Authors pov

The entire afternoon passes quietly for Akanksha.

While Jaipur outside continues to move, the hotel slowly filling with people preparing for the evening fashion show, Akanksha remains completely unaware of what the evening has in store for her.She sleeps through most of it.For once, there is no rush.

No meetings.

No shoots.

No calls.

Just sleep.

At exactly four in the afternoon, she finally opens her eyes.She stares blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds before reaching for her phone.

4:00 PM.

She blinks.

"Wow..."

She sits up, runs her fingers through her messy hair and looks at the time again.

"Pura din so gayi main."

A lazy smile appears on her face.The fashion show is at eight.She has to reach by seven.There is still plenty of time.

After freshening up, she orders food to her room and settles herself

comfortably on the bed.While eating, she opens her phone and starts watching the pictures and reels from the week.She watches a reel twice.

Then another.She scrolls through comments.Replies to a few.And before she knows it, another half an hour disappears.

She looks toward the window.

"Jaipur aayi hoon aur hotel se bahar bhi nahi nikli."

She considers getting up.

For exactly three seconds.

Then she drops herself back onto the bed.

"Itne din to explore hi kya he na abb bas aram baki ka explore for next vacation"

And goes back to scrolling.

At five, her phone rings.

Sorab.

She immediately answers.

"Hello?"

"Akku?"

"Haan, boloooo," she says dramatically.

"Tu uth gayi hai kya?"

Akanksha rolls her eyes.

"Nahi. Mera bhoot baat kar raha hai."

"Arre yaar, mazaak ka time nahi hai."

"Haan baba, bol. Kya hua?"

"Ek problem ho gayi."

Her expression changes.

"Kya?"

"Main apne lenses lana bhool gaya. Jo fashion show ke liye liye the."

Akanksha lets out a disbelieving laugh.

"Tu bhi na..."

"Please yaar, sun. Abhi main wapas room pe nahi aa sakta. Makeup aur styling sab start ho gaya hai. Permission bhi nahi hai."

"Hmm."

"Tu mere room se le aa na."

She looks at the table where his keys are lying.

"Keys?"

"Table pe hain."

"Okay."

"Please 6:30 tak le aana."

"6:30?"

"Haan. Waise bhi tujhe seven baje yahin aana hai. Tu thoda pehle aa jaana aur mere paas rehna."

Akanksha sighs.

"Fine. Main aa jaungi."

"Thank you!"

"Haan haan. Bas ab emotional mat hona."

"Seriously, Akku, thank you."

"Okay. Chal, main ready hoti hoon."

"Jaldi aana."

"Haan."

She cuts the call.She gets up and heads toward the bathroom.She has no idea that the small favour she has just agreed to do will bring her face-to-face with a person she has spent so much time trying not to think about.

After her shower, Akanksha dries her hair.She takes her time doing her nails.

Then she opens her suitcase.Her eyes wander over the clothes.And stop at one particular dress.

White and blue.

She pulls it out.

There is no hesitation.

No second thought.

She simply wears it.

She doesn't remember.She doesn't remember the day she wore this dress before.She doesn't remember what that day meant.She doesn't remember the emotions attached to it.For her, it is simply a dress she likes.

Nothing more.

She does her makeup.

Fixes her hair.

Puts on her accessories.

Then slips into her transparent heels.

Finally, she stands in front of the mirror.

She looks at herself.

For a moment, she is serious.

Then her usual playful side returns.

She poses dramatically.

Turns her face to one side.

Then the other.

She smiles at her reflection.

"Okay... not bad."

Another pose.

She laughs quietly at herself.Then grabs her purse.She checks the time.

6:20 PM.

Her eyes widen.

"Shit!"

She quickly takes Sorab's room keys from the table and rushes out.The location Sorab sent her is inside the hotel itself, on the ground-floor garden area at the back.

She takes the lift downstairs.

The doors open.

She steps out.And starts looking for the green room.She walks a little faster.Her heels echo softly against the floor.

Then-

Something strange happens.

Her heartbeat suddenly changes.

Fast.

Unusually fast.

She stops for a moment.

Her hand instinctively moves toward her chest.She takes a breath.

"What is happening?"Her brows pull together.

"Mera heart itna fast kyun beat kar raha hai?"

She looks around.

Nothing.

Everything appears normal.She exhales slowly.

"Nahi... shayad jaldi-jaldi mein chal rahi hoon isliye."

She shakes her head lightly.

"Bas. Kuch nahi hai."

And continues walking.But the strange feeling doesn't completely disappear.

Inside the Green Room

Sorab is almost ready.

Yogesh is there too.

A few other participants are talking casually.Someone cracks a joke.

Everyone laughs.The atmosphere is relaxed despite the last-minute chaos.

