One Shift Too Far - Chapter Two

If you haven't read the first chapter, check it out here.

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Anirudh could not sleep that night. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, which had the audacity to grin back at him! Anirudh shook his head.

“Focus, Ani!” He declared. He took out his phone and googled “How to impress a girl at work without creeping her out?”

When the results came, however, he quickly deleted the search history. What if Ajay found out? He’d never live to see the end of it!

Anirudh had spent a ridiculous amount of time the entire weekend picking carefully picked outfits, even for weekend grocery runs, even though no one from the office would see him!

His reflection stared back at him, “Bro, what if she thinks you’re weird? No, hear me out! She might have a boyfriend!”

That was like a punch in the gut to Anirudh. Furious, he got up and stormed across his room, “No, you’re wrong! Maybe she is just friendly and I’m overthinking it!”

The sudden silence from his reflection in the mirror gave him the impression of an eyeroll as if to say, “Whatever!”

The following day, Anirudh looked all cool and normal, and only Ajay could see through his facade. Whenever Anirudh looked up to see the time, whenever Anirudh went over to the balcony to catch a glimpse of someone, Ajay knew. And made sure Anirudh knew what was on his mind.

That evening, Anirudh left the elevator only to realize with a jolt that he had forgotten his wallet on his desk! This resulted in a second ride on the elevator to his floor. But this time, she stepped in. The elevator suddenly grew hot as if someone had increased the temperature. His heart thumped so madly against his ribs that he cleared his throat to mask it, afraid she might hear his heartbeats. She, however, smiled as usual, the resulting effect being his knees going weak.

“Why didn’t you talk to her?” Ajay demanded as Anirudh collected his wallet from his desk drawer.

“I - she was busy!” Anirudh muttered and hurried back downstairs.

The following day was Friday, and Ajay could see  Anirudh making use of his free time by pasting a few sticky notes on his desk, such as, “Wears headphones while arriving at work.”, “Greets coworkers with an infectious smile.”, and “Sanvi - Europe shift.”

Ajay sighed and turned back, his face shifting to a look of horror. It was Mr. Verma, and he certainly did not look pleased. Anirudh paid for his 60 minutes of sticky-notes-pasting by staying overtime that evening. Mr. Verma wanted all the files done by Saturday morning, even if it meant Anirudh worked throughout the night.

“Small adjustment!” Mr. Verma barked, as if trying to make up for something.

But the look on Ajay’s face told Anirudh that this was far from small adjustments.

“Ani…!” Ajay said sadly as he made to leave for the weekend later.

Anirudh sighed, “Destiny is playing such tricks on me, Ajay. You carry on.”

It had been hours since. The neatly stacked desk with the sticky notes now resembled a war zone with half-empty coffee cups, scattered papers, and a rapidly dwindling stash of biscuits. The clock on his monitor blinked mockingly. 11:32 PM.

Anirudh sighed, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes. The APAC section of the office had emptied long ago. The usual hum of conversations had faded, and the fluorescent lights above flickered with exhaustion. He wanted nothing more than to slam his laptop shut and go home.

Halfway through one of the last spreadsheets, Anirudh finally heard footsteps - slow, unhurried, and deliberate. They echoed through the silent floor, growing closer.

And then — her.

Sanvi.

Of course, the Europe team would only just be winding up for the day!

She emerged from the corridor, a vision even under the harsh fluorescent glow. This time, she wore a simple, oversized black sweater and jeans. She looked… comfortable. Effortlessly so. Her hair was loosely tied, stray strands falling around her face. And yet, even in the dimness, she carried that same radiant energy. Like the world dimmed slightly in her absence and brightened at her arrival.

Sanvi didn’t see Anirudh at first, as she strode up to the break room and rummaged through the coffee machine like it owed her an apology. He couldn’t blame her — even the machine looked exhausted.

Anirudh couldn’t bring himself to look away and pretend to focus on his screen. Sanvi noticed him just then. His overworked eyes met her exhausted eyes.

No hurried glance this time. Just a lingering acknowledgment.

“Late night?” Sanvi asked, her voice carrying that soft, easy charm.

Anirudh scrambled for composure. “Yeah. You?”

“System upgrades! Right when I’m about to send today’s reports!” Sanvi said, rolling her eyes. “Europe shifts are all fun and games until they decide the servers need ‘minimal downtime maintenance.’”

