AdiYa FF ~The Hookup~ NEW CH UPDATED - Page 35

That's how she remembered what had happened the night before...

_____________

"I'll talk to you later, dad." Zoya quickly ended the phone call and slipped it in her handbag. She averted her gaze elsewhere to avoid Yash's pining one. It had barely been an hour since they had arrived at her friend, Pooja's anniversary party but Zoya knew the tension was about to build up faster than a speeding bullet and this moment definitely seemed like one of the several bullets their marriage had to bear the pain of.

Zoya's father, Wasim, had called her not more than fifteen minutes to enquire about Yash's latest event management failure. The man had constantly warned Zoya against marrying Yash but she chose to follow what her heart said to her.

"What did he say this time? Did he stoop even lower in insulting me or are we still on the same low as last time?" Zoya turned to look at Yash as he said that and saw the anger and frustration in his eyes.

In that moment, she remembered what her father had once told her. He had said, on the night of their marriage which was possibly the worst time he could've picked, that she deserved better than a man who was ready to leave his family for a girl he'd met only a year ago; that he made crass decisions and whenever he would fail, Zoya would have to take the fall with him because their marriage would be the one carrying the load of unfulfilled dreams and compromises. She remembered, brushing it off then because how could her father judge so much about their future together when he had known Yash for such little time?

"It was nothing. He wasn't talking about you." Over the years, his statements had only proven to be true and Zoya, like all the other times, was trying to balance between the two most important men in her life. How could she tell Yash that her father was reiterating his failure to her, especially when this night wasn't supposed to be about them.

"I can't believe you, Zoya! I can see it in your eyes how hard you're trying to convince me on this. I'm so fed up! No matter how hard I work, I'll always be a no-hoper to your father." Yash shouted and Zoya thanked the chaotic mingling at the party because at least nobody heard them.

She grabbed his arm and looked at him, sincerely, trying to tell him that she didn't want this either and she couldn't help the situation. But Yash didn't seem to understand and yanked away his arm.

"Yash... I'll talk to him. I know, deep down, he really likes you!" Zoya desperately tried to stop the argument from building.

"Zoya... how can you still defend him?! You know I've already had a rough week and I've been doing nothing but meeting vendors and clients to get rid of the plague on my company because of the last unsuccessful event and all I need is your support! But what do I get instead? Taunts from your family! What am I supposed to do?"

She could see the hurt in his eyes but for once, she wished he could see the one in her eyes.

"Yash I-"

His phone rang, indicating a message and he pulled it out of his pocket. Zoya waited for him to look back at her and end this argument once and for all. Instead, Yash looked up at her and said, "I have to go and this conversation is going nowhere, anyway. Call up the driver to come and pick you up whenever you wanna leave."

And with that, he left. Zoya stood there, with tears welling up in her eyes. Everything seemed to be falling apart and she just needed a break. When she had come back home from Goa, she was expecting a much happier time with Yash... not what had just happened.

Oh eff it.

She wiped the slight traces of tears and headed straight towards the bar. She sat herself down on the high chair and ordered for a round of vodka shots. So, she was probably going to look like a filmy heroine after a heartbreak gulping these shots of basically water but this time, it was going to be vodka and she was going to get wasted if that's what it was going to take erase the memory of this pathetic night. The bartender too, gave her an odd look, possibly because of her well put together traditional attire but she didn't care as long as got some alcohol in her system.

One. Two. Three. Four. Fi-

"I'll take a margarita, please. Geez, woman. If you want to get drunk, at least do it in style."

Zoya paused her session of chugging and looked at the man who had just sat down beside her and made a snarky comment.

"...and you are?" She scoffed. She was already irritated to the bone and was finally starting to feel a little intoxicating and his presence and sarcastic comment were not helping.

The man beside her drank the margarita, without a rush, and extended his hand towards her. She noticed he was wearing a pilot's uniform and almost wanted to question him but let it slide because it was the least of her concerns in that moment.

"Aditya Hooda, also the man whose anniversary party you're at and it's honestly astonishing that you don't know me, considering that fact."

Zoya smiled, feeling a little embarrassed and shook his hand. It was warm and it felt like a pillow or maybe it was just the alcohol doing its job.

"I'm Zoya, Pooja's friend. This is the first time we're meeting and I promise I'm usually in a better state than this."

Aditya laughed at that as he ordered for another margarita. This woman who had just happened to be sitting at the bar desperately trying to get drunk, obviously, was the only company he was probably going to have that night. His wife had bailed on him on their anniversary so his margarita would keep him from calling the party off and sending all these people home. The one person who mattered hadn't come so what was the point of anybody else being there?

"And Ms. Vodka Shots, I'm also the man who is paying for this free bar." He saw her laugh and felt an odd happiness. Perhaps, it was the happiness of making someone else laugh when his night was doomed.

"In the spirit of all of these drinks being on me, let's get you a margarita. Three drinks, if you're an amateur and six, if you're a pro and you'll basically be out of your senses for the rest of the night."

He saw her make an almost, bring it on' face and he smirked as the bartender gave them both margaritas. Before Aditya reached out to pick his glass from the table, Zoya already had one down.

"Did that feel good?" He laughed.

"Great! One more, kind Sir!" Zoya's excitement was clearly visible on her face and especially when she had called the bartended, "kind Sir" and Aditya just smiled knowing that they were both just trying push away confronting their problems with a glass of margaritas.

"Why aren't you enjoying your own party? That's just dumb." Her alcohol was kicking in for sure and even though Aditya would be reserved in front of someone who was practically a stranger, he knew that neither of them would probably remember it the next day.

