Zoya put her head back on the seat of the car and took a long deep breath closing her eyes. Aditya looks at her face, she looked tired. He slightly turned to the back seat of the car and picked the bottle of water from there.

"Paani?", Aditya offered extending the bottle towards her.

Zoya immediately grabbed the bottle and opening the cap she drank half the bottle in one gulp as she was very
thirsty. The scorching sun had made her dehydrated.

"Thanks", Zoya said returning the bottle. She felt better after having the cold water down her throat & closed her eyes again relaxing on the seat.

Aditya drank the remaining water & kept the bottle back on the backseat. He fastened his seatbelt over his shoulder and inserted the key to start the car's engine. He noticed that Zoya wasn't wearing her seatbelt.

"Zoya?", he softly called. Zoya's eyes flew open at his voice and she turned to him.

"Woh....ummm....seatbelt", he said pointing to the seatbelt at her back.

Zoya realized she hadn't her seatbelts on. And she remembered something.

(Flashback):-

"Kitni achchi film thi na", Zoya said sitting in the car.

Sahir was sitting next to her on the driving seat. They had just walked out of the theatre watching a RomCom Zoya had suggested. Now they were sitting inside Sahir's car. It was night show and the watch on Sahir's wrist showed that it was almost midnight.

"Movie dekh kaun rha tha. Meri nazarein aur nishana dono kahin aur the", Sahir said smirking at her with a meaningful glance.

Zoya knew what he was hinting at. Her swollen lips could tell what she couldn't with her mouth. Only they knew what happened at the backseat of the theatre. She blushed giving him a knowing look.

It was their 6 month anniversary and they had decided to spent the entire day together celebrating. Zoya had already informed at her home saying that she'll be late as she would be staying with her friend.

Zoya caught the glint of teasing look on Sahir's cheeks and immediately withdrew her smile.

"Pr hum aapse naraaz h. Aapki wajah se hamara climax miss ho gya", she complaint in a dramatic tone.

"Meri wajah se?", Sahir repeated raising an eyebrow.

"Haan aapki wajah se", Zoya said trying to hide a smile.

"Aisa baat h to abhi poora kr deta hu jo ander adhura reh gya tha", Sahir said leaning closer to her.

Zoya saw the glimpse of naughtiness in his eyes and knew what his intentions were. She quickly pushed him back onto his seat.

"Mr. Aashiq, gaadi chalane pr dhyaan dijiye. Hume late ho rha h", she said shying away and looked out of the car's window.

Sahir smiled, "Yes Mam!", taking the order as he pulled up the gear. She looked even cuter with that fake anger and the pink blush she try to hide everytime.

He fastened his seatbelt and noticed that Zoya again forgot to wear hers. Without disturbing her thoughts, he leaned forward and groped for her seatbelt. Zoya gasped at the proximity. He buckled the seatbelt tightly around her shoulder and Zoya continued to stare at him. He looks even more hot in anger, she thought. And that how he always manage to make her breath stop.

"Seriously Zoya? This is so irresponsible! Kb seekhogi tum apna dhyaan rakhna", he said frowning and leaned back to his seat.

Zoya opened her seatbelt Sahir had just tied and got up from her seat only to sit on his lap. She kissed his cheeks, "Woh kya h na Mr. Aashiq, hamara boyfriend bahot hot hai. Ab jiska boyfriend itna hot ho usse khud ka dhyaan rakhne ki kahan fursat h", she said seductively and winked at him making Sahir lose all his anger.

(Flashback Ends)

"Zoya?", Aditya repeated causing Zoya to come out of a sweet memory of her past. But before she could have responded, he had already leaned to tie her seatbelt.

Aditya's cheeks brushed on Zoya's neck as he stretched the belt. Zoya froze at this sudden intimacy. Their eyes met each other at that moment and their faces were mere an inch away. Aditya back off after making sure the belt has properly tied.

"Umm....thanks", Zoya muttered under her breath as he withdrew.

Aditya started the engine and they drove off leaving the temple behind. All the way Zoya kept her eyes outside the window as an excuse to avoid him. Aditya himself was tired, so he too kept quiet. His arms were hurting though he didn't show it in front of Zoya. He calmly drove through the traffic.

