Chapter Seven: Boundaries
388 Words
Pakhi’s POV
Pakhi stared at her phone, the screen glowing against the soft golden light of her bedroom lamp.
Rehaan:
Still there?
Three words.
Simple. Soft. Late.
They came hours after her mind had stopped expecting anything from him.
She was curled on the edge of her bed, legs tucked under her, the laptop open with a half-finished deck she hadn’t touched in the last hour. Her mother had just walked past the room moments ago, humming and carrying a plate of sweets from the dinner table.
“The boy from Pune has replied,” she had said casually, like she was commenting on the weather.
“Seems like a good match.”
Pakhi hadn’t responded. She had only nodded.
Because her thoughts weren’t on the civil engineer from Pune.
They were, maddeningly, still caught somewhere between voice notes from Bangalore and memories of laughter that never belonged to her in the first place.
Rehaan had gone quiet for days. She had felt it. And not just in her phone — in the energy, in the weight of every word they didn’t exchange. She had waited. Questioned herself. Made excuses for him.
But somewhere along the silence, she had also made a decision.
She couldn’t let herself fall into a space that didn’t have room for her.
So now, staring at those three hesitant words, she breathed in — slow, deep, and steady — and replied without flinching.
Pakhi:
Yes. Let me know if there’s anything pending from our side. I’ll make sure to close it by morning.
Professional.
Polite.
Distant.
The message sat on the screen for a few seconds before she locked her phone and placed it face-down on the nightstand.
It wasn’t about ego. Or punishment. Or revenge.
It was self-respect.
It was self-preservation.
Because if Rehaan had chosen to keep her at arm’s length, then she had no right — and no energy — to keep reaching across the distance.
She didn’t know who the “some things” in his life were. She didn’t ask.
But she knew this:
She was not going to be someone’s temporary emotional escape.
Not again.
Not this time.
The room felt heavier now.
But her heart? A little lighter.
Like she had finally let go of something she was never meant to carry in the first place.
- Writer
