Yamini turned away before she could say something she’d regret.
By late afternoon, her feet ached. Her hair was sweaty under the helmet. Her camera bag dug into her shoulder.
She packed up her equipment, signed out at the PR desk, and waited in the shaded area near the gate for her cab.
She kept expecting Bharat to appear. To call her into his office. To demand an explanation.
He didn’t.
No one approached her, and no one said anything.
She was allowed to leave like she was any other vendor.
Outside, the protest noise hit her again as she stepped into the cab.
She stared ahead, her thoughts circling the same point.
He had seen her. He had recognized her. And he had still walked away without any reaction.
Her grip tightened on her bag.
It wasn’t relief she felt. Relief would have been easier.
It was irritation.
A sharp, unexpected sting to her pride.
Five years ago, he hadn’t noticed her. Today, he had.
And she still wasn’t worth a word.
Yamini let out a noisy breath.
Cold bastard.
???
Yamini was inside her apartment when Pooja arrived just after six, carrying a paper bag that smelled like Chinese food and a plastic bottle of cola like she’d come to comfort a friend through a breakup.
Pooja took one look at her face and walked in without waiting for permission. “Okay. Tell me everything.”
She placed the bag on the table and pulled out two foil containers. The smell of chili garlic noodles and fried rice filled the room. She set out plastic forks and small sauce packets like she’d done a hundred times during their university days.
Yamini brought out two plates, transferring the noodles and fried rice before talking. “The protests outside the steel plant are huge. Police, private security. Tina Mehta was there too at the steel plant. She is the environmental consultant leading the program.”
Pooja twirled a forkful of noodles. “Oh wow. Were Tina and Bharat Jogra flirting?”
Yamini almost laughed, imagining Bharat flirting.
“No, he came later at sharp noon, did a factory walkthrough, and spent most of the time in his office.”
“He didn’t respond to Tina?”
Yamini knew Pooja wanted gossip. “He nodded once. That’s it. No conversation. No… anything.” Yamini didn’t add the part where Bharat’s attention had flicked to her for a second. She didn’t know why she held that back. Maybe because the fact that he didn’t bother acknowledging her still stung. “He walked into the building like Tina didn’t exist.”
Pooja’s face lit up with the kind of joy only gossip could create. “Oh, this is delicious.”
“It’s annoying.”