Anirudh joined Sanvi in the break room longer than necessary.

The vending machine groaned as it dispensed two cups of watery coffee, but neither of them cared. The window offered a brilliant view of the city lights flickering in the distance and the empty roads below them.

“So, how’s the APAC shift treating you?” she asked, leaning against the counter.

“Not bad. Mostly just emails and spreadsheets. And the occasional existential crisis.”

She chortled — that carefree, melodic laugh that he’d stored in his memory like a prized possession. “Sounds about right.”

“What about you?” Anirudh asked, pretending like he hadn’t been borderline stalking her shift patterns. “Europe must be... different.”

“It is,” she admitted. “Late nights, endless calls, and clients who think we’re miracle workers.” Then, with a mischievous glint in her eye, she added, “But at least I get to dodge the APAC Monday morning madness.”

“Touché.”

As they let their conversation flow freely and ranted harmlessly, Anirudh savoured every moment. It wasn’t long before Sanvi’s phone buzzed  — something about the systems being stable again. It was 12:48 now, and Anirudh’s laptop awaited him, the impatient spreadsheet blinking rapidly.

“We should probably get back,” Sanvi said, though neither of them made a move.

“Yeah,” Anirudh murmured, knowing full well he didn’t want to.

She hesitated for a moment. “You know, you’re not too bad for a fellow corporate prisoner.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Anirudh declared.

Her smile softened. “Goodnight, APAC guy.”

“Goodnight, Europe girl.” Anirudh smiled.

And just like that, she was gone. Surprisingly, it took Anirudh barely five minutes to wrap up his spreadsheets and go home, ready for the much-deserved weekend.

This time, Anirudh spent his weekend in a better state of mind than the last, for he recounted the conversation with Sanvi over and over again. Even his reflection kept grinning back at him, a contrast to the disapproving reflection a week prior.

Anirudh found himself humming an old movie song as he completed his household chores, brought his groceries for the week, and kept his laundry ready. His regular sci-fi thrillers interested him no more than an old rom-com he discovered while flipping through a streaming platform.

Just like that, it was Monday morning all over again. The office seemed to be buzzing when Anirudh walked in, not because of looming deadlines. This was another kind of buzz, involving suspiciously hushed conversations that abruptly stopped when he was nearby.

“So... how was Friday night?” A tall and lanky man asked with a smirk.

“Sorry?” Anirudh asked politely.

“So, I heard you finally had your rom-com moment?” A woman who nearly towered over him nodded knowingly at him, tracing him up and down as if judging him.

Anirudh froze. “Who told you?”

Ajay tapped me on the shoulder with a “I know everything” look. “Bro. Please. Half the Europe shift saw you and Sanvi giggling over stale coffee like some college couple. The only thing missing was dramatic background music.”

“I was not giggling.” Anirudh shook his head.

“Oh, but she was,” Ajay shot back, grinning like a man who had just won the corporate gossip lottery. “And even now, you aren’t even denying that you both spoke!”

“We spoke because we were taking a short break! You guys… Unbelievable.” Anirudh groaned.

“What’s unbelievable is how you managed to pull this off. Europe shift girl, APAC shift guy. Some might say it’s doomed. But I? I say it’s cinema.” Ajay grinned.

Anirudh’s face was turning as red as the fire safety sign on the wall.

“You are the worst,” he mumbled.

“Correction. I am the best,” Ajay replied smugly. “And now, the whole office has something to root for. Love in the corporate trenches!”

Anirudh groaned and rushed to his desk, not wanting to encourage further speculation of Friday night.

But it didn’t look like the day would be easy on him, for no sooner had he opened his mailbox than he saw an email sent at 9:47 A.M by a German client named Oliver Schmidt.

Anirudh’s heart sank. This email could only mean one thing — trouble. With a reluctant sigh, he opened the email.

Subject: Urgent Update Required

Hi,

Can you please provide a quick update on the changes implemented by Sanvi Sinha on Friday evening? We’re looking to finalize the reports today.

Best regards, Oliver Schmidt

Not only was it work Anirudh had absolutely no idea about, but it was her work - Sanvi. And Oliver had turned to the nearest poor soul available - Anirudh.

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Footnotes:

Chapter One

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To Be Continued in Chapter Three.

Written By Tharun Kumar S