Pallavi could hardly bring herself to finish her lunch. Her nerves wouldn't calm down, her stomach wouldn't stop raging butterflies. She was anticipating so much she was afraid the universe would do something to fuck it up.

Fortunately, it didn't.

"Write our names." Adhvik ordered her to write in a piece of paper he gave which was their gate pass. For a while, Pallavi sat there numb, probably confused as to where to write until he pointed it out. "Just put Adhvik plus Pallavi."

Adhvik + Pallavi.

A blush crept up her cheeks. This was embarassing. So embarrassing.

But Adhvik didn't seem to care any less. Maybe she was just imagining things when she saw his smile. It was her first disappointment.

The second disappointment came when they sat in the SUV provided by the office. She expected him to sit with her in the back but he lovingly maintained his distance by sitting in the front. The whole journey was spent with him and the driver chatting amongst each other with only occasional questions from Pallavi. It was her fault. She was expecting too much. This wasn't a date. Period.

However, her sulking mood wiped off as soon as they entered the lane where Mi Xiaomi was. All Pallavi could see was huge border walls that seemed to stretch for eternity. It was almost a minute later, when they reached the main gate. Just how big was it?

"Presenting you..." Adhvik trailed off as the gates opened to reveal a long and wide pathway. There was a building to the right and a small checking room in the middle while the road in the right seem to stretch forever. He extended his hand towards it as if it were his property. "My future."

Pallavi let out an O. "Niice! I hope it comes true for you."

"I hope so..." Adhvik mumbled, disheartingly. "Anyway, let's check in first."

They got themselves checked by the security first. During that time, they were asked to submit their android phone. Another security person who stood at the other side of the glass booth, took their devices and pasted a blue sticker at its front and back camera.

"Heh, we aren't supposed to take photos? What a bummer!" Pallavi commented, in disbelief.

"Its not that bad, you know." Adhvik replied. "In a way, you'll be able to enjoy the view without taking a selfie every now and then. Just be there."

Soon Pallavi set off for the great tour. When she asked Adhvik where the R and D department of Xiaomi was, he gauged around. "Well, the office to the left oversees the production of other gadgets... So I think our department will be on the right side."

"You think?"

"Eh, actually it's been more than a year since I last visited here. I heard the office for R and D has been shifted to a new office so... " He showed his teeth, guiltily.

"Fantastic!" Pallavi replied smiling sarcastically then got serious. "Let's just ask the guards instead."

After asking the guards, they started walking towards the right, passing by a badminton court on the way. The end of a narrow path revealed a long, wide road ahead. The office buildings and warehouses were to the left side- each of them were atleast fifty feet apart from each other. While the right side hosted a series of game fields- a football field, a tennis field and a basketball field. The road stretched so far it almost resembled a runaway for planes. There were a series of office buildings and blue warehouses, separated widely from each other. For a while Pallavi stood there, absorbing the view, flabbergasted.

"Never seen an office like this before, huh?" Adhvik voiced out her reaction.

"Never..."

"Do people work or play games here?"

"Wahi toh! (Exactly)"

He burst out laughing, diverting Pallavi's attention to him. When she glanced at him questionably, he replied, "No, actually I just got reminded of the times I came here before. You wouldn't believe the tragedies that happened..."

"Tell me, tell me!"

"I will after this meeting... Let's find our destination first."

By the time, they reached their destination in a hurry, they were mildly exhausted.

"I think everyone would have their fair share of exercise from all the walk they have to do here..." Pallavi commented, panting.

"No kidding! It took us more than ten minutes to walk from main gate to here..." replied Adhvik, supporting his hands on his legs to catch his breath. A second later, he straightened up and checked his mobile. "Let's hurry. Yogesh sir is waiting for us."

The interior of the R and D office building was no less. Adorned with black patterned marble walls and white tiled floors with a royally looking reception in the middle. With small exotic plants lined up at the borders and a small stoned waterfall in the corner, it looked no less than rich. Pallavi gawked at the place while Adhvik enquired the receptionist about the location of the office. They took a lift for the third floor. Even the interior of the lift was adorned in gold.

Was this an office or a three star hotel? Were all well known MNC's like this?

Pallavi and Adhvik had to wait outside the office on the third floor for Yogesh Sir to open the automatic gate controlled by an ID card recognition system. Until then, Adhvik kept Pallavi occupied with his rants from his previous visits. Particularly the times he wasn't respected enough.

Ten minutes later, someone opened the door and let them in. It was like a wave that hit Pallavi abruptly as she stepped in.

