Orbiting the Same Room
Chapter 3 – Orbiting the Same Room
They did not meet because the universe arranged itself.
They met because people showed up.
It was a friend’s birthday–one of those gatherings that existed in the space between obligation and affection. A restaurant with warm lighting and long tables. Too many conversations happening at once. The kind of place where laughter overlapped and nobody expected to be fully heard.
Kira arrived with her girls in a cluster, coats shrugged off, voices already mid-story. Wen stayed close to her side. Yuxin paused to take a photo of the table before anyone sat down. Aisyah scanned the room instinctively. Farah waved at someone across the way and immediately began negotiating seats.
Aleem came later, sliding into the room with his bros in tow, jackets folded over arms, greetings exchanged with nods and brief handshakes. Fiz spotted an empty end of the table and claimed it without ceremony. Dan was already laughing at something Im had said. Aaron took in the room quietly, eyes mapping faces.
They ended up at opposite ends.
Not intentionally.
Just how it worked out.
Kira noticed Aleem the first time when he leaned forward to pass a plate down the table. There was nothing striking about the moment–just the way he waited until the person he was handing it to made eye contact before letting go.
She looked away after that.
Aleem noticed Kira when she laughed–head tipped back slightly, hand resting on someone else’s arm. The laugh wasn’t loud. It was unguarded.
He went back to his conversation.
The night moved on without insisting anything of them. Food arrived in waves. Drinks were refilled. Stories grew exaggerated. Someone proposed a toast that went on too long.
At some point, Kira stood to excuse herself and realised the space behind her chair was tighter than she’d thought.
“Sorry,” she said, automatically.
“Go ahead,” a voice replied.
Aleem shifted his chair back a fraction, giving her room without standing. Their eyes met briefly–polite, neutral, unremarkable.
“Thanks,” she said.
“No problem.”
That was it.
They did not linger in the moment.
Later, when seats were reshuffled and people migrated between conversations, Kira found herself standing near the drinks table at the same time Aleem was refilling his glass.
“Are these sweet?” she asked, nodding at the pitcher.
“A bit,” he said. “Not too much.”
She poured anyway.
There was a pause–not awkward, just empty.
“I’m Aleem,” he said eventually.
“Kira.”
They shook hands. A brief, firm contact. No spark. No hesitation.
“So how do you know the birthday girl?” he asked.
“University,” she said. “We survived group projects together.”
He smiled. “That’s real bonding.”
She smiled back.
They spoke for a few minutes–about work, about the food, about how loud the place was. Nothing personal. Nothing probing.
When Aisyah appeared beside Kira, Aleem stepped back without being prompted.
“I’m going to grab dessert,” Kira said, already turning.
“Enjoy,” he replied.
They separated as easily as they’d come together.
Later, as the night wound down, Aleem found himself standing with Im near the entrance, watching people say their goodbyes.
“Nice crowd,” Im said.
“Yeah,” Aleem replied.
“You talk to anyone interesting?”
Aleem thought of Kira–not as a person to pursue, but as a presence. Someone who hadn’t pulled at him.
“Maybe,” he said.
Across the room, Kira was pulling on her coat as Farah reminded her about brunch plans the next morning. Wen handed her a scarf. Yuxin adjusted her sleeve. Aisyah checked that they were leaving together.
Kira glanced back once, without urgency, without expectation.
Aleem was laughing at something Dan had said, head tilted slightly, hand resting on the back of a chair that wasn’t his.
Their eyes met again.
This time, they held for a second longer.
Not attraction.
Recognition.
Two people passing through the same space, intact.
不是命运的牵引。
是生活的并行。
Not fate pulling them together.
Just lives running in parallel.
They left separately.
And neither of them felt like they were missing anything.