UWS Story
She Called in Sick. Her Best Friend Got Her Chance.
Rashi never lied to Tanvi. She just never told her the one thing that mattered.
A workplace friendship can end without a single argument. This is the story of two colleagues, one Monday morning, and one message that was never sent.
Rashi and Tanvi joined the same company on the same day. Same job title, nine years of experience each.
At the induction lunch, Rashi leaned over. “Have you figured out who our manager is?”
“Not yet,” Tanvi whispered. “But I think I’ve introduced myself to him three times.”
They laughed so hard that people turned around. That was the beginning. Lunches became daily. Coffees became long calls. Within months, they knew each other’s families, worries and most embarrassing stories.
Then, one Sunday night, their manager Anil messaged Rashi. The biggest client had escalated. The CEO would join Monday’s call. And whoever presented the recovery plan would be considered for a new core team handling the company’s most important accounts.
Rashi read it twice.
At seven the next morning, Tanvi messaged. “I have a high fever. I don’t think I can make it today. I’m so sorry.”
Rashi started typing. “Anil says the CEO is joining. If you can log in for even ten minutes...”
She stopped. Looked at it. Deleted it.
She sent this instead. “Stop apologising. Just rest. I’ll handle this.”
Tanvi replied with a heart.
Tanvi really was burning up.
Maybe she could not have joined anyway.
Rashi told herself that. She also told herself she was being kind.
Rashi presented the recovery plan to the CEO and the client. It worked. A few weeks later, the new core team was announced. Rashi’s name was on it. Tanvi’s was not.
Tanvi hugged her. “That’s amazing. You deserve it.” She meant every word.
That evening, she opened the announcement again. She looked at the names. Then she closed her laptop. She wasn’t upset that Rashi had won. She just wished she had been given the chance to try.
Then the calendars filled up. “Lunch?” Tanvi would message. “Can’t today. Tomorrow?” Tomorrow kept not coming. Tanvi began to pull back, quietly.
One Friday, Rashi wrote, “It’s been ages! Coffee next week?” Tanvi stared at it for a long time. Then she replied, “Crazy week. Let’s plan soon ❤️”
Rashi sent a heart back.
Months later, they met at an office event. They hugged. They laughed about their first day. “We really need to catch up.” “Next week?” “Definitely.” Next week came and went.
Around then, Anil mentioned something to Tanvi, almost in passing. “I messaged Rashi about the CEO that Sunday night. I assumed she would tell you. Even ten minutes on that call, and you would have been in the room.”
Tanvi smiled. “She probably didn’t want to disturb me.”
But that night Tanvi finally understood.
It was never that Rashi had won. It was that Rashi never let her try. She never said a word. Not to Anil. Not to Rashi.
A year later, Tanvi applied for a leadership role at another company. When the recruiter asked for a reference, she gave one name. Rashi’s.
Tanvi had thought about it. She still believed that Monday was a one-off, a bad moment and nothing more. Rashi would say good things. Rashi always did.
Rashi’s phone lit up with an unknown number. The recruiter was polite and quick.
“Tanvi’s excellent with clients,” Rashi said. “She’s someone you can always count on.”
“And would you recommend her for a leadership role?”
Rashi went quiet. She could have said yes. But she had never really seen Tanvi lead a team, and she knew exactly why. “I haven’t really seen her lead a team,” she said finally, “so I wouldn’t want to comment on that.”
“Thank you,” said the recruiter.
A week later, Tanvi got her email. They were moving ahead with other candidates. One line of feedback. “The team was looking for stronger references for people leadership.”
Tanvi read it twice. She had given them only one reference. She didn’t need to ask what Rashi had said. She opened their chat. The last message was still hers. “Crazy week. Let’s plan soon.” She put the phone down.
Across the city, Rashi had the same chat open. She typed, “Can we talk?” She looked at it for a long time. Then she deleted it.
No fight. No shouting. Just two people who never said the one thing that mattered.
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