Let's just say that the size of this office was ten times bigger than her own. It seemed like a sea with hundreds of glass cubicles. And they weren't even sticking against each other. There was enough space for one to occupy and breathe. She saw a similar getup in MCL but Xiaomi was still better. Everything from floors to desks to lights seemed sophisticated. Even the employees were in their proper formal attire- men with blazers and pants while women in their pencil skirts or pants.

"Let's see..."Adhvik checked out a message from his mobile as they marched ahead, passing by a pantry along the way. "Mister Yogesh is in Yamuna meeting room."

"Yamuna?" Pallavi brows furrowed.

Her doubts were cleared when they came across a series of meeting rooms on one side. There was a name plate engraved on each glass door. Apparently, their names depicted the rivers of India- Ganga, Kaveri, Godavari, Narmada etc.

"I don't know whether to be surprised or appalled by this creativity." Adhvik commented, deadpanned.

"Same."

Upon reaching Yamuna room, Adhvik was greeted by Yogesh. They sat on a big round table, holding ten seats. Two more young men of their age groups were already seated. Adhvik introduced them to Pallavi, saying they were the employees of the other vendor companies of Xiaomi. One of them was from BOE tech which Mansur considered as a friendly competitor.

After a few minutes of idle chit- chat, the meeting commenced. Besides Yogesh, there were two more men in suit who carried the meeting. All of them were looking at the white board that displayed a series of images from the projector.

Pallavi realized she was the only woman in the room but that didn't matter when she hardly contributed to the meeting. She couldn't even get half of the things they were talking about. All she knew that it involved various child parts, scientific terms, numbers, charts and comparison between old and new models. Except for Adhvik's filling her with details in between, no one else paid attention to her. She was like the background, merely there to observe.

"Okay, now we'll list out the 4M's you did and followed this month. First BOE tech..." One of the two men spoke and clicked on the slide of the power point presentation to display that on the white board. Pallavi remembered that this was the main thing they had come here for. To discuss 4Ms.

Suppose there was a change in the material used in the first running stages of production, then a 4M document was made. It would list the new and old materials, it's reasons for change, vendor name, amongst other things. The M's stood for Man, machine, material, method. 4Ms was a two page document that briefed about these changes. If there were two things that changed, then two seperate documents would be made.

These changes occurred frequently during the manufacturing process. One had to make sure to track these changes and complete the documents on time. Here's where Xiaomi came in play as well. They made sure that these vendor companies updated the documents as per their requirements.

Pallavi didn't know all of this yet so it was a bit difficult to follow the conversation. But she did understood one thing- that BOE tech had five documents of these in pending. The guy representing this company nodded off to everything Xiaomi people said but spoke less. He barely looked them in the eye. Was he a newbie as well?

Then it was Mansur's turn.

"Let's see you have... " Yogesh trailed off as he clicked to the pages in the presentation. The page displayed the list of 4M's Mansur did and their status in the other column. "Two updates remaining."

"You mean the two new updates that I wasn't informed before today?" Adhvik corrected him, smiling cunningly.

"Yes, yes, two new updates." Yogesh laughed it off. From under the table, Adhvik kicked Pallavi's leg as if to draw attention to Yogesh's reaction. Pallavi almost gasped in surprise but then laughed along everyone else's to cover for it. He kicked her leg back then too when they were informing the number of pending 4Ms to the BOE tech guy. It was now she understood why.

Men and their competitiveness.

But regardless of what Pallavi thought earlier, she was also amazed at Adhvik. He would often say he had yet to learn a lot but he really knew his way around his work. Out of the three representative employees, it was Adhvik who spoke the most. He knew the codes, the data. He knew which materials were more beneficial than others. And it was Adhvik who completed all the 4Ms documents on time. Even Xiaomi employees appreciated this fact. Could she be more proud of him?

Yogesh and his teammates continued on about which child parts needed to be updated and what other changes could be done for a better production quality. The meeting carried on with absolute professionalism and ended roughly after an hour. Though Pallavi didn't participate, she was still glad to be a part of it. She only hoped she would be an active voice someday.

Adhvik let out an audible breath after bidding farewell to everyone. He pressed his temples before glancing at Pallavi, "We need to refresh. Let's go."

"But the canteen won't open before 5. It's only 3:45."

"I meant the pantry, idiot. Come on!" He gave her a pat from behind before walking forward to lead her. Pallavi could tell that he seemed to be in good spirits right now.

Wait, pantry?