Yogesh is listening to the conversation.

But suddenly...

His expression changes.

The smile disappears from his face.

He becomes quiet.

For no reason he can understand, his heart begins beating differently.He looks around the room.His eyes move toward the door.

Nothing.

Still, something feels strangely familiar.He slowly puts a hand against his forehead.A faint crease appears between his brows.

"Aisa kyun lag raha hai..."

He takes a slow breath.

"Jaise koi aas-paas hai."

His gaze remains fixed somewhere ahead.

"Koi aisa... jise mera dil pehchanta hai."

He doesn't understand why that thought even comes to him.He closes his eyes for a second.

And then-

"Yogesh?"

Sorab's voice pulls him back.

Yogesh looks at him.

"Kabse bula raha hoon. Kahan kho gaya?"

Yogesh forces a small smile.

"Kuch nahi yaar."

"Sab theek?"

"Haan."He pauses.

"Bas... pata nahi. Kuch ajeeb sa feel ho raha tha."

Sorab looks at him for another second before the conversation continues.

Someone says something funny.

Everyone laughs again.Yogesh smiles.

The strange feeling slowly disappears.

Or so he thinks.

Knock.

Nobody pays attention.

Another knock.

One of the people in the room finally gets up.

He walks toward the door.

Opens it.He speaks briefly with the person standing outside.

Then steps aside.

Footsteps enter the room.

Soft.

Unhurried.

And for reasons nobody understands

Yogesh suddenly looks toward the door.So does Sorab.The others turn too.And then...

Everything stops.

Akanksha enters the room.

Her hand is still wrapped around the strap of her purse.She takes one step inside.Then another.Her eyes move across the room casually.

Until-

They stop.

Her entire body goes still.

It happens so suddenly that even she doesn't understand it.

Her fingers freeze around her purse.

Her breathing stops for a second.

Her face loses every trace of the relaxed expression she had carried all afternoon.Her eyes widen.

And her gaze remains fixed.

Yogesh.

For a moment, her mind refuses to understand what she is seeing.

No.

It can't be.

Not here.

Not now.

Not when she wasn't prepared.

Not when she had walked into this room thinking only about Sorab's lenses.Her heartbeat becomes painfully loud.The same heartbeat that had suddenly started racing in the corridor.

Now she understands why.

Her lips part slightly.

But no sound comes out.

Her eyes remain on him.

And in those few seconds, something inside her seems to collapse and rebuild itself at the same time.

Memories rush through her mind.

Faces.

Places.

Words.

Moments.

Things she had buried.

Things she had convinced herself no longer mattered.

She doesn't move.

She doesn't blink.

She simply stands there.

Looking at him.

And Yogesh...

He is frozen too.

The moment his eyes meet hers, every sound in the room seems to disappear.

The laughter.

The conversations.

The movement.

Everything becomes distant.

There is only her.

Standing there.

In a white-and-blue dress.

Looking at him with eyes he had once known so well.

His breath catches.

His face goes completely still.

For a moment, he can't believe it.His mind struggles to process the sight in front of him.

Akanksha.

His heart recognizes her before his mind can accept her presence.

The strange feeling from moments ago suddenly makes sense.

That restlessness.

That sudden heartbeat.

That inexplicable sense that someone familiar was near.

It was her.

She is here.

Right in front of him.

After everything.

After all the distance.

After all the silence.

After all the things he has tried to bury.

She is standing only a few steps away.

And suddenly, every emotion he thought he had learned to control rises together.

Shock.

Guilt.

Regret.

Longing for something he knows he may no longer have.

And the unbearable realization that he never truly stopped caring.

His eyes remain locked with hers.

He wants to look away.But he can't.

Because somewhere deep inside, he knows this might be the first time he is seeing her without the protection of a screen, a memory, or a distance between them.

She is real.

She is here.

And she is looking at him.

Sorab watches them.His expression changes completely.The realization hits him with full force.

He had forgotten.

He had actually forgotten that Akanksha was coming.

His eyes move from Akanksha to Yogesh.Then back to Akanksha.Regret flashes across his face.But even he doesn't dare interrupt the silence.

Because this moment doesn't belong to anyone else.

It belongs to the two people standing frozen on opposite sides of the room.

Akanksha's eyes remain fixed on Yogesh.

Yogesh's eyes remain fixed on her.

Neither moves.

Neither speaks.

Neither knows what to do.

The past stands betwee

n them.

The present holds them still.

And the future-

The future is waiting for whichever one of them finds the courage to move first.For now, there is only silence.

Only the sound of two hearts beating far too loudly.

Only two pairs of eyes carrying everything their lips refuse to say.

And for the first time after everything that happened...

they are standing face-to-face.

The only question is-

Will they finally have the courage to face it?