Zoya's POV
I entered the gates of Raichand villa and found Noor leaning on the main door, smirking at me.
“I saw..” She spoke as soon as I came near her, with her lopsided smile intact.
“Saw what?!” I asked, not much interested.
“You and Adi bhai….” Then she gave me a sweet smile which was not sweet at all.
I sighed. She is forgetting that I am her elder sister and it isn't the other way round.
I raised my hand and pulled her by holding her ear.
“Ahh… Di!” She winced and held my hand but I didn't leave her.
“Enough of your flying Ms. Noor Raichand. Tell me! What is it between you and Arjun..?” She bit her lip.
Ab aaya oot pahad ke neeche!
(Finally, the camel has come at the foot of the hill!)
Elder one, always remains the elder one!
“Who Arjun?”
Oh really? I twisted her ear again.
“Ouch! Di…” She whined.
“Then tell me..”
“I met him before the interviews were held. And…. And we became kind of friends….” She trailed off.
“And…?” I indicated her to continue. She scrunched up her nose but continued.
“We connected instantly and he asked me out… I didn't know he was Adi bhai's friend… sacchi!”
“You had your first boyfriend and you didn't tell me! Have I ever scolded you?” She shook her head.
“Then?” She kept mum.
“Fine. This time I am letting you go.” Her face lit up instantly.
“But next time…” I warned her, she nodded her head.
I left her ear which she rubbed, hissing. I started to go in but she held my arm stopping me.
“Don't tell Maasi and Masso about it…” She pleaded.
Masso?? He came?
“Masso is here?” I asked with my twinkling eyes. She nodded.
Yieeeee!
I ran inside and found uncle there only talking to Maasi.
“Maaso!!” I called and he turned to me smiling.
“Zoya…” I ran to him like a little girl.
With him around, I always behave like a little girl. Same was with Papa. But he isn't here anymore.
“I missed you soooo much uncle! You being here is so fun.” I mumbled, keeping my head on his chest and circling his wide torso with my arms.
Yup… He is a little fat and I find it cute since my childhood.
“I know. I know. How is my gudiya by the way?” He asked lovingly, caressing my head.
I smiled cheekily, looking up, towards him and blinked my eyes replying that I am good. He broke the hug and made me stand straight in front him.
What? I looked here and there with a bewildered smile not understanding, what he is upto. Maasi smiled looking at us.
Then he softly raised my face with his palms and observed me keenly. Is there something on my face? I looked at Noor and raised my eyebrows asking her. Noor shrugged her shoulders.
“What happened Masso?”
“Something is changed. No, Noor?” He spoke, still observing me keenly.
“A lot has changed uncle….” Noor replied with a teasing smile directed to me.
I will hit her if she continues to do that!
“Very funny! Nothing has changed!” I spoke and stepped back, not wanting to give wrong ideas to Massi and Masso.
“No… Not a lot Noor…. But something surely has!” He pressed upon it.
“Uncle..!” I whined and he laughed.
Why he is teasing me so much today?!
“I am not lying…. My Zoya is finally smiling with her everything!”
Really?
Yes.
I looked away with a smile as soon as I realised he was right. I felt shy all of a sudden. Don't know why….
“That surely has!” I whispered to myself.
“I told you! My gudiya don't need to marry to be happy, no?” He spoke to his wife, circling his arm around my shoulder.
Was she really thinking like that? I looked at her in disbelief.
“Maasi?!” She bit her lip and shrugged.
“Actually, she and me placed a kind of bet. She said that you are not happy and for that you should move on and get married. And if she wins I have to start searching for a suitable groom for you.” I looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't look at me.
“And I said that you don't need to get married to move on. So, that's what I was observing and see I won!” He spoke with triumph.
I shook my head at her.
“Maasi…. If someone is not able to move on from something then getting them married is not an option. Moreover, it can create more of a mess. It is like they are already suffering and you dropped this responsibility too and what about their partner?”
