Crossroads (Completed✅)

Chapter 8: Block

Zoya was lying on her bed, thinking. She has had sleeping issues since Yash passed away. When Yash was alive, she used to talk to him over the phone before going to sleep. Yash was with her even when he was in a different city. But now she was not able to reach him, no matter how hard she tried. Sometimes Zoya would dial Yash’s number to listen to his recorded voice. Zoya missed Yash like she couldn’t explain. She even missed her family. She missed being happy, being content, being the simple Mussoorie girl she was. Now she was in a new city, taking care of an event management company. She is meeting people, figuring out the corporate life. She tried to be happy, but something was missing. The warmth of family, the warmth of love. She was missing it all. Sometimes Zoya thought of going back to her house, to her family in Mussoorie. But she can’t now, she is fighting for her husband. Making Zosh successful was Yash’s greatest dream. He gave his life and time to fulfil that dream and he left in between. Now it’s up to Zoya to make sure that the dream is realised. That’s what she was living for now. Zoya closed her eyes and it took her hours to go to sleep.

The day was normal. Like every other day. Zoya got up and got ready for office. She had a few upcoming events that needed her attention. Suddenly, the calling bell rang and Zoya went to open the door. It was the courier guy. Zoya got a courier and it was from Yash. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It has been more than six months since Yash had died and the courier coming to her now made no sense. Zoya was confused and scared. She opened the cover and what she saw inside shocked her to her spine. It was divorce papers. Divorce papers sent by Yash for Zoya. It was signed. Zoya’s heart broke in to pieces. It was the kind of pain that she never thought she would feel. It was more painful than the one she felt when she heard about Yash’s death. Betrayal hurt more. Even when she saw Yash’s lifeless body, Zoya still thought that he was with her. His essence was with her because she knew that Yash only loved her and would never leave her for anything. But it was all a lie, Yash’s love was a lie, his care was a lie. Yash had detached himself from Zoya long before his death. He was in love with another woman. He wanted to leave Zoya and give her a divorce.

Zoya’s eyes flooded with tears, she couldn’t see anything clearly. She sat down on the bed and looked around. Everything was blurry, like nothing existed. Zoya’s life played before her eyes, her life after meeting Yash. Their first meet in college. Then going out without anyone else’s knowledge. The first gifts they gave each other. Their first kiss. Her fight with her Abbu to marry Yash. Their Marriage, new house, their five years together. Everything felt like a lie. A blurry dream. Zoya felt betrayed. She felt as though her life meant nothing. Zoya went and sat near the mirror and looked at her reflection. She was disgusted with herself. Her existence seemed to weigh on her shoulders so much that she felt like she was sinking. Zoya stood up and walked to the table. There was a knife on it. She had used it to cut apples last night. Zoya took the knife and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and stood there for some time. Then she held the knife strongly and cut her wrist. Blood flowed with water making the entire bathroom floor red. The pain was unbearable but Zoya’s head couldn’t understand it, it was numb. 

Maya wanted to see Zoya. There was no particular reason. There was never any reason for her to see Zoya. Sometimes she wakes up in the morning and all she wants to do is to see Zoya. Maya never felt anything strange about that. Zoya was her first and only best friend. The last time she had friends was when she was eleven, before she had caught her father with another woman. Maya told everything about her life and family to Zoya. How Maya thought her life was all perfect with her parents, how she thought her father loved her mother, how she found out about her father’s affair with another woman, how she told about it to her mother, how her father started beating her and locking her up in basement and how her mother became an alcoholic and was in a rehab. Maya told Zoya about her maternal grandfather who was the owner of ‘Fashion and the City’ and how he gave his entire property to Maya before his death and now her father was after the company. Maya told everything to Zoya and cried. She cried her heart out. She cried like she had never cried before. After wiping her tears and looking up, she saw tears in Zoya’s eyes. Zoya tried to smile for Maya and she hugged Maya and said that everything will be alright and that she would never leave Maya.

Maya walked to Zoya’s door. It was not locked. She walked in calling Zoya’s name. Zoya was not in the main hall. Maya walked on. She walked to Zoya’s room. The door was wide open. She couldn’t find Zoya there but could hear the sound of shower from inside the bathroom. Maya roamed around in the room and suddenly she saw the divorce papers lying on the floor. She took it and read it. Maya was shocked. Her mind went blank for a moment then suddenly she thought about Zoya. She rushed to the bathroom. It was locked. Maya called Zoya many times but there was no answer. Maya was scared and trembling. She took a statue that was on the table and hit it hard on the door and the glass on it broke. She put her hand inside and unlocked the door. Maya rushed in to see Zoya lying in a pool of blood. Maya thought that her heart stopped. She felt as though it was not Zoya who was dying but it was Maya herself. The pain was unbearable but she had to do something. In her heart she knew that there was not much time left so she ripped her shawl and tied it around Zoya’s hand and tried to wake Zoya up. Zoya didn’t respond. Maya cried hard she then got up and went outside to get her phone and called ambulance.

Maya stayed near Zoya till the ambulance came holding her close to her heart. Maya cried all the way to the hospital saying in her breathe that she won’t let anything happen to Zoya. When they reached the hospital Zoya was taken to the ICU and doctor said that there was a lot of blood lose but they will try their best. Maya stood outside the room for more than two hours. She just stood there trembling and lifeless. Then the doctor came and said that Zoya survived and she will be fine soon. A lone tear fell from Maya’s eye. She went near the room where Zoya was shifted to and looked through the glass at the person she loved the most in this world. Maya knew at that movement about how much Zoya meant to her. She promised to herself that she would never let Zoya get hurt ever in her life and will always be there for Zoya no matter what she had to do for it. Maya was not a person who knew limits but now her love for Zoya was not just limitless but also destructive. It was fear, it was madness, it was everything that she tried to hide for all these years. The part of her that she feared would be out of control. The part that knew no edge. The part that would love without a reason, that would destroy for love. Maya was unknowingly falling for Zoya in such a way that it was going beyond everything, pushing out the insanity she had tried hard to suppress within.

Amrutha