AdiYa SS: Phoenix ||Completed|| (30-04-2018) - Page 3

Chapter 5:

She stood on the balcony of her brand new flat, overlooking the hustle-bustle on the road below. The noise from the traffic, surprisingly soothing her down. Never had she ever imagined in her life, that she would find peace anywhere other than her small hometown up north. She had always lived there, never stepped out, well, never felt the need to, actually. After finishing her education, she had met, fell in love and married Yash in a not-very-long span of time. Her father's influence was such that she never had to wish for a second time for anything. It would be presented before her even before the words were out of her mouth. She was comfortable, she was happy, and she was content in her own little cocoon. Yash's presence in her life had never made her feel any different. She had not grown out of her shell and Yash never tried to bring her out of it. He had said that he loved her just the way she was. Now, that might have been true at one point, but it wasn't the truth for the entirety of their marriage. Maybe he had fallen in love with the simple, sweet, nave girl, but later on, those qualities of hers were probably more useful to keep her in the dark. But she wasn't the same anymore, and had Yash been a part of her life now, he wouldn't have been able to hide his secrets now. But then, if Yash was still a part of her life now, maybe she wouldn't have evolved.

It had been 1 year. 1 year since she had found out that her Yash wasn't hers. That he was not the loyal, loving husband that she had thought him to be. She didn't blame him anymore, to be honest. He was not a bad person, just one who had committed a mistake. Maybe she was also at fault for him straying. She had tried her best to be the most ideal wife, but maybe their ideologies on what the ideal partner was were different. He never said anything, because he loved her too much and didn't want to upset her. And she didn't understand his silence. But there was someone else who did. And it's okay. She just wished that he'd told her. She would have let him go if he'd just have said something. Anyway, it's all in the past now. She's moved on. For real this time.

Zoya thought back to the events that took place after that day in the lodge. After letting her cry her heart out, Aditya had explained to her, very patiently one might add, that it was Yash who was weak enough to cheat. That Zoya need not punish herself. Even though Zoya had been resistant, Aditya had somehow brought her out of the lodge-in-the-middle-of-nowhere and moved her to a hotel in an area closer to the office. The revelation of truth had somehow brought the two of them to one side, removing all sorts of complaints and grudges that they had harboured in their hearts for each other. Their dynamics had changed. She had taken a few days off, recollecting herself, after which Zoya returned to ZoSh, now renamed as ZoYa, with a new sense of self, this time doing the work for herself and not in Yash's memory. Yash aside, she had really started to enjoy event planning herself. The dcor, the food, the arrangements to make an occasion perfect! It gave her an adrenaline rush, a thrill. And watching someone enjoy an event that she had brought to physical reality was extremely satisfying. So, she joined the company back, renaming it to ZoYa (with a capital "Y keeping the Ya of Aditya. She had wanted to rename it to Zo & Adi, but Aditya had refused, because he didn't want any part of the company. He was only investing because of the financial gains, and he had nothing else to do for the time being, with him being suspended [there was someone who had mentioned this Zo+Ya idea on the forum once, I don't remember who it was but hey, the credit goes to you! ]).

Aditya had joined ZoSh with an intention of burning it to the ground, but things had changed. Drastically. He had helped Zoya rename the company, paying off all the loans that ZoSh was under so they could close the company officially, and transfer everything to ZoYa. Aditya was now a 50% partner, with Zoya the owner of the other 50%. Aditya was the finance, and Zoya was the workforce. And needless to say, now that the owners of the company were not at loggerheads with each other, ZoYa had flourished. It was in the top 10 event management companies of Mumbai, slowly making its way to the top. There was a steady flow in of contracts and the workforce had doubled, with the kind hearted Zoya retaining all of ZoSh's employees as well as hiring new ones for ZoYa. Her professional life was good.

So was Aditya's. Now that Zoya knew that the reality, he felt oddly at peace. It was like he was finally able to turn that last page of the horrifying chapter in the book of his life. He had become calmer, the outbursts of anger almost going down to 0, except when a certain Miss Arora was in his vicinity. Mahi had always managed to irritate him to the limit, but his punching bag, that time, had been Zoya. Now, however, that they were on the same page, and not to mention the surprising friendship budding between them, being around Zoya lifted Aditya's spirits considerably and hence, Zoya was almost never at the receiving end of his frustration. On the contrary, everyone now sought Zoya whenever Mahi had managed to rile him up, because Zoya was the only one in the entire office who could calm the monster down.

Letting Mahi work in the office had been Zoya's idea. Aditya, of course, had disapproved. He had very explicitly told Zoya all about Mahi's planning since day 1. Had he told her all of this a month back (from that day), she would have smacked him across the face and walked out arm in arm with Mahi. But she knew the truth now.

"Zoya ye ladki saanp hai. Sabse pehle tumhe hi dasne aayegi Aditya had said.

Zoya: Aditya hum maante hain ke Mahi bharose ke layak nahi hai. Lekin jis bhi halaat mein ho, unki Maa ne humein uss samay apne ghar mein panah di thi jab hum bilkul bikhre huye the. Hum un dono ko yun nahi chod sakte.

Aditya: Vo sirf iss liye di thi kyunki vo ghar tumhaare naam pe hai. Na to unhe tumpe koi daya aayi thi na hi tumhaari koi fikr thi.

Zoya: Jo bhi karan ho Aditya, lekin unhone humein apne ghar mein rakha. Humaara khayal rakha. Aur vaise bhi, hum unke jaise nahi hai jo bina parvah kiye unhe dar dar ki thokar khaane ke liye chod dein.

