[There's a small scene I'm kinda nervous about but *clears my throat* Read on.]

****

Work was getting frustrating.

It was just one android model after the other since December. No Sunday breaks either except the last two ones. Pallavi was working her sweat out in the same routine, even resorting to work over time like an engineer. Her and Tulsi who were given the title of a fucking trainee. At this point, everything infuriated her— her cubicle, the data, office, managers, factory, gate. Just about everything to the point of suffocation. She simply wanted to escape and take a relaxing vacation somewhere.

What's more she was practically alone in her kind of work. Normally when in doubt, you turn to your seniors or colleagues, but neither Adhvik, nor anyone else knew much about Pehs. She was basically compelled to rely on Hyoung who she wasn't very comfortable with. Even he got puzzled sometimes. Often Hyoung would express with a disappointing 'Hayeesh!' like a typical male from a K- drama when she failed to understand something. Or when her registration approval was rejected from Xiaomi.

“Ugh, I'm so done!” Pallavi stretched her arms, letting out a squeal. She stood up to take a coffee break for the time being. When she returned with a coffee cup, she saw Adhvik on his seat as well. He was wearing a black t-shirt that had a Venn diagram of three circles. The circles had my wallet, my life and cooker written in it. But what's amusing was the caption written the common area of these circles.

Empty.

A laugh escaped her lips. “That's a cool shirt.”

Thereafter, they ranted about their frustration for work. The feelings were mutual for everyone. Adhvik extended his hand as an indication to hold it with hers. Pallavi was almost weirded out by his request but gave into anyway. Sharing warmth with their palms was almost second nature to them now.

And then, something odd happened.

The second Adhvik took Pallavi's hand, he pushed her arm in, jerking her body towards him. The sudden move startled her as she was face- to- face with Adhvik. She drew back immediately but Adhvik was far from done. Smirking, he twisted her arm with one hand gripping her wrist while the other on her elbow.

"Wha-t are you doing, ugh?" Pallavi groaned, trying to wriggle out of his grip. What in the name of insect had gotten into him?

“It's called arm wrestling, baby!” He winked.

Pallavi flushed. Now she was both embarrassed and mad. Her brows knitted together with gritted teeth as she applied force to free herself. She did that only to mirror the same action as him and twist his arm.

“Gosh, ouch... some strength you have.” His face contorted in pain.

“Khate peete khandhan ki hu. (I come from a well fed family).” Pallavi said bluntly then left his arm for him to whimper. What was gotten to him anyway? Maybe he lost some screws in his head.

Or maybe he was just as empty as his shirt. See, what I did there. See, see!

From then on, it became a battle of sorts. They would make a point to touch each other whenever they passed each other. Like once when Pallavi went to Hyoung's desk to take a child part piece that Hyoung had. There were two ways to return to her seat. She made sure to walk the path with Adhvik's seat on its way. The instant she was next to him, he gripped her arm only for her to grip his arm back. They tried to break free while tightening their grip on the other as well. The score was 1 on 1.

The next instance it happened when they passed by each other on the office corridor that led towards the pantry. Adhvik drew his arm away when Pallavi tried to touch him but he was quick enough to get a hold of hers, slightly pulling her towards him in a typical Bollywood style. Of course he pulled away immediately when someone arrived at their lane. He walked off wearing a smug on his face while Pallavi's cheeks were flushed in defeat. The score was 2-1.

Now what they were doing and why were they doing this was beyond me. Ask them.

Nonetheless, they kept with this tirade throughout the day. Toppled up with more workload, it only aggravated Pallavi more but this frustration was different. Don't get her wrong, she liked what she and Adhvik were doing (whatever it was). She liked it a lot. But all those touches and smug looks were causing her to feel something she barely felt for someone before. It made her want to touch him more and not just the arm either. It made her want to French kiss him, the way it happened on English TV shows. It made her want to take his hand inside her shirt to the her most erotic parts and feel the pleasure with his touch.

In primitive words, she was sexually frustrated.

Pallavi face- palmed. He had successfully awoken something wild inside of her. She wondered if it was the same with him as well. It did seem like that with the kind of stares he gave her.

This continued on the next day as well.

“Yo, morning,” Adhvik greeted with a lop-sided smile. Pallavi mirrored it right back. She had just arrived and was arranging her things on her desk. Suddenly he stood from his seat. “Well, if you'll excuse me.”

“Sure...”

You see there were two ways for Adhvik to exit the line of cubicles. His seat was in the middle so either he had to pass by Tulsi and Hyoung's cubicle or take the short route to cross through Pallavi's cubicle. The route to pass was narrow so one had to step aside to let the other pass.

