THE LAST FOUR DAYS ...A ZAYA SS(COMPLETED)(Awarded-AN NOTE-Page 21) - Page 2

Loved it

Very nicely written

Continue soon

CHAPTER 2:LOOKING FOR A SEATTLE SKY

The Seattle skyline flanked across the almost impenetrable darkness of the sky welcomed them.the outline of the Space needle which seemed to fade away as their car moved forward,the cutting of the ferryboats across the Puget Sound and the hooting of the traffic,seemed unfamiliar yet comfortable to their sore hearts and tormented minds in an uncanny way.It was a sif the Emerald City was slowly whispering into their ears,offering them the respite ,the inner peace that they desperately longed for,offering them the answers to their many unanswered questions.It was probably her imagination! Aaliya thought and mentally chided herself,as she felt taht as if he was staring at her.

Their 'rooms' were already booked -or rather that is what they were informed before their arrival by Fahaad Abdullah,Zain's elder brother,who had taken up the responsibility of making arrangements fpor their business trip.The cabby drew the cab in the front of 'THE ARCHFIELD HOTEL'.The valet took their lggages to the main lobby ,near the reception,and left with a grateful smile as Zain dismissed him with a good tip."Sir,Mam,Welcome to THe Emerald city,how may I help you?the woman at the reception asked them with a thick American accent."Um-we have reservations,we're from India and we are here to attend the Conference..."

"name Please?"

"Aaliya Za-"she stopped,before she could utter the next word."Zain Abdullah." he gave her his name.Aaliya's eyes met his glare which had nothing but contempt in them for her."Pleae wait for a second..

"Just a moment..let me check your reservations.."The receptionist whose name as she had figured to be Sara from the tag pinned to her blouse,replied to them."Um-yeahMr. and Mrs. Zain Abdullah.barkat Group of Hotels,Mumbai.India----business suite,307".

The relevation was appaling to both of them,as they looked at the receptionist with a quizzical look on their face."mam there must have been some sort of misuderstanding..we need seperate rooms.."

"I'm positive that the suite has bee reserved under both of your names."

"I can't Its not POSSIBLE!"

"mam please check if there are two rooms available..we are ready to pay double but please.."
"Mam I'm really sorry but all the rooms are reserved..there's a wedding and also the conference.Moreover you won't get rooms in any other hotel at such a short notice."

"zain.."she started but stopped seeing his darkened look."Its fine with us,please complete the formalities.."Aaliya replied ,not once looking at him,for his approval.the hotel was good,not some filthy motel,and it was just a matter of 4 days...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room was pretty big..more precisely too big for them,or atleast tha is what they would have thought had they been together,but the reality of it all was different.They were not together,they were no more the same.Now the huge business suite seemed too small for them and to some extent claustrophobic.They looked around the room,it was spaced and airy,with the queen sized bed,the french windows which looked over at the Seattle skyline,the heavy red drapes which were astark contrast to the pastel shades of the walls-there was fine American touch to everything.Aaliya was okay with it,since they had no other choice than share the same room,and she wondered whether it had all been Fahaad Bhai's master plan to make one last try to get them back together." I don't accept this stupid arrangement of 'yours'"Zain berated."Just get over it Zain. Aur agar yeh sab kuch manzoor nahi hai,toh sadak par so jao na-kisi ne toh roka nahi hai na tumhe..aur Drawaaza bhi khula hai-Mr.Zain Osman Abdullah.."

"Tum-Tum ne yeh sab jaan bujhkar kiya hai na..."he gritted his teeth

"Are you 'MAD' Zain..Mein kyu karungi yeh sab..mujhe kaunsi shauk he tumhare saath ek kamre me rehne ki.mujhe .addat ho gayi hai,akele rehene ki.."

"Jhoothi Kahiki.."he muttered under his breath,but unfortunately it was loud enough for her to hear."Kya kaha tumne?"

"Ku-Kuch bhi toh nahi!"

"Nahi tumhne abhi abhi kuch kaha..,phirse kaho.."

"Aree bataya toh..kuch nahi kaha.."

"Tumne kaha."

"Nahi KAha.."

"Meine kaha na ki tumne kuch kaha.."

Aaliya was slowly taking steps towards him,while Zain was peddling backwards.."Kaha..""Nahi KAha.."they went on with their banter,till he hit the edge of the bed,and hoping to regain his balance he held onto her waist,which resulted in her falling on top of him.Their bodies were pressed against each other,and the air inside the room hummed with anticipation and intensity..Zain didn't want to look into her eyes and remember all the times they had found themselves in similar positions-locked in each others arms with their lips inches apart.He could se the tears which were prickling the corners of her eyes..he wanted to stop them but the grip on her waist slackened as memoried of his father's last breath,came reeling back to his mind.She was the reason behind his destruction,she was the reason behind his father's death,the reason behind his broken heart.he had trusted her,and she in turn had betrayed him.his mind didn't want to believe the strongest prooves on behalf of her innocence.suddenly the warm memories got lost in the deep abyss of cold,dark ones,as he pushed her off his body and hastily left the room.

Aaliya clutched the duvet tighter,her knucles turning almost white,as she forced herself nt to shed a sigle tear,as she had decided early not to break down in front of the world, she didn't want others to know about her broken reality.His words echoed in her ears,a plethora of emotions surged through her,her broken heart broke a little more,a little more damage was made ,a little more grief and pain added to the sea of the same,she relived the shattering moment once again..

"Aaliya Ghulam Haider..tum meri zindagi ki sabse badi galathi ho,galathi thi aur galathi rahogi.."