Scene: The Rooftop Café – 6:38 PM
The golden hour had slipped into dusk, painting the rooftop café in warm ambers and soft shadows. String lights blinked lazily above white-linen tables, and the hum of a quiet playlist lingered in the air. A small private area had been reserved—not flashy, just... elegant, like the woman who booked it.
Vanya, already there, wore a sleeveless black turtleneck and high-waisted wide-leg pants. Sharp but soft. Effortlessly intimidating. Except she didn’t feel like herself. Not when she was this...nervous.
She checked her watch for the fifth time in two minutes.
“She’ll come,” Dev texted.
“If not,” Trisha added, “you’ll pass out from pacing. Relax.”
The trio was seated at a distant table, blending in like background actors, watching through wine glasses like this was a nature documentary.
Enter: Ira Rathore
Then it happened.
The glass doors slid open, and Ira walked in.
Wearing a pitch-black fitted shirt, sleeves rolled to the forearm, two buttons undone—just enough to show the gentle slope of her collarbones. Paired with slim black pants, a thick leather belt, and a chain ensemble hanging at her waist like a challenge. A bold, massive bronze watch on her wrist. Hair tousled. Bare faced. Effortlessly magnetic.
Vanya forgot how to breathe.
Ira walked up, casual hands in her pockets, giving a nod of greeting.
“Hi,” she said with a soft smile. “Sorry if I’m late. I had to fix a server issue. It’s been a day.”
Then added, without malice:
“You clean up... dangerously well.”
Vanya’s brain: Rebooting system. Please wait.
The First Few Minutes
“You look...” Vanya tried, voice steadying itself, “...incredible.”
Ira gave a slight tilt of her head. “I figured since you said it wasn’t a professional meeting, I should go...casual.”
She gestured at her own shirt.
“Though I’m still not sure how casual ‘casual’ is supposed to be. So, should I opened another button? Is it too formal.”
She actually did. Mid-sentence, with no warning. A single flick of her finger, the third button popped open. Vanya visibly tensed.
The trio in the corner:
Trisha whispered: “She just upgraded from casual to cardiotoxic.”
Arav scribbled into a napkin: “Note to self: Chains + buttons = blackout combo.”
Dev just grinned like this was better than every telenovela he’d ever seen.
Conversation Begins: The Flirt Fest (Unintentional)
They sat. Ira glanced at the menu, expression serious.
“Everything’s expensive,” she murmured. “You sure this isn’t a test?”
“Of what?”
“How easily I can be bought. I’m warning you—I’m extremely loyal once fed.”
Vanya blinked. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Depends. Are you planning dessert?”
Her tone was dry. Playful. Deadly.
Vanya gripped her wine glass like it was her last anchor to reality.
More Oblivious Flirting
They began talking. About books. Coffee. Ira’s bizarre love for terrible hacker movies. And every few sentences, she dropped another one.
“I once coded a firewall while half-asleep on Nyquil. That’s probably the closest I’ve come to a one-night stand.”
Vanya choked on her drink.
A moment later—
“You’re really good at eye contact. It’s distracting. Do you practice that, or is it natural intimidation?”
“You could say it’s a CEO skill.”
“Dangerous combo. Good looks and power. You are sure you’re not trying to corrupt me?”
That. That was the moment.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdD2081mJJN
Trisha nearly screamed into a cloth napkin.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlR0uJeClzm
Arav was clutching his chest.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYz3aIw2tz
Dev was shaking his head, muttering, “She’s not even trying. This is just her being alive.”
Halfway Through the Evening
Vanya had asked about Ira’s pet peeves.
“Slow Wi-Fi. People who pretend to be deep. And... people who play games.”
“You mean mind games?”
“No, like actual board games. I’m a terrible loser. Just a warning in case this ever becomes... a thing.”
Vanya’s mouth went dry.
“A thing?”
Ira shrugged. “You’re taking me out. Seems logical to imagine a second date. Or was this your peak move?”
Vanya’s jaw nearly hit the table.
“Ira...”
“Hmm?”
“You’re—”
“Thirsty. Yeah, me too.”
She sipped her drink. Vanya blinked twice.
“I was going to say dangerously attractive.”
“Oh.” Ira paused, clearly processing it. “Thank you. That’s... new.”
She said it like someone commenting on a weather update.
As the Evening Ended
The rooftop was quiet now.
Most of the other patrons had filtered out, leaving just the soft hum of music from inside the café and the warm rustle of late-night air. The string lights overhead flickered like distant stars—dim, golden, and stretched just enough to make the world feel small and intimate.
Vanya and Ira stood by the railing, overlooking the sleepy street below.
