The Addiction of Love

VIII

Throughout the dinner, Zara and Shayaan kept stealing glances with each other.

When Zara's group was done eating, Shiv signalled the waiter and in five minutes, a delicious chocolate cake was sitting in front of Zara. The waiter lit the candles, and Nitya asked her to make a wish before blowing them.

Zara looked at Shayaan, who was already staring at her before closing her eyes. After making a silent prayer, she blew out the candles and cut the cake. After feeding everyone, she asked the waiter to do something.

The waiter nodded at her, and took the cake away. A few minutes later, the same waiter served Shayaan and Saad the slices of the same cake.

"She sent it." He informed them, while pointing at Zara.

Saad gave Shayaan a teasing smirk before indulging in his slice, while Shayaan took his bite while looking directly in Zara's eyes.

The cake that was left was packed in the box and given to Zara. After settling the bill, the group stood up to leave.

Zara wore her denim jacket and adjusted her hair, then gave Shayaan one final smile before walking out with her friends.

Zara, Avni and Nitya got in the backseats of the car, so Sandy was left with no other choice but to sit in the passenger seat.

They reached Avni's home almost an hour later, thanks to Delhi's traffic. The three girls from the back got off.

Nitya turned towards Sandy. "Are you sure you won't stay?"

Sandy gave her a sad smile. "I really want to, but you know my parents."

"It's okay, we understand." Zara said.

Zara and Nitya were having a girl's night at Avni's place, but Sandy couldn't come because her father hadn't allowed her.

"Shiv, drop her back safely." Nitya ordered him before he started the car and zoomed off.

In the past two weeks, Sandy had started to help Shiv with his mock interviews. They still didn't talk much, but it was better than before.

The car was silent except for the songs that were playing on the speaker. They were almost fifteen minutes away from her home when Sandy spoke in a hurried voice, "Stop the car!"

Shiv pressed on the brakes immediately and the car stopped with a jerk. "What?"

She meekly pointed towards an ice cream stall. They were near India Gate, and there were a few people outside, eating ice creams or just walking around.

"You want ice cream?" Shiv asked.

Sandy nodded. "Yes, please."

She gave him her puppy dog eyes, and he just sighed. "Fine!"

She grinned and took off her seatbelt. But before she could get out of the car, Shiv stopped her. He got out himself, and opened the back door. There was a duffle bag there which he opened and took out a jacket. He gave it to Sandy and asked her to wear it over her off-shoulder top. She was confused for a second as to why he did that, but when she got out of the car and saw a few men loitering around, she understood. She was touched by his care.

They walked to the stall and got themselves ice cream, then came back to the car. Shiv jumped on the bonnet of the car. Sandy tried to sit on it too, but her heels didn't cooperate with her. Shiv just smiled at her futile efforts before giving her his hand and pulling her up.

Once they both were settled, they ripped off their wrappers and started eating.

"You look like you haven't eaten ice cream in years!" Shiv joked when he saw her licking some melted ice cream off her fingers.

"That's right. I haven't eaten it in more than a year." She nonchalantly said.

"What? A year?" He was shocked.

"My mom had put me on a diet since I was sixteen. I'm not allowed to have ice cream." She informed him.

"Seriously? Who does that?"

"My mom does."

Shiv kept looking at her, while she continued eating.

"You know you don't have to torture yourself by dieting and all, Sandhya." His voice was genuine, but what hit her was him calling her by her full name. She couldn't even remember when was the last time somebody called her that, except for her parents. But when her parents called her Sandhya, it was with no emotion whatsoever.

She looked at him in surprise. "No one ever calls me Sandhya. It doesn't go with my cool image."

"Well, I think Sandhya suits you much better." He smiled, and she couldn't help but return her smile. This was by far the longest and deepest conversation they'd had.

"And by the way, dusk is my favorite part of the day!" He winked at her. It took a few seconds for her to understand what he said, but when she did, she just blushed and lowered her eyes, while he laughed out loud.

They stayed silent for sometime before she looked at him and cautiously placed her head on his shoulder. She half expected him to move away, but instead, he just rested his cheek on her head.

In that moment of silence, they conversed a thousand words without opening their mouths.

And at the very moment, a few kilometers away, Zara was lying on Avni's bed. She had changed into her pyjamas, while Nitya was showering and Avni had gone to the kitchen to make some tea.

Exactly at 11:59pm, a text popped up in Zara's phone. It was from Shayaan.

I know I wasn't the first person to wish you, but I can be the last one. Happy birthday, Zara.
Shayaan

Numerous butterflies erupted in her stomach while reading that. When did her khadoos professor become such a sweetheart?

Avni entered the room with three cups, so Zara hurriedly typed a 'Thank you so much' with a red heart emoji. But before hitting send, she thought that maybe the red heart would be too much, so she replaced it with a blue one.

That night witnessed those four souls embark on their journey of love.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

All those who didn't understand Shiv's 'dusk' joke, google the meaning of Sandhya.

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