Posted:
This characterisation of Zoya matches so much with Zoya 1.0 .. you've got her right 👍🏼 wanting to know what she is going to uncover in Dublin.
Originally posted by: AyraaMalik
Wow dear amazing story plot, eagerly waiting for how wilk AdiYa meet :)
I must say dear ur writing skills are amazing. Hope to read more of this story and soon :)
Hey, this was quite an intriguing plot & Zoya of all, fighting her fear of travelling by an airplane is a first. Seems something weird might happen until she's waiting for the flight LOL 😆 Aditya's entry probably 😉
If there's a possibility hope you'd pm the updates.. (May I know what I can call you too? 😊)
Originally posted by: ikhtiyar.
This characterisation of Zoya matches so much with Zoya 1.0 .. you've got her right 👍🏼 wanting to know what she is going to uncover in Dublin.
Chapter 2 - A Meeting (Feb 10-11)
***{Somewhere along the Delhi-Jaipur highway}***
Aditya Hooda was in a bad mood. Come to think of it, in the past 30 years of his existence he had hardly been in a good mood. Maybe in his childhood, if so he was having a hard time recalling.
Another bump in the road and another curse word flew out of his mouth. This drive from Jaipur to Delhi was not going smoothly at all. The fact that it was close to midnight was not helping. There were trucks lined along the Jaipur-Delhi highway. Adding to that the heavy fog, which had reduced visibility, prevented him from over-speeding. The drive, which shouldn't have taken more than 5 hours, was close to bordering 7.
He wasn't supposed to be going to Delhi. His initial plan was to wrap up work in Jaipur and fly back home to Mumbai. He was all set for it when his younger brother Arjun called him and reminded him of the annual Valentines day party, 3 days later, that their parents religiously hosted. Amidst juggling work and travel, the party had completely skipped his mind.
He was sickened to the brim with his father and mother's display of love in front of the public. He had to watch and internally squirm every time his parents put up a show for the media and their clients. And to see that "love" blown to a higher degree on 14th February was not something he was going to do this year.
What a farce of an occasion it was, anyway? Was devoting 1 day a year to love enough when people had no intention of honoring that commitment? His fleeting thoughts went to her, for a split second, before he shook it off.
The Hoodas were a rich business family based in Mumbai, who ran a luxury hotel chain all over India and some parts of Europe. Aditya had taken charge of a land-acquiring deal in Jaipur. A part of him had scooped up the project to be away from home. He would have stayed away forever, if not for his mother Anjana and his younger brother Arjun. They were a big part of his life and; for them, he was their life. He couldn't leave them at the mercy of his egotistical and eccentric father.
But, he could be away, even if for a few days. And that's what he was going to do. There was a new project in Limerick, a small city a few hours from Dublin. The work was to start in last week of Feb, but given that he wanted to leave, he decided to start the project, at least the basic research, early.
He booked a flight from Delhi to Dublin the same evening, informed his father over a text, which earned him an immediate call from his frantic mother. He assured her that the reason was work, and nothing else. Despite the fact that his mother lived in a bubble, knowingly lived in a lie everyday with his father, she seemed to believe his words.
He would have taken a short flight from Jaipur to Delhi but given the heavy fog, and a string of delayed flights, he chose to drive till Delhi.
And this was making him angrier by the second. Why did he have to book everything so suddenly? Why did he have to book a 4am flight? Sometimes he could be so impulsive. Now he would miss his sleep, be jetlagged and would have to get to work with an irritated mood.
The tollbooth ahead of him drew him out of his thoughts and made him realize that he had entered Delhi City. It would take him an hour to reach the airport. The thought gave him some relief.
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***{Delhi International Airport}***
With a just-bought ticket to Dublin and her handbag, Zoya settled in a chair at a somewhat secluded area of the airport. She looked at her wrist watch- it was 9:00pm. Another 7 hours till her flight. And then a 9-hour flight...
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake off the bad feeling that was creeping up her stomach. She decided to call Noor, to let her know all that had transpired. She took out her cellphone- whose battery was quite low, made a mental note of buying a charger and some clothes- and dialled Noor's cellphone.
In barely 1 ring, the call was picked up.
"Noor!" Zoya exclaimed when a heavy voice interrupted her.
"Zoya! Have you gone crazy?" It was her father. "Running off after your... that Yash," he spat the word.
"Abbu, please calm down."
"Calm down? You have never left the city alone and now you just took a flight to Delhi?" Wasim was breathing fire.
Zoya pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. She had asked Noor to lie to Wasim that she left with Yash from Dehradoon airport; clearly her sister was unsuccessful. She couldn't blame Noor though; it was tough looking their father in the eye and lying. He had that kind of affect on people.
If he were so furious at her going to Delhi alone, what would happen if he found out that she was flying to Dublin alone? Zoya bit her lower lip and decided it would be better if she held her tongue.
"Abbu, I am sorry," she replied as coolly as possible to placate him, "It was just something spontaneous. And don't worry. I met Yash here in Delhi aiport. We'll be taking the next flight to Dublin, together."
The lies slipped off Zoya's tongue. She was not someone who lied to her family, but at this moment if she hadn't, her father would have called her back home or would have come to Delhi to pick her up. She couldn't afford that.
That seemed somewhat reasonable to Wasim. His tone softened when he spoke again, "You have never been away from us, not like this. I worry for you. Now that you have decided to go, well... just take care of yourself."
