She was moping around the entire length and breadth of her room, frantically wringing her hands...The events of the whole day were enough to drive her crazy, but what happened at the Club Hawaii just a little while ago had shook her to the core.
She had seen and had been a major target of Aditya Hooda's anger... justified or not...but she had seen it and had learnt to look around it to find the real cause of those outbursts. Usually they had been masks to camouflage his deep hurt and pain. She had learnt that despite his angry demeanor, he was a softy from within. She had seen him and had been with him in the worst phase of his life, and hers too...but she had never...NEVER EVER seen him so furious. What she had witnessed back there in that club was red hot rage...undiluted! It was as if he was possessed by some demon! He was so frenzied that she was shell shocked to see him like that.
When she tried to ask him about it,well, not asked, she had actually begged him to bare his soul in front of her... She had promised and pleaded him that she would understand his problem and would find a solution for him too... When he had miserably told her that he did not know what was happening with him, he was so vulnerable in that moment that her heart sank, and she really panicked on seeing him in that kind of a state. It was so hard to see him breaking apart like that. When she tried to urge him to speak to her as his best friend, the pain that flashed in his eyes was so agonizing that she felt as if her own heart was breaking into million pieces! And that was when Arjun had pulled Aditya and requested her to let him go at that moment... he had dragged Aditya towards his car... while she stood there...rooted to the ground, unable to move...thoroughly confused and hurt as she saw Aditya going away with Arjun as if he had become limp...totally lifeless!
It was too much for her. She could not see Aditya in such a miserable state... she could see that something had been bothering him... but now she was sure that he was losing his sanity and she just did not know what to do? To say that she was "worried" for him, was an understatement. His unsaid pain, the trauma in his eyes was devastating her! It was tearing her apart... and she did not know why she was so harrowed!
All she knew was that he was not an ordinary man.
She had a history with him. Aditya Hooda had been her worst enemy... then her rescuer... somehow, he had become her mentor...and now he was her best friend...her ONLY friend actually...and she wanted him to be happy...peaceful! She could go to any lengths to give him the happiness he deserved...
She jerked her head towards Noor, who was sitting silently in one corner. Zoya had given her the task to call Arjun to inquire about Aditya. She judged by the heavy silence in the room that Noor had not been able to get to Arjun...and this alarmed her and made her more anxious.
"Noor, hum aise nahi yahan ruk saktay. Humien Aditya se baat kerni hai...aur abhi kerni hai."
Noor heard the trepidation in the mumble of her otherwise usually calm sister, and she got up to stand beside Zoya.
Noor quietly stopped Zoya mid stride, and when Zoya looked up at her, Noor could see the hurt and worry in her beautiful brown orbs. Very softly,she said,
"Appi, Aditya theek honge... Arjun haina unke sath... Aap please apne aap ko calm rakhien. Kal hum subha subha jayeinge Hooda house aur phir aap Aditya se mil lijiye ga. Tab tak shayad unka mood bhi sahi hojaye."
Zoya shook her head... she wasn't thinking clearly... All she knew was that Aditya was hurting somewhere and it just felt impossible to stay away from him when he was in that mood. She had to go to him...NOW! Having made her decision, she quickly wiped her face and ran trembling fingers in her hair, and announced in a low voice,
"Noor, hum ABHI Hooda house jayeinge. Humien Aditya se abhi ke abhi milna hai."
Noor heard the iron resolve in her voice and automatically her gaze lifted towards the wall clock that had just struck 12am!
"Appi, aap abhi kaise jaa sakty hain? Raat ke baara baj gaye hain appi... hum kal jayein ge na subha. Abhi please aap shaant hojayein."
Zoya shook her head again, and this time, turned towards the table where handbag and mobile phone were lying. Picking up both things, she said,
"Noor, hum nahi ruk sakte. Humien Aditya ke pas jana hai...kaise bhi ker ke. Humien lag raha hai jaise who humien pukaar rahay hain...Noor..." and her voice broke at the end of the sentence as a set of tears rolled down her cheeks.
Noor was not immune to the desperation she saw in Zoya's eyes... but going to Hooda house at such a late hour was a very bad idea. Zoya was never this impulsive...but it seemed impossible to stop her from taking the risk now. Yet, Noor tried to talk some sense to her elder sister.
"Appi Allah ke waastay thanday dimagh se sochien. Itni raat ko Abbu ne aapko ghar se jaatay dekh lia tou? wahan Aditya ke parents ne aapko dekh lia... Aap khud sochien... Appi its just too dangerous!"
