The Addiction of Love

VII

Shayaan sat in the staff room, thinking about the events of the morning. He felt awful about how he behaved with Zara. For the last few weeks, he wasn't able to understand his feelings about her. It was like out of nowhere, she had become important to him.

He knew that he needed to talk to someone about it, and there was only one person who could help him. His best friend, Saad.

He texted him, and Saad replied with the address of a cafe where they could meet. Since Saad worked in a corporate company, he would be free only after 7, so they decided to meet at 08:00 pm.

Shayaan went home and took a nap. He woke up at 6:30, showered and got dressed in a black jeans and a t-shirt. He finished the look with a black leather jacket and grey colored shoes.

His gps guided him to the cafe, where he gave his car keys to the valet and went inside. It was a rooftop cafe, and since it was a Friday night, it was quite crowded.

A waitress guided him towards his table, and gave him the menu cards. Shayaan looked at his watch and released an irritated sigh at his friend's tardiness. He ordered a mocktail for himself while waiting.

Finally at 8:20, Saad made his entrance.

"You can never arrive on time, can you?" Shayaan mocked Saad as soon as he took his seat.

"You can never arrive late, can you?" Saad retorted back.

Shayaan glared at him, while Saad just chuckled. "If you know that I always come late, then why do you even bother to arrive on time?"

Shayaan just rolled his eyes. "You know I hate arriving late anywhere. It is a way of wasting your and other's time."

Saad had heard this line numerous times from him, so he didn't bother replying. Instead, he called for a waiter and they placed their respective orders.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Saad brought the topic up.

Shayaan sighed while moving his finger on the rim of his mocktail glass. He knew there was no easy way to do it, so he just told Saad everything from the very beginning. While listening to the story, Saad's face showed different expressions at different times, but he spoke nothing.

When Shayaan finished speaking, Saad had a big smile on his face, "Shayaan Baig, you're in love!"

"What? No!" Shayaan spoke immediately.

"Yes, you are. My boy is in love!" Saad's voice was filled with joy.

"That's stupid. She is my student."

"It doesn't matter! She isn't going to stay your student forever."

"But, Saad.." Shayaan stopped midway as his eyes fell on the table that was placed diagonally to theirs. On that table sat Shivaansh, Avni, Nitya, Sandy, and Zara.

"What happened?" Saad asked, and looked where he was looking. He found a group of five people laughing and talking.

"Who are they?"

"Zara and her friends."

"Really?" Saad's excitement was back. "Which one is my bhabhi?"

Normally, he'd have glared at Saad and told him that she was not his bhabhi, but he was in such a daze looking at the gorgeous Zara that he just replied with, "The one wearing white, sitting next to the guy."

Saad saw how intently Shayaan was looking at Zara. He smirked and said, "And you say that you're not in love with her!"

This broke Shayaan's daze. "I am not in love with her."

"Okay. Maybe not yet, but you're sure on your way to falling in love with her."

Shayaan looked at Zara again. She was laughing while Nitya was telling her something. Seeing her carefree laugh, and twinkle in her eyes made him smile as well.

"Maybe," He replied back to Saad.

About fifteen minutes later, Shayaan saw Zara getting up. She turned her back towards Shayaan's table, and walked towards the washroom. And as soon as she turned her back towards him, he felt his breath halted. She was wearing a backless dress. The sight of her naked back affected his body, and his hold on his glass tightened.

"I'll be back." He said to Saad, and walked to follow her.

He reached outside the women's washroom, and waited outside. A few minutes later, Zara came out while humming a song, but both her humming and steps stopped when she found Shayaan outside.

"Sir?" She was out of words.

In reply, he just held her hand and took her aside. It was a dim lighted passageway that led towards the bar. He pressed her body against the wall of the passageway and rested one hand on the wall, beside her head, while the other one was still holding her hand. His tall frame towered over her.

"What are you..?" She whispered but he shushed her with his index finger on her soft lips.

He lightly rubbed his finger on her lips, and it made Zara close her eyes in response. He took his sweet time staring at her angelic face, while his fingers slowly moved from her lips, to her left cheek, then to her left ear.

He leaned a little closer to her. When Zara felt his breath on her forehead, her hands curled her knee-length dress.

"I wanted to apologize to you." He whispered to her.

She opened her eyes and asked, "About what?"

"For scolding you today."

"You're my teacher. You have the right to scold me." She was whispering too.

"But it was your birthday." He said, and then twirled his finger around her hair. "I'm sorry."

All the blood of her body rushed towards her face, and her cheeks got red. "It's okay."

He kept staring at her till she couldn't take it anymore. She pushed him away lightly, and ran from there.

"What took you so long?" Sandy asked as soon as Zara came back to the table.

"There was a long line." Zara took a seat.

"Are you okay? You look flushed!" Avni commented.

Zara put both her palms on her cheeks. "Nothing. It is just hot in here."

Zara saw Shayaan come a few minutes later. He smirked at her while settling on his table, which made her blush again. Saad noticed this, and raised his eyebrows. "What happened there?"

"Something!" Shayaan said with a smile and picked up his fork to take a bite of his pasta.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

What do I say? Is it just me or are you crushing on Shayaan too?