“Oh… Zoya never mentioned you. Where is she? Is she okay?”
Aditya didn’t know what to tell him. On one hand, he was holding an unconscious Zoya close to his chest and on the other, he had to tell her father of her condition.
“She seemed extremely exhausted when I met her and soon after, she fainted mid conversation.” He heard a gasp on the other side of the phone and tried to control the situation immediately. “But I’m here with her, she isn’t hurt or anything and I’ll still take her to the hospital.” In his most sincere voice he said, “Please sir, don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”
There was a brief moment of silence on the line and then Wasim said, “I called to tell her that the driver has reached the airport. Meet him outside and bring Zoya home. I’ll call the doctor here itself.”
“Yes, sure.” With that, the call was disconnected. Aditya looked down at Zoya, who was resting her head on his shoulder. He lightly stroked the back of her head once, taking a deep breath and hoping that she’s fine. He tried to reassure her father but he wanted reassurance himself.
He, then put one arm of hers around his shoulder and picked her up. Aditya felt her face so close to his neck, he could even feel her breath. The familiar feeling of having her so close and carrying her in his arms like this made him remember the night when he had carried exactly like except he carried her to his bed and well… the rest is history. He shook off the thought quickly and signalled one of the guards around to take care of Zoya’s luggage. He walked outside to the exit gate like that to find the driver.
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After Aditya carefully lay her in the backseat of her car, he sat down on the seat with her head in his lap. He gently fixed her hair falling on her face as the driver finished placing her luggage in the hood. Soon after, the car started and the driver took the two of them to Zoya’s house.
It was a pretty long drive, and even though he enjoyed the beautiful views for a bit, Aditya had been a little tired after the morning flight so he took a nap too. The drive, thus, went by fairly quickly and it was weird how calm he felt while he slept… maybe it was the feeling of having Zoya around as he held on to her by her arm as she remained unconscious. He had been quite restless while sleeping in the last couple of weeks because everytime he used the same bed to sleep with Pooja, as the one he cheated her on... it seemed impossible to do away the ruefulness.
When the car stopped in front a big bungalow and the car came to jerking halt, he realised they had reached. The driver quickly got down to get the luggage and took it inside. Aditya carefully lifted Zoya’s head from his lap, resting it on the seat. He got out of the car and then proceeded to pick her up wrapping one arm of hers around his neck again. His one arm was enwrapped around her waist and the other supported the pits of her knees. He looked down at her once and had to stop himself from being caught up in how close their faces were in that moment. He looked away quickly, heading straight into the house.
The house was just as beautiful from the inside as it was outside. Outside, it had a big lawn a white brick along with wooden accents and roof. Inside, there were high ceiling, decorative embellishments with wooden furniture and vintage adornments on the walls. Aditya had no idea that Zoya was actually pretty rich, not that it mattered but she was just so simple in her way of dressing and carrying herself every time he had seen her… it never occurred to him that him that she had grown up with such luxury. He didn’t know Zoya after all.
As he stepped further inside into the living room, he saw a visible tensed man in a white kurta and a blue Nehru jacket get up with a sigh of relief. Aditya figured that this was Zoya’s father.
“Roshnaq! They’re here! Come, take her inside.” Aditya followed her father inside the nearest room and lay Zoya on the bed. He removed her arm from around his neck and gently placed her head against the pillow. Instantly, he missed the proximity between them that they just a second. As he took his time to look at her, not moving entirely away after placing her head in position, another man walked into the room with her father. Seeing them, Aditya immediately backed away and let the second man, who was apparently a doctor, check her.
A woman, probably in her late fifties, with curly hair and eyes just like Zoya’s walked into the room. She kept her hand on Zoya’s father’s shoulder as if trying to calm him and Aditya deduced that she was her mother. She then looked at him and walked towards Aditya. He wasn’t sure of what to do so he touched her feet, like he would do with any other elderly person.
“God bless you.” He heard her say as she pat his back.
