Sia let the silence settle for a few seconds before finally looking at the three women standing opposite her. Sia knew saying Get out won't help.
Her voice was calm.
"Queens."
All three immediately looked at her.
"You've entertained yourselves enough."
A tiny pause.
"The exit is still exactly where it was five minutes ago."
Durga exchanged a glance with Saraswati.
"That sounded much more polite than 'get out.'"
"It means she's trying to behave,"
Saraswati whispered.
"Poor thing."
Radhika closed her laptop with a soft click and slid it beneath her arm.
"I think we've officially exhausted her patience."
"No," Sia replied without missing a beat. "You've exhausted today's quota."
Durga nodded thoughtfully.
"So tomorrow's quota is still available?"
Sia looked at her.
"I admire your optimism."
Saraswati hid another smile behind the rim of her coffee cup.
"You know..."
She looked toward Ram for the first time.
"I genuinely wish you good luck."
Ram raised an eyebrow.
"With the meeting?"
She smiled warmly.
"With her."
Sia gave her an unimpressed look.
"I am standing right here."
"I know."
"And you're proving my point."
Ram watched the exchange quietly.
The four women argued with an ease that couldn't be rehearsed.
There was no hesitation.
No effort.
Just years of friendship stitched into ordinary conversations.
Durga stepped forward next.
Unlike Saraswati, her expression carried no teasing.
She folded her arms.
"I don't know how negotiations work in your company."
Her eyes briefly met Ram's.
"But ours has one rule."
Ram waited.
"If she trusts you..."
She nodded toward Sia.
"...don't make her regret it or before her we three will make sure you regret it."
The corridor seemed quieter for a moment.
There wasn't a threat in Durga's voice.
Only certainty.
Ram held her gaze.
"I'll remember that."
Durga gave a small nod.
"Good."
Then the seriousness vanished as quickly as it had arrived.
"And if you ever make her skip lunch..."
She pointed a finger toward him.
"...then even if you are right you will always be wrong."
Sia let out the smallest sigh.
"You three are impossible."
"True," Durga admitted cheerfully.
"But we're your impossible."
That finally earned the faintest smile from Sia.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
Radhika laughed quietly before turning toward Ram.
Unlike the others, she didn't speak immediately.
She studied him for a second.
Not as a rival.
Not as an ally.
Simply as another leader.
"When strategy enters a room..."
she said evenly,
"...ego should leave first. We don't know about you or your team but once you offer an aliance no one is superior or inferior."
Ram listened without interrupting.
Sia trying to hear what they were talking.
She continued,
"Listen to her ideas."
A brief pause.
"And make sure she listens too. That's the hard part."
Sia looked at Radhika.
"I can hear you."
"You reject them before hearing half the sentence."
"I reject bad ideas."
"You reject unfinished sentences."
For the first time...
Ram's expression softened with the hint of amusement.
Radhika noticed.
He wasn't as unreadable as he wanted people to believe.
She adjusted the laptop beneath her arm.
"And one more thing."
Sia frowned slightly.
"Don't let personal opinions decide professional decisions."
Ram's eyebrow lifted on the word personal opinion.
About what?
For just a heartbeat...
The air changed.
The joke disappeared.
Sia understood exactly what Radhika meant.
She gave the smallest nod.
"I know."
Radhika answered with one of her own.
No more words were needed.
The conversation was over.
She turned toward the door first.
Laptop tucked securely beneath one arm.
Walking backward as naturally as breathing.
Her eyes remained on Sia.
One raised eyebrow.
At least hear him out.
Sia folded her arms.
I'll hear him.
Properly.
A tiny tilt of Radhika's head.
Good.
Durga and Saraswati followed behind her, still whispering among themselves, Saraswati carefully balancing the coffee cup in one hand.
None of them noticed...
Just outside the automatic door...
The corridor beyond the conference room carried its usual rhythm.
Employees crossed from one department to another with files tucked beneath their arms.
Quiet conversations drifted through the glass-walled hallway before disappearing just as quickly.