When anyone hears a pantry, they would envision a small room with a coffee machine, cups, sugars and refills. Oh, boy, were they wrong after visiting a company like Xiaomi.

What Pallavi thought to be small cramped space turned out to be a size of two living rooms combined with tables and chairs. Yes, there were seats alongside coffee machines, cookies, sugar and various packets of exquisite beverages. Employees were walking by, standing or sitting in groups for an idle chat.

It was not a pantry, hell no! This was a full blown cafe.

This realisation dawned upon her as she entered with Adhvik, just the two of them in that space. From there on, everything that followed felt like a dream sequence. And it started right after they walked together to find an empty seat.

"Hmm, maybe I'll settle for a cappuccino..." Pallavi replied, still sounding somewhat unsure as her eyes trailed over the machines and the stacks of tea bags at the service table.

"A cup of cappuccino it is. You go, sit there while I bring our drinks." Adhvik suggested, pointing over to the empty chair table to his right.

"No, it's fine. I'll bring mine."

"It's okay, re. I insist." Adhvik insisted, pulling off a chair for her. She settled down hesitantly. "Anything else?"

She brought her palms together under the table and squirmed. "Co- cookies?"

"Coming right up." Adhvik said enthusiastically, waving a hand over his forehead before going.

Pallavi let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Something just came over Adhvik that caused him to behave nicely with her. No, correction- gentlemanly. She felt it when he pulled a chair for her and she felt it now as he served her a cappuccino and two cookies to go with it.

Like a date in a coffee shop.

"What?" Adhvik furrowed his brows, puzzled when Pallavi covered her face with her palms, shaking her head. He eventually sat down, bringing a cup of Assam tea with him.

"Nothing, nothing, something got in my face that's all," Pallavi laughed nervously to cover her flushed face.

"So did you see what I saw, heh? How was your first experience?" Adhvik asked, wriggling his brows like a child in a park.

Soon they lost time in a deep discussion. Adhvik explained to her the specifics of their meeting and what 4Ms meant. He mocked at how the others hadn't completed all the 4Ms and didn't even know half of the things while he did. He explained how he checked and completed all the remaining documents in a hurry before coming here. Obviously he was pleased with it. They hi- fived each other in victory.

"You were amazing, sir." Pallavi didn't hesitate to compliment him this time. "You knew much more than them. You have knowledge in this field. I think you should be in Xiaomi instead"

Adhvik laughed like an old man, brimming with pride. "You think so too? Now you see why I'm your senior. You guys should respect me more. "

They chatted a few more minutes, unaware of the passing time until the driver of their office car called Adhvik. The driver would arrive at their destination within forty minutes.

"Imagine how fun would it be if Tulsi tagged along and the canteen would have opened before 5." Pallavi mentioned, already living that vision inside her head. "You know, just the three of us."

"Yeah, right..."

"Tulsi was excited to visit Xiaomi as well. To be honest, we didn't want to go with Sai. We have already been blessed under his guidance enough," said Pallavi sarcastically. "Hey, Yogesh mentioned that there might be another meeting right? You can bring her then. She deserves to see this fabulous spectacle, too."

"Yeah, everyone deserves to see it."

"What?" Pallavi sensed the lack of enthusiasm in his voice.

"Nothing..." He paused, leaning himself closer to the table and looked her in the eye. "Just that I'd rather prefer the junior sitting next to me than the one in the office."

"Oh," Pallavi flushed, right then and there before looking down on her coffee cup and covering her shaky palms with it. "Well, I don't mind that either... Maybe I can go with you the third time after Tulsi visits Xiaomi the second time."

"Sure."

This was like going on a second date after the first coffee date. Pallavi thought and blamed herself for seeing too many romance novels and series.

Alas, time passed and their coffees were emptied. They moved out of the pantry towards the exit of the office. Pallavi laid her eyes on the office one more time- taking in each detail from its interior, to the employees talking in hushed tones. Oh, how she wished to work in a company like this. She wouldn't mind waking up every morning then.

"Feels like going back to a hut after visiting a mansion..." Pallavi sighed.

Adhvik bursted out laughing, his shoulders shaking. "That was such an apt comparison. I felt the same as you but what to do, life is life..."

Their conversations continued on as they exited the office and walked into the long roadway. Adhvik seemed to be recalling his earlier visits to Xiaomi as he recited to her.

"... And then, my leg slipped down to the front ever so beautifully while the tray containing the cover samples flew right over my head, to my colleagues head behind me, making him and his umbrella fall as well. Like a chaotic symphony." Adhvik described a past incident in the rain, using his hands and legs in an ballerina like fashion.

