Hey y'all
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Recap:
Aditya clutched Zoya's hand tight. She had given it to him of her own volition and he felt like he was holding onto it for dear life. As she led him into the lift and up to the terrace he kept his eyes shut and they exchanged no words.
Once they were out on the terrace, she spoke again.
'Aditya, now slowly open your eyes.'
As he followed her instructions, Zoya watched his face carefully, unwilling to miss even one second of his reaction.
Chapter 11
Aditya opened his eyes slowly and saw he was surrounded by dozens of people.
'Surprise!!!'
He looked around bewildered, trying to check who the surprise was for, quickly realising it was for him.
'Congratulations Adi Sir!!' his staff members shouted out.
As his eyes scanned his surroundings he saw his brother Arjun, Noor and the entire staff of Zosh looking at him with excitement.
'Thank you guys!!' He shouted back in response.
He smiled widely and went up to his brother and hugged him, followed by Noor and each staff member who wished him luck. When he was done he spoke to the crowd.
'Thank you so much guys! This is the best surprise!'
Noor shouted from the crowd,
'Don't thank us, thank Appi, this whole party was her idea!'
'Yes sir,' Shaun chimed in, 'she decided everything about the party, all the decorations, everything!'
Aditya's heart was full. He turned back to look at Zoya who was shying away from taking any credit.
He walked up to her, took her hand in his and kissed the back of it.
'Thank you, you're the best!'
She knew all eyes were on them so she tried to dismiss the situation as quickly as possible.
'Don't say thank you before you even see everything. Come with me!'
She walked him to one side of the terrace where there was the bar and dance floor. As he heard the music playing in the background he realised she had chosen his favourite songs. She then walked him over to an area with a foosball table which was there due to his love for football.
There was a comfortable area with cushions and sofas, almost laid out like beds where people could sit and relax together and then she finally took him over to the food and refreshments area.
His eyes widened as he saw the array of food. There was all his favourites including keema pav but most importantly, there were 3 kinds of noodles.
Still holding her hand he looked at her and she knew what he was thinking,
'I wanted to make sure we could keep our tradition of feeding each other noodles going. So I have 3 types to make sure there's something here you'll like.'
Aditya tried his best not to become emotional but when he looked back at the table he saw that while there were various ice creams included in the dessert section, the 'tutti frutti' flavour was by far the biggest tub, at twice the size of the others.
Zoya neared Aditya and whispered in his ear.
'I know how much you like to eat. And I know tutti frutti is your favourite. I didn't want you to run out.'
Aditya couldn't take it anymore. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her cheek.
'You know me better than anyone else Zoya. This is the best surprise I have ever received. I love you!'
They both froze as he spoke those last words.
'Shit' he thought. I should have kept my emotions under control.
They slowly separated but Zoya still had a faint smile on her face.
'Go, meet everyone else and start the party. You can't just spend the whole night with me.'
A look of disappointment appeared across Aditya's face but he just nodded and walked off towards Arjun and Mona to chat to them. He realised he needed to leave Zoya alone for a little while before he could come back and spend time with her.
Noor had watched the entire encounter with a frown on her face. She was convinced that Zoya returned Aditya's feelings but was unwilling or unable to express them. Zoya had stopped trusting her own gut feelings and Noor decided it was time she did something about it.
Noor walked up to the drinks table and picked up a soft drink for Zoya but decided to spike it. It was the only way to force Zoya to feel a little more relaxed and she hoped that once this happened, she might finally spill her feelings to Aditya.
Noor gripped the glass tight and walked up to her Appi.
'Appi, here you go! You've been on your feet all day, you must be so thirsty! Have this!'
She pushed the glass into Zoya's hand who thanked her for it and took a gulp.
'Noor, doesn't this taste a little funny? Is there something wrong with it?'
'No Appi, it's just a new flavour but it's the biggest rage at the moment. Drink up!'
She pushed the bottom of the glass up so Zoya took bigger swigs and was soon done with her first glass.
'Let me get you another one Appi!' Noor exclaimed as she ran towards the bar.
***
Adi spent time with everyone at the party that night but his eyes kept going back to Zoya who had also spent most of the time looking at him.
As the hours went by, he noticed the expressions on her face changed. She looked confused, then excited and then relaxed. He didn't know what was happening but he saw her with Noor so assumed everything was ok.
As the night went on, people ate and hit the dance floor and the whole time Aditya had stayed away from Zoya.
It was around 11pm at night when the first people started to go home and the terrace started to empty.
Aditya heard his stomach rumble and only then did he realise he hadn't eaten anything. He had been so engrossed in chatting with everyone and worrying about Zoya that he had totally forgotten about dinner. He looked around and saw Arjun and Noor eating together but saw no sign of Zoya.
He was hungry and he wanted the noodles and he wanted them to eat together but after their little awkward moment earlier in the evening, would that still be possible?
While he was lost in his thoughts, someone tapped him on his shoulder and he turned around to see who it was.
Standing before him was a Zoya he had never seen before. Her head was tilted to the left, and both her hands were on her hips.
'Adityaaaaaaaaaaaaaa' She drawled.
