06-03-2026, 05:32 PM
The transition from the backseat of a sedan to the bright, fluorescent reality of the OMR cafeteria was a jarring system reboot. By 1:15 PM, Bavi was seated at the long laminate table where the "Senior Leads" usually gathered. The air was thick with the smell of biryani, sambar, and the unrelenting chatter of three hundred developers.
Bavi kept her eyes on her salad, her fork moving with mechanical precision. She felt "sensitized"—every rustle of her silk blouse against her skin felt like a reminder of Shri’s hands.
"So, Bavi," Meera, the Lead QA, said, leaning in with a wicked glint in her eyes. "Bangalore seems to have agreed with you. You’ve got this… glow. Or is it just the relief of finishing the audit?"
Bavi’s heart skipped a beat. She forced a neutral smile. "Just glad the code is stable, Meera. It was a high-pressure weekend."
"High pressure? Is that what we’re calling it now?" Preeti, the Frontend Architect, chimed in, smirking over her coffee. "I saw the way Shri was looking at you during the Stand-up this morning. If that boy was any more 'diligent,' he’d be following you into your cabin to check your keyboard."
The table erupted in low chuckles. Bavi felt a hot, prickling flush creep up her neck, threatening to bypass the concealer she’d applied in the garage.
"He’s a Junior Developer, Preeti. He’s just eager to learn," Bavi said, her voice a pitch too high.
"Oh, he's eager for something," Meera teased, nudging Bavi’s shoulder. "Did you see him at the coffee machine? He looked like a man who hadn't slept a wink, yet he was grinning like he’d just won the lottery. What happened in Bangalore, Bavi? Did you finally break that icy 'Lead' exterior of yours and give the poor guy a compliment?"
"We worked. We deployed. We came back," Bavi stated, her tone shifting into 'Professional Firewall' mode.
"Right. And I’m a Senior VP," Preeti laughed. "Come on, Bavi. Even Karthik noticed. He said the 'synergy' between you two was so intense it was practically making the conference room monitors flicker. Is he as… 'efficient' in person as he is on the whiteboard?"
Under the table, Bavi’s knees pressed together. The "drenched" sensation returned with a vengeance, a heavy, honeyed throb that made her want to bolt from the room. She could see Shri across the cafeteria, sitting with the other Juniors. He was laughing at something, looking entirely unbothered, yet his gaze drifted toward her table every few seconds—a dark, possessive "ping" that only she could sense.
"He’s a colleague," Bavi said firmly, though her pulse was hammering at 120 BPM. "And I’d appreciate it if we kept the 'leg-pulling' to the Jira tickets."
"Spoken like a true Senior Lead," Meera sighed, though the smirk didn't leave her face. "But just so you know, the office betting pool has the 'Integration' happening by Q4. I’m betting my Diwali bonus it already happened during the Bangalore layover."
Bavi took a sharp sip of her water, the cool liquid doing nothing to quench the fire in her veins. The "Social Engineering" of her colleagues was proving harder to manage than the code itself.
Bavi kept her eyes on her salad, her fork moving with mechanical precision. She felt "sensitized"—every rustle of her silk blouse against her skin felt like a reminder of Shri’s hands.
"So, Bavi," Meera, the Lead QA, said, leaning in with a wicked glint in her eyes. "Bangalore seems to have agreed with you. You’ve got this… glow. Or is it just the relief of finishing the audit?"
Bavi’s heart skipped a beat. She forced a neutral smile. "Just glad the code is stable, Meera. It was a high-pressure weekend."
"High pressure? Is that what we’re calling it now?" Preeti, the Frontend Architect, chimed in, smirking over her coffee. "I saw the way Shri was looking at you during the Stand-up this morning. If that boy was any more 'diligent,' he’d be following you into your cabin to check your keyboard."
The table erupted in low chuckles. Bavi felt a hot, prickling flush creep up her neck, threatening to bypass the concealer she’d applied in the garage.
"He’s a Junior Developer, Preeti. He’s just eager to learn," Bavi said, her voice a pitch too high.
"Oh, he's eager for something," Meera teased, nudging Bavi’s shoulder. "Did you see him at the coffee machine? He looked like a man who hadn't slept a wink, yet he was grinning like he’d just won the lottery. What happened in Bangalore, Bavi? Did you finally break that icy 'Lead' exterior of yours and give the poor guy a compliment?"
"We worked. We deployed. We came back," Bavi stated, her tone shifting into 'Professional Firewall' mode.
"Right. And I’m a Senior VP," Preeti laughed. "Come on, Bavi. Even Karthik noticed. He said the 'synergy' between you two was so intense it was practically making the conference room monitors flicker. Is he as… 'efficient' in person as he is on the whiteboard?"
Under the table, Bavi’s knees pressed together. The "drenched" sensation returned with a vengeance, a heavy, honeyed throb that made her want to bolt from the room. She could see Shri across the cafeteria, sitting with the other Juniors. He was laughing at something, looking entirely unbothered, yet his gaze drifted toward her table every few seconds—a dark, possessive "ping" that only she could sense.
"He’s a colleague," Bavi said firmly, though her pulse was hammering at 120 BPM. "And I’d appreciate it if we kept the 'leg-pulling' to the Jira tickets."
"Spoken like a true Senior Lead," Meera sighed, though the smirk didn't leave her face. "But just so you know, the office betting pool has the 'Integration' happening by Q4. I’m betting my Diwali bonus it already happened during the Bangalore layover."
Bavi took a sharp sip of her water, the cool liquid doing nothing to quench the fire in her veins. The "Social Engineering" of her colleagues was proving harder to manage than the code itself.
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