Aditya saw Zoya leave her chamber at 7 in the evening. He wanted to stop her but he knew he had lost the right to do so. He didn't even know how to face her now. What would he go and say ? How could he just ask for forgiveness for something that just couldn't be forgiven. Earlier he had thought he could just beg for her forgiveness and she would give it to him. But now the more he thought about what
he had done, the more it struck him that he had something so awful that it couldn't be rectified by a simple sorry. He closed his eyes and saw a smiling Zoya near him. He wanted to hug her but she just kept sliding away from him. He went after her , he could hear her tinkling laughter fill the hall where he was but he couldn't see her. He shouted for her but she wasn't answering him. He was getting desperate and suddenly everything became dark and he was all alone, even Zoya's laughter had left the hall. He was crying for Zoya but nobody came. Aditya opened his eyes and thought "Ek second ke liye aankhein kya bandh ki , bure sapne aane lag gye. Ab toh Zoya ke bina aankh bandh karne mein bhi dar lag rha hai. Aaj samajh mein aa rha hai ki voh mere liye kitna maayeine rakhti hai. Voh ek din ke liye mere se alag rhi aur mujhe lag rha hai ki ek saal ho gya hai. Meri bewakoofi ki wajah se main usse door hoon. Aur ek pal ke liye toh main ya maan bhi loon ki voh mujhe uspe shaq karne ke liye maaf bhi kar degi, lekin maine jo uske bhai ke liye bola, uske liye kaise maaf kar de voh mujhe. Main khud ko maaf nhi kar sakta toh main kis mooh se usse maafi maangoon?."

"Nhi maaf kar sakte hai hum, na unko na khud ko. Humein unke shaq karne se zyada unke shabdon se ghin aa rhi hai. Unse zyada koi nhi jaanta ki humein Iqbaal ki maut ko lekar kitni saari takleefein hai, aur unhone vohi baat boli. Gusse mein hi sahi hum kabhi unhe Pooja ke baare kabhi kuch nhi kehte. Aur unhone. Galti ho gyi humse ki humne usne pyaar kiya." said Zoya sitting on the bed of dark and dingy room of a girls hostel.

Her alter ego said "Aur tum khud ko kyun nhi maaf kar sakti ho ?"

"Kyunki humein unko samjhana chaiye tha jab voh chilla rhe the. Humein apne gusse pe kaaboo rakhna chaiye tha. Humein pata tha ki unko Sahir ko leke insecurities hai and he always fears of losing people because of his past, lekin phir bhi hum aadhi raat ko Sahir se milne gye. Hum bhi toh yeh kaam shaam ko kar sakte the. Aur phir humne Aditya pe haath uthaya. Agar ek aadmi ka aurat pe haath uthana galat hai toh yeh ek aurat ke liye bhi galat hai. Aur itni zor se lagi thi unhe. Aur phir humne unhe bola ki voh mare ya jiye humein farak nhi padta, isse acha agar hum unhe sach tabhi bol dete toh aaj yeh sab hota hi nhi." said Zoya.

"Toh tum jaake usse baat kyun nhi kar leti ? Ek miscommunication ki wajah se already itna kuch ho gya, ab agar tum ab bhi baat nhi karogi toh baat aur badegi."said the alter ego.

"Hum kyun baat karein ? Humesha hum kyun baat karke unko samjhaye. Voh bacche nhi hai. Galti unki humse zyada hai , unhe humse aake baat karni chaiye. Lekin voh toh ek baar call karne tak ki himmat nhi rakh rhe hai." said Zoya

"Baat himaat ki nhi hai Pooja. Baat yeh hai ki main usse kahoonga kya ? Oh sorry Zoya, maine tumhe galat samjha. Chalo maaf kar do." said Aditya to his alter ego which had taken the form of Pooja as it usually did when he was in a dilemma.

Pooja said "Adi , tu cheezien theek karne ki koshish nhi karega toh cheezien apne aap toh sahi nhi ho jayegi na? Zoya ko sapna toh nhi aayega na ki tu guilt mein hai , use toh yehi lagega na ki tu ego ki wajah se usse sorry bhi nhi bol sakta. Aur usko toh yeh bhi nhi pata hai ki you love her. Tune raita phailaya hai tu hi sametaga na ."

"Dekh Pooja, galti uski bhi thi. Kaun sa insaan aadhi raat ko ek ladke se milne jata hai. Its obvious for me to doubt her. Aur vaise toh itni samjahdaar hai , itni si baat usko samajh nhi aa rhi thi use ki mujhe use khone ka dar hai. And why cant she understand that I am not calling because I am unable to find the right words. She should at least call me and fight with me."

