Chapter 4

                                                                        Chapter 4

Zoya came out of her room with Zayn when she was engulfed in a tight hug by Asad who was waiting outside. Zoya was shocked and stood frozen. Zayn’s eyebrows went up. Finally Asad broke off, cupped Zoya’s face and after finding whatever he was looking for, walked off without a word.

“Ouch”, Zayn said rubbing his arms where Zoya had pinched him, “What was that for?”, Zayn asked. Zoya said in a dazed tone, “Just making sure I am not dreaming”. Before they could continue their conversation Najma called them over for breakfast.

Later that day

Zoya was walking Zayn to his house when he asked suddenly, “So Z, when are you planning to tell me about Mr. Sherkhan and you?”, Zoya asked evasively, “What do you mean?”, “Come on Z, don't play dumb with me. I thought I was imagining all the glares he was giving me when I was spending time with you. But then last night, he looked ready to murder me when I said I was staying with you”, he shuddered at the memory, “He looked so worried for you, it looked way over the acceptable level of concern someone has for a house guest. Besides, last night I’m sure he came to check on you every hour, I'm damn sure the guy barely slept, I narrowly stopped myself from inviting him to join me with an chair. And moreover you are acting strange around him too. I can see you care too much about what he thinks of you and your eyes look sad sometimes when you look at him. So spill, what’s up?”, Zoya sighed deeply. She can never hide anything from him. So she told him everything that happened between them so far.

“He rejected you?”, Zayn asked in an incredulous tone. Zoya nodded dejectedly. “Wow, Z, you actually fell in love, I never thought it might actually happen”, he said in a dreamy voice. She slapped him on his arms “It’s not funny. Thank God, I didn’t declare my undying love and beg him to take me or something cheesy”, she groaned, ”Can you imagine the humiliation that would have caused”. “You kind of did something close to that”, he pointed out. Zoya gave him a dirty look . “He doesn’t even trust me and always yells at me automatically when something goes wrong when I am around. One day he might even declare I caused climate change all by myself", she rolled her eyes at this and Zayn snickered. "He acts like he cares then flips a full 180 and starts scolding me. It’s has become kind of our thing”.

Zayn sighed, it seemed lot more complicated than Zoya being in love with Asad and him not reciprocating her feelings. He himself had seen the desperation in Asad’s face last night when Zoya came undone, no one can fake that. But like Zoya said if he is not ready to admit his feelings then is it worth forcing someone into a relationship?

“What’s up with Tanveer, Z?”, Zayn asked after they reached his home. “Oddly she seems to be in the middle of all the misunderstandings between you guys”. Zoya told him about Asad and their friendship. “Mmm, something feels off don’t you think”, Zayn said, “What do you mean?”, “She acts just too good to be true. For example, let’s assume you made a mistake in changing that gas cylinder but the other instances like her disappearing without a trace at the hospital and lying and blaming you and inserting herself into their family, seems suspicious. You told me her factory was burnt down right, but she hid it from everyone till now. If someone’s business burns down they don’t just think to drop everything and reconcile with their long last friend Z. There’s a lot of gaps in her story. I think you should be careful with her. It feels like she’s taking advantage of your inane clumsiness and using that to show herself as the bigger person”, he finished.

“Even I found some of her actions off Zayn, she told us she was scared of doctors but she came to the hospital without even protesting. It does feel like she’s hiding something”, Zoya said thoughtfully. “Okay now, leave all that. We will dig into that later. So what are you planning to do about your one-sided love?”, he asked in a curious tone. “Simple, I already told him how I feel, I am not stooping so low as to beg him to like me back”, Zoya shrugged nonchalantly but Zayn could see her eyes masking her sadness. So he decided to drop it for now.

Khan Villa

Asad couldn’t shake off his restlessness, he had been feeling like this ever since Zoya left home. He wanted to keep his eye on her and make sure she’s okay now. He hadn’t felt like this ever since the Mangalpur incident. He kept on pacing his room without buttoning up his shirt.“Jammy”, Asad was startled by Tanveer’s voice as he hadn’t seen her come in. “Yes Tanu”, he asked after composing himself and doing his best to close his shirt buttons.

Tanveer came closer and putting her hands on his arms asked, “Jammy, I made coffee for you”, she handed him a cup. He shrugged out of her grip as he felt deeply uncomfortable with her closeness and the look she was giving his torso. He noted vaguely he didn’t feel uncomfortable when Zoya saw him shirtless that day.

After asking how she was, their conversation turned towards Zoya, “Jammy, it’s not right for Zoya to be always with Zayn. What would people say, a young man and woman being together in a house alone”, she said in a fake sweet voice. Asad recalled his conversation with Zoya about the same topic and said, “They are just friends Tanu. They grew up in a different culture so their behaviour reflects that”, he said vaguely. “But Jammy..”, Asad cut her off. “They are just good friends Tanu. Like us. Now if you will excuse me”, he walked off. Tanveer stood raging.

That evening at the Khan Villa

“God I’m so tired Zayn, I’m gonna take a nap”, Zoya said waving to him and going to her room. Zayn shrugged and started to leave when Dilshad asked him to stay for some time. Asad looked unhappy with the invite but said nothing.

They were talking about random things when Zayn suddenly asked, “Aunty do you know any eligible bachelor’s looking to get married?”, Everyone were surprised at the question. “Bhai is there”, Najma said in a joking tone. “Tamatar”, Asad said in warning. Najma looked apologetic.

“Why beta? Who is getting married?”, Dilshad asked Zayn. Zayn looked around as if checking if the coast is clear then said in a low voice, “To be honest Aunty, Bhai and Aapi are coming to India to fix Zoya’s marriage”, Asad choked on his coffee at this and Najma patted his back.

Zayn gave him an amused look and continued, “They haven’t told Zoya yet, but I have a feeling she suspects it. You see she made a promise to Aapi she’ll get married after finding her Abbu and she always keeps her promise. We didn’t want anything to go wