bag and gave the amount for Taxi ride and got out of the taxi because if I started walking it would hardly take me 10 minutes to reach my office. I started walking by the side when I saw a bird falling there, it was alive, be there was something stuck on its feet, so I slowly went near and gently started tapping it while trying to remove the thread from its claw. "There you go, you are free now " I said while holding it to make it fly . I don't know, but for some reason it felt so relieving helping it to fly again without any pain and fear, I was about to cry but then held myself up and started again and soon I reached my office , the meeting went well and now it was time to leave so I called Jia to pick me up. "Hello Jia, are you free now? cause my meeting ended and I am about leave," I asked Jia on the phone."Can you come to the office? I need to complete some of the tasks today." said Jia from the other side." Ok, no rush, I will come to your office" I replied to her and started grabbing my stuff from the table .
After a while, I was in front of her office. The building indeed is huge 'S&R Law Firm' , just then I saw Jia coming towards me ."Take this," said Jia, handing me an ID card. "What is that for?" I asked her in confusion ."This is for people who do not work here but are related to the employees," said Jia, clarifying my confusion."I will take a while to complete my pending Task, till then you can comfortably sit in the waiting room,OK," said Jia to me in a rushing voice."Take it easy, Jia, Don't worry too much and do your work I will wait for you there" I told her to ease her .
It's been a while. I was there waiting for Jia, and here starts my biggest anxiety Mr. Mickelson was also coming this way.
"What should I do? should I run outside ?NO, It will be more awkward, wait, why am I panicking like a kid who saw his class teacher?" I whispered to myself as the panic started to burst my head. My palms were sweaty, and my throat felt too dry to even swallow.
He came and was waiting for me to introduce myself. His presence wasn't loud, but it filled the entire space — calm, commanding, like the kind of silence that makes people listen.
"Hi, I am Amara, Jia's sister, actually she is doing some pending work so I was waiting for her." There goes my essay like intro.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Amara, I am Vihaan." Wow, is this how angels sound? His voice was really very assuring, like velvet dipped in authority, and all my panic vanished in just few seconds of his answer. But wait, he has his right hand towards me, why? Fuck, he's been waiting for a handshake.
I returned his handshake, and I won't lie, but I never do handshakes, especially with boys, but I don't know why I did. His grip was firm yet respectful, and for a second it felt like time slowed down — ridiculous, I know, but my heartbeat didn't agree.
"So, Miss Amara, what do you do?" he asked while staring at her papers and sitting just in front of me. His gaze wasn't piercing, but steady, like he had the patience to actually listen to answers.
"Umm, I am an engineering student just come back from my internship," I replied him with a little confidence that I collected.
"Great, you both are doing internship rather than enjoying the vacations is really recommendable," he said while looking at me with a smile on his face. Damn, that smile is making me jump out of the window. It wasn't just a smile, it was the kind of smile that makes you feel like you did something right without even trying.
"Thank you," I said while trying hard not to smile as much, my heart is.
"You want something, Coffee, Tea?" he asked as he rang the bell on the table.
"No, I am fine," I said but my stomach was telling me to have something.
"Ok, but that's been good if you had joined me," he said. His tone was casual, but something in it made me feel like refusing was the wrong choice.
After a few minutes, a man came holding a tray with two cups.
"Here," he said, putting a cup in front of me.
"Thank you." I don't know why he still called for 2 cups. Maybe habit. Or maybe… no, don't overthink coffee, Amara. By the way, I enjoyed the coffee and the view in front of me — haha, just kidding, but honestly? He was silent for the rest of the time, and even that silence had weight.
"Hello, Sir, Ama, let's go," said Jia with a sneaky smile on her face.
"Thank you, Mr. Mickelson. It was nice meeting you," I said while walking past the waiting room.
"Same here," he replied with a smile, and we left.
Jia's POV:
I don't know, but Ama's conversation with Mr. Mickelson felt like a stab on my heart as Mr. Mickelson never talks to someone with a smile on his face, especially not with girls. It wasn't just a smile — it was effortless, natural, like she'd unlocked a version of him none of us ever got to see.
It's been 3 months here and I have never had a single conversation with him regarding anything and by this time I won't lie but I started liking him a bit. Not in some fairy-tale way, but in the subtle stolen-glances, heartbeat-skipping, maybe-he'll-look-at-me-today kind of way.
"Shrug it off, I am just overthinking," I whispered to myself. My chest tightened anyway, and my fingers nervously fiddled with the edge of my bag strap.
I was so engrossed in my overthinking that I didn't hear that Ama was saying something to me and it feels like she already sensed that I zoned out. She always does.
"Sorry, sorry," I said as I saw her stressed face.
"Was there a lot of work to do? You look more stressed than usual," asked Amara while looking at me with concern. Her eyes were soft, steady, and in that moment I hated myself a little for even feeling jealous of her.
"No, It was just a long hectic day, nothing else. I am fine," I replied to her, trying to cover my emotions. My voice cracked slightly, but I smiled to mask it.
"Fine, but don't stress yourself too much," she said while handing me a candy. Typical Amara — small gestures that always hit straight at my heart.
"Yeah, I know, madam," I said sarcastically, and again our conversation was enough to make me forget all my worries. For a moment, it was just us again — Jia and Amara, sisters who've been tackling storms together since childhood.
But somewhere in the corner of my heart, a quiet fear bloomed: what if this time the storm was named Vihaan Mickelson?