'Where have you been all my life? I've been looking for you for suchhhh a long time!'
Aditya couldn't describe his surprise in words. He was so confused. What did she mean she has been looking for him all her life? She was behaving very oddly and those words didn't sound like something Zoya would ever say.
'Zoya, what are you talking about? Your whole life...'
'Areeee Aditya I've been waiting my wholeeeeeee life to eat noodles with you! I'm so hungry!! You must be hungry too?! Come we will eat our noodles together!'
She grabbed his wrist and began to march off towards the food counter, stumbling a little as Aditya looked at her in astonishment.
Zoya had been so loud that everyone had heard her, including Arjun and Noor who ran up to the food counter where Aditya and Zoya were now standing.
Aditya was bewildered.
'Noor what happened to Zoya? Why is she talking like this? She's not behaving like herself.'
Noor looked at the ground guiltily and looked back up. She approached Aditya and whispered into his ear,
'Sorry Aditya, I wanted to help you out. I wanted Appi to loosen up a little bit so she would have the courage to speak to you honestly so I spiked her drinks.'
'What!!' Aditya screamed, 'Noor what did you do?!'
'Adi bhai, I'm sorry! But I didn't mean for her to end up like this!'
Arjun looked on sheepishly as Aditya scolded Noor.
'How much has she had Noor?'
'3 glasses...'
'What? 3 glasses? Noor!'
Adi looked round to his brother,
'Chote, did you know about this?'
'No bhai I didn't. I would've stopped her if I had...'
Aditya rubbed his forehead and Noor stood looking to the ground. In their discussion they had forgotten about Zoya who wanted the attention back on her,
'Adityaaaaaaaaaaa what are you talking about with my sister??? I am your best friend, come talk to me!' As she spoke she grabbed his collar with both her hands and pulled him towards her hard so he landed right up against her body. He grabbed her arms to steady her and Noor and Arjun giggled and she whispered to him.
'I think my plan is working. Let's go.'
They held hands and walked away making sure that no one else would go near Aditya and Zoya for the rest of the night.
'Zoya, come sit one second. Please let me get food.'
Aditya walked Zoya to a table and sat her down on the chair. He knelt in front of her, took both her hands in his and said, 'Zoya promise me you won't move from here till I come back with food.'
She looked at him with a childlike smile and bent forward to pinch his throat.
'Aapki kasam, I'll stay right here.'
He laughed at her antics but before he could get up to get food, she grabbed his cheeks and squashed them.
'Adityaaaaaaa has anyone told you how handsome you are?' She pulled his cheeks hard and continued talking,
'Look at this handsome face! I could just eat it!'
And suddenly it dawned on her, the most genius thought Zoya Siddiqui had ever had,
'Wait I have an idea!' She let go of him and sprang up off the chair,
'I don't want the noodles, I'll just eat you instead!'
'Zoya!!'
Aditya leapt to his feet and covered her mouth with his right hand,
'What are you saying Zoya, I didn't realise you were so besharam!'
As much as Aditya wanted to be serious and scold her, he couldn't. Instead he was working very hard to control his laughter because he thought if he did laugh, he would never be able to get control of the situation.
Zoya pulled his hand away from her mouth and carried on chattering,
'Why do you think I'm besharam? I'm not being besharam I'm being honest. You always say you don't like liars and cheaters right so I'm being honest with you. I'm hungryyyyyy and you are the yummiest thing on the menu so why not.'
She leapt towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck and went to take a bite out of his cheek but he caught her before she did.
The insanity of the whole situation broke his resolve and he burst into laughter as he wrestled her back to seat her on her chair.
'Hahaha Zoya please, main khane ki cheez nahin hoon, please, let me bring you some noodles and we can eat them together. I promise they taste better than me.'
She pouted like a 5 year old child but didn't argue. As he walked over to get some food, Arjun came and sat with Zoya to entertain her and Noor walked over to Aditya.
'Adi bhai, I'm sorry I didn't realise this would happen.'
As much as he wanted to be mad at her, he couldn't. Watching Zoya this way was making him laugh more than he had done in a while and he was excited to see this Zoya, so different and so alive.
'It's ok Noor, I forgive you.' He said as he patted her on her head.
'Ok bhai, Arjun and I are tired and want to leave and the rest of the staff wants to go home too. Tomorrow is our last day here to prepare before we go to Delhi for Kunal and Saira's wedding so everyone is going to come in early.'
'Arre but wait, what about Zoya?'
'You bring her home with you please?'
Aditya wanted to do as she asked but he was nervous about one thing,
'Noor what about your Abbu? What will he think if I drop Zoya off in the middle of the night in this state?'
'Don't worry Aditya, Ammi and Abbu have gone to Mussoorie this morning so there is no one to tell you off.' She winked at him mischievously.
Aditya was greatly relieved and consented to take Zoya home later. Noor thanked him and looked over at Arjun who was still sat with Zoya and gave him a thumbs up.
'Mission accomplished.' She thought.
I am lovinggggggg writing drunk Zoya! I hope you're liking her too! More to come in the next chapter! 😍😍