[The next morning when Zoya woke up, she gradually stepped into the tiny balcony that was connected to her room, to get a breath of fresh air, and when she did, she was beyond embarrassed to see a half shirtless Aditya exercise on the balcony right opposite her.

Immediately, she hid her face and turned around, pretending to look elsewhere, but unfortunately for her, Aditya had caught her gazing.]

Aditya: (Shouting) Accha, toh ab Yahaan tak aa gayi ho tum! Tum toh hadd Ho!

Zoya: (Embarrassed) N-Nahi, aap Hume galat samajh rahe h-hai...Hume p-pata nahi tha ki aap...K-Kuch nahi...

Aditya: Tumhe kaam nahi hai? Tara ko nahi uthaana hai Kya? Ya Yahaan sirf aish karne aayi Ho?

Zoya: Ya khuda! Tara ko uthaana hai!

[Zoya rushed out of the room and into Tara's room to wake her up.

This was definitely not going to be easy.]

Zoya: (Worried) Tara...Tara...Utho, school jaana hai!

[Tara refused to wake up, and after a good 15 minutes, Zoya finally managed to get her out of her bed and into the shower. She was slowly beginning to realise that this job wasn't going to be a cakewalk.

With just a few minutes to spare, Zoya quickly got Tara ready and quickly fed her breakfast before sending her off to school.]

Nani: Jaanti hoon, Tara hai badi mushkil. Pehle dinn mein hi tumhe itna thaka diya!

Zoya: Arre, nahi nahi Nani, aisi Koi baat nahi hai, Tara se toh ab lagaav lagne laga hai

Nani: Tara bahut choti thi jab isske Maa-baap accident mein guzar gaye. Isske dada-dadi pota chahte the, isliye yeh meri zimmedaari bann gayi. Lekin mera bhi koi bharosa nahi, pata Nahi bhagwaan Mujhe kab——

Zoya: Allah na karein! Allah miyaan Aapko lambi umr dein! 

Nani: Accha Beta tum aaraam karo, Main baazaar jaati hoon

Zoya: Bilqul nahi, hum kiss liye hain phir? Chaliye, aapne aaraam karna hai, theek hai? Bahut kaam kar liya hai aapne

Nani: Zoya, lekin——

Zoya: (Seating Nani) Hum Kuch nahi sunn rahe. Yeh lijiye, Paani. Ab aap Bass Hume bataayein ki hume kya-Kya laana hai

Nani: (Handing money) Yeh lo, thode zyaade diye hai, usse apne liye kapde le lena

Zoya: Nahi Nani, hum Aisa nahi kar sakte

Nani: Main Kuch nahi sunoongi, Chalo abhi

[Obediently, Zoya set out but she had come to realise that roaming around in broad daylight was inviting trouble.

She covered her head and face with the dupatta, only revealing her eyes and stepped out.

Needless to say, she was terrified. What if those men were in the market? What if they spotted her?]

Zoya: (To herself) Allah miyaan, Humaari hifazat karein, pata nahi woh jaanvar wahaan honge toh humaara Kya haal hoga!

[She bravely walked into the market, and whilst clutching the jute bag in her hands, made her way up to the vegetable seller.]

Zoya: (Nervously) B-Bhaiyya...Pav kilo shimla mirch, aloo, pyaaz, tamaatar aur gobi dena

Seller: Ji didi, yeh lijiye...Aur Kuch?

Zoya: N-Nahi...Bhaiyya, Yahaan par fruits kahaan milenge?

Seller: Didi aage jaakar right maaroge toh fruit waala mil jaayega aapko

Zoya: Accha, S-Shukriya

[Zoya followed the directions given and reached the fruit seller, which surprisingly, wasn't crowded.

Soon enough, she returned to the market with a bag of fruits.

She was almost done with her work, and she was slightly relieved. All she had to do was get a few clothes and run home. Nothing wrong could happen now!

She made her way to the clothes store, and very calmly looked at the clothes. She picked out suits with the most muted colors: Pinks, lavenders, greys and light blues. In a way, Yash's demise had taken away most of the color in her life.

The dupatta may have helped her hide herself, because when she suddenly heard the voices of 3 men, her heart began racing. The wind didn't help either, and Zoya, who was holding bags and bags in both her hands, cursed herself and prayed, hoping that her identity wouldn't be revealed. In a second, the end of the dupatta dropped from her head, slowly revealing her face, but luckily for her, the men were just about to turn to look in her direction when she felt a hand on her mouth and hand pull her behind, and against a rather rough concrete wall.

She quickly closed her eyes in fear, but when she slowly opened them, she saw the faint image of a man dressed in the uniform of an Air Force officer. But when she looked into his eyes, she had come to realise that it of course, it was Aditya.]

Zoya: (Scared) A-Aap?! Aap ne Hume dara hi——

Aditya: Tumhe marne ka shaukh hai Kya? Matlab Mujhe yakeen hai bhagwaan ne tumhe dimaag diya hoga, usska istemaal kyun nahi kar leti?

