Chapter 1 - To Dublin (Feb 10)

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Zoya Siddiqui clutched the handle of the luggage trolley harder and tried to calm herself. She looked around the small Dehradoon airport- crowded places made her uneasy.

"The flight to Delhi is delayed by half an hour," the voice of Yash, drove her out of her thoughts. He went on, unaware of her slightly damp eyes, "There's visibility issue there due to fog. I just hope I don't miss my connecting flight to Dublin."

Yash Arora was her boyfriend of a year who ran a small event management company in Mussoorie (a small hill station some 30kms from Dehradoon city). He had shifted from Mumbai around that time, and had met Zoya when his company had organized the 22nd birthday party of her younger sister, Noor.

Yash used to say that he fell in love at first sight with her. Zoya, who was quite shy, did take some time to open up to him. Slowly they became friends and one day, he confessed his love for her. That was a year back and now, he was off to Dublin for 2 months to meet his family- his mother, Madhu and sister, Mahi, something which he did every year. After they started dating, this was the first time she was seeing him off.

He took her hand in his and lightly squeezed it, "I wish you hadn't cancelled your ticket. You still have the visa. You want to rebook a ticket, now?"

Initially they had booked the trip together- as a holiday but as the trip neared, Zoya got cold feet and canceled her ticket.

She shook her head, "Don't be crazy. You know I am scared of flying. From here till Delhi I can still manage but the 9 hour flight to Dublin..."

There was something else, too, which gave her cold feet about the trip to Dublin- Yash's family. Zoya was not acquainted with his family in any way- mainly because Madhu didn't approve of their relationship.

She did try to extend her hand of friendship once, when Mahi had snubbed her, over the phone- making it crystal clear to Zoya that she was not welcome, not in their house, not in their life and definitely not in Yash's life.

She would have backed off, she wanted to. She didn't feel like being a cause of divide between Yash and his family but Yash had stopped her. He had assured her that he wanted her in his life- even if his own mother was against their relationship.

Yash made a clicking noise with his finger and thumb, which jolted her out of her thoughts. "You seem to be lost today," he teased her. "It's Valentine's in 3 days. I had so much planned for the day and our vacation. I really wish you were coming with me."

Zoya tried to smile, so as to not let Yash see her sadness. She didn't want to see him off with tears especially when he was going to be away for so long.

"It's quite a long journey," she spoke, "take good care of your self."

He quipped, "It was quite generous of your father to buy me a business class air ticket. Maybe he wouldn't have if he knew you'd cancel later on."

She hit him playfully and smiled weakly, not having an answer for his statement.

Her family was quite a reputed one in Mussoorie. Her father, Wasim Siddiqui, ran a hotel business chain and had political ambitions as well as connections. Her mother, Roshana, was quite well known for her charity work and her younger sister, Noor, was about to graduate from college. The four of them lived together in their ancestral mansion.

Zoya had first introduced Yash as her boyfriend to her mother, who was always the supportive one. Roshana had then persuaded Wasim to accept their relationship, which he had done, begrudgingly. Roshana was quick to point out that Zoya hardly had any friends and this was the first time in years when she had found a companion who loved her.

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