Chapter One Hundred and Two.

Chapter One Hundred and Two.
“Welcome, interns..” the man began, the head of engineering, a tall, sharp-featured man named Mr. Raghavan, looked up at them.

“This is the first of many reviews you’ll be part of. You’ll present your tasks, discuss blockers, and take feedback. We don’t sugarcoat here, so expect honesty.” His tone curt but not unkind

“So...” his voice was calm, yet carried weight. “Our new batch.” He didn’t smile. “Let’s see if you deserve your place here.”

Veda exhaled slowly. Her heart thudded against her ribs.

'What if they asked about her code? What if they found out about the errors she had been battling?'

Her eyes flicked to Kabir for a second, he was typing something quickly into his laptop, calm as ever.

Shanaya nudged her under the table. “Relax, babes..” she whispered with a grin. “If they tear us apart, we’ll go down together.”

That made Veda giggle, though quietly.

One by one, interns began presenting their progress. Some stammered, some delivered with ease.

When Kabir’s turn came, he stood confidently, explaining his task and his clean documentation.

He was praised for his clarity, and Veda could almost feel the pride rolling off him.

Then her name was called.

Veda’s fingers tightened around her pen. She stood, forcing a smile, and walked to the front.

Her laptop was connected. Her screen filled the projector. The lines of code she had fought with all night stared back at her.

“Veda Ahuja...” one of the senior engineers said, adjusting his glasses. “Walk us through your implementation.”

Her throat went dry.

She began to explain, stumbling at first, then catching her rhythm.

But the moment she ran her code, the dreaded error popped up. The red letters glared like a cruel taunt across the big screen.

The room went silent.

Her stomach dropped.

Before panic could swallow her whole, she saw Kabir lean slightly forward in his chair, his eyes steady on her as if silently telling her—I’ve got you.

Her palms dampened as whispers rippled through the room. She could feel the seniors’ sharp gazes pinning her down like she was under a spotlight meant to expose every flaw.

One of them leaned forward. “You ran into this error before, didn’t you?” His voice was clipped, bordering on stern.

Veda’s lips parted, but no words came. She hated how her silence made it worse, like she was confirming his suspicion.

Another senior engineer sighed, tapping his pen on the table. “You should’ve anticipated this. If you had debugged thoroughly—”

“I did,” Veda blurted out, her voice thin, shaky. She swallowed hard. “I–I stayed late trying to fix it. I thought I found the issue but—”

“Thought isn’t enough..” the first man cut in. “This is industry work. Not guesswork.”

Her chest caved in. She could feel every intern’s eyes on her, some sympathetic, some relieved it wasn’t them up there.

Kabir’s chair scraped lightly against the floor. He had stood, casually.

“If I may..” he said, his voice steady, not asking but asserting. “The error isn’t about her logic. It’s a syntax oversight in the library versioning. I noticed it while I was cross-checking my own module.”

The seniors’ attention shifted to him, and for a moment the tension shifted too.

“She’s not wrong in her approach..” Kabir continued, sliding his laptop open again. “Her structure is clean, it’s just the mismatch causing the break.”

He typed quickly, linking to the repository, his fingers moving with confident ease.

Within seconds, the projector screen reflected his fix, her code running smoothly.

The room went quiet again, this time in a different way.

One of the seniors raised a brow. “So you already knew she’d face this?”

Kabir didn’t flinch. “I guessed she might. I didn’t say anything earlier because I wanted her to walk through it first. She understood the problem, it’s just the kind of bug that can derail you in front of a crowd.”

Veda blinked at him, her throat tightening.

"Goodness, he is good." She thought.

A beat of silence, then another senior engineer spoke. “Well..” he said, scribbling something on his notes, “good teamwork, I suppose. Just make sure you learn from this, Ms. Ahuja.”

Veda managed a small nod, her pulse still hammering in her ears.

When she walked back to her seat, Shanaya squeezed her hand under the table, grinning like Veda had just survived a battlefield.

But it was Kabir she couldn’t stop glancing at. His eyes didn’t meet hers this time.

He just kept typing..

Like saving her was the most natural thing in the world.

♤♤♤

The meeting finally wrapped up, chairs scraping as people filed out. Veda picked up her laptop and her notepad.

A quiet voice escaped her lips. “Kabir…”

He paused, glancing down at her.

“Thank you… for stepping in.” she thanked softly with a smile. Honestly, she really was grateful. Only God knows how much embarrassing lectures, she would have gotten from the senior engineers.

For a second, silence.

Then, his voice, low.. “Don’t thank me. You had it right. Just needed a push.”

But inside, his pulse thundered. The way her voice had softened when she said his name, it burned into him, deep and permanent.

Before the moment could stretch further, Shanaya bounded over, her grin wicked.

“Well, well, hero of the day. Kabir to the rescue!” She nudged Kabir’s arm.

Veda smiled..

Kabir’s jaw tightened as he slipped his hands into his pockets, expression cool.

“You’re imagining things..” he muttered, already moving toward the door. “Focus on the work.”

But he walked too quickly, almost as if running from the heat in his chest.

Shanaya smirked knowingly, tugging Veda’s sleeve as they followed. “Imagining things? Please. The way he looked at you… if code could catch fire, it would’ve.”

Veda roll her eyes and shake her head dismissively.

"You are talking nonsense, Shanaya." She smiled as they walked out of the meeting room.

And Kabir? He didn’t glance back, didn’t let a single flicker show. But deep inside, he was burning alive with the feelings he has for Veda..