Zoya: W-Woh...

Aditya: Din dahaade, madam chal padi sabziyaan lene! Tumhara akal toh ghutne mein hi hai!

Zoya: Dekhiye, h-hum khamosh hai, isska matlab n-nahi hai ki aap Kuch bhi Bol l-lenge...Afsos hai ki armed forces mein kaam k-karne ke baad bhi aap mein koi t-tameez nahi aayi h-hai

[Aditya's eyes flared up in anger when he heard her words. How dare she insult his work?]

Aditya: (Raising his finger) Khabardaar. Khabardaar jo tumne Mere kaam ke baare Kuch kaha toh!
Ek toh abhi abhi tumhaari madad ki, upar se Mujhe tevar dikha rahi Ho!

Zoya: (Nervously) H-Humne nahi maangi hai aapki m-madad...

[Zoya was scared shitless to go back outside again with those men out there, but a part of her wouldn't let Aditya speak to her in that manner.

She hesitantly wrapped the duppata around her face, this time, more securely, but Aditya also saw the way her fingers shivered and shook as she did that. She picked the bags up and sneakily walked out, past the vegetable seller, and surprisingly, past the group of men, until she heard a voice.]

Man 1:Oye ladki, rukk!

Man 2: Isse kyun roka hai Bhai?

Man 1: Peeche se bilqul Zoya ki tarah dikhti hai, nahi?

Man 2: Kya? nahi toh. Phir bhi, Dekhte hai

[Zoya stopped in her tracks, beyond terrified. There was no way out of this, and she knew she had to give in and surrender. She was about to turn around and give in, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.]

Aditya: (Putting his hand over Zoya's shoulder) Arre, darling kahaan gayi thi tum? Kab se dhoond raha tha tumhe?

[The men stopped and looked at each other confusingly.]

Man 1: (To Aditya) Oye, tu isse jaanta hai?

Aditya: (Surprised) Jaanta hoon? Arre, yeh meri biwi hai! Mrs. Hooda! Mujhse bahut gussa hai!

[Zoya's eyes glared in shock.

What the hell was he saying? ]

Kya karoon, Main Air Force mein kaam karta hoon, aur aksar ghar nahi aa sakta, isliye Dekhiye, rooth ke Chali gayi hai!

[Judging by his uniform, the men had believed him, and in turn, became sympathetic to him.]

Man 2: Arre Arre, Bhabhiji, inhe maaf kar dijiye! Desh ke liye kaam karte hai, Aapko inn k a saath dena chahiye!

Aditya: Thank you Bhai! Accha ab hum chalte hai, bye!

[Aditya paced ahead, next to Zoya, who was frozen like a statue, and continued his acting.]

Aditya: Arre darling, Itna saman akeli kyun le rahi Ho? Do, bag do, Arre tumhaara farz bannta hai ki tum apna bojh Mere saath baant sako!

[Zoya Angrily looked at him, as he took the bags from her hand, and quickly held it before quickly walking ahead.

Once they were at a safe distance, she angrily pushed his hand off hers, and pulled her dupatta off, ready to rage.]

Zoya: Aapki himmat kaisi hui Hume iss tarah chune ki! Nihaaiti besharam aur badtameez aadmi hai aap! Aur Kya keh rahe the aap? Aapki biwi? Mrs. Hooda! Aap mein zameer naam ki cheez hai bhi ya nahi? Beghairati ki bhi———

Aditya: Shut up! Yeh Urdu kissi par jhaado, samjhi?

Bajaai yeh ki tum mera shukriyada karo, tum Mujh par chilla rahi Ho?

Zoya: Madad nahi maangi thi aapki! Hum apne aap ko unnke hawaale karne waale the!

Aditya: Accha? Isliye 4 dinn pehle meri baahon mein girkar ro rahi thi, hain na?

Zoya: (Embarrassed) Woh...

Aditya: Tum khud ko samajhti kya ho? Bhagwaan Ho? Khuda Ho? Ho Kya tum?

Zoya: Dekhiye——

Aditya: Aur Haan, Please yeh mat samajhna ki Main tum mein interested hoon, ya wahaan woh naatak karne mein Mujhe koi khaas mazaa aaya!
Main tumhe sirf isliye jhel raha hoon kyun ki Tara ko tumhaari zaroorat hai. Main dinnbar kaam karta hoon, isliye usska khyaal nahi rakh sakta, lekin Mere liye woh meri beti ki tarah hai, samjhi?

Zoya: Aap tameez se——

Aditya: Aur Haan madam, ab aapki khwaaish Main poori kar lunga. Aaj ke baad, Main Aapki kabhi madad nahi karunga

[He stormed off, while Zoya annoyingly turned and walked home.

Did she overreact? Or was her anger justified?]

——————————-

Here you goooooo!!

Also omg while writing this I was imagining Adi in an Air Force uniform ufffff 😍😍😍

Hope you guys liked it! Please vote if you did ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for reading!!