Radhika steping towards the door.
Her laptop rested securely beneath her left arm while her attention remained entirely inside the room.
Entirely on Sia.Trying to explain Sia not to kill the leader even if he smiles.
Sia and Radhika didn't needed any words to talk to each other expressions were enough for them to make each other realise what they meant.
They had long since abandoned the need for words.
One glance.
One raised eyebrow.
One slight tilt of the head.
That was enough.
Don't dismiss him immediately.
Sia caught the message instantly.
Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Who says I will?
Radhika's lips curved.
You. Every single time someone
disagrees with you.
A faint crease appeared between Sia's brows.
Professional meeting.
Exactly.
Then stop smiling.
You smiled first.
Sia almost rolled her eyes.
She refused to give Radhika the satisfaction.
All the best.
That all the best was very rare among the Queens and Sia exactly knew why was that today.
Saraswati had finally managed to stop laughing.
Almost.
She lifted her coffee cup for another sip while Durga leaned closer.
Both Durga and Saraswati also decided to leave Sia alone finally.
"You know..."
Durga whispered just loudly enough for Saraswati to hear.
"If this meeting somehow ends with Mr. Table Number Three becoming our business partner..."
Saraswati nearly laughed into the coffee.
"...our dear leader will resign."
"She'll deny everything first."
"And then resign."
Both dissolved into muffled giggles.
Without turning around, Sia spoke.
"You two realise glass walls exist, don't you?"
Durga answered immediately.
"They also keep sound in."
"They don't."
"They should."
Radhika shook her head, unable to hide her smile.
See?
Her eyes returned to Sia.
Listen first. Fight later.
This time...
Sia gave the smallest nod.
Professional.
No matter what had happened at the café.
That single nod was enough for Radhika.
Satisfied, she continued walking backwards.
That had always been a habit.
She trusted herself a little too much.
Or perhaps...
She trusted the people around her to warn her before disaster struck.
Unfortunately...
Today everyone was distracted.
Vaani suddenly looked up from the files in her hands. She had forgotten something but what?
Well, some people were waiting outside the door isn't it. Here we go again Vaani like always was late to recall it.
Her eyes widened.
"Radhika!"
Radhika instinctively turned her head toward the voice.
"What happened?"
"I forgo..."
The sentence never finished.
With a soft mechanical sound...
The automatic door beside the conference room slid open.
Someone stepped through at the exact same moment.
Radhika's shoulder brushed against his.
Not hard.
Just enough.
Her heel missed its balance.
The laptop slipped from beneath her arm.
"Oh no..."
The thought flashed through her mind before anything else.
The laptop slipped from beneath her arm.
"Oh, wonderful..."
The thought flashed through her mind before anything else.
Three days.
It took exactly three days for the bruises from the last injury to stop hurting...
...and apparently I've already qualified for the next one.
The polished marble floor rushed closer.
Her instincts searched desperately for something to hold.
Anything.
Instead...
Someone caught her before gravity could finish its job.
One hand wrapped securely around hers.
The other settled instinctively at her waist, steadying her with effortless precision.
The laptop wasn't as fortunate.
It struck the marble with a sharp crack before sliding several feet away.
Neither of them looked at it.
For one suspended heartbeat...
The entire corridor quietly disappeared.
Krish hadn't expected this.
He had expected the Queens.
Expected negotiations.
Expected a professional meeting.
He had even been slightly curious.
Ram had spoken far too often that dealing with queens isn't going to be easy and here his Ms.Chaos already in his arms.
Well, I was waiting for too long just to meet you. But this is something I didn't expected ..... I think author is in good mood today.
The reports described an exceptional hacker.
An overthinker.
Someone who could dismantle security systems faster than most people could unlock their phones.
He had imagined shaking her hand.
Perhaps exchanging a sarcastic greeting.
Maybe even arguing within five minutes.
Instead...
She had quite literally fallen into his arms before either of them had spoken a single word.
Well...
His eyes finally met hers.
Sharp.
Observant.
The first thing he noticed wasn't embarrassment.