Their plates were cleared. Their drinks half-finished. The air between them was thick with something. Not awkwardness. Not tension. But a curious silence that neither of them knew how to name.
"I’m glad I said yes,” Ira said simply, her hands tucked into her pockets.
Her voice was calm. Measured. Like everything else about her. But there was a glint in her eye—something warm, steady, and quietly captivating.
Vanya turned to her, smiling despite herself. “You’ll say yes again, right? If I asked you out a second time?”
Ira tilted her head. “I mean... depends.”
“On?”
“Whether or not you survive the next thirty seconds.”
Vanya blinked. “What?”
That’s when it happened.
She stepped back—only half-aware of the step. Her heel caught a slightly uneven tile on the edge of the wooden deck, and her balance gave way with terrifying speed. The world tilted. The railing was too far. Her breath hitched—
And then—
Hands.
Strong, steady, instinctive hands gripped her waist and pulled her forward, fast, until she collided into someone solid and warm and completely still.
Ira.
Their bodies stopped with a thud, too close for logic, too intimate for casual accident.
Vanya’s palms were flat against Ira’s chest. Ira’s right hand was curved around her waist—bare waist, where Vanya’s shirt had lifted slightly, exposing skin to the cool night air. Her other hand had moved to the small of her back, fingers splayed against her spine.
Everything was quiet.
Even the wind held its breath.
Ira looked down at her, eyebrows furrowed with concern, but her voice was soft—softer than Vanya had ever heard it.
“You okay?” Ira asked, her gaze flicking across her face. “You don’t seem like you.”
Vanya swallowed hard, trying to find her footing—but Ira didn’t let go.
Not yet.
“Are you cold?” Ira asked, before Vanya could even attempt a reply. “You’re... shivering.”
I’m not cold, Vanya wanted to say. I just almost fell into your orbit and forgot I had bones.
But the words didn’t come.
Instead, Ira stepped back half a pace—still holding her gently—and without thinking twice, shrugged off her own black jacket. Before Vanya could protest, Ira draped it around her shoulders, her movements quick and precise.
Then came the part that nearly stopped Vanya’s heart entirely—
Ira adjusted the jacket for her.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CGJnM5VDW
Tugged the collar into place. Pulled it tighter around her sides. Then leaned in slightly, brows furrowed again.
“It smells like black coffee and servers,” she said. “Sorry. That’s kind of my default scent.”
Vanya didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Her brain had stopped functioning three heartbeats ago.
Ira stepped back at last, seemingly satisfied. Still unaware of the chaos she’d unleashed.
Then, as casually as someone commenting on traffic, she added:
“You should be careful. You’re the kind of person people want to catch.”
Vanya’s breath caught.
What?
But Ira was already glancing toward the street.
Her cab had arrived.
“That’s mine,” she said, nodding toward the vehicle. “Thanks for the food. And the weird amount of eye contact.”
She gave a small, crooked smile.
Then added—almost as an afterthought—
“You’re... warm to be around. I didn’t expect that.”
And just like that, she turned, walked down the small ramp to the street, and vanished into the cab without looking back.
Leaving Vanya wrapped in her jacket, reeling, breathless, and drowning in a storm of emotions she hadn’t prepared for.
A beat later...
From behind the hedge, Trisha whispered, “Did she just say, ‘people want to catch you’ and call her warm in the same sentence?”
Dev nodded slowly. “That wasn’t just a flirt. That was a hallmark quote.”
Arav: “We should start a hotline for people recovering from being casually seduced by Ira Rathore.”
Vanya didn’t move.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7QQMOJeA4
Didn’t say a word.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6xbELQVTw
She just stood there, jacket tight around her shoulders, her heartbeat still echoing in her ears.
“You’re the kind of person people want to catch.”
She let the words sink in, deeper than she'd expected.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, one thought bloomed like fire behind her ribs:
Ira hadn’t just caught her.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QsB8lHuA8
She’d made her want to fall.
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYU4tPPshKJ
The room smelled faintly of freshly laundered cotton and the lingering scent of dark roast coffee. A warm evening breeze crept in through the half-open window, rustling the curtains as Ira stood by her desk, unbothered and barefoot, pulling the chain from her pants like she was shutting down a machine for the night.
She had just returned from her first-ever date.
Except, to her, it hadn’t felt like a date. Not really. Not in the candlelight-and-blush way she’d always imagined those things might feel. It had felt… comfortable. Easy. Full of layered sentences and unexpected laughter. And Vanya, of course.
Always Vanya.
She dropped her watch into a tray, pulled her hair tie loose, and was halfway through folding her jacket when the ambush arrived.
“SO?!”
The shout came from behind her—three girls, her roommates, bursting into the room like they were chasing the last piece of gossip left in the world.
