Sumaiya's office was a mess of papers and half-empty coffee cups. She had been working late into the night, trying to distract herself from the gnawing feeling of neglect that had been growing inside her since Shekhar moved abroad.
Just as she was about to call it a night, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Sumaiya, you really outdid yourself on this project. It's impressive."
She looked up to see Robert, her colleague, standing by her desk with a smirk on his face. She brushed him off with a wave of her hand, "Thanks, Robert. I've still got a lot of work to do."
But Robert was not so easily deterred. He made small talk, flirting with her as he leaned against her desk. Sumaiya couldn't help but feel flattered by his attention, but she felt guilty for enjoying it.
Robert asked her out for a drink after work, but she declined, saying she had too much work to do. He left, but not before giving her a playful wink and telling her to "keep working hard."
Sumaiya couldn't concentrate on her work after that. She felt conflicted about Robert's advances, unsure of what to do. She decided to take a break and went to the bathroom, where she looked at herself in the mirror.
Sumaiya was a beautiful, curvy woman, but she felt unappreciated and unattractive because of Shekhar's neglect. She heard a knock on the bathroom door and assumed it was Robert.
"Go away," she called out, but it was actually Lory, her friend and colleague.
Lory could tell something was wrong and asked Sumaiya what was going on. Sumaiya confessed about Robert's advances and her own conflicting feelings.
Lory told Sumaiya that she deserved to feel desired and appreciated, and that it was okay to enjoy Robert's attention. Sumaiya thanked Lory for her support, but still felt unsure about what to do.
As she walked back to her office, she couldn't help but wonder if she was being unfair to Shekhar, or if she deserved to feel wanted and desired. She knew one thing for sure, this was just the beginning of a complicated journey.
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