“Okay! Okay! Ms. Psychiatrist I got it… Now please pardon me….” Maasi spoke, joining her hands in exaggerated manner and we all laughed.
“Acha… I will freshen up and come.” Zoya excused herself and moved towards her room.
Uncle isn't wrong. Things have seriously changed. This year has turned out to be very happening. Really! But did I regret it? Not at all!
Three years. Three years of my foolishness. I wasted three years blaming myself. I distanced myself from my friends thinking that they would definitely say it was my mistake. Many people do say that. I, myself thought like that. But I was so wrong. God has blessed me with great people in my life.
Everyone have those problematic people who demotivates them, but having supporting people is difficult. I do have them and they are the only circle I consider. Despite, having large number of acquaintances.
Acquaintances? Due to my profession.
I took my clothes and entered the washroom to take a shower with warm water to relax my muscles. It would help me brush off all the tiredness I have.
When I told Aditya what happened that night, it was the first time I was talking about it in so much detail. Don't know why, I felt like sharing it with him completely. The surprising thing was I didn't cry. Either I was too tired to cry or I have cried about it so much that my eyes have stopped producing tears.
People who do not blame me for it, says I am a strong girl. They praise me. But they don't know how much broken I was. They don't know how much hard it was to stop myself from crying so that I could console Noor. Because if I cry, she too will cry. There was no other option.
Everyone consoled me but no one asked me why I feel like that. Either way it made me feel I was right. Some said that it wasn't my fault but that wasn't really convincing.
First one was Aarohi who understood why I created distance with them. She understood my fear of getting judged. I was already feeling guilty and if the fear would have turned out right, I would have hated myself.
Secondly, it was Chirag. He is a guy who don't consider consoling as an option. He has always been quite straightforward. He was the one who called me fool and pathetic on my face for feeling like that.
I chuckled thinking of him as I came out of washroom wiping my hairs.
And… He was right. His straight-forward nature made its way through my thick skull. That made me think how much of an idiot I have become. Then I call myself psychiatrist.
I sat down in front of my mirror and started applying lotion on my hands and moisturizer on my face. Self love is important!
The last person I talked to about this was Aditya. This guy is… Well, I just don't understand why I can't see other guys just like I see him. Why?! It is not like people haven't approached me. I got more proposals than Aarohi in college. Just because of my sweet speaking nature. But I didn't like them. Moreover, I never wanted to have a fling. Either it is a proper relationship or nothing.
This trip to Delhi is a memorable one. Thanks to Aaru. Who knows when I will again get a chance to get such a nice time with friends, especially Aditya.
When we reached there, aunty mistook him as my fiañce. Like? God! Please stop giving me heart attacks like that. Aarohi told me that aunty found me and Aditya looking good together. As much as I acted that I don't care and rolled my eyes, she noticed my blush. Why always me?! Then even Abhi wasn't any less. Thank God, Chirag didn't listen to these two!
When we hid behind curtains, my heart was beating erratically. I have never been close to any man. Those tiny gifts from him… They are so cute and pretty. I will keep them in my collection. He got worried when he didn't found me coming out from the crowd. After that he tried not to leave me alone. As if I will get lost. Then he gave me half of his parantha because I wasn't eating mine happily. Why he have to care so much?! That just melts my heart even more.
Aditya… This guy is an enigma. I really don't understand him completely. It's like I almost succeed in understanding him then I got to know that there is a long way to go. I concluded that he is very angry on Pooja after observing. Avoiding new people, drowning himself in work is his defense mechanism. But on asking him, he says he don't know if he loves her or not. So, that means he still have feelings for her, right?
I sighed after keeping the comb back at its place.
All the moments we had in Delhi were definitely special, untill he told me about his uncertainty regarding Pooja. We and together is impossible. I don't know if Pooja will return or not. But his feelings do matter. Moreover, he do not see me like that. So, thinking about it and building expectations is definitely going to hurt.
I went down and soon got engrossed with my family, leaving all these thoughts. Nothing is going to change by pondering over it again and again. He is my friend. No one can change that. And I am happy with it.
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