"Just So You Know"

Meera stirred her coffee slowly, watching the steam rise in tight spirals. The café was quiet for once — a rare blessing in the middle of a chaotic semester. Across the table, Arjun was fidgeting with his phone, not looking at her.

She knew this moment was coming.

They’d been seeing each other for four months. Dinners, late-night walks, shared playlists. Not in a “date every Friday” kind of way — more like two people who kept slipping back into each other’s orbits. There had been feelings, sure. But never promises. That had always been the rule.

He finally looked up.

“So… can I ask you something?” he said, a little hesitant.

Meera nodded. “Of course.”

“How many people have you… like, been with? This past year?”

There it was.

She leaned back, still holding her cup. “Twelve,” she said, evenly. No shame. No pause.

Arjun blinked. “Twelve?”

“Yeah,” she said. “All of them were meaningful in their own ways. No random hookups, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

He looked away again, his jaw tightening slightly. Meera felt the shift in the air — a familiar unease. She had seen it before. In Rajeev’s stiff silence. In Devika’s concerned texts. Even in Ayaan’s half-joking, half-jealous sarcasm.

“I told you I was non-monogamous,” she added. “I’ve been upfront with everyone. Including you.”

“I know, I know,” Arjun said quickly. “It’s just… I didn’t expect the number to be so high.”

Meera raised an eyebrow. “Would it bother you less if it were three instead of twelve? Would that make me more… what, acceptable?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he muttered. “I just care about you. I worry if you’re okay.”

She softened a little at that. Not all concern was judgment. Some of it came from a genuine place.

“I am okay,” she said quietly. “I check in with myself all the time. I know when something’s too much. I’ve walked away when things felt wrong. I don’t jump into anything lightly.”

Arjun looked at her again, eyes searching. “So where does that leave me?”

“Exactly where you’ve always been,” she said, gently. “With someone who likes you, who wants to keep knowing you — but who won’t shrink her life to make anyone else more comfortable.”

He didn’t respond right away. Just sipped his now-cold coffee.

The silence stretched, not awkward — just full.

Meera didn’t try to fill it. She’d learned that not everyone could hold the complexity of her choices. And that was okay.

She had room for love — but not for shame.

Credits: Chat GPT