Chapter-25

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"Zoya, pass me that whisking tool na?" Aditya said as he started mixing all the measured ingredients.

"Where is it?" Zoya asked scratching her head. They both are at Aditya's place, trying to bake 'something'. Aditya is making Zoya learn some cooking. Both are wearing aprons with huge flour marks on them. Their faces appearing a bit British as some flour graced them too.

"It's kept on the counter along with other things..."

"Oh...okay..." She went up to the counter and handles him the whisker.

"What do you think which flavor would it be?" Aditya asked as he started blending the ingredients together.

"You are making it, you would know, na?!"

"A guess will give you some extra cake..."

"Chocolate?" She squealed instantly, her mouth already watering.

"Wrong..."

"Strawberry?"

"Again, wrong...you aren't getting anything extra, ok?"

"Wait, wait wait....let me think... butterscotch?"

"Nah... it's vanilla Zoya..." Zoya gave him a tight lip smile.

"I guessed so many appealing and yummy flavors and out of all you chose this plain vanilla..." She made a sad face.

"What if I tell you that I have choco chips and some tutti frutti..."

"What, really!?"

"Yep!"

"It will be so yumm...." She said in a dreamy look, her mouth watering at every second of her imagination.

"Bring that mould..." Aditya said still mixing the ingredients and checking the consistency.

"That square one?"

"Yeah..."

"But, I want a heart shaped cake..." Zoya said making a pout.

"I have this mould only...a square one..." Aditya said taking the mould by himself.

"You have all the boring stuff…" Zoya said resting her face on her palms and making a sad expression.

"It's not boring it's simple..."

"No, it is boring…"

"It's not..." Aditya started pouring the mixture in the mould carefully.

"It is." She said poking a finger at his back.

"It's not." Aditya said as he turned and put some mixture on her nose.

"You!!!" Zoya said as she ran behind him with some icing on her finger.

He ran to save his life but, unfortunately his leg got stuck under the carpet and he fell. Zoya came running from the kitchen into the hall only to be shocked.

"Where did he go? Does he know magic?" Zoya said in a low voice to herself as she kept walking without looking down.

"Aaah..!!!" She shrieked as her foot hit something and she tripped forward only to land on something comfortable? She opened her eyes to find herself lying on top of him and the finger which was covered with icing was resting on her own cheek. Aditya let out a laugh watching her icing graced face.

"Don't laugh, ok!" She said as she tried to get up but failed miserably. Aditya took some icing off her one cheek and rubbed it on the other.

"Now, perfect!" He laughed at Zoya's condition. Zoya vibrating with him as he did so. He stopped laughing when the door bell interrupted their fun moment.

"Who can be at this time?" He said checking his wrist watch.

"I go and see..." Zoya tried to get up but was unsuccessful in ber attempt. She groaned as she wasn't able to get up.

"I help..." Aditya said and held her from her waist and got up, goosebumps erupting on Zoya's waist and her whole body. She stared at his face and kept staring until his eyes met hers.

The bell rung again and she diverted her eyes from his and got up when she felt extremely uncomfortable in the position they both were. She opened the gate and saw what she was expecting.

"Hey, Zoya!" Tanya said.

"Hey...did you brought what I told you to?" She asked.

"Here, it is..." She said handing her a cute, little creature.

"Who is it Zoya?" Aditya asked wiping his hands with a towel.

"Tanya it is..."

"Oh...come inside..." He said immediately.

"Oh...no...I have to go somewhere…" She said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Ohho...where?" Zoya asked teasingly.

"Somewhere…" She said timidly.

"Somewhere with Dr.Neil?" Aditya asked joining Zoya in the teasing game.

"Oh, stop it now..." Tanya said blushing profusely keeping her hands on her face. Aditya and Zoya burst into laughter at her behaviour.

"I will go now..." She said.

"Bye...and all the best..." Aditya said as he saw her retreating back.

"Hey, she forgot him..." He said when he noticed the small creature in Zoya's hands.

"It's for you..." She said holding it out to him. He looked at the little brown colored puppy in Zoya's hands. This small creature triggered of his memory from that day. It felt as if his best friend has awoken from death and has entered again in his life in his initial form.