"My wife and your friend, Pooja, is stuck in Goa dealing with some conflict among the hosts of her exhibition. It's too late now and her flight got cancelled. You know what the worst part is? Today is our anniversary and I did all of this for her and I've only spoken to her ten minutes during the entire day. Those ten minutes, too, were just her complaining about what was happening and how she couldn't make it..."

He realised he was going on and on rambling about it and if he was being completely honest to himself, it felt good to let it all out. He told the waiter to continue with the margaritas as he closed his eyes trying to control himself from breaking down over how his marriage was faltering at every step.

"You know how it feels when something starts unraveling at the seams and you keep trying to pull it all together, but instead it just-"

"Keeps falling apart." Zoya completed his sentence and he immediately looked at her, surprised.

"Yes, I do know." He met her eyes as she said that and saw a pain akin to his. It was weird how he felt a strange connection to her. It was like they were on the same wavelength and for once, he didn't have to pretend that everything was fine.

"So that leaves me here- sitting with you as I share my agony in the most dramatic way possible."

Zoya dragged at her words as she spoke. She had lost count of how many margaritas she had had and she was pretty sure she wasn't in her senses. It had been over an hour of her and Aditya talking to each other and they had spent a lot of time in between just saying, "hmm" and dragging it because they were too intoxicated to speak actual words. She had finally completed her end of the story describing her fight with Yash and even though Aditya's story had barely taken a minute and hers had obviously taken much longer, everything was out in the open now.

Aditya started laughing as he spoke, "I can't believe your husband abandoned you at this party." It was unusual that she wasn't taking any offence to that statement and a lot of it probably had to do with the fact that they were both sailing in the same boat.

"Hey... your wife abandoned you too, okay? Shut up." She smacked his arm slightly and started laughing. She missed his arm and nearly fell when Aditya caught her at the last minute by gripping her shoulders. He handled her up and they looked at each other with wide eyes before bursting into intoxicated giggles.

There was just something about Aditya that made him so easy to talk to. Zoya had been able to connect with him within minutes of them talking and she hadn't felt that with anyone before. It was like, he just got what she was going through and she appreciated that. He wasn't pitying her, he was just... being there for her.

People had come earlier to congratulate Aditya and to ask him to cut the cake and he had politely told them that party was pretty much over since Pooja hadn't come. Zoya wanted to give him a big tight hug when he had to deal with all of that but let that thought go.

"Man... I don't know what I'm going to do about my marriage." Aditya looked at Zoya with nothing but honesty in his eyes. She looked at him, not knowing what would be the right thing to say and simply laid her head on his shoulder. She felt him rest his head on top of hers and her drowsy self just wanted to sleep right there. Her eyes were closed and she had no idea of what was going on around her, at that point and she just spoke whatever came first to her.

"It's okay to not know, sometimes. Some... sometimes, the heart..." She lost track of what she was going to say and just let out a sigh.

"doesn't know what it wants." Yes, she wanted to high-five him at understanding what she was going to say before she said it but didn't have the energy to do so. On the contrary to the popular, 'the heart wants what it wants,' Zoya felt that both of them were walking the fine line of wanting to keep their marriage alive and also just taking a break from the despair.

She heard Aditya laugh a little before he said, "let's get you home. They're wrapping up all the arrangements now."

"Yeah, Zoya was barely able to say that. "I'll call my driver."

Adotya immediately held his head up and Zoya removed her head from his shoulder, not expecting his abrupt movement.

"Are you crazy? It's not safe."

"Funny. My husband didn't consider that." She laughed as she sipped her margarita.

"I'll drive you."

She looked up at him with a quirked brow almost asking him if he was serious. "No drinking and driving. How come you don't know that?! Ha, I knew you rented this pilot costume. No pilot is this irresponsible."

"Ouch!" Aditya placed his hands on his heart acting like he had just been shot by her offensive statement. "I am an actual pilot, Zoya. I wore it today because it annoys my wife when I wear it outside work because she thinks I don't take it seriously. I just wanted to tease her since she has, after all, been best friend all my life."

Zoya heard his tone become heavier as he started talking about his wife. She wasn't surprised that Pooja felt that way because for as long as she had known Pooja, her attitude towards her work had been very serious and when it came to work, she was a bundle of morals.

"Well, I think it's kind of sexy." Zoya continued to sip on her margarita as she also continued to speak the first that popped in her head.

"Thank you for boosting my ego before I call it a night." She had caught the site of his slight smile before he said that.

"So you're j-" Before she could complete saying that he was abandoning her too, just like Yash did, Aditya spoke something that genuinely made her admire him even more.

"Come on, you can stay in the guest room for the night." Zoya smiled like an idiot when she heard that he wasn't actually abandoning her and she wouldn't have to take the trouble of getting her tipsy self to home this late in the night.

Aditya supported Zoya by pacing his hand on her upper back as she got down the bar stool along with him. He was still smiling from the inside at her comment of him being sexy in his pilot uniform. It pleased and he couldn't place his finger on the exact reason, why.

They walked together, almost tripping over but Aditya managed to handle both himself and his newfound friend at till inside his house by letting Zoya keep her arm around his shoulders and constantly supporting her from behind.

It was nice having Zoya around and after a long time, it just felt really easy to talk to someone. He had let all his bars down while talking to her and he didn't regret it one bit. He didn't know why they were able to become friends so quickly and the strangest part was that calling her a friend' just didn't seem right at all.