Zoya sighed heavily, thought for a moment, and then asked Noor to call Arjun again. This time, he picked up her call, and as soon as Zoya heard Noor's hello, she snatched the phone from her and said,
"Arjun..."
"Zoya, tum?
"Arjun...aap ager humien thodi si bhi izzat dete hain...humien thoda sa bhi maan dete hain, tou aapko humara aik kaam kerna hoga."
Arjun who had just helped a totally broken and completely inebriated Adi to his room, got perplexed on hearing Zoya's urgent tone.
"Kia hogya Zoya? Tum theek tou ho?" He asked her worriedly.
"Hum theek hain...bass aap ko humara yeh aik kaam kerna hoga. Aapka ehsan rahay ga hum per."
It was 12:45am when Zoya reached the Hooda house. As she got close to the wide,iron gate, it quietly opened and she was pulled inside quickly.
"Zoya...tum bilkul pagal ho... chalo abh jaldi se." Arjun dragged her hurriedly and as sneakily as possible inside the house.
It was all dark, and Arjun was using a small flash light to not alert any servant or his parents to guide Zoya towards her destination.
As soon as they reached there, Arjun whispered again in a warning tone,
"Zoya...bhai shayad sou gaye hon. Dekho woh buht kharab mood mien thay...aur mujhse bhi baat nahi ker rahay thay. Mujhe nahi samajh aarhi ke tumko akele unke pas kaise jaanay dun? Yar pata nahi who tum per hi ghussa na nikaal dein sara..."
Zoya clutched his hand and said in a pleading voice,
"Arjun...woh kuch nahi kahien ge humien... Unhien humari zarurat hai... humien mehsoos horha hai ke woh humien pukaar rahay hain. Please aap bass yahan sab sambhaal lien. Wahan ghar per Noor sambhaalien gy. Please Arjun...humien Aditya ke pas Janay se naa rokien."
Arjun was helpless in front of that beautiful girl...who was very tensed for his brother at the moment. She was so worried for him that she had not even cared for anything...just to be with his brother... That beautiful girl whom he had always respected a lot and whom he had started to love as his own sister. He shook his head in exasperation and then conceded.
"Okay Zoya... tum jao... lekin please dekho bhai buht nashay mien hain... woh koi badtameezi na ker bethien... khayal rakhna."
A small smile crept on her lips this time... This was not the first time that she would be seeing him totally intoxicated. She recalled that night in the Zosh office when she was working for Aditya's birthday arrangements and he had come there, stinking drunk... She chuckled on the memory of how she had fallen on him... he had stilled for a moment...and then he had traced her locks of hair, tucked them behind her ear and said in a deep voice,
"Kaisa hota ager hum kisi aur jagha, kisi aur haalat mien milte tou..."
And then she recalled him singing in that same grave voice, "Baharon phool barsao...mera Mehboob aaya hai!"
Still smiling, she shook her head and said in a low, confident whisper,
"Aditya humien kuch nahi kahien ge Arjun. I have to go."
Having said that, she quietly opened the door to his room and was met with darkness.
She gave herself a minute to recollect her bearings...her heart was beating frantically. She gave her eyes some time to adjust to the darkness and willed her ears to hear for Aditya.
There was complete silence. As her eyes got attuned to the darkness, very quietly she moved towards the window and parted the curtains. The moonlight spilled inside the room and illuminated it immediately. She looked towards his bed...but he was not there. She walked towards his bathroom, but she couldn't hear any movement there as well. She panicked again...and was about to call Arjun when she heard his ragged breathing. She instantly turned towards the voice, and there he was, lying on his rug, on the floor...his knees curled up to his chest, as if they were cocooning a crying child. She felt as if her heart had stopped beating. Aditya was there...lying on one side, and she could hear the low heaving breaths now...as if he was having difficulty in breathing.
She rushed towards him, straightened him and touched his face.
His face was wet...and his body was racking... He was sobbing in his sleep!
Zoya felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach...her own breath caught in her chest. She quickly ran her hands on his heart, as if to soothe him... as if to heal him... She smoothed his hair, wiped his cheeks with her hands softly...and that's when she heard his voice,
"Zoya, tum agayeen na?"
It was a very low whisper...but she could hear what it held... it was hope... it was desperation...and something else that she didn't understand...but his deep voice did something to her heart. All of the sudden, it had started beating very heavily.
She lowered her face towards his ear and whispered,
"Aditya... hum aagaye..."
