Tell me you love me

Thunderous night

It was a stormy night. The wind was howling, and red alerts were being issued on the radio. A thunderstorm has been predicted and people were urged to seek shelter. The roads were blocked, and everyone was advised to stay clear of the road, even there were repeated power cuts.

Zoya was crying, these were tears of anger. Her frustration. She doesn't know why she was more hurt on seeing Aditya with another woman than she was over the fact, that he ditched her.

Aditya had been following her and shouting her name but she didn't hear him, as she was lost in her own world, also, there was a lot of commotion, noise, because of the thunder.

It had started drizzling when Aditya finally caught up to her. They had reached her apartment's porch; she lived in a 2 bhk flat on the ground floor of staff quarters.

Aditya, grabbed her by the arm, and roughly pulled her towards him, "who do you think you are? How dare you insult me like that?"

"dare?!! Isme dare ki baat nahi h! yeh sach h! aap batameez aur besharam h toh h. aur zyada natak mat kijiye. Aap ko koi farak nahi padta, aap bas apna kaam nikalna jaante h, aur sudhar namak jumla toh aap ki shaksiyat mein h hi nahi. Toh jaiye yaha se, humara dimag mat khaiye!"

"bas. bahaut. Hua. Zoya...."

Before he could continue, a security guy came over to them, and ushered them into the house, as the weather was turning really violent now. They went into the house, there was a clap of loud thunder and the electricity went out just when Zoya closed the door behind them. They were slightly wet from the rain. Not saying anything, Zoya went in towards the kitchen to get the candles. She lit a few, also lit an emergency light. She brought towels and passed one to Aditya silently. She was about to go away when Aditya grabbed her once again and pulled her closer; he was not done with her yet; he threw away the towel and glaring at her continued from where he left.

" maine aaj jo kiya vo galat tha par tum iss tarah mujhe insult nahi kar sakti. Mat bhoolo ki main abhi bhi tumhara senior hu."

"Senior?!! Are you f***ing serious right now?!! Senior, my foot! Kaha hota h ye senior jab main roz din raat uss lab mein akele struggle kar rahi hoti hu? Respect demand karne se nahi milti, kamani padti h! par aap jaise ahmak aadmi ki samajh se ye baat pare h... ab chodiye hume!" with that she tries to push him, but he tightens his hold.

" haan senior hi hu tumhara! Aur tum lab mein kaam karne hi aayi ho, it is your phd! koi ehsaan nahi kar rahi ho kisi par, by working in there. Tum se do bol achche se kya bol liye, tum toh sar par chad k baith gayi ho mere, kisne haq diya tumhe mujhse yu batameezi karne ka, huh? "

Zoya was still struggling in his hold, " hum ne kaha hume chodiye! Aap ki himmat kaise hui humse iss tarah pesh aane ki?!!"

"himat toh bahaut kuch karne ki h meri, par main tum jaisi faltu ladkiyo par apni energy waste nahi karta", saying that he left her with a jerk. Aditya didn't know what came over him to call her useless like that.

Listening to that zoya had a fresh bout of tears in her eyes. "haan bilkul sahi kaha aapne hum h hi faltu. Aur aapne humari baat hi sach saabit kar di, hum jaante the ki hum aap k liye mehaz time pass h. lekin bas kabhi kabhi ye dil sab kuch jaante hue bhi, galat logo par bharosa karne ki galti kar baithta h. aur aisa hi kuch pooja k saath bhi hua hoga shayad. Aur inn sab mein saari galti toh hum logo ki hi hoti h.... aap toh humesha sahi hote h. aap aate jaate apne se kam umar ki ladkiyo k saath flirt kare toh sahi h, lekin aap ki biwi ko kisi aur sachchi mohabbat ho jaye toh woh cheater. Aap kaamchori kare, inform na kare, batameezi kare, kaam k samaye timepass kare, oche Mazak karte fire sab jayaz h. lekin hum toh ye tak nahi keh sate ki hum thak gaye h aur madd chahte h; hume lagta tha ki aap hume samajhte h' par nahi aap sirf hum bahaut achche se jaante h, itna ki, aap uska faida utha sake...jis tarah vo project humara phd h, vo ussi tarah aap ki bhi job ka hissa h, lekin aap toh apni resposibilties se haath jhad sakte h lekin humse expect kiya jar aha h ki hum khud k kaam k saath saath aap sabke kaam ka bhoj bhi apne sar le le, aur uff tak na kare! Wah! Kya kamal la logic h! na jaane kyu main wapas aayi? Kyu maine kevin ki company chodi... kyu mann mein kahi na kahi ek umeed thi ki aap badal gaye h, aur ab sab kuch theek ho jayega"

Aditya clapped in mockery, and said something which he would regret later, " waah kya speech di h! bichari kaam ki maari zoya nikamme Aditya k saath fas gayi! Aur kaunsi umeed? Kaisi umeed? Koi umeed nahi tumhe mujhse, maine tumhe uss din bhi kaha tha tum sirf logo ko use karna jaanti ho... jab tum yaha wapas aayi thi, toh isliye kyuki tum kevin ko le ke unsure thi, and as I predicted, yes, you replaced me with Kevin. you worked for him, then he got impressed by your false pretence of hard work and innovation, as well as fell for your seemingly innocent child like behaviour; so he offered you partnership to the company as well as proposed marriage. And what you did, you immediately accepted the company partnership, but refused the marriage offer! Why? Because, tum usse sahi mein pyaar thodi karti thi, tumhe toh sirf uski company mein hissa chahiye tha. (^ nobody knew, especially not Aditya, that Zoya was going to propose kevin that day on meeting him. Not even Ashu was aware that Zoya had finally fallen in love with kevin, and was all set to accept it^)

Fir, badkismati se uski death ho gayi, toh madam kit oh halat kharab ho gayi. Because in the long run uski company mein tum kaam nahi karna chahati thi sirf profits mein hissa chahati thi. Isiliye tum bahaut aasani se uski company chod kar yaha wapas aa gayi, kyuki Adi toh zinda h abhi faida uthane k liye. Pata h sabko badi hairani hui thi ki itni badi baat ho gayi aur tum itni normal kaise ho... aur main soch raha tha ki tum badi emotionally strong ho; naah! Tum strong nahi harami ho, isiliye move on kar gayi. N you are right I know you enough, not to use you, but to be careful to not be deceived by you. Chahe jo karna h kar lo tumhe mujhse koi benefits nahi milne wale."

Zoya was listening numbly to him, she was no longer looking at him; the pain of Kevin's death washed over her, more forcefully than ever before. She has never felt this lost and broken before. Without saying anything, she just dragged her feet to her room and shut the door behind her; Aditya made no attempt to follow her or stop her. he too slumped on the couch, as the electricity has not come back yet, and the thunder was still raging on outside. However, that thunder was nothing to one raging outside. Tonight, all boundaries had been crossed. They both hurt each other where it pains the most.