All the while, Pallavi was guffawing hard, circling her waist. Adhvik joined in the laughter as well as he recited more funny incidents like the one where Tiwari didn't get his second phone checked at the security room. He described how he saved Tiwari's ass that time but still Tiwari still didn't express his gratitude. Instead, he became competitive and hostile towards him after his promotion to assistant manager. Though Pallavi felt their hostility was mutual.

Adhvik quickly changed the dull mood by cracking another funny incident with his mother. One of the warehouse workers passing by, eyed them as he heard their laughter loud and clear. They covered their mouths in an attempt to suppress themselves then laughed even harder after he was gone. They clapped each other hand yet again.

"Oh my God, stop it!" Pallavi panted between her laughs, hitting Adhvik's shoulder as he tilted his head, enacting the way the worker looked at them. That was when she realized the proximity between them.

They were close.

She felt it as their shoulders bumped against each other. She felt it as their palms made contact. How long was it happening, she wondered? And why the hell was nobody minding it at all? The more their palms touched, the more her thoughts trailed off, drawing an imagination of them holding hands. Was she naive to think that way? No way it was gonna happen.

For now, this was enough.

The sunlight held them like an umbrella above them as they laughed and smiled along the road, leaving a trail of a memorable day behind them.

It was after ten minutes when the office SUV showed up. Adhvik sat on the front seat as expected. The driver had to stop by another vendor company to fetch some other employees. Adhvik and Pallavi conversed for a while until other employees showed up.

"Oh, hello, there sir! And you too, Pallavi. What a coincidence to meet you here. " Sai greeted both of them cheerfully.

Oh, great! Pallavi and Adhvik thought in disbelief and rolled their eyes when Sai looked away. Talk about great timing.

Soon Sai bored them with his talks and experiences about his visit. He was one of those people who talked endlessly even when no one asked him to. Thankfully some other employees from their department hopped onto the SUV later on, falling victims to his boring rants.

Pallavi felt like sitting in a school bus who stopped at different locations to pick up kids. The car was filled with testosterone induced noises from inside in contrast to the serene evening outside. It was a tad bit uncomfortable being the only girl in a car. Good thing she was shifted to the front seat, while Adhvik hopped on the back. But her privacy with Adhvik was ruined. Guess her luck has been all used up today.

Adhvik and Pallavi were speaking but seldomly. The driver had taken an alternative route to the fields which saved them from the traffic. Instead, Pallavi feasted her eyes onto the scenery of the meadows with the evening sun, setting behind them.

"O, look, a peacock!" someone from the car pointed out.

"Where?" Sai asked while everyone else turned their heads to look. It was a bit difficult to notice with the grasses surrounding around but if one could spot a small clearing in the middle, they could find a beautiful peacock sitting there. It was nothing that uncommon but everyone lost their shit when it lit up its feathers.

"Oh my God, did you see that? Did you see that?!" Pallavi exclaimed in excitement, grabbing everyone's attention. When they replied, she craned her head to the back row.

"Adhvik, did you see that? Did you?"

"Areey haan baba..." (yes)

Adhvik was still reeling from laughter at the joke shared by the boys before. He was smiling when he replied to her and oh, what a dazzling smile it was. He replied again.

"I saw."

Suddenly everything from the guys, to the driver, the car and the world ceased to exist. The images faded away, the noises quieted down. It was just Adhvik and Pallavi staring into each other. The light was reflected in his eyes. The winds blew their hairs away; the meadows formed their background. The way he looked at her. It was gentle, loving and above anything Pallavi couldn't describe. She wanted to peek into that light, keep looking and looking at him as he smiled slightly at her.

What was that?

But then, he looked away and the voices returned, breaking the spell.

Pallavi turned back to her seat, placing a hand on her chest. Was she dreaming? Whatever it was, it was magical.

A little while later as they neared the office, they came around another round of buildings. Adhvik pointed out his apartment was somewhere around there. Pallavi couldn't help but wonder what his apartment looked like. Will she be able to see it? Perhaps her and Tulsi can drop by someday.

Eventually they returned to the office. Pallavi was filled with disappointment. It felt like an end to an incredible ride. But when she looked back- visiting Xiaomi, attending a meeting, having coffee with Adhvik, laughing with him and that moment in the end.

It was truly unforgettable.

_________________________________________

Hope you loved this chapter (because I did lol). What are your thoughts? Was it a date or not?

Vote and comment.