Just when Zoya had started relaxing, the car came to a sudden halt in the middle of the road. There was a long traffic jam ahead. Zoya frowned as she felt the pang of hunger inside her.

Then for her distraction, Zoya's phone rang. It was a call from Roshnaq. She swiped the green button to pick up the call.

"Zoya beta, itna waqt ho gya h. Kahan h aap?", Roshnaq asked on the phone.

"Ammi bas raaste me hi h. Traffic mein phanse hue h", Zoya told.

"Beta humne yeh batane ke liye call kia hai ki aapke Abbu aur hum chaadar chadhane ke liye dargaah jaa rhe h. To ghar pe koi nhi h", Roshnaq informed.

"Ammi aap fikar na karein. Hum thode der mein pahunch jayenge", she assured and cut the call.

Aditya looked at Zoya from sideways, she had again closed her eyes leaning her head back to the seat. He could tell she too was starving badly. To their relief, the traffic cleared sooner than they had expected. And Aditya restarted the engine speeding the car away from the halted traffic.

Zoya's eyes flew open once again when the car came to a second halt. But this time it wasn't the usual Mumbai's traffic that had stopped them. She looked outside the window to check what had happened. Aditya had parked the car on the corner of a street. She turned to look at him but he wasn't there in the car. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

Zoya noticed that the street they had stopped at was full of vendors on both the sides of the road. She found Aditya at one of the vendor's on the other side of the road. She watched him as he took out his wallet and paid to the vendor. He turned around and walked towards her with two ice-cream cones in his hands. Zoya pretended to be not looking at him and busy at her phone when he reached to the car.

"Zoya", his soft voice reached her ear.

When Zoya looked up to him, he was wearing a smile as sweet as the ice-cream in his hand. He extended both the cones in her direction.

"Dark Chocolate ya Butterscotch?", he asked.

Zoya couldn't help and smiled at his sweet gesture. "Dark Chocolate", she says taking the chocolate cone from his hand.

"I think I like the butterscotch anyway", he said with a light note in his voice.

They perched on the car's bonnet while enjoying their cones. It felt good to finally have something down the throat on the sunny day. Zoya finished first and took a glance at Aditya who was still eating his ice-cream. He had a little cream on his nose.

Aditya ate the last bit of his ice-cream and found Zoya staring at him. She was smiling as if trying to hide her laugh. He smiled back at her. But then Zoya couldn't control any longer and bursted out laughing loudly. Aditya couldn't understand what was so funny, so he too joined her in laughing.

For a moment, he stopped laughing and just watched her laughing. His heart pounded hard inside his chest. Her laugh was so soft and musically. She looked even more beautiful that he couldn't take his eyes off her face.

After a while when Zoya was over her laugh, still smiling he raised his palms questioningly in front of her. Zoya gestured him towards his nose. Aditya went to check to the side-view mirror of the car. He found the butterscotch left at the point of his nose. He could still hear Zoya's melodious laughter & again he started laughing at himself.

Aditya went back to the front of the car smiling where Zoya was still laughing. He took the handkerchief out of his kurta's pocket and wiped the cream off his nose. But there was still a little bit of cream left. Zoya again gestured him but he didn't caught it. She steps closer to him and taking the handkerchief from his hands she herself cleaned his nose.

Aditya's breath got hitched inside his throat as their bodies made contact. Their lips were just an inch away and his eyes travelled there. There was still the last of chocolate left. He wanted to lick it off her lips. He wanted to feel how good it'll taste on her lips. But he came back to his senses when he felt her gaze on him.

Zoya carefully took two steps back after she was done and handed him back his handkerchief.

"Thanks", they both said at the same time.

They looked at each other and again bursted into laughter. A laughter that tells slowly and gradually they were getting along. A laughter that marks the beginning of their relationship unknown to both of them. A laughter that explains they are themselves at the moment.

"Thank You for the ice-cream", Zoya said with a chocolaty smile.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the dimples automatically made their way to his face. At the end of the day, he has gained a smile from her. And that was enough to lift up his mood and made him forgot that he was ever tired.

And smiling to each other, they made their back way to the car. This time Zoya didn't forget to wear her seatbelt as soon as she get inside the car. Once again Aditya turned the ignition on and they drove away from the busy street.

**********

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