In The Stars || AdiYa FF

Chapter 20 - A Question and Some Confusion (Apr)

It had been close to a week since Aditya and Arjun had come to Mussoorie.

When Aditya got a call, sometime back from Wasim and later Noor Siddiqui, the last thing he was expecting was an offer for merger. He didn't even know that his father had become friends with Wasim and was looking into buying in one of their new hotels.

Aditya had calculated the pros and cons of the proposal and the pros outweighed the cons by a big margin. However, as astute as Harshvardhan was, they had decided to do an on-site check to confirm their observations. Which meant Aditya was to go to Mussoorie.

Official work had taken a back seat in his mind as soon as his father suggested the trip. He was going to Mussoorie, to Zoya, to work with her. Meaning he would be in constant contact with her... in person. No awkward texts, no silence heavy phone-calls.

Though this could've been a one-man job, Arjun insisted that he tag along. When Harsh had told Arjun that there wasn't any need for him to travel, he had smirked, "Dad, I wouldn't miss this for anything."

Aditya had glared at him to which his younger brother laughed. This earned them a quizzical look from Harsh who didn't question them since he knew this was something between the brothers.

Noor, her younger sister had called after and requested him not to let Zoya know. She wanted her Appi to be surprised. Aditya racked his brains over the statement- Was Aditya's arrival a source of surprise for Zoya? Was she as eager to see him as he was?

That was a week back. A week- since they had arrived in Mussoorie. Even though work had been a secondary factor for Aditya, it was however taking up all of his time. He had frequent meetings with Wasim, Noor and Zoya, sometimes as a group, sometimes individually. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw Zoya working in her family business and taking lead. The rest of his and Arjun's days were spent in doing on-site verification, discussing with employees and contractors and going over the financials of the company.

Too much work had hardly left him any time to focus on what he had actually come to do here.

When Friday rolled by and brought an end to the 2nd week of April, Aditya finally decided to be more proactive. After wrapping up a meeting, as Noor and Arjun had exited, he stopped Zoya who was about to head out.

"The first week's been quite hectic," Aditya made his opening statement walking towards her till be was at a hand's distance from her.

Zoya nodded, "This is a big merger, for both of us. I am happy the work is progressing at a good pace. I'll have out accountant draw up-."

"Zoya," he interrupted sensing that she would steer this conversation into office-work, "It's the weekend. We can take a break."

She smiled, "Sorry. It's my first big deal and I am kinda... nervous about it. I don't want to screw this up."

"You wont," he replied and she smiled again. A silence set between them

A knock on the glass door cut through the quietness. Noor and Arjun were waiting outside. Aditya gestured with his finger for a minute. Both the younger siblings resumed their chatting outside.

"So... I was wondering... if... you know..." he stuttered, "Well... you know..."

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

This was more difficult that he had anticipated, "Well... we," he gestured his hands between them, "We've been working non-stop since a week. I was wondering if we could take a break... like go to a dinner maybe?" He got the question out before he lost his nerve.