The Office [Un]romance

...📖 Chapter 5– The Office [Un]romance...

Scene 1: The Work Setup

The coworking space looked like every Pinterest board ever—exposed brick, neon motivational signs, and too many plants pretending to be natural air filters.

Naina perched at one end of the long desk, ring light already clamped in place.

Aarav sat at the other, typing furiously, radiating do not disturb.

Raj plopped down between them like a proud parent. “Look at this! Dream team. Brain meets charm.”

“Charm meets migraine,” Aarav muttered.

Naina rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Raj. I’ll make sure your app doesn’t die of boredom.”

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Scene 2: First Work Clash

Their first video was supposed to be simple: a quick “intro to the app” reel.

Naina: “Okay, I’ll do a fun voiceover with trending music. Maybe throw in some jump cuts.”

Aarav: “Or you could just… explain the features like a normal human.”

Naina: “Because that’s what goes viral? People reading instruction manuals?”

Aarav: “Better than pretending to drink coffee while pointing at text bubbles.”

Naina gasped, hand to chest. “That’s my signature style.”

“Exactly.”

They bickered so much the cameraman quietly excused himself to “adjust the lighting.”

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Scene 3: Cracks in the Armor

Later, while Aarav reviewed analytics on his laptop, Naina peeked over his shoulder.

“You really… like numbers, huh?” she asked.

“They don’t lie,” he said simply. “Unlike people.”

Something in his tone made her pause. For once, no sarcasm. Just a flicker of something heavy.

She wanted to ask, but instead she said, softly, “Numbers can’t tell you if something makes people feel good.”

Their eyes met for a moment too long—until Raj returned, clapping. “Break time! Samosas for everyone!”

They jumped apart like guilty teenagers.

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Scene 4: The Small Disaster

During the next shoot, Naina balanced on a chair to fix the ring light.

“Careful,” Aarav said without looking up.

“I’m fine,” she said—right before wobbling.

He shot up, catching her by the arm just before she toppled. Their faces ended up inches apart.

“See?” he murmured. “Data doesn’t lie. Chair was unstable.”

Her cheeks warmed, though she covered it with a scoff. “Congratulations. You saved your influencer from tragic death by ring light.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he deadpanned, but his lips twitched.

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Scene 5: Closing Beat

By the end of the day, the office floor was littered with samosa wrappers, failed script drafts, and Naina’s glitter pens.

She packed up, muttering, “Three months. I can survive three months.”

Across the desk, Aarav was thinking the same thing.

But for the first time, he wasn’t entirely convinced he wanted to.

... Their First Viral Hit...

Scene 1: The Accident

They were filming their fourth take of a demo reel, and it was going terribly.

Naina: “Just smile once, Aarav. One little smile. You won’t combust.”

Aarav: “I’m not a circus act. The app sells itself.”

Naina: “Correction: the app would sell itself, if people actually wanted a lecture on cloud servers at 2x speed.”

Raj facepalmed in the corner. The cameraman sighed. “Rolling…”

That’s when it happened—Aarav muttered something about “influencer nonsense” under his breath, and Naina snapped back with, “At least people listen to me, Spreadsheet Boy.”

Everyone laughed. The camera kept rolling.

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Scene 2: The Upload

Later, while Aarav sulked over analytics, Naina (half out of spite, half curiosity) posted the blooper on her Instagram.

Caption: POV: Trying to make a serious guy go viral 🤦🏻‍♀️✨

She expected maybe a few chuckles from her followers.

She did not expect her phone to explode with notifications within the hour.

Likes: 25,000. Comments: 2,000. Shares: climbing.

Top comment: “Omg the enemies-to-lovers energy. I ship this😍.”

Second top: “Petition to make them the official brand couple❤️.”

Third: “That smile at 0:23? Sir, who gave you the right??”

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Scene 3: The Fallout

By the next morning, their reel had crossed half a million views. The brand’s account was flooded with requests for “more Aarav + Naina content.”

Raj nearly burst into tears of joy. “Do you guys see this? Engagement through the roof! You’re a sensation!”

Aarav scowled. “We’re a meme.”

Naina smirked. “A viral meme. You’re welcome.”

Before Aarav could argue, Raj delivered the final blow:

“We’re pivoting the campaign. From now on, you’re not just app + influencer. You’re a duo. A package deal. Cute bickering, fun reels, couple vibes. The audience eats it up.”

Both shouted at once: “We’re not a couple!”

But the internet had already decided otherwise.

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Scene 4: The Moment

Later that night, Naina scrolled through the comments again, trying not to laugh at the edits of her and Aarav set to Bollywood love songs.

When Aarav texted — This is humiliating. — she replied without thinking:

Relax. It’s just content.

But for some reason, her stomach fluttered anyway.

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