Page 9 of The Pursuit
“Quit giving me evasive answers. I know you’re mesmerised watching me do the pushups.”
I laughed. “Oh, please, Director. I’ve seen agents doing pushups with weights on their backs. That’s the kind of scene that captures my attention. What you’re doing is just the basics.”
Krish stopped doing the pushups.
“You are talking to the Director, Agent. I’ve done more than just basics. Don’t underestimate me. Back in Austria, during my training, I’ve shouldered more weight during pushups than you can ever imagine.”
“Really?” I asked, walking over, and before Krish could react, I sat lightly on his back as he remained in his pushup position.
“Is 55 kg enough of a challenge for you to do ten more pushups like this, Director?” I dared.
Krish chuckled at my bold move, a thrill sparking in his eyes, visible in the large wall mirror before us. “Or is thatall you’ve got?”
I crossed my legs and perched on his back, applying my full weight. To my surprise, Krish continued with his pushups. Honestly, I didn’t expect him to. I’d settled on his back, contributing just sufficient weight to transform his workout into a playful challenge. On the tenth pushup, Krish pretended to buckle under my weight, collapsing dramatically to the floor. I yelped in surprise as I fell with him, landing on his chest as he rolled over. We both continued to laugh until I realised that he had stopped laughing. Krish’s eyes flitted to my lips, his heart racing at our sudden closeness. For a fleeting moment, our faces were inches apart, and the air between us crackled with possibility. Just as I was about to close my eyes, giving in to the unknown, the distinct sound of footsteps reached us from the gym door. And just like that, our spell was broken. We had been caught in that compromising position, in the vicinity of GLEN’s building, by none other than the President of this organisation—Mr. Ratan Rajvanshi—Krish’s father.
I scrambled to my feet, mildly flustered, while Krish helped himself up.
“Dad?” he uttered, a hint of surprise in his voice. “What… what are you doing here?”
“Director,” his father responded strictly. “In my cabin, now,” he commanded, casting me a disapproving glance before leaving the scene.
Shit! My eyes met with Krish’s in a wordless exchange before I left the gym, grappling with the realisation that Imight have just jeopardised our professional standing.
CHAPTER 4 (Crossroads)
KRISH
Dad had seen me with Trisha in the gym and summoned me to his cabin. He didn’t look pleased, which I understood because he didn’t like anyone in GLEN breaking the protocols that Trisha and I had done today.Almost. I followed Dad into his office cabin, irritated by the fact that he had directed his assistant to summon Trisha as well. I wasn’t happy with this development since I knew Dad wouldn’t be lenient on Trisha, which I didn’t want.
As soon as we entered the room and the door closed behind us, I asked indignantly, “Dad? What are you doing here?”
He whirled around furiously and snapped, “What areyoudoing here, Krish? What do you think you’re doing fooling around with Agent Trisha?”
I sensed the accusatory tone in his voice.
“We were not fooling around! Whatever you think you saw doesn’t matter. Our relationship is strictly professional,” I replied, keeping my tone in check.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Krish! I know exactly what I saw between the two of you. You were blatantly flirting and letting your personal feelings get in the way of your work and judgement,” he accused.
“Trisha is a friend, Dad. She is one of the best agents we’ve recruited recently—”
“I know everything about Trisha. I don’t need you to fill me in,” he snapped. “How could you, out of all, allow whatever happened back there to happen? You two may be friends, but what I just witnessed as the President of GLEN was not appropriate.”
“I know the timing was not ideal but I assure you whatever you saw will never come in between our work. Our personal lives have nothing to do with Trisha and my professional responsibilities.”
“Whatever was going on between the two of you was not right for either of you professionally, and I can say that as both the head of this organisation and as your father.”
“What’s not right about it?” I kept arguing, annoyed at his accusations.
Dad looked exasperated. “I can’t believe I have to spell this out for you, but if you need to hear it from me, here it is. You know very well that agents getting romantically involved with each other is strictly against our rules. Your sole focus should be on the missions you are working on, not on impressing each other.”
I was irritated at his choice of words.
“We are not neglecting our missions. Trisha is working hard to find the drug cartel we’ve been chasing for years. In fact, the intel and insights she has provided have been crucial in our investigation.”
Dad still seemed unconvinced. “She may be contributing to the missions, but I can clearly see she is losing focus now. All her attention seems to be on you, not the tasks at hand.”
“You’re completely misinterpreting this,” I shot back.