Aditya: Arre lekin tum de to rahi ho, unhe ghar rehne ko. Already kitna kuch kar rahi ho, ye karne ki zarurat nahi hai tumhe. Tum kyu unki itni chinta karti ho? Unhe tumse koi farak nahi padhta. Aur Mahi ko ZoYa mein rehne diya to vo phir se company ke khilaaf planning karne lagegi. Tab?

Zoya: Hum unhe muft mein nahi rehne de rahe, na hi unke naam kar rahe hain vo ghar. Bahar jaa ke bhi vo kiraaye par rahenge na, to iss ghar mein kyu nahi? Aur iss ghar mein Yash ki yaadein hain. humaara un se koi naata na ho, lekin unhi maa ka to hai. Hum kisi ki baddua ke saath apni zindagi mein aage nahi badhna chahte. Aur jahan rahi Mahi ki baat, vo ZoYa mein ek normal employee ki tarah rahegi. Uske paas koi aur power nahi hogi.

Aditya: Aur agar usne phir kuch karne ki koshish ki to? Vo ek baar tumhe maarne ki koshish kar chuki hai. Dubaara bhi kar sakti hai. Acha chalo murder to phir bhi door ki baat hai. Aur koi chaal chali toh?

Zoya: To aap hain na? Mujhe samajh nahi aati ye plotting lekin aap to samajhdaar hain. jhat se pakad lenge Mahi ko. Aapke hote huye mujhe kisi baat ki chinta nahi hai.

That had very conveniently shut Aditya up of any further argument he was about to make. Though he still disagreed, Zoya had stood her ground. Mahi had a problem with both her bosses, yes. They had a problem with her, definitely. But she was good at her work. And Zoya respected that. Mahi's motivating factor had been the insurance money. Now that all the financial troubles of ZoSh were resolved, and the company dissolved, there was nothing that Mahi could do. So the best option she had was to work for ZoYa as any ordinary employee, which is what she had been doing for the past 11 months. She stayed out of Zoya's way and Zoya stayed out of hers. She deliberately came into Adi's way though, leaving no stone unturned to annoy him. And succeeded most of the times too. Which then left the entire office hunting Zoya down and ushering her into Adi's office. Ah fun times!

Time had flown by- planning events, making new contacts, friends, colleagues. It was as if Zoya's life had finally been put on play' after having been paused for so long. She had reconnected with her parents, sorting out all the differences. Aditya had invited them to Mumbai, without Zoya's knowledge. She had told him about their history, the problems with Yash and the obstinance of both her and her father that had drifted them apart from each other. Aditya spent the day with her parents, showing them around Mumbai, and filling them on with everything that had happened. He had hidden them in the office of ZoYa where they had seen their daughter go about her work, engrossed deeply into it, with a twinkle in her eye that had been missing for a long time. It's true, one smile on their child's face can make parents forget even a thousand sorrows. So that evening, when Zoya was in her cabin, working on some designs, the sharp knock on her door followed by Aditya's and then her father's, and mother's and Noor's entrance had filled her life back with everything that she had lost. Her parents. After a lot of tearing up, and apologising and promises of love, Zoya's parents had spent an entire week with Zoya in her rented apartment, before bidding her goodbye and leaving Noor with her sister who had managed to find an internship in the city. While bidding them goodbye, Wasim Siddiqui had pulled Aditya aside, hugged him, and whispered "You have my blessing. A stumped Aditya had been unable to say anything, much less deny that there was anything going on between him and Zoya, but in hindsight, he was definitely glad he'd not said anything now.

Lost in her thoughts, the memories and the story of her life, Zoya was brought out of her reverie by a sharp knock, which by now she had realised was Aditya's signature style. Smiling widely, she opened the door to reveal the handsome Mr Hooda leaning on his arm against the doorframe, clad impeccably in his Pilot's uniform, his badges glowing on the crisp white shirt. he looked up, and flashed Zoya a cheeky grin, with the "Aditya Hooda wink following suit.

Zoya: Hello Mr Hooda, Aapki flight kaisi thi?

He wheeled his bag in without answering, and set it by the door, before twisting 360 degrees on one foot, and pulling Zoya by her hand towards him. She stumbled into him, the force affecting her balance. Her free hand landed on Aditya's chest and he put the hand that was clasped in his, on his chest. Both his free hands now landed on Zoya's waist, pulling her closer to himself, as he smiled down at her.

Aditya: Flight to theek thi, lekin remind me k main next time se long overstay wali flights na lun.

Zoya: Hatiye! Har baar yahi kehte hain, aur phir kisi na kisi long duration flight ko pakad lete hain. Aur to aur, aapki in long distance flights ke chakkar mein humaari bhi jaan atki rehti hai.

Aditya: Acha sorry na baba. Ab to aa gaya hun. ab agle 1 maheene vaise bhi kahin nahi jaunga, Mrs Hooda.

Zoya: Miss Siddiqui, Mr Hooda. Mrs banne mein abhi time-

Unable to hold on longer, and without letting her complete her sentence, Aditya brought his lips down over hers, effectively shutting her up. Feeling each other so close to themselves, both Aditya and Zoya mentally thanked their God. After the roller-coaster that their life had been, finding each other had been the most challenging, and the most satisfying turn that their stories could have taken. And they couldn't have been more grateful. Life was good, and it would be even better, for they had built their story from the scratch. After having burned down in their previous relationships, they had risen from the ash.

THE END.