"What's wrong with you Zo?", Sid asked as soon as they were on the dance floor.

"Kuch bhi to nhi", she tried to avoid his eyes while maintaining a smile.

"Nahi kuch to h. Maine dekha h jis tarah  tum Adi ko ignore krti ho. Yahan kisi ko dikhe na dikhe pr mujhe saaf nazar aa raha h jo tum apni hansi me chupane ki koshish kr rahi ho. Kya tum iss shaadi se khush nhi ho Zoya?", he asked bluntly.

Zoya first got numb at his question but then replied, "Nhi Siddharth.....aisa kuch nhi h. Aap ko koi galatfehmi hui h. Hum hum.....khush h", she stuttered at her last words and tried to look elsewhere. Zoya stole a brief glance at Aditya who was with Roshni from the corner of her eyes.

"Tumhe pata h na tum ki sb se jhooth bol skti ho pr mujh se nhi. Tumhari yeh sad aankhein mujhe sb bata deti h", Sid told not removing his eyes off her face. Zoya knew it was difficult to hide anything from him because he knew her very well.

"Ab batao mujhe baat kya h?", he asked softly when she finally looked up.

"Oh don't worry tumhari biwi ko koi bhi nhi le ke jayega Mr. Possessive Husband. She is safe with her best friend", Roshni taunted Aditya finding his attention on Zoya after every few minutes.

"Nahi aisa nhi h. Actually main sirf........", he tried to reason but nothing came out.

"Achha lets go have a drink", she dragged him towards the bar holding him by his wrist & ordered Tequila shots for herself while Aditya asked for Scotch.

"I am so sorry Zo.....main wahan nhi tha jb tumhe apne best friend ki sbse zyaada zaroorat thi. I am really sorry main kuch nhi kr paya tumhare liye. I should have been there", Sid regretted after hearing the whole story from Zoya's mouth.

"Nhi Siddharth! Iss mein galti aapki nhi, humare taqdeer ki h. Shayad humara aur unka milna kismat me likha hi nhi tha", Zoya said wiping a tear. "Pr jiss halat me hum unhe chhod kr aaye h uske liye hum khud ko kabhi maaf nhi kr payenge", she tried not to broke in front of him as she thought of the one she had left behind. Sid wiped the tears falling from her eyes without her permission. Nobody spoke anything for some time & they just move their bodies in the flow.

"Tumhe pata h Zo tum bahut strong ho", Sid spoke after a while looking at Zoya proudly. She shook her head in NO.

He smiled at her and spoke, "Jis ladki ne apni mohabbat ke liye khud ko upar se neeche tk badal dia ho. Apne kapdo se le kr apne shauq tk badal diye ho. Aur apne Abbu ki khaatir uss pyaar ko chhodne se pehle ek baar bhi nhi socha, kaise maan lu woh ladki strong nahi ho skti?". Zoya smiled sadly as her vacant eyes gave a glimpse of the hollowness present inside her. The theme of the music changed to an old classical one as the couples on the dance floor swung motionless in air. Sid held her fingers and rotate her in circles.

"Zoya if you don't mind ek baat kahun?".

"May I have my wife back?", Aditya asked tapping Sid causing him to pause.

Sid turned at Aditya and smiled. "Sure mere bhai! She is all yours now", he said before giving him Zoya's hand. Aditya smiled back as he left the dance floor to join his wife near the bar counter. Aditya turned his attention completely towards Zoya who stood looking down nervously.

Aditya put his hand on her waist only to pull her near him. Zoya collided with his chest and held his shoulder for support. His unusual behaviour made her look at him. He was looking at her with a small yet charming smile enough to show the dips on his cheeks. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight. She shuddered under his touch. His strong arms were wrapped around her holding her as if telling that she was only his. Zoya unknowingly felt protected. His gaze on her was so intense that she couldn't remove her eyes off his face. She felt like getting hypnotized by those deep green eyes. She didn't realize when they started dancing until Aditya turned her so that her back touched his chest now as he moved his fingers over her arms in the most sensual way. Zoya closed her eyes feeling his touch. Aditya inhaled the sweet fragrance of her hair.