And that's when he opened his eyes and saw her leaning over him. The moonlight was highlighting her beautiful face... the face that was etched in his mind...in his heart...and in his soul. He lifted his hand towards her face in a daze... half hoping that she was just an illusion conjured up by his drunken mind. But as soon as his fingers came in contact with the side of her face, a current passed between them...
Her chest tightened by the way she had felt in that moment...and then she heard him sigh...as if his wait was over...as if he was finally relieved. He lifted his head a bit and laid it in her lap. He took her hands in his own and brought them to his lips. A shiver ran down Zoya's spine as she felt his hot breath against her hands. His lips brushed against her knuckles...he wasn't kissing her, but the electrifying effect of the contact made her dizzy! That's when she understood one thing.
Lying in her lap, her arms draping him and his lips touching her skin...He was at peace...finally!
The solace that he was looking for... Zoya realized that he had found his solace in her. Her! She who had been living with the blame of her dead husband that she was not a good wife... she who had been blamed for not being a good friend to her husband... That Zoya Siddiqui was what Aditya Hooda had needed.
In that moment...she felt wanted...she felt cherished. The contended smile on Aditya's sleeping face was proof that she was all that he desired in his life. Suddenly everything started making sense. Her own heart was thudding peacefully now. She smiled as she realized that all her desperation to be with him, all her anxiety was just because she couldn't stay away from Aditya anymore.
She looked at him. He was fast asleep in her lap now, a small, happy smile still on his lips. She tugged one of her hands from his hold and brushed her fingers in his thick,dark hair. The feeling was amazing!
She brought his hand that was holding her other hand up to her lips, and brushed them against his skin. Just like he had done... And the electricity between them was more palpable! She placed a light,tentative kiss on his knuckles, when he winced in pain. Suddenly alarmed, she tried to look closely as to what had disturbed him, and realized that it was his hand that she had been touching... It was injured.
She instantly recalled that his hand got wounded in that drunken brawl over her. Abruptly, she felt ill at ease. She had to look at his wounds and tend to them immediately!
Hating to release herself from his hold, she quietly moved and laid his head on the rug carefully. Then she got up and went to the nearest lamp, and switched it on. The room was partially lit now, but it was enough for her to examine his wounds. She took the first aid box from the drawers and brought water from the bathroom. Kneeling beside him, she lifted his hand and what she saw, horrified her. A gasp escaped her mouth as she saw how badly swollen his knuckles were. His whole hand was covered in dried blood. Stifling her anguished cry, she cleaned the blood. Underneath, his skin was all bruised up. As she touched him to apply the antiseptic medicine, he flinched and gasped. She somehow managed to put the dressing on his hand, and then she frantically looked at his arm for any more injuries. She was busy in doing that when she felt his other hand brushing away something on her face. Her startled gaze lifted and met his deep, silver eyes... A frown creased his forehead as he brushed away her tears. Zoya had not even realized that she had been crying on seeing his wounds!
Suddenly the peace that had been there on Aditya's face just a little while ago changed into worry... Registering the change in his expressions, Zoya quickly shook her head,to reassure him that she was alright. He acknowledged that... and then she felt pressure on her nape. She realized with a jolt that he had circled his uninjured fingers around her neck...and now he was drawing her head towards his face. Once she was dangerously close to his face, he asked quietly,
"Kyun rou rahy ho?"
She swallowed a lump and whispered,
"Kyunki aap taklif mien hain Aditya...aur hum aapko taklif mien nahi dekh sakte..."
His breath hitched and with a final tug, his lips were on her cheek. He was wiping her tears with his lips now...slowly he engulfed her in his arms...and swiftly brought her in a position that she found herself lying atop him...his arms circling around her...crushing her to his entire length... in a fierce embrace.
The gush of emotions and his proximity were enough to make her heady with the sensations his lips against her face and his whole body pinned underneath her were evoking... Her heart was thumping painfully against her ribs... she was totally drowned in him... Finally, he placed a kiss on her cheek. She lifted her head a bit to look into his eyes...and what she saw there stunned her. She had never seen so much need in anyone's eyes for her before... and with that she saw raw hunger...but just around the corner, she also saw longing... and a shimmer of hope...but then she caught the glisten of fear too in those deep, penetrating eyes.
Desperate to bring peace in those eyes again, she lowered her head and kissed his one eye...and then the other. His head was too low...considering that he was lying flat on the rug. She then adjusted her body in such a way that her arms went under his head...holding him protectively close... A smile came on his lips as his arms exerted slight pressure on her back, making her body come closer to his... It felt as if he didn't want an air space between them.
She felt calm again on seeing his beautiful smile. She also felt shy and giddy at the same time, and hid her face in the crook of his neck...her eyes drifting close.
