Zaroorat

Chapter 8

Aditya sat by the reception desk of airlines' head offices in Mumbai. Dhiren was in a meeting so Aditya was asked to wait. He tapped his feet and rocked back and forth nervously, unsure of what would transpire in the meeting.

A few minutes later Dhiren came out to the reception desk but Adi was too engrossed in looking at the ground to notice so Dhiren tapped him on the shoulder.

'Adi my boy, how are you?'

Aditya leapt out of the chair at the greeting and smiled.

'Dhiren, it's good to see you. I'm fine...I'm good. Things are much better.'

Dhiren then led Adi into his office and asked him to take a seat.

'Aditya, I'm glad you called today. I heard from some of the other pilots that you were in Paris. When did you get back?'

'It's been a few weeks now Dhiren but I was sorting out a few things in my personal life so I didn't call you before.'

Dhiren was Adi's boss but he was also his mentor. He'd seen Adi train and become a skilled and accomplished pilot. He'd been invited to Adi and Pooja's wedding and had seen the way Adi had loved and then been destroyed by Pooja's betrayal. It had been a difficult decision to ask him to take a 6 month sabbatical but it was necessary, not only per the airlines guidelines but also for Aditya's health. But the man that sat before him today was a man recovered. He could see a little bit of the old Aditya in him and hoped the time would soon come to allow him back into the cockpit.

'Adi I'm glad you're back and feeling better. I'm happy you called. We've been waiting for you.'

Up until that point, Adi had been very worried about his future as a pilot but hearing Dhiren's words allowed him to calm down a little and he settled into his seat and began,

'Dhiren I'm ready. I'm ready to give my test and fly again. It's my calling and my passion. Please tell me what I need to do.'

Dhiren smiled in response

'Adi I'm so happy to see them same fire in your eyes that I saw all those years ago. We would be lucky to have you back but yes you do need to do the test. I can schedule you in for tomorrow if you like but if that's too soon we can wait a few days or a week?'

Adi's eyes lit up.

'Tomorrow is perfect. I'm ready, I don't want to wait any longer.'

'Great Aditya! Come to the offices at 9am sharp. The instructor will take you to the simulation room and then you'll go to the airport for a few formalities. It's going to take the whole day to do. If you pass then renewing your license will take a few weeks so hopefully you'll be back in about a month.'

Aditya couldn't help himself and rushed forward to hug Dhiren.

'Thank you boss! You won't regret it! I'll be here sharp 9am tomorrow.'

With that he left the office and jumped in his car. He was ecstatic and wanted to talk his family but the first person he absolutely had to tell was his Zoya. She had supported him today and he wanted to make her proud so he drove back to the offices as fast as he could to share the news with her.

***

Zoya kept her eyes on the clock in her office. It had been 2 hours since Arshad had called and about 2.5 hours since Adi had left. She was getting increasingly nervous as to what was to come. She was worried about what would happen if Adi and Arshad bumped into each other. She didn't want any kind of confrontation to occur but she felt like she had little control over the situation.

A knock at the door brought her back to reality.
Akanksha peeked her head in and said,

'Ma'am there's a Dr Arshad Habib here to see you. He said he has an appointment but I can't see anything on your calendar. Can I send him in?'