Both of their eyes shot open when they realised the song had ended and heard people near them clapping & cheering. Zoya immediately left the dance floor followed by Aditya & stood at a distance from him. Soon Sid & Roshni joined the center of the stage thanking all the guest for coming and therefore, concluded the party.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was raining heavily on the grounds & dropping the temperature by few degree. Though the sky was pretty much clear when they left the home but since it was Mumbai & rain needs no invitation here to damp the roads and block the ways for the passer-by. They had already half an hour passed sitting in the car waiting for the traffic which had not moved a bit to clear as Aditya checked his watch which was now striking exactly at 11. He could see Zoya uncomfortable inside the rolled windows of the car. She hadn't spoken a word to him since they left the party.

"Zoya tum theek ho na?", Aditya asked seeing her restless. She nodded without looking at him. He stepped out of the car only to be welcomed by the raindrops in their rain shower. They didn't show any mercy upon him as he checked upon the traffic which didn't seem likely to clear anytime soon. The jam that was spread across kilometres with the cars lining up the street one behind other. Aditya could hardly see past the long line of vehicles owing to the heavy rain. He had started feeling cold as he got drenched in water.

"Bahut lamba jam h. Abhi aadha ghanta aur lagega", he informed Zoya as soon as he got inside the car, rainwater dripping from his hair & face.

"Paani! Hume paani chahiye", she said as her throat felt dry. Aditya noticed Zoya struggling with her breath. He quickly searched for the water inside the car. But he couldn't find any water bottle. Aditya searched the backseat of the car in case there was anything he could help Zoya with. But to his dumb luck, there wasn't anything. Zoya's condition was getting worse as she was unable to breathe. She was suffocating badly due to the lack of oxygen inside the closed car.

Aditya tried looking for any help outside the window, any shop or vendor but due to the rain & the traffic everyone has left. He mentally cursed himself as he didn't see anyway out. First he was not aware of her breathing issues and then they had to stuck up in a situation like this. Rain was pouring heavily ruling out all their ways.

"Aditya humara gala sukh rha h", Zoya said keeping her hand on her dry throat.

"Zoya bas thodi der mein yeh jam clear ho jaega aur hum ghar pahunch jaenge", Aditya tried to calm her. He noticed Zoya was shivering in cold and was rubbing her arms. He immediately removed his blazer & covered her with it.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Harsh dekhiye na Adi-Zoya abhi tk ghar nhi aaye h", Anjana got up from the sofa as soon as she found Harsh entering the house.

"Pr unhe dono ko to ab tk aa jana chahiye tha", he said checking his watch which was showing the time 11.20.

"Dekhiye na bahar kitni baarish ho rhi h. Aur Arjun bhi yahan nhi h. Mujhe bahut tension ho rhi h", she told expressing her concern.

"Tum ne call kia Adi ko?", Harsh asked seeing the tension lines creeping on his wife's face.

"Woh jb Party se nikal rha tha tb baat hui thi. Usske baad main tb se call kr rhi hu pr line connect hi nhi ho rhi h", she told as Harsh handed her his blazer.

"Anjana tum fikar mt kro Adi aa jayega. Baarish me kahin phans gaya hoga. Aur phir Zoya bhi to h na usske saath", Harsh put a palm on her cheeks trying to pacify his agitated wife while searching for his phone in his pockets.

"Pr yeh kya tareeka h Harsh. Unn dono me se kisi ko toh call pick krna chahiye tha. Yahan main kitni pareshaan hu", she complained.