Ira blinked at them calmly. “So what?”
“No,” said Sana, pointing a finger. “Don’t give us that neutral-cyborg tone. We know you went on a date. We saw the shoes. And the shirt. And the CHAIN. You wore the chain, Ira.”
“I always wear the chain,” Ira replied, sitting cross-legged on the bed with practiced ease.
“But not with black-on-black dominance,” barked Maya. “Spill it.”
“I really don’t know what there is to ‘spill,’” Ira said honestly, taking a sip of water. “It was a date. I showed up. She was already there.”
“What was she wearing?” Diya asked quickly, dropping to the floor like it was storytime.
“Black sleeveless top. Pants. Subtle makeup. Looked like she owned the building, honestly.”
The girls collectively groaned.
“And?” Maya urged. “Did you flirt? Did she flirt? Was there touching? Smiling? Hair flips? Anything even remotely charged?”
Ira frowned thoughtfully. “She... smiled. I think I tripped her sensors early.”
“What?”
“She stared for a full five seconds before speaking when I walked in. Could be visual lag. Or she liked the outfit.”
“Ira,” Sana said, rubbing her temples, “that’s called attraction. That was a heart attack, not lag.”
“I mean,” Ira continued casually, “she complimented me. Said I looked incredible. Which was nice.”
“AND YOU SAID?!”
“Thank you?” Ira looked mildly confused. “What else do you say when someone says you look incredible?”
Maya collapsed backward on the floor. “She’s literally unbreakable.”
“But we talked,” Ira continued, taking another sip. “About books. Bad hacker movies. Loyalty and desserts. She said I’m distracting.”
“Wait wait wait.” Diya sat up sharply. “Distracting how?”
“She said I have intense eye contact.”
The girls stared at her.
“I mean,” Ira shrugged, “I was listening. Of course I was looking at her.”
“Were you trying to look at her like that?”
“I was trying to understand her words.”
Sana muttered, “Ma’am, that was a full-body flirt attack and you think it was... data collection.”
Ira leaned back against the wall. “Well, I may have said a few things.”
Maya narrowed her eyes. “Like?”
“I told her she wears power like a habit. That she intimidates me, but in a good way.”
Sana gasped so hard she choked on air.
“And then,” Ira added, thoughtful, “I said she looked like she could corrupt people.”
The room went dead silent.
Ira blinked. “What?”
“You... you’re joking.”
“No. That was after she complimented me. I thought it was a fair trade.”
“You said she could corrupt people,” Diya whispered. “And you didn’t think that was flirting?”
“I don’t know. It felt... true?”
Sana buried her face in a pillow. Maya was on her knees, dramatically mouthing prayers to the ceiling.
Then Ira continued, eyes on the ceiling like she was recalling a math formula.
“Oh, and she tripped a little at the end. Almost fell. I caught her.”
“CAUGHT HER?!” the three screamed in unison.
“Yeah,” Ira nodded. “By the waist. Very quick reflexes.”
Maya threw herself face-first into the blanket.
“Yiu touched her waist?” Diya asked, eyes bulging. “And?”
“And then... I gave her my jacket.”
Sana sat up. “Why?!”
“She looked cold.”
“You gave her your jacket. On your first date. After You caught her by the waist and said your kind of person people want to catch?”
“Yes?” Ira looked at all three of them like they were being incredibly slow. “She looked cold. It felt logical.”
“Logical,” Maya deadpanned. “If logical is falling in love with a bouncer and not noticing you’re married by morning.”
“I adjusted it too,” Ira added. “She didn’t wear it right. The collar was off. So I fixed it.”
The girls screamed again. Like actual screaming.
“And then she looked at me kind of... oddly. So I said something about her being fun. And left.”
“That’s it?” Sana asked weakly.
Ira nodded. “Oh, and I think I called her my favorite dinner companion.”
Silence.
Then—
“YOU’RE INSANE,” Diya howled, launching a pillow at her.
Ira caught it mid-air. Calmly.
“You flirted harder than a rom-com lead on their third glass of wine!” Maya shrieked.
“I was being honest.”
“That’s what makes it worse!” Sana wailed. “You’re accidentally seductive! You just describe people with devastating clarity and walk away like you handed them a USB stick, not an identity crisis!”
Ira tilted her head. “You think she’ll want to meet again?”
The three girls stared at her.
Sana finally managed, “I think she’s going to propose by the third date.”
Ira blinked. “Huh.”
She looked vaguely thoughtful.
And then... she put her hand phones and start write something in her notebook.
ns216.73.216.143da2VANYA
She stares outside the window, to the moon and whisper that name like testing it in her tongue.
VANYA