Zoya clutched the cellphone tighter and recalled the time, a few months back when she had told her parents that Yash wanted to take her on a holiday to Dublin to meet his family. Zoya was so sure that her father would blow his lid. Surprisingly, he was much more controlled in his reaction. She knew that was not because he was growing fond of Yash. Maybe her mother, Roshana, had something to do with it.
"I will," she replied timidly, feeling guilty at lying to her father.
"Let him stay in his house in Dublin with his mother and sister. You don't stay with them," he spoke, his dislike for Yash again evident in his voice, "You stay in the hotel that I have booked for you. And don't let those people misbehave with you. If they do-""
"Abbu!" Zoya interrupted him, "I promise I will take care of myself."
Zoya spoke to Roshana and Noor next. They both repeated the same things that her father had just said. She smiled and shook her head at them, how much they cared for her. She had half a mind to tell Noor the truth- that Yash had already taken off but she resisted. Knowing Noor, she would probably blurt something out in front of Wasim.
After reassuring her family for the third time that she would be fine and would keep calling them regularly, Zoya hung up. She craned her neck and stretched her hands.
She surveyed the area around her, recalling the mental note she had made to herself about buying a few things for her trip- there was 1 electronic store and a few clothing ones. The next few hours were sorted for her.
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***{Delhi to Dublin flight}***
When Aditya had booked the 4 am to Dublin, he had imagined the flight, at least the business class, would be partly vacant. Much to his chagrin, the moment he entered, he saw an already cranky 5 year-old, wailing next to his mother. Aditya rolled his eyes and cursed his luck. The loud cry of the toddler would reach each corner of the small business class.
"Sir," the airhostess spoke in a rehearsed sweet voice, "Could you please locate your seat. You were the last passenger. The flight is about to take off."
He nodded and looked at the numbers written on the base of the overhead bins, which indicated the seats.
He located his aisle seat 4B, only to find the passenger of the adjacent window seat 4A- a girl in a white suit, had kept some shopping bags on his seat. Her eyes were shut but she was not sleeping. She was muttering something in low whispers.
Aditya frowned and cleared his throat. "Miss?"
The girl didn't hear him.
"Hello? Miss?" he called loudly which startled the girl and her eyes flew open.
"Do you mind?" he asked pointing at the bags on the plush leather seat.
The girl looked from him to the bags before looking at him again. "I am so sorry!" she apologized with a smile, "The flight was going to take off so I thought this seat was vacant."
He could have just nodded but he was quite annoyed and the words came out, "In any case you are not supposed to keep luggage on the seat- it's either below the seat in front of you or overhead."
The smile faded off the girl's face. She lifted the shopping bags and placed them clumsily in the storage above.
Aditya occupied his seat and pressed his head on the headrest of his seat as the aircraft began to gain momentum to take off. Instantly, he felt a hand grab his. He swiveled his head in the direction of the girl. Her eyes were shut; her lips moving in rapid, inaudible gestures- which; Aditya assumed, were prayers. It seemed she was unaware that her palm was grasping the back of his hand and not the armrest.
"Miss?" he called out to her, knowing from his earlier experience that it would be futile.
"Miss!" his exclaimed jolting her and she opened her eyes. He pointed at her hand over his without saying anything.
Her eyes followed his finger and she removed her hand immediately. "Sorry," she muttered in a raspy voice, "I am... scared of flying."
"You don't say." He replied sarcastically.
The girl pursed her lips in a thin line, clearly not appreciating his lack of civility. The plane hit a minor turbulence and her hand grabbed his again, nails digging his skin. She removed it the next second and clutched the dupatta of her suit. This time she didn't apologize.
Aditya, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with her actions again, turned ahead to face the screen of the tv in front of him. There were some minor turbulence after every few minutes but the girl never bothered him or his hand again. He could hear her let out a gasp when it happened and mumble something.
Just as his eyelids began to drift off to sleep, the wail of the child in the seat ahead of his woke him up. First the girl and now the child! These 9 hours were not going to go smoothly at all. He shook his head and mumbled an inaudible cuss word.
"The child can't help it," came the girl's voice.
He turned to face her, surprised. She had caught on to the source (one of the sources) of his irascible mood.
"The parent can," he countered her.
"I can see the mother is trying. She looks exhausted. Maybe we can cut her some slack," the girl offered.
Aditya saw, from the corner of his eye, the mother trying to console the child and the annoyed look the other passengers were giving her.
"Clearly she is not trying hard enough," he replied pointedly, despite of what he observed.
"Are you always like this?"
The question took him by surprise, "Excuse me?"
"I didn't mean it as offence," she replied in a soft tone, "Sorry if you thought so."
"You apologize a lot. And to answer your question it's 4:30 am, I haven't slept in over 24 hours and the moment I land in Dublin, I have to drive for another 4 hours and get to work." He blurted without pause.
The girl pursed her lips in what Aditya thought was an attempt at not to smile.
"That sounds hectic." She finally replied.
He nodded, feeling a bit silly. Venting to her, did take off some of the stress.
"I am Zoya, by the way," she introduced herself.
"Aditya." He replied.
The girl, Zoya, nodded and turned to face the tv screen in front of her. She put on the headphones and started watching a film.
Aditya eyed her for an instant before turning to look ahead. His behavior wasn't the nicest to her, yet she had started a conversation with him. It wasn't weird, but something, he couldn't put his finger on.
Brushing aside the thoughts, he closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
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