He forwarded his hands towards him and Zoya passed him in his awaiting arms. As soon as he came in Aditya's arms, he rested his cheek against his big palm. Aditya's eyes laced with tears as he experienced the same joy again.

Shadow...his Shadow...

He was there with him when no one was and helped him in his bad, lonely, depressed days.

"Did you like him?"

"I love him..." He said placing a kiss over his bead lightly.

"What have you thought of his name?"

"He is Shadow...my Shadow...always with me...even when no one is..."

"And in the dark?" Zoya asked.

"In the dark...I will be with him..."

"He is same as he was...same breed, same colour, same everything…"

"I didn't knew that you owned a dog before..."

"I had to...I didn't had anyone else…" He said moving forward towards the sofa, holding the little puppy in his hands.

"I was just seven years old when everything happened…Ma, accident, puppy... everything…" She looked at him as he settled on the sofa, the puppy sleeping on his leg. She went forward and sat beside him.

"Me and Ma were in the market...It was a day just like another...the day was simple...but not for me...It was the worst day of my life...I lost everything that day... everything…my Ma...my family…everything…" He said looking in her eyes and was shocked to not see not even an ounce of pity in hers.

"We were talking…having fun... laughing…just when I saw a puppy same like him..." He nudged his head with his finger and continued,"He was on the road...in the midst of the busy road and a var was speeding towards him...I noticed this and left my mother's hand and rushed to save him...I was successful in saving him but when I turned holding him my hands...I didn't find my mother anywhere...she was missing…" He said with a distant look in his eyes.

"There was crowd on the other side of the road...I got terrified...I made my way through the crowd and saw her...Ma... lying in her own pool of blood..." He stopped when he felt her hand on his shoulder. She looked in his eyes with care as if telling him to stop, telling him that it's enough for today but, he had to let everything out...even when it hurted him...he wanted to get this burden off his shoulders which he has been carrying since his childhood.

"I couldn't believe my eyes whn I saw her...I lost her because of me... because of my stupidity…Pa also refused to talk to me...he hates me...it was all my fault..." He looked up at Zoya to find a frown forming on her face.

"How is it your fault, Aditya?" She asked.

"I went to save the puppy...and Ma called me but I didn't listen...it was all my fault...if I had not seen the puppy then Ma would be alive..."

"But, then the puppy would be dead..." Zoya said thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry for saying this, Aditya but it was destined for either of the two to die...then how can it be your fault...you just saved a life... without thinking of anything else...you saved him...but, you didn't know what the consequences would be...so how can it be your fault?"

"But, Pa..."

"What did your father say?"

"That it was my stupidity…that it was because I was careless…because I was. . . playing around…"

"Really, Aditya? Playing around? So, when you save someone's life it's called playing around…Are you serious?!"

"Did you tell him what exactly happened?" She asked.

"He never listened…" He replied in a low voice.

"Who does this to his own son!?" She got up from the sofa and continued," Didn't he see your sufferings…what you went through...that you just witnessed your mother passing away in front of your eyes...how much does that hurt...to see your loved one breathing his last breaths in front of your eyes...and you are not able to do anything…Is he really your father?"

"He isn't…I am. . .ado-adopted..." Zoya's eyes widened at the shocking revelation. She again sat on the sofa and cupped his cheeks.

"Listen to me Aditya, this all isn't your fault...and neither you have done the crime which your father accuse you of. All this had to happen...it was written in your fate by God... this wasn't your fault, Aditya and stop punishing yourself for the crime that you haven't committed…" She said wiping tears off his face with her thumbs.

"He still hates me...you remember I went to London? It was because of him...he slipped into coma because of falling from the stairs…and when he woke up...he shouted at me...told me to go away and never show him my face...to never call him Pa...Am I that bad, Zoya...?"

"He doesn't deserve to be called Pa by you first of all...and you aren't bad...you aren't bad at all...have you ever looked back and saw how many lives you have corrected? You have entered many people's life like an angel…same as you did in mine...You aren't bad, at all...so, stop feeding that to your mind...you have all the goodness in the world and a heart which is so much pure that it didn't knock your mind's door even once when you saw a puppy's life at stake..." Aditya's eyes widened at the last sentence. Is she correct? Was it not my fault, ever? These questions bubbled up in his mind and when he looked back at her eyes to search for the answers, he saw only and only truth.

It wasn't his fault, ever...

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