But this 'excuse me' was different from the others. Because when Adhvik tried to cross over Pallavi's cubicle, neither did she step aside, nor did he ask her to. It caused their bodies to sort of brush against each other. They didn't stick to each other too closely but they weren't keeping a distance either. A shy smile escaped Pallavi's lips as he brush passed her side this time and caught a glimpse of his smug face.

Sometimes Pallavi felt his sides, sometimes his front. Although one time she vaguely recalled Adhvik passing by her with his back facing her back, which happened because he was holding a heavy measuring device between his hands. That was accidental since he seemed to be in a hurry back then, but it didn't help that she could almost feel his ass against hers. Her face was burnt with embarrassment when that happened.

When did this playfulness started? Pallavi herself didn't know. She knew that it happened recently, just like everything else between them. The how's and why's didn't matter anymore. She had already fried her brain cells thinking about it. Now she just wanted to enjoy. Enjoy the experience of working in the office as well as her flirtationship with Adhvik.

It was her first flirtation-ship after all.

Henceforth, they continued with their little game of 'who touches first' from yesterday.

It was late morning. Pallavi was standing besides the rack near the entrance of the testing room. She was searching for something amongst the pile of mobile covers kept in a basket. It was then, Adhvik graced her with his presence.

The two of them straightened up in attention like two animals on a hunt. As soon as he neared Pallavi, he reached out for her shoulder but she backed away in time. Hell yeah!

“You little...!” Adhvik muttered with gritted teeth and extended his arm towards her once more. He was able to reach the tip of her shoulder. She tried to do the same but failed. He flashed her a sneer before running off.

It was then Pallavi heard a snicker. It was neither her or Adhvik. She whipped her head behind in horror to witness the entire 3D department boys watching her. Along with Harshit who peered back at her with a knowing smirk.

They had witnessed their entire act.

Pallavi jolted herself to the front, her ears growing a shade of red over the titters from behind. Atleast be wary of your surroundings, idiot. She wanted to tell Adhvik as she rushed back to her seat in shame.

Somewhere during the afternoon, Pallavi roamed around the office, asking for a rear cover of an old mobile model. She needed it to know it's weight for pehs. When she was left with no options, she resorted to ask Harshit.

“Oo, is Adhvik sir not here to solve your problem? That's why you came here. Poor girl.” Harshit smirked and placed a hand over his forehead, pretending to look for Adhvik.

“It seems like nobody has the rear cover of Mi C200. Do you happen to keep it in the trash box in the testing room?” Pallavi asked again with tight lipped smile, ignoring his previous comment.

“Ah, don't worry, dear. I'm sure your Adhvik has whatever that you ever want. He will find it for you.” Harshit answered wearing a wide, bright smile.

Pallavi's jaw dropped in shock before she mumbled something incoherent, walking away in embarrassment. Great, just great!

* * *

Their shenanigans lessened the following day.

It was probably because of what Pallavi told Adhvik yesterday about the 3D department. Though he assured her not to worry about it, deep down she knew that these things mattered to him. It was all about reputation.

But who told that they couldn't tease each other in secret. No one.

“I have a doubt, sir,” Pallavi enquired Adhvik for some difficulty she was facing in a document. Of course it wasn't because she wanted to get closer to him.

As usual, Adhvik leaned down behind Pallavi to take a look at her computer screen. This stance was something that everyone did whenever they peeked at someone else's screen. It could be mister Hyoung, mister Tiwari or one of those Koreans who stayed temporarily for a project. She even came to know Mister Hyoung scent. He smelled sweet and refreshing. Yet, she didn't feel anything.

But Adhvik was a whole different story.

Now Adhvik wasn't as handsome as Mister Hyoung, nor as poor looking as Tiwari, yet he affected Pallavi in ways she couldn't describe. She felt goosebumps with the impact of his husky voice against her neck. His hot breath fanning against her ears. Sometimes he smelled like cigarettes, while at times he had an aftershave woody scent which mesmerised her. She struggled to pay attention to his words while her devious mind played out a nasty scenario of his lips on her neck. Why, oh, why she was feeling so horny around him these days?

“Understood?”

Pallavi inhaled, trying to calm her hormones. “For the most part, yes.”

“So...” He trailed off, placing his warm, rough palm over the length of hers, tingling her skin. “What else would you like for me to explain?”

“Anything. I'll catch up everything.” She answered, her voice growing more sensuous by the minute. What had gotten into her?

“Is that so?” Their flirty banter continued for a minute until Adhvik paused to lean even closer to her. His two shirt buttons were open, exposing his neckline and a part of his light chocolate chest with tiny hairs on it. She swallowed.

“Try to catch... this!”

