As the birds chirped, zoya buried herself closer to the source of warmth, unconsciously.
"Faayda utha rhi ho!" A deep throaty male voice chuckled as zoya started opening her groggy eyes.
She inhaled sharply the musky, wet earth fragrance, it was oddly peaceful and equally comforting.
Aditya inhaled sharply.
What was the stupid woman doing in her sleepy state!
"Are you testing me?" He whispered in her ears.
As a whisp of hot breath teased her sensitive earlobe, zoya's eyes fluttered open and met with the familiar pair of alluring hazels.
"Good morning" he smiled mischievously.
She continued staring at him before her brains kicked in and she shoved him away.
" Women are weird creatures! One minute you are coming closer and the other, shoving me away!" He accused comically getting up and flexing his stiff muscles.
"Ye aap kya keh rahe hai! Humein kuch samajh nhi AA rha! And why are you naked? And what happened to my clothes! And where are we? And wait! Why is that man naked too!!"
Aditya continued to flex his muscles, paying no heed to her.
"Aap sun bhi rahe hain! And please get something on!"
He looked at her and smiled sarcastically.
"Undress than!" He smiled and started forwarding his wriggling fingers in her direction.
" Besharam! " she shouted swatting his hands away.
He chuckled.
" Will you explain!" She asked exasperated.
" Please! " he asked leaning closer.
Moving her face away, she muttered, "Please".
" Better" he smirked..
And started narrating the story.
As the story progressed, zoya's face started losing its pallor.
" So yeah, I had to undress you and I may have seen A Little!" He ended clicking his tongue, preparing himself for the tongue-lashing in urdu.
But the only sound he heard was of, zoya plopping on the floor.
"Oh..miss drama queen! I was joking...even if you were the last woman alive, hamare beech mein kuch nhi ho skta"
"...Oh hello...I didn't see anything, you are not a hoor- Pari!" He pointed.
But there was no response.
Zoya remembered all and the pain of betrayal stabbed where it hurted the most and brutally shattered her belief all over again.
A lone tear escaped her eye, then another, then another...
Aditya's eyes widened in tension and he started speaking, " I swear, sakshi maa ki kasam...I didn't see a damn thing!"
' because I was engrossed in your face!' Something that Aditya was never going to say to her.
She almost killed herself for that man! How could she've been such a coward! How could she have become this selfish! She had her parents and her little sister waiting for her! Mahi and his mother-in- law were depending on her and here she was...
No...
Not again...
Never ever...
Zoya wiped her face off any wet traces of agony and stood up, determined.
" Thank you Aditya", she smiled slightly.
Aditya stopped his attempts and looked at her baffled! Did the water enter her pea sized brains? Did her circuit, short circuited? Or did a screw or two had fell?
No rebuttal, No curses, No lectures in urdu!
Just a plain, old thank you and that too with a smile!
Aditya pressed his eyes between his forefingers and thumb, then patted over his ears to check if he heard right!
Ye chamatkar kese hua!
" Shall we leave?" He came out of his one-to-one session and wore the clothes forwarded in his direction.
" Were you trying to learn swimming or what?" He asked as they sat in the auto.
"I let all my sorrows flow away with the water" she replied.
" Ah! That's why you were lying on the road, cold, motionless! " he concluded pouting his lips.
She continued to look out.
He gritted his teeth and pulled her attention to him by forcefully pulling on her arm.
" I need an answer! Who was that man? What had happened?! "
" Wahi...Jo aap chahte the" she smiled a small smile.
" Don't play riddles with me!" He threatened getting in her face.
"He was Yash's close friend, Ashish and he told me that Yash and pooja knew each other since past one year" she replied, calm.
His eyes became red. Dhokhe par dhokha!
Why Pooja!?
He turned to her. She was not stuttering or hiccuping or crying. Had she made peace with it? Already! Whereas everyday he was burning!
" Ha...I've made peace with this fact. We don't search for our happiness in other's sorrows. And as you've said I won't waste my life wallowing after a dead man or his deeds anymore. I will stand up on my own two feet. Ye company Yash ki THI but iss company ko unchaio tk MAIN pehchaungi. I'll make it MINE!"
Aditya continued to stare as zoya got down the vehicle and disappeared from his view.
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