It was somewhere in the 3rd week of March, Zoya and Noor were working late in the hotel office. Since it was past midnight, the girls decided to stay back in their personal suite in the hotel. They had to start working early the next morning and it would save time if they crashed in here.
The personal suite was modeled by Noor to match their house as close as possible. It was a small cottage, among the many others on the property. Yet the interior was much different from the others, which the patrons used. Their cottage was more homely. They had kept spare pairs of nightclothes as well as office formals.
Zoya changed into her night suit and Noor flipped through the room service menu, which in their resort was 24x7.
"What do you want to eat? A pizza?" Noor asked, eyeing the menu.
"Anything." Zoya replied and walked over to the mini-bar to look at the contents. Her sight fell on a small jar of pringles and an involuntary smile tugged at her lips. These chips would always remind her of Aditya. Anytime they were in want of food, he would magically retrieve a jar from somewhere.
"Why are you grinning at a can of chips?" Noor's voice cut through and Zoya jumped.
"What?"
Noor narrowed her eyes, "You have been smiling at the chips for like a minute. What's the story?"
Zoya felt her face go red, "There is no story." She lied.
At first Zoya had told Noor the same version that is the abridged version, of her and Yash's break-up that she had told her parents. Yet, one night when the sisters were working late, over a cup of hot chocolate, Zoya had spilled the beans. She told Noor about Yash's deceit and Aditya's immense help.
Zoya had refrained from telling Noor about her mixed feelings for Aditya and his equally mixed signals. The feelings were subjective, not facts and Zoya had disclosed only the facts to her sister. But Noor was smart. She had picked up the underlying sentiments, which Zoya had tried to hide.
"This is about Aditya, isn't it?" Noor had a big smile on her face since she assumed she was correct.
"No," Zoya lied again.
"You are a horrible liar, Appi," Noor declared, "What happened between you and Aditya?"
"Nothing," Zoya responded stiffly, to get Noor off her back. It was true, nothing happened between them.
"You like him!" Noor exclaimed, "Look at your face, you are blushing."
"It's getting late," Zoya responded trying to digress, "Order the pizza."
Noor put her fingers on her lips and looked lost in thought. Zoya clicked her thumb and finger to get Noor out of her reverie.
"What are you thinking?" Zoya asked.
There was a mischievous smile on Noor's face. "Nothing."
This time Zoya was aware that Noor was lying. She shook her head thinking if she had made a mistake by confiding in her younger sister. As she got under the quilt, Zoya contemplated that Noor was up to something. She was busy surfing her cellphone.
Zoya ordered the pizza and while she waited for it to arrive, she hoped she had not given her sister any wacky ideas.
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On a family meeting, during the first week of April, to discuss upcoming plans, Zoya was bowled over by a big news from Wasim.
Wasim, Noor and Zoya were going over a project- a new hotel that they were planning to open when Wasim stated, "Noor gave me a really good idea last week. For this new project."
Wasim rested back on his chair, "She said it would be good if we got in a partner, someone with a big brand name. It'll help with drawing in new patrons as well as investments."
"That sounds good," Zoya commented. She noticed that Noor was trying to suppress a smile.
"I thought so too. So I got in touch with someone she suggested. I was in talks with them for the past few weeks and 2 days ago, I got an affirmation," Wasim let her know. "Though they didn't need much convincing."
"Our brand is quite reputable in this state," Zoya remarked.
"That and they know us personally too," Wasim stated.
This caught her attention, "Who?"
"The Hoodas," Wasim replied, "Harshvardhan told me that they are looking to invest in North India and with a brand like ours they'll have a good opening. Noor suggested that since we are in the same field and Harsh and I do have a good connection it would be a good venture."
Zoya's mind had completely skipped over the anything her father said after The Hoodas.
"The Hoodas?" she mumbled, "As in Aditya and his father?"
Wasim nodded, "I spoke to both of them and they seemed quite optimistic about the venture."
"But..." Zoya stuttered.
Wasim waved his hand, "We have done due diligence. We'll not be entering in a merger without proper investigation after all. It will be good for both our brands and currently we'll start with only 1 project. Don't worry."
Zoya was least worried about the technicalities of it all. Her mind was somewhere else. "So... will anyone from their company come here?"
Wasim looked from Zoya to Noor and back to Zoya, "Didn't Noor tell you? Aditya is coming with his brother Arjun. Tomorrow."
Tomorrow? Zoya raised her eyebrows and slowly shifted her gaze to her younger sister. Noor had a wide grin on her face.
"Nothing is finalized yet," Wasim interrupted the silence; "He is coming here to gauge if this deal will be beneficial for them. And so will we. I am handing this project to both of you. I hope you can take care."
"Yes, Abbu," Noor replied. "We'll take care of it."
Satisfied, Wasim left the girls. The moment he was out of the door, Zoya exclaimed, "Noor! I am going to kill you!"
Noor laughed in response.
"I... I don't believe you used work as an excuse to get Aditya here!"
"It's not an excuse," Noor responded, "We do need an investor, someone with a good brand name. I talked to Aditya and he thought it was a good idea. They too are looking for a project to invest."
"I... I..." Zoya stammered, "I hope that's the only reason why you chose the Hoodas," she pointed a finger at her younger sister, "Once Aditya is here, you can't engage in any shenanigans."
Noor was at the door when she yelled, "Can't make any promises."
Before Zoya could respond, she had dashed out of the room.
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The PA system at the Dehradoon airport announced the arrival of the flight from Mumbai. Zoya and Noor had come to the airport to personally pick up the Hooda brothers, as Wasim had insisted.
Zoya had never been so jittery in a while. She still couldn't believe that she was going to meet Aditya. It had been more than a month since she last saw him. Noor placed her palm on Zoya's hand and she realized she was wringing her hands in anticipation.
"Is it them?" Noor asked looking ahead.
Zoya exhaled and lifted her eyes to where Noor was indicating. Among the herd of people who were exiting the airport with their luggage, she spotted him. Aditya was chatting with his brother, Arjun and it was a moment later that his eyes fell on her. He paused in his tracks for an instant as their eyes met.
Zoya could feel her heart beating loudly against her chest. It was as if the world around them had slowed down and everything in the periphery went blurry. She could hear her breath when she exhaled slowly through her mouth.
Aditya's lips curled into a small smile and Zoya reciprocated. He picked up his pace till he was directly ahead of her.
"Hi," he said, the smile never leaving his face.
"Hi," she breathed the word out, not being able to talk.
They stood still letting the silence grow heavier, their eyes fixed on the other.
A moment later, the clearing of throat from Noor, broke the silence. Zoya let out a nervous chuckle and before the situation between them grew any more awkward, she turned her attention to Arjun and greeted him. She then introduced Noor to Aditya and Arjun.
Noor led them to their car and after the brothers had shoved their bags in the trunk, the hour-long drive to Mussoorie began. Noor was driving and Arjun occupied the front passenger seat. Zoya and Aditya were at the back.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You talked to Noor and Abbu over the phone but you never mentioned anything to me." Zoya asked with a low voice.
Noor had put on the music and had started chatting with Arjun, telling him about her hometown and work and asking him about his.
"I... I wanted to surprise you," Aditya replied sincerely. "I hope it's okay."
"Yeah, it's okay," she replied and he smiled.
It was definitely more than okay.
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