In The Stars || AdiYa FF

Chapter 13 - Kindred spirits? (Feb 16-17)

The cup of coffee sat untouched in front of Zoya. She was back to her hotel room with Aditya. It was close to 11pm. Ever since they got from the Arora house (a couple of hours back), he had been with her, not saying anything but providing company.

She welcomed both- the silence and the company. She needed the silence to reflect upon her life especially the part she had spent with Yash. 1 year of togetherness, 1 year of supposed love yet Yash had lied to her, blatantly. She wondered how many times he must have been dishonest to her in the past and she, like a fool, couldn't even comprehend. She had trusted Yash; she had fought with her father for him and he....

A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it with the back of her hand, sniffling. Aditya sat still, on a chair adjacent to hers, giving her all the time she needed. A small part of her was glad that he was with her. A stranger, whom she had met by chance on the airplane, had provided her with support when her own boyfriend was ditching her.

Her mind wandered off to what Yash was hiding? The simplest answer was an affair. He was cheating on her. He must be... Why else would he concoct such an elaborate plan to fool her? But a small part of her mind reasoned something else- what if he was in trouble, where he couldn't tell anyone and hence had to lie to everyone. It could be possible... maybe he was dealing with something and he didn't want to involve anyone else...

"Zoya," Aditya's voice was soft yet it startled her, "you should eat something."

She shook her head, "I am not hungry."

"You should-," Aditya was suggesting when she interrupted.

"Please," there was frustration and exhaustion in her voice, "Just please stop telling me what to do."

She had tried Yash's phone again, this time from the landline in her room as she had broken her iPhone earlier. He was not receiving her calls. If he was in India, it would be late in the night and maybe he was asleep.

She stood up and paced the length of the room, "I can't keep sitting idly. I need to find Yash and what he is up to. He won't pick up the damn phone and I don't even know where he is."

"What phone does Yash have?" Aditya asked abruptly.

Zoya's face scrunched in confusion, yet she answered, "An iPhone. Same as mine."

"Do you happen to know his apple id and password?" there was a tint of hope in his voice.

She nodded, "Yeah. I bought both the phones together. I set up his account."

Aditya jumped to his feet and rushed to the side table where his handbag was kept. He took out his laptop and turned it on. Zoya was puzzled and intrigued at the same time. She walked over and sat next to him.

He answered her unspoken query, "There's a 'find my phone' feature which lets the user track his mobile. Here," he turned the laptop to her, "type in the id and password." Zoya did as she was asked, internally grateful that Yash never bothered to change the account details.

Once they had logged in to Yash's icloud account, Aditya clicked on an app titled 'Find my iPhone.' A small colorful spinning wheel appeared at the center of the screen indicating that the map was being loaded. Zoya counted the seconds, her heartbeat rising with each number. Finally the page finished loading and the expanse of a city was displayed. A small green dot indicated Yash's phone.

"Yash is here," Aditya pointed to the dot on the screen, "In Mumbai."

"Mumbai..." she repeated. Why would he be there? In her time with him, he had never mentioned Mumbai to her. He had gone to other cities citing business but never Mumbai. Was it on purpose that he his this city? -Because he never wanted her to have any inkling...