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They woke up when sun rays peeped inside his room. Finding themselves snuggled with each other, they both smiled shyly. Suddenly a thought crossed Aditya's mind and he said,
"Zoya... abhi Maa ajayein gy mujhe uthanay. Woh tumko yahan dekhien gy tou kia kahien gy, yeh socha hai tumne?"
Zoya smiled confidently as she replied,
"Kuch nahi kahien gy kyunki woh humien dekhien gy hi nahi. Hum tou jaa rahay hain bathroom mien chhupnay. Aap zara jab tak Noor ko phone ker ke keh dein ke woh jaldi ghar se niklien takay Abbu ko humari absence ke baray mien na pata chalay...aur doosra unse yeh bhi keh dein ke woh humara aik suit bhi le ayein apne sath."
Aditya bit back a smile at her confidence. He said,
"Accha aur kuch tou nahi chahiye? Tum meri cheezein use ker sakty ho..."
She shook her head playfully and replied,
"Apka buht shukriya janab...lekin tooth brush, deo, hair brush aur make up ka thoda saman tou hum hamesha apne bag mien apne sath rakhte hain. Woh kia haina ki kabhi kabhi kisi event ki wajeh se humien Zosh mien raat guzarni padti hai... tou you know.. hum hamesha prepared rehte hain. "
Having said that, she got up from him and went towards the bathroom. Aditya also sat up as he saw her going towards his bathroom... He felt a sense of profound relief and happiness in his heart just by looking at her. She was here...with him...near him...and he now knew for sure that she craved him as much as he craved for her.
And she was going in his bathroom...no doubt in his shower to hide before his mother caught her there.
A laughter bubbling and threatening to erupt, he called her from behind. She stopped and looked at him with questioning eyes. He went near her and said,
"Zoya... mere shower ki fittings na todna... warna mujhe tumko bachane wapis shower mien aana paday ga aur iss baar mien apne aapko nahi rok sakun ga!"
A gorgeous blush crept up her milky skin, and she nodded her head and quickly turned towards the bathroom. He stopped her again, and when she turned back towards him, she found him leaning by the door of his cupboard, his arms crossed against his chest. He was looking so handsome...his radiating smile, his peaceful eyes that bore their intrinsic glow of mischief now... She was smiling while checking him out and he was enjoying her presence as much as possible. Seeing that he was in no mood to say anything, she asked him herself,
"Kia hua Aditya? Aapne humko kyun roka?"
Aditya came out of his reverie and replied with a devilish smile,
"Zoya, mien soch raha tha...you know...for the sake of convenience, kyun na tum apne kuch kapday yahan bhi rakh dou. Dekho na...kabhi barish mien bheeg jaty ho...kabhi mere shower mien bheeg jaty ho... tou ehtiaatan tumare kuch kapday yahan bhi hone chahiye...nahi?" Then he opened his cupboard and said,
"Yeh dekho...itni sari jagha hai yahan...tou I can happily accommodate your clothes here. Koi masla nahi hai mujhe."
Zoya caught the naughtiness in his expression...she smiled and went towards the cupboard where he was standing...
"Accha janab...tou aapko lagta hai ke aap jab humien bulayein ge, hum yahan haazir hojayein ge? Jinn samajh rakha hai kia hum ko? Akhir humari apni bhi tou koi marzi hai... "
Suddenly Aditya's expression changed. He moved so swiftly that Zoya didn't have time to react. He circled his arms around her waist and brought her in immediate contact with himself. His deep silver eyes were now burning with an intensity...that caught Zoya's breath in her chest and made her heart go wild in anticipation. He lowered his mouth towards her ear, grazed it lightly, and in a voice shaking with love, he said,
"Zoya... mien tumhien har din...har din ke har waqt...har ghantay...har minute...har second yahan, idher, apne pas...apne qareeb dekhna chahta hun. Mien chahta hun ke jo ladki mere dil mien rehty hai, poore haq ke sath...woh mere kamray mien, mere ghar mien bhi rahay. Meri Maa ke darr se usay chhupna na paday...Please yar... mujhse duur na jana kabhi...Please meri bann jao, hamesha hamesha ke liye?"
Her eyes welled with silent tears of happiness on hearing this. She nodded and he crushed her to himself tightly...never to let her go away from him again.
She was the solace he was looking for...and with her, he had found the Bepannah pyar that he ached for.
He was the answer to her silent prayers... He was Allah's gift to her... He had her heart...and her soul belonged to him too. He was her happiness...and she was his.
They were meant to be together...since ever!