It was irritation.
Not directed at him.
Directed entirely at herself.
The corner of his mouth almost lifted.
Miss Chaos...
I was looking forward to meeting you.
I just didn't expect our introduction to involve gravity.
What surprised him even more...
She wasn't trying to pull away.
She wasn't frozen either.
She was...
Studying him.
The way one hacker quietly assessed another before making the first move.
Interesting.
She's exactly as the reports described.
Radhika finally realised...
She hadn't fallen.
One hand still held hers firmly.
The other rested against her waist, just enough to keep her steady.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Odd.
It wasn't uncomfortable.
It wasn't awkward.
It simply felt...
Safe.
That realization stayed for barely a heartbeat before recognition struck.
She looked properly at his face.
Calm expression.
Annoyingly composed.
Dark eyes carrying that same effortless confidence she'd seen once before.
Her thoughts immediately rearranged themselves.
Seriously?
Mr. Flirt.
Of course.
If the mysterious team leader was here...
His overly confident teammate would naturally follow.
Her own mind instantly betrayed her.
Congratulations, Radhika.
You spent the last twenty minutes teasing Sia...
...only to recreate the exact same situation yourself.
Wonderful.
The author is for sure in bad mood today, she wouldn't have made me fall in arms of this Mr. Flirt.
(Author: Radha you have no idea.)
She expected him to say something clever.
Something shameless.
Something flirtatious.
Instead...
He simply looked back.
Quietly.
Almost curiously.
No grin.
No teasing.
No unnecessary confidence.
Just...
Observation.
That unsettled her far more than flirting would've.
Why isn't he saying anything?
For the briefest moment...
His eyes felt strangely familiar.
Not his face.
Not his voice.
Just...
His eyes.
The thought disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
Impossible.
She would've remembered meeting someone like him.
Wouldn't she?
Neither noticed the corridor around them gradually slowing down.
Employees walking past had unconsciously reduced their pace.
One whispered to another,
"Should... we keep walking?"
"I think we should."
Neither moved.
A few steps behind Krish...
Dev observed the entire scene with complete composure.
He glanced from Krish...
...to Radhika...
...back to Krish again.
Without saying a word, he slipped his phone from his pocket.
Unlocked it.
Adjusted the angle.
Click.
The photograph perfectly captured the moment.
Krish still holding Radhika.
Both looking directly at one another.
Dev looked at the picture once.
A small, satisfied smile appeared.
Evidence.
He calmly slipped the phone back into his pocket.
And showed it to Shiva who was least interested but that would help tease Krish later.
Dev " Hey, Shiv look this picture is going to be the best. We will keep it on the strategy board and on top."
Shiva replied," Rest is fine, but will you tell me why you have been looking at your own shirt and also cleaning it."
"Hey, it's brand new I ordered from Italy."
At that exact moment...
Saraswati stepped into the corridor, coffee cup in one hand and another sip already in her mouth.
She looked ahead absentmindedly.
Then stopped.
Her brain politely attempted to understand what her eyes had just witnessed.
Radhika.
Standing far too close to a stranger.
No...
Not standing.
Being held.
Still looking at him.
And he...
Was looking right back.
Her thoughts crashed spectacularly.
Processing...
Checking again...
No...
She blinked.
The scene remained exactly the same.
Wait...
That's Radhika.
Our Radhika.
The woman who says romance is a waste of processor power.
Why is she...
Who even...
Her internal system surrendered.
System...
Loading...
Error.
The coffee she'd completely forgotten about chose that exact moment to continue its journey.
"PFFFFFT!"
It shot from her mouth in a flawless arc.
Unfortunately...
The nearest available target happened to be Dev.
More specifically...
The immaculate white Italian shirt he had proudly worn that morning.
The coffee landed dead centre.
With remarkable accuracy.
Not a single drop missed.
Dev slowly lowered his eyes.
Looked at the stain.
Then at Saraswati.
Saraswati stared at the shirt.
Then at Dev.
Welcome to the World War 3.