In The Stars || AdiYa FF

Chapter 2 - A Meeting (Feb 10-11)

***{Somewhere along the Delhi-Jaipur highway}***

Aditya Hooda was in a bad mood. Come to think of it, in the past 30 years of his existence he had hardly been in a good mood. Maybe in his childhood, if so he was having a hard time recalling.

Another bump in the road and another curse word flew out of his mouth. This drive from Jaipur to Delhi was not going smoothly at all. The fact that it was close to midnight was not helping. There were trucks lined along the Jaipur-Delhi highway. Adding to that the heavy fog, which had reduced visibility, prevented him from over-speeding. The drive, which shouldn't have taken more than 5 hours, was close to bordering 7.

He wasn't supposed to be going to Delhi. His initial plan was to wrap up work in Jaipur and fly back home to Mumbai. He was all set for it when his younger brother Arjun called him and reminded him of the annual Valentines day party, 3 days later, that their parents religiously hosted. Amidst juggling work and travel, the party had completely skipped his mind.

He was sickened to the brim with his father and mother's display of love in front of the public. He had to watch and internally squirm every time his parents put up a show for the media and their clients. And to see that "love" blown to a higher degree on 14th February was not something he was going to do this year.

What a farce of an occasion it was, anyway? Was devoting 1 day a year to love enough when people had no intention of honoring that commitment? His fleeting thoughts went to her, for a split second, before he shook it off.

The Hoodas were a rich business family based in Mumbai, who ran a luxury hotel chain all over India and some parts of Europe. Aditya had taken charge of a land-acquiring deal in Jaipur. A part of him had scooped up the project to be away from home. He would have stayed away forever, if not for his mother Anjana and his younger brother Arjun. They were a big part of his life and; for them, he was their life. He couldn't leave them at the mercy of his egotistical and eccentric father.

But, he could be away, even if for a few days. And that's what he was going to do. There was a new project in Limerick, a small city a few hours from Dublin. The work was to start in last week of Feb, but given that he wanted to leave, he decided to start the project, at least the basic research, early.

He booked a flight from Delhi to Dublin the same evening, informed his father over a text, which earned him an immediate call from his frantic mother. He assured her that the reason was work, and nothing else. Despite the fact that his mother lived in a bubble, knowingly lived in a lie everyday with his father, she seemed to believe his words.

He would have taken a short flight from Jaipur to Delhi but given the heavy fog, and a string of delayed flights, he chose to drive till Delhi.

And this was making him angrier by the second. Why did he have to book everything so suddenly? Why did he have to book a 4am flight? Sometimes he could be so impulsive. Now he would miss his sleep, be jetlagged and would have to get to work with an irritated mood.

The tollbooth ahead of him drew him out of his thoughts and made him realize that he had entered Delhi City. It would take him an hour to reach the airport. The thought gave him some relief.

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***{Delhi International Airport}***

With a just-bought ticket to Dublin and her handbag, Zoya settled in a chair at a somewhat secluded area of the airport. She looked at her wrist watch- it was 9:00pm. Another 7 hours till her flight. And then a 9-hour flight...

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake off the bad feeling that was creeping up her stomach. She decided to call Noor, to let her know all that had transpired. She took out her cellphone- whose battery was quite low, made a mental note of buying a charger and some clothes- and dialled Noor's cellphone.