"Kyunki voh thak chuki hai Adi. Voh tera emotional baggage aur nhi sambhal sakti. Tu apne past se bahar aana hi nhi chahta , chahe voh kitni bhi koshish kar le. She is tired of being the mature one in this relation , she wants you to fix this and she is right in wanting so. Tu humesha yeh nhi expect kar sakta hai ki voh tujhe samjhe aur voh tere ghaav aake bhare . Tujhe bhi use samjhna hoga. Because at the moment you have proved you don't understand her at all by taking about her brother like that." said Pooja

"I said that because I was hurt. I wanted to hurt her as well. Jinse aap pyaar karte ho unhi pe sabse zyada gussa aata hai na." said Aditya

"Oh shut up Aditya. Pyaar hai toh kuch bhi bolne ka haq nhi hai tujhe. Bacchon ki tarah baat mat kar. Agar tune aaj kal mein Zoya se baat karke sab sahi nhi kiya toh Zoya humesha ke liye tujhe chod ke chali jayegi. " said Pooja.

"Humein unko divorce nhi dena lekin agar voh iss baare mein humse baat nhi karenge toh humare paas aur koi chaara nhi hai. Hum aise roz ro ro kar apni zindagi nhi nikal sakte." said Zoya

"Toh tum divorce ke baad khush rahogi?"
said the alter ego.

"Khush nhi rahenge lekin confusion mein toh nhi rahenge na ki rishta hai ya nhi. Aditya ki baaton se itna toh pata lag gya ki voh humse pyaar nhi karte the aur humko samajhte bhi nhi the." said Zoya.

"Toh tumhe lagta hai voh itna insecure isliye tha kyunki voh tumse pyaar nhi karta. Come on Zoya , don't be an idiot. Even you know he loves you just like you love him." said the alter ego.

"Agar unka pyaar aise dikhta hai toh voh pyaar na hi karein toh theek rahega."
said Zoya .

"Pyaar karti ho usse abhi bhi tum?" said the alter ego.

"Yeh kaisa sawaal hai ? Obviously I love him. Ek raat mein pyaar toh khatam nhi ho sakta na. Gussa hai lekin pyaar toh rahega hi na." said Zoya

"Toh phir yeh alag hone ki baat kyun kar rhi ho. Agar pyaar karti ho toh at least give him some time to come to you. Galti kis se nhi hoti Zoya. Aditya perfect toh nhi hai na , gusse mein cheezien mooh se nikal jaati hai because you just want to hurt that person at that time. Aditya ne bhi vohi kiya. Kal tum dono ki galti thi , jismein I agree galti Aditya ki zyada thi. Lekin agar yehi baat tum badhne dogi toh Aditya ko humesha ke liye kho dogi. Just think is your love greater than your anger for him? If the answer is yes then go and talk to him." said the alter ego.

"Mera has ek hi sawal hai tumse, why isn't Aditya willing to take the first step because the loss will be for both of us? Why is he ready to let go of me so easily? Why cant he for once take our matter in his own hands and save our relationship?" said Zoya.

"Voh apna pyaar dikha chuki hai Aditya. Ab teri baari hai. Agar voh tere liye utni hi important hai jitna ki tujhe lagta hai toh ja aur baat kar usse. Go beg for her forgiveness and keeping asking for it until she gives it. You owe it to her. You have to talk to her. You cannot use the excuse of "being so guilt ridden that you cant talk to her" to not take the first step. Aur agar voh tere liye utni important nhi hai toh azaad kar de use iss rishte se. Let her go. Because she is definitely not going to mend anything this time. The choice is yours Adi."said Pooja.

Aditya and Zoya both went near their respective windows and looked outside. Tears filled both their eyes at the cruelty of their fate. Things could have been so different today. Both of them would have confessed their love to each other, Adi would have been over the moon by looking at Zoya's efforts to surprise him, they would have laughed and smiled by recalling their past moments together, they would have come closer today maybe and shared a kiss perhaps. But all that was shattered now. They searched for the moon to give them some light and hope in that dark and long night but even the moon had left their side. They were all alone. Aditya recalled how Zoya and he used to look at the constellations and how he would narrate stories of Orion and Sirius to her and how she would listen to him ,mesmerized.
Zoya suddenly spotted cockroach in her room and thought of the time when Aditya had hidden behind her scared and was shouting and asking her to get rid of that giant monster. She smiled recalling his antics.
Aditya paced around his room and touched their photographs. He looked at a candid photo of theirs where he was pulling Zoya's ears. He looked around the room and whatever he saw reminded of their time together. There was nothing which couldn't remind him of her. They had too many memories together. From his clothes to the television remote everything was screaming Zoya.

Zoya was going through the same thing in her room. Even the squeaking of the fan reminded her of Aditya. He had been scared that there was a mouse in his room once when the fan in their room was making a sound. Zoya tossed and turned in her bed thinking about whether Aditya too was going through the same pain.

But she was adamant this time , no matter how much pain it caused her , she wouldn't be the one to talk things out. Now it was upto Aditya to prove how much she meant to him.

Hi my loyal readers.
I am extremely sorry for the delay. But there were too many things to be done. Do tell me how you found this chapter.
I will be ending this book soon , so let me know if there is anything you want to see. I will be starting a new book too , so any prompts for a story do share. Waiting for a postive response and loads of comments.
Next update will surely be done by this week.
I love you guys.
Happy Reading.
Cold Dragon