Zaroorat

Chapter 17

Yet, Kirti was not having it. She saw where his gaze was and tried to redirect it to herself and when the song ended she put her arms around his neck.

Aditya panicked,

'Kirti, what are you doing?'

She hesitated,

'Nothing Aditya...I just...'

However, Aditya had stopped listening to her explanation. Instead his eyes went back to look at Zoya and he immediately saw her face drop, her turn and run away. For a second he froze, unable to move from shock.

'No no no no! Shit this can't be happening.'

Luckily his mind came back to him and he wrenched Kirti's arms from around his neck and started to run after Zoya.

***

Zoya grabbed her sari and ran like she had never run before. In her distress, she stumbled and lost a shoe but she quickly recovered. Tears streamed down her face as she wiped them away vigorously. She didn't know where she was going and truly she didn't care.

The entire resort had been booked for the wedding, it was lit up, shining, exhibiting joy; but Zoya didn't feel any joy. She ran past all the buildings trying to find a place that reflected how she felt.

Dark, cold and alone.

She would keep running if she had to. She would leave the resort if needed. 'None of this matters anyway.' She thought .

Aditya hadn't been standing that far away from Zoya but making his way off the dance floor had been an ordeal. People tried to stop him to talk, to pat him on the back, to hand him a drink but he pushed passed them. It was unprofessional but he didn't care.

'None of this matters anyway. The only person that matters is Zoya.'

By the time he got off the dance floor he noticed Zoya had already run a distance. She was approaching the back end of the resort, running past all the buildings. She veered away from where all their rooms were and if he didn't know better, he felt like she was just running into an abyss.

His legs worked hard to try and catch her. He made up some distance and could now tell that she was running towards the building at the furthest end of the resort. It was under renovation. There were no lights and no people there.

His heart started to race faster than his legs. 'Why is she running into that building?!! What if the wiring is not done properly or she trips and falls on something.'

His anxiety pushed his legs even harder and he screamed,

'Zoya, please! Please Zoya stop! Don't go in there it could be dangerous!'

Zoya couldn't hear what he was saying, only that he was calling her name. She refused to stop.

'Why doesn't he leave me alone!? He has her now, why doesn't he leave me?!'

She ran into the building and collapsed into what looked like a dark, empty cupboard. As she collapsed on the ground, she huffed to catch her breath. When she considered her last thought, she started to cackle. The tears on her face combined with the laughter made her look like a mad woman.

'Why doesn't he leave me?! Is this what my life has come to?!'

She laughed and she cried.

'Am I not unfortunate! When I found out about Yash, all I could think was 'why did he leave me' and with Aditya I'm wondering 'why doesn't he leave me'. What is happening to my life Allah. Please help me! Please help me...'