And intertwined his fingers between hers in a vice- like grip. Hard.

Pallavi didn't expect him to grab her hand this tight. Toppled up with his husky voice, smell, his face in close proximity and his slightly exposed chest, it blew her away. So much so that it caused a chemical reaction in her body.

Somewhere far away, the hose of tap was being turned on. It let out a small spurt of water at first before turning on as usual.

It was exactly like that initial spurt of water. The way Pallavi slightly came between her legs that is. She bit the inside of her mouth, suppressing a moan.

“What happened?” Adhvik noticed her lack of speech and asked, his brows creased. He left his grip on her and stood up straight, already making her hungry for his presence.

“N- nothing, just, um, understood...” Pallavi fumbled with words that her empty mind failed to produce. Eventually, Adhvik left in puzzlement.

What was that? No, really, what was THAT?! Pallavi thought in shock. Something like this had never happened in her entire single life. And she didn't mean her lady part getting wet either. She had gotten wet over a thousand times during masturbation over the years. But getting aroused for someone else she knew was a first. Was she that attracted to her colleague? Why? He wasn't even handsome. How shallow, Pallavi.

No, forget it. She can think about that later. There were more pressing matters at hand. All those touches and flirtations for the past few days had been accumulated, causing something to mature inside of her. An urge. The kind that needed to be taken care of.

Obviously she couldn't just go to Adhvik and ask him to 'give her a release' even though deep down, she wanted to (she wouldn't admit it). She swore she could even visit his apartment if he invited her to. For making out that is, not sèx. But those kind of scenarios only happened in porn. So the only thing left was to do it herself.

Right now.

But this is an office for goodness sake! Her mind protested. Obviously an office wasn't meant for something as explicit as this. She should have just masturbated at home yesterday. She tried to but her tired body wouldn't give in. And now, heat was building between her legs, demanding a pleasurable release.

Before Pallavi's mind could conjure up another logical excuse, her legs were already up and about on the way to the washroom. Every step she took was a war between her body and mind. Eventually her body won.

Pallavi leaned against the wall of the toilet and let her fingers guide to her core inside her pants. She let out a surprise breath when she felt the wetness on her fingers. Indeed the sensation she felt from Adhvik's sudden grip like touch wasn't her imagination.

Pallavi closed her eyes, biting her lower lip and began massaging her aroused part. It wasn't her favorite position to masturbate but this should do for now. Her back arched as she came, letting out a half suppressed moan. Now that was surprising. It barely took her half a minute to orgasm. Was she that horny?

Getting rid of all the if's and but's in her mind, she continued to pleasure herself while thinking about her moment with Adhvik before and more. The sound of her slick fingers slapping against the wetness of her hole could be heard through the toilet. She was lucky to be alone. She was able to cum two more times before she heard the sound of footsteps entering the washroom. Ah, well, she could always continue the business later at home. For now, this was enough.

Pallavi relaxed against the wall, letting out a tired sigh. Many emotions swirled inside her. Contentment, guilt, fluster, shame. She felt like such a slût for doing this. But despite it all, she felt liberated. Masturbating while fantasizing about someone she knew and doing it in the office, too. Two things she never did before. She felt like she did something forbidden. The thought itself was exhilarating.

On one hand, Pallavi felt guilty. Wouldn't it be disgusting if you knew someone jerked off thinking dirty about you? She recalled how creeped out she was when a good Facebook friend of hers said he jerked off to her photos. But he never met you. Nor you were good friends. Of course that would be creepy! Her inner voice told and she relaxed somewhat.

'I'll just keep this to myself.' Pallavi decided. She realized there was nothing wrong with this. Well, unless, she downright told him which she wouldn't dare even in her dreams. Thereafter, she washed her hands with soap and returned to work. Oddly enough, she was able to concentrate on her work just fine. Guess that was good load off her body.

* * *

Days passed by as well as the month. Soon it was February and we all know what February was about. Or atleast the first half of the February.

Pallavi wondered what February and especially Valentine's Day had in store. Not that she was expecting a love confession with Adhvik but something should happen, right? Atleast make this Valentines better than her previous, single ones.

Little did Pallavi know that this month was going to turn things around. In more ways than one.

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How was that scene I described? Hope it wasn't weird. So was this chapter hawt?🔥Share your thoughts.

There are three roller coaster like phases in the story. I'm saying this because the next chapter will be the beginning (more like preparatory chapter) of that first ride. It was something I'd been waiting for since I started writing this story (although the one I'm TRULY waiting for is the 2nd roller coaster ride but that's ahead 😩).

With that being said, are you ready?! Then, fasten your seatbelts! 🎢 😏