“I’m Roshnaq, Zoya’s mother. You must be Aditya. Thank you for bringing her home, we were really worried.”
So was I.
“Ma’am, you really don’t have to thank me,” Aditya said in a sincere tone. He saw Roshnaq smile instantly and felt good to have been of help to her parents and to Zoya.
“She’s fine, she should wake up soon. Her blood pressure dropped and that’s why she fainted. I’m guessing she hasn’t had a proper meal or maybe over-exerted herself.” The doctor said after examining her. “Just let her rest and feed her full meal and lots of fluids.”
Zoya’s father and Aditya said, “Thank god” in the same moment and surprised, turned to look at each other. Aditya was pretty sure her father was going to question him about his such apparent concern for his daughter but thankfully Roshnaq changed the subject.
“I guessed so. That’s why I asked Wasim to ask you to bring her home.” Aditya realised two things. First, that her father’s name was Wasim and second, that he was on speaker the whole time.
“Zoya seemed se stressed since the last couple of weeks and she wouldn’t even tell me anything. When she told me last night that she was taking an early morning flight here, I asked her not to worry and rest for a bit, she refused to listen… and here we are.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with her these days,” Wasim added.
Aditya stayed silent in that moment because he couldn’t help but think that he probably had a significant hand in Zoya being stressed for the last couple of weeks. After their night together, he had been guilt ridden and his mind had been conflicted. Zoya was most likely dealing with the same thing and from what he knew of her from the conversation they had in the part, she was probably straining herself to compensate for the mistake. He remembered that she had told him about her rocky relationship with her husband, that combined with regret and the ill-health of her father would’ve been hard on her, he knew. All he wanted to do, was to somehow comfort her but he also knew that he couldn’t do that.
“Thank you, for all the help.” Aditya was caught off guard with Wasim saying that to him. He seemed a little distant on the call and even when he walked into the house but when he said that to him, Aditya could sense genuineness in both his voice and his expression.
“Sir…,” he began to respond but was caught by the doctor, “I’ll take your leave Mr. Siddiqui. Call me if there is anything you need.”
“Yes, thanks for coming. I’ll walk you to the gate.” With that, Wasim left with the doctor and Aditya’s sentence had been left incomplete.
It’s not like he had anything much to say because what would he tell her father? You don’t have to thank me because somewhere I’m the cause of your daughter’s condition? That they had slept together and he was married and he had lied to him on the phone when he said he was Zoya’ s friend? All he could say was what he had said to Roshnaq as well, that they didn’t have to thank him. He was glad he was there when Zoya fainted and that he could help her. Even if Wasim hadn’t called, Aditya would’ve done everything to make sure she was okay. He would do that for anyone really because that’s the kind of person he was but also in this case, it was Zoya. Even though he hadn’t known her for long or even known her properly at all, he did care about her… ever since the moment her very drunk self had laid her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed and he rested his head on hers.
“You should freshen up , I’ll get some tea for you,” Roshnaq said bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Really, there is no need.” Aditya didn’t want to cause them any more trouble than what he probably had already in regards to their daughter’s health. Anyway, it would be better for him to leave before Zoya woke up. He recalled how she basically ran away the night of the exhibition.
“No arguments, we’re really thankful to you. I’ll set up tea and snacks now,” As soon as she said that, she left without giving Aditya a chance to refuse.
Only if Zoya’s mother knew who he really was, she wouldn’t be so welcoming towards him.
“The other guest room is right opposite the room you’re in.” He heard her say from outside. As bad as he felt, he knew he had no choice but to stay especially since he didn’t want to disappoint her mother, who was being so kind. He took one last glance at Zoya, who looked as peaceful as ever, and left the room.
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A/N: As promised, here's an update. I also want y'all to know that I understand that you like long updates but I have to choose where to end a chapter where it fits best in the story. It's purely a creative decision. That's why, some updates will be longer than others. Anyway, I hope you like it. Do let me know!
Xo.