In The Stars || AdiYa FF

Chapter 11 - Back on the road (Feb 16)

There was a crick in Zoya's neck the next morning. She massaged her weary shoulder with her fingertips, standing beneath the shower. She was hoping the warmth in the water would help mitigate the ache she had in her neck and shoulder. Sleeping on the tiny couch had been as uncomfortable as sleeping on the car seat. Sleeping would be going too far; she had intermittent naps throughout the night waking up every couple of hours, sometimes after every few minutes. Somehow the night had at last passed and morning was on them.

Aditya had showered first and then left the room, giving her the privacy to freshen up. The next phase of her journey was a couple of hours drive to Limerick and then a few hours of a bus or train ride to Dublin.

She wiped the condensation off the small mirror hanging on the wall of the bathroom. Her eyes were somewhat puffy and red, due to the lack of sleep. The shoulder and neck ache was now ebbing away. Just a few hours more, she told herself.

She put on a peach coloured top with black jeans and brown boots, carrying along a brown jacket. She had gone through almost all the new clothes that she had hurriedly bought at the Delhi airport. She kept her night suit in one of the shopping bags.

There was a knock on the door, she opened it to find Aditya holding a black trolley bag.

"It's for you," he said, pushing the bag to her. "You have been carrying all your stuff in shopping bags. It was high time you had a suitcase."

She looked for the bag and then at him, "Umm... thanks. You didn't have to. How much was it? I'll add it to the amount that I need to pay you for the trip."

He waved a hand at her, "It wasn't a big deal. I had time so I drove to the town."

She was about to insist when he spoke, "We should get going. You are yet to have breakfast downstairs and then we need to clear our bill with Ivy. It's 10am already."

Zoya nodded, thanking him again for the bag. He dragged his already packed suitcase and left the room. She put the new bag on the bed, and started placing her clothes in it.

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Aditya was putting the 2 bags in the boot of his rental car and Zoya was bidding Frank and Ivy goodbye. She complimented them on their lovely house and the great time that she had in it. She thanked them for their generous hospitality and their help with the car situation.

"Take good care of yourself and that husband of yours," Ivy was saying.

Zoya felt a pinch of guilt that she had lied to the old couple about her and Aditya's marital status. They seemed so nice.

Ivy continued, "That man really cares for you. You can see it in his eyes."

This statement caught Zoya off-guard. Either Ivy was too hopeless of a romantic or Aditya was that good an actor. Either way, their small lie had worked better than she had presumed.

She smiled weakly in reply, not wanting to further elongate the conversation in this direction.

Ivy, however, had no intention of letting it go, "It's in the way he looks at you. Like he is, right now."

Zoya arched an eyebrow. Aditya didn't 'look' at her in any way especially along the lines that Ivy was implying. Did he? A tiny doubt cast her mind and she craned her head to where he was.

He was leaning against the car door, arms across his chest, a tiny hint of smile on his lips and his eyes, just like Ivy had claimed, were on her. When her gaze met his, he glanced away. An unusual feeling was taking hold in the pit of her stomach.