Adiya SS |Masked Feelings| New update at page 18. - Page 9

The nervousness level shot up as she neared him. Her palms grew sweaty as she clamped them together to stop the shaking. "Adi," The voice was low and wobbly.

His shoulders slouched, defeated when he sensed the person behind him. He knew she would come but as the inevitable happened, he regretted what he made Arjun do.

Zoya was packing when Arjun barged into her bedroom before dragging her out, informing that Adi wanted to talk to her. She tried to stop Arjun, as talking to Adi was the last thing she wanted to do but her excuses fell on deaf ear. She shouted in agony when Arjun locked the door.

The decision of marrying Yash was taken after a conflict between her mind and heart and she would not dare to flatter it for Adi anymore. She had waited for him for years and when he came back, he had the audacity to sacrifice her for his brother that made Zoya furious, ending up engaging to Yash.

Not every decision taken out of anger is worthy.

A meeting, a heartfelt talk and a clear view of his feelings would push her into a cliff of emotions and climbing up from there wouldn't be easy. Her heart had accepted defeat; a small ray of hope would blemish the courage she had managed to muster. As these thoughts appeared inside her head, she shouted to stop the vehicle but a small advice from Arjun put her into silence.

"You both need to talk," He was adamant to make his friends one, to show them how wrong they were being.

Dropping her at the place as Adi told, he drove off but only after giving her another advice, "Don't return with a broken heart, Zoya,"

She smiled, thinking.

Little did Arjun know that there was nothing left unbroken.

Zoya waited for Adi to cognize her presence. Apparently, after a few seconds, he faced her. His gaze fell on her figure and it stayed there for a mere second before he diverted it to behind her. "I didn't expect you would come, His voice would have felt emotionless for a stranger but for Zoya, it was everything she anticipated and feared. She could sense the tribulations of being in his position. Zoya followed his gaze and she saw Arjun driving off, his car looked tiny due to the distance it covered. As her eyes followed his car, she remembered his advice of not returning with a broken heart and she chuckled humorlessly. She wished to run behind his car and beg him to take her away as the real situation made sense to her; she knew the talk was going to break her already broken heart.

Zoya was the one, who broke the silence, the faster the talk was finished the earlier she could go back and the earlier she could go back, the lesser the pain he could give her. "Then why did you wait?" She asked, bringing them both to the matter at the hand.

Closing his eyes, Adi inhaled and exhaled deeply and her orbs followed his every action. When he opened them, he looked straight at her. The intensity of his eyes struck the right chord of her heart. "Because I saw the need to talk, He paused resuming again, "I couldn't just leave it, pretending that I didn't see." His smile didn't reach his eyes; they were dull, devoid of any emotions. She begged for an ability to shred him as he masked himself from her. "Zoya, Her name from his lips still felt dreamy to her ears, "You know, what is happening with us, She briefly nodded as he started to walk towards her, "And you should also know that I am helpless, I can't do anything about it." By the time he finished, he had reached in front of her. They were merely a foot apart, with one-step they would collide, which both wanted to do but refrained from doing so.

He studied her, as she didn't reply. Her face morphed into confusion first and realization followed then ended at hurt. "This is to show me that I mean nothing to you?" She asked vaguely.

Adi was surprised, "Nothing! He exclaimed amusedly. Before she could reply he added, "You mean everything to me, Zoya."

For a moment, they both looked at each other. When she searched hope in his eyes, which he had concealed efficiently, he stared at her face, trying to imprint it in his heart for a lifelong.

Sidestepping him she broke the eye contact and walked forward, crossing him. The role reversed. Zoya reached where Adi stood before and Adi in Zoya' place. "You just said that you are giving up, and is it because I am not worth trying, Adi? She asked to the thin air. Her emotions were out of place, she never foresaw that her life would take a turn like this. When she was little, like every girl, she dreamt of a fairytale, she dreamt a life with Adi even before she understood such relationships, she just imagined him in the place of her prince.

"I gave up when I realized my feelings, Zoya." He responded bluntly, not thinking what his words could do to her.

Her eyes filled up hearing him. "Then why did you call me here?" She did not let a drop fall. She didn't even let him see her. They both were facing the opposite directions; their back was towards each other. If Zoya was facing the east then Adi was facing the west, facing two opposite poles as their life was showing the path to them, two different paths. A simple and effortless move would bring them together but they should make the move.

"Just, just to see you once before I leave," Words stumbled out of his mouth easily, but uttering those was nothing but a heartbreak itself. Zoya went numb for a few seconds; nothing made sense to her until his words registered in her mind. She could only hear that he was leaving.

He was leaving her forever.

When everything became clear, she whizzed, shooting glares at his back. "What do you mean?"

"I am leaving Mumbai, Zoya; I am leaving everything I have here." Though he faced the other side, he could feel her gaze, those two eyes were begging him to take her away.

