"Good morning, bro. Hope I am not interrupting anything important."
His eyes flicked between me and Viya, his grin widening in a way that suggested he knew exactly what he had interrupted.
I was going to kill him later.
Aryan turned his attention to Viya, his smile becoming genuine and warm.
"Hi, bhabhi. How are you?"
Viya looked startled at being addressed so familiarly, but managed a small smile.
"I am well, thank you."
"Good, good. You are taking care of my friend here, I hope? Making sure he is not working himself to death?"
Viya's cheeks flushed pink.
"I... yes. I mean—"
Aryan laughed.
"I am just teasing. But seriously, it is good to finally meet you properly. Armaan talks about you all the time."
I shot him a warning look, which he ignored completely.
Viya gathered her laptop and bag, clearly looking for an escape route.
"I should go. Let you two talk."
"It was nice meeting you, bhabhi," Aryan said warmly.
Viya gave him another shy smile and practically fled from the office.
Once the door closed behind her, Aryan turned to me with a knowing smirk.
"So. I can see why you are so distracted these days."
I ignored the comment.
"Did you come here just to harass me, or was there an actual purpose to this visit?"
Aryan settled into one of the chairs across from my desk.
"Actually, yes. I am here to remind you about the party this Saturday. The joint venture celebration. Invitations went out to all staff yesterday."
My chest tightened.
"Right. The party."
"It is a couples event," Aryan continued. "Everyone is expected to bring their significant other. Should be a good time."
A couples event.
Which meant everyone would be bringing their partners. Their wives, their husbands, their girlfriends, their boyfriends.
And I could not bring mine.
Because our marriage was supposed to be a secret. Because nobody was supposed to know that Viya and I were married.
