Love at First Swipe ✓

All is Not Well.

(A/N: Trigger warning for sexual assault).

I arrive at work a little later than usual because I woke up late today. I haven't been able to sleep all night yesterday. I tried calling Arjun and his phone had been switched off. It just feels like I'm all alone. I walk up to my desk to see Payal standing there, waiting for me. She doesn't seem okay.

"Hey, what's wrong?", I ask her with concern.

"I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere else?", she says, her voice breaking. She is definitely not okay.

I nod and take her to the conference room. It's usually empty and no one uses it much. All important meetings happen on the first floor anyways. She sits in the corner chair, her hands resting on the table and trembling, her body uneasily jerking and her eyes scanning around.

"Hey, it's just us", I reassure her by putting a hand on her shoulder. I've never seen her like this. She looks terrified.

I sit next to her, holding her hand in mine, watching tears run down her already swollen eyes and tainted pink cheeks. She looks devastated.

"So, yesterday.. after everyone left, it was just me..", she pauses and breaks down into a pool of tears, running short of breath.

"Hey, calm down okay? I'm here. Let me get you some water", I tell her and quickly go out to grab a bottle of water. I offer it to her and she hastily drinks it, spilling some on herself.

She takes a deep breath, circles her lips to blow air out, gaining control over her overwhelming emotions and she continues, "so.. it was just me and Karan left back here. We were working on some news that was supposed to be telecasted today.. Dolly came in and she asked Karan if he's going out with her. He told her that he has a lot of work.. and that he can't make it", she tells hiccuping and pausing to take a deep breath. I nod to reassure that I'm keenly listening, "so.. she left. And then Karan asked me what was going on.. I told him that she finds him cute. And.. he asked me if I find him cute too. I told him I do.

Before I could realize, he held me and he.. he started kissing me. I pushed him away and I told him I don't want it.. But he didn't stop", she stops and cries.

"Are you sure you're ready to talk to me about this?", I ask her and she nods. I rub her back, still holding her hand and wait for her to continue.

"He continued to grope me all over my body and I tried to push him off but he was too strong.. He kept on saying 'don't be shy', while he forced me. He didn't leave an inch on my body that he didn't touch.. He was almost about to strip my shirt off, when I finally gathered all my strength to push him off me and run out of there", she sobs, "I called Dolly last night after I reached home.. and I told her everything that happened. You know what she said? She said that I was asking for it.. and that I should be happy because I got groped and forced by a good-looking guy".

I'm taken aback by everything she said, but even more shocked at how Dolly responded to all of it. I feel anger rising up from the inside, my whole body just trembling at the thought of what happened to Payal.

"What are you going to do?", I ask her.

"I don't know".

"Let's go talk to him", I say holding her hand and standing up.

"What? No! I can't face him".

"You should. Let's confront him. I'm going to punch him in the face", I say trying to drag her out of her place. She yanks her hand away from me, "stop it, Trisha!", she yells, "I can't face him. Don't you get that? I can't. I'm fucking shivering, I feel like my body is not even mine anymore, I just can't even identify myself. Think with your brain, Trisha.. not your heart. I don't want your stupid impulsive advice. I want your support, so I can file a complaint".

"Fine. Let me atleast talk to him first, okay?"

She nods and leaves the room. I sit there thinking what I can do. I pull my phone out and call Arjun. Switched off. I frustratedly put my phone back in my pocket and furiously waln into Karan's cabin.

"Look who's here early in the morning, huh?", he says with a smile, looking at me.

"Shut up", I shout and he gives me a puzzled look. I shut the door behind me and walk closer to his table, "how dare you, Karan? How dare you lay your hands on Payal?"

"Woah woah, calm down. What did she even tell you?"

"What did she tell me? Why don't you tell me what you did? Or maybe you could directly tell the police after they put you in jail".

"Look, I really have no idea what you're talking about".

"Don't you?", I say banging my fist on the table.

"Look, she tried to push herself onto me, okay? The whole while, she was laughing and smiling at me. Her skirt went up a little, she probably pulled it up, she wanted me to stay back after everyone at work left. She kept saying she finds me cute. What else do you expect a guy to do? In simpler words, she wanted me to do all that to her but she was just too shy to admit it".

"Shut up, just shut the fuck up", I say almost about to slap him across his face, "don't you dare say another word".

"Look Trisha, I get that you're mad and you want to file a case. But it's useless. A waste of time, I can say. You know why? Because this whole situation is in my favour. She stayed overtime with me when the whole office was empty, she kept complimenting me which clearly shows she was interested. Taking all this out will only ruin her character that she made out with me at work".

"Really? Keep dreaming then. You can tell this story to your jail-mates".

"Let me give you an offer. That article that you wrote, I'll allow you to publish it. It will be turned down if you try in this branch, but.. I still have login credentials at the old branch for publishing on the politics page for the website. I'll give you that. You can publish your article on your name. In return, you can convince that friend of yours to not file a complaint".

"Are you trying to buy me on this?"

"No, not at all. I'm just offering you a one-time opportunity in return to saving me some time. There is no way her stupid complaint will be valid. So many rapes happen in India everyday and the courts don't even have time for something that serious. Do you think they have time for a confusing makeout?"

"Don't you dare call it a confusing makeout! You fucking forced yourself on her".

"You can call it whatever you want. Your offer only lasts until the end of today. You can leave my cabin now".

"I swear I'm not-"

"I asked you to leave, Trisha. I'm still your superior here", he says and turns away. I leave angrily, shutting the door behind me.

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/1268 words/

(A/N: please do vote if you liked this chapter).