"Including me?" Mumbling she took a step back.

"You were never mine." He reminded her.

"Tell that looking into my eyes, Zoya demanded, she knew why he avoided any eye contact. He would never able to say it to her face.

Crossing his arms, he let his eyes wander around the horizon; the sun was hiding behind the cloud slowly, to give brightness to the other side, putting another in darkness. If Yash was getting happiness then Adi and Zoya were getting sorrow. One sacrificed for the other. "Zoya is Adi's' only in your dreams."

"Then I want that dream to be true," She muttered quietly, it was not meant for him to hear though he did. She had always wanted to be known as his but life was unfair to them. Zoya might have decided to marry Yash but her heart was possessed by one person only.

Adi tensed, it was not easy as he shammed to be. Letting her go was like he himself shredding his heart into a thousand pieces and burning them. He stayed mute since he did not know how to respond to that because he himself want that dream to be true but we call them dream for a reason. She wanted to shake some sense into him to fight for her but you could only awake a person who is sleeping not the one who is pretending to be asleep.

"So what was that you told me before my engagement?" She had given up, she knew it was impossible to change his mind once he decided something but his confession before her engagement had put her into a dilemma, she tried to fathom his state of mind but couldn't.

For a moment, he looked over his shoulder, however, snapped his head back before she could read his eyes. "That was a simple confession, Zoya." He was saying truth there, for him it was a confession but what he said later was a lie. "We have never kept any secrets." He had kept secrets from her.

"You confessed because you did not want to hide it from me?"

"Hmm..."

"Not because you wanted me to back out?" Her voice lined with a tiny hope and that hope exhorted him to turn.

Zoya went haywire beholding his affliction.

He blinked his eyes for a moment, trying to gulp down his heartbreak. When he opened his mouth to reply her, his voice had a sheer tenacity and that told Zoya to back out. "No, I never wanted that."

Zoya sighed heavily, "Okay, Fine. I understand that you are giving up even before trying. What about this trip, Adi? You will be seeing me everywhere. I can't be invisible."

"I will ask dad to cancel your trip." He was sudden to come up with a remedy for her problem.

"No, don't do that," Zoya yelled outrageously, "I hate it when you make decisions for me."

Adi smiled slightly, seeing how she came back to normal. How she became the same old ferocious woman. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I want to go to this trip Adi; you can't stop me from achieving my dreams."

"Okay, but promise me that, we will be like before; like Yash sees us as best friends." He extended his hand to make a deal.

She took and shook his hand, signing it. Why is it always Yash? Why cannot it be us? She wanted to ask him but never did. Without turning back, she walked away leaving him behind.

Adi and Zoya have a mediocre relationship.

***

On the day of the trip, Arjun and Yash had come to drop them at the airport. It was awkward when Yash hugged Zoya, she wanted to return the gesture as affectionately as she could but the presence of Adi did not allow her to do that. She could not hug her fiance when her love stood beside her.

While returning, Arjun halted the car in the middle of nowhere, "Yash, why don't we just stop here, the weather is so calm. It feels good." He suddenly exclaimed bringing Yash out of his dream world. He has been moody since Zoya left for the trip; he was just gazing out of the window aimlessly when Arjun called him.

"Sure," Yash did not really care about anything else so he agreed to what Arjun said without questioning. They both stepped out of the car together. Reading the worried face of Arjun, Yash got alarmed. "What happened? You look serious?" Yash inquired.

Taking his own time, processing his thoughts Arjun leaned on the car, he knew what he had to do. He had to bring his three best friends out of the misery they created. "Have you ever thought about a situation where Zoya having feelings for someone else?" He asked looked at far but his eyes lingered on Yash when he finished. He wanted to see the reaction without missing a beat.

Yash did not speak instantly. Arjun's' words put him in an ordeal. "Why are you asking this now?"

Arjun smiled appreciably seeing how his friend took what he dumped on him. He expected an explosion but his friend took it maturely.

"Lately I have been thinking about that. We both know that Zoya doesn't reciprocate your feelings, have you ever thought what could be the reason?"

"I haven't," Yash said the truth. He never worried about it. He loved Zoya and he believed his love was enough for both. He was sure, one day she will reciprocate his feelings.

"I think Zoya has feelings for someone else." Arjun never wanted to be the one who showed the light to Yash, but his friends never left him a choice.

"What are you trying to say?" The realm he has formed inside his head with Zoya slowly began to fall down.

"I said it clearly Yash. You, Adi and I, we know Zoya since we were kids, I feel that Zoya loves someone else." Arjun faced Yash, not diverting his gaze. He wanted Yash to react; he wanted him to question Adi and Zoya. Hopefully, he would do that.

"What about Adi?" Yash asked.

"What about him?"

"Does he know?"

A disturbing silence prevailed around them until Arjun spoke again.

"Err, I think he does."

And the hell broke.

***

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