"Anjana tumhara beta ab sirf tumhara Cheeku nhi h. Usski shaadi ho gayi h aur ab woh kisi ka pati bhi h. Pr ek baar apni Maa ka call to use utha lena chahiye tha. Tum ruko main abhi usski class leta hu", he smiled & dialled to Aditya's number. But again the line didn't connect & when dialled the number for the second time, the phone was showing switched off. He tried calling Zoya's number which again was ringing but no one was picking it up. And now tension lines showed their traces on Harsh's face too which Anjana unmistakably read as he hung up the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Shit", he cursed himself again looking at the dead battery of his phone. "Yeh sb aaj hi kyu hona tha. Ghar pe Maa tension kr rhi hogi. Ab inform kaise krunga", he slapped the steering wheel hard causing the horn to blow loudly. He couldn't use Zoya's phone as well because he clearly remembered that she had left it in their room. She was not carrying any purse to carry it in, so she had left it in the home.

"Aditya hume...hume saans nhi aa rhi h", she had closed her eyes & kept her head back on the seat trying hard to breathe.

"Zoya saans lene ki koshish kro", Aditya rubbed her palms trying to comfort her. Even the car's AC wasn't of any help. She was suffering due to shortage of breath.

"Nhi Aditya.....hume.....hume saans", her voice trailed off. She tapped the window of the car breathing heavily because she couldn't speak anymore as her breathing issues remained.

"Zoya bahar bahut baarish ho rhi h. Agar maine window kholi to baarish ke paani se tum aur beemar ho skti ho", he tried to reason her but seeing her state, Aditya has to rolled down the side windows to get her some air to breathe. And true to his words, soon the rain drops started coming in from the window making the seats of the car damp. But to his relief, Zoya was now able to breath properly.

"Feeling better?", he asked after a while and sighed when she nodded.

They waited until rain become lighter & they could see the way ahead. The traffic moved ahead and slowly the jam started clearing off. Aditya started the engine & soon pulled off inside the boundaries of the Hooda Mansion. It was midnight & the clouds were still down pouring the little water they were left with. Aditya & Zoya were still sitting inside their car he had parked outside the house and were waiting for the rain to subside because the garage was flooded with rainwater.

Aditya looked at Zoya from the corner of his eyes. Her eyes were closed and there were tiny droplets of water on her neck. She was looking cute hugging his blazer. He smiled seeing his wife sleeping like a small baby. He didn't want to disturb her peaceful sleep. So he just watched her.

She could tell by the silence that they no longer were in the traffic. But even with her eyes closed she knew she was not in the house. Zoya opened her eyes only to found staring by her husband who was patiently waiting for her to wake up. She realised the rain had almost stopped and they were still inside the car. Zoya had fallen asleep on the way as she was tired.

"Thanks", she muttered to Aditya as he unlocked the doors.

Aditya smiled in response, "Chale?".

Zoya felt weight around her shoulders & realised that his blazer was still wrapped around her. She thought to give it back & carefully stepped out of the car. Aditya rushed to help Zoya because the ground was still wet when they heard the sound of lightning in the sky. And with that it started raining again with a heavy force. Zoya's heels tripped & she was about to lose her balance when Aditya pulled her to himself by her hand. Zoya hugged him tightly as the fear of falling gripped her. Aditya's arms snaked around her waist giving her a new feeling of protection. Within seconds they got drenched again.

She opened her eyes slowly as she heard his heartbeats. She pulled her head back from his chest & looked at his face. His hair were completely wet & were falling on his forehead. They were so close that she could feel her heart pounding loudly inside her chest. He was gazing her lips with passion. She felt his breath falling over her lips and inhaled his scent.

Zoya closed her eyes as Aditya closed the gap between their lips. The kiss was soft as their lips moulded into each other. It was still raining yet they didn't care. She placed her palms on his face deepening the kiss unknowingly. His one hand was wrapped around her waist securing her in his arms while the other one holding her head from the back. Her body was so soft & delicate like feather. And to him, she was the most beautiful woman on the earth.

The kiss lasted longer than expected. It was the first kiss in the rain. They could still feel the wetness over their lips.

**********

Hi guys! Almost a month later here I am with another update.

Finally AdiYa shared their first kiss! What are your views about it? How will Zoya take this advancement?

Many questions will be answered in the next chapter.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one !

Stay tuned!

Take care :)