The restaurant was quiet, the kind of place where conversations stayed low and lights stayed soft. A candle flickered between them, throwing small gold shadows across the table.
Sanvi pushed her plate aside, her appetite long gone. “You’re quiet tonight,” she said, breaking the silence first.
Adhirath looked up, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “You say that as if I’m ever not.”
“Usually you’re… quieter in different ways,” she said, and immediately wished she hadn’t — because his eyes caught hers then, and didn’t let go.
He leaned back slightly, studying her. “Different how?”
Her fingers tightened around the edge of her glass. “You listen more than you speak. But tonight, it feels like you’re waiting for something.”
He hesitated — then, softly, “Maybe I am.”
The waiter came by, asked about dessert, and neither of them answered. When he left, Sanvi laughed under her breath, nervous and warm. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Why?” he asked. His tone wasn’t teasing — just steady, honest.
“Because…” she started, then stopped. The candlelight danced against the curve of his hand as he reached for his glass — a small, simple motion that shouldn’t have meant anything. Yet she couldn’t look away.
Outside, rain began again — light, steady, familiar.
He watched her for a long moment before saying, “You always look like you’re about to leave — even when you stay.”
She froze — not because he was wrong, but because it felt too close to the truth.
For once, she didn’t look away. “And you,” she said quietly, “look like you’ve already decided what you want — you’re just waiting for me to say it first.”
The rain grew heavier, filling the silence between them. Neither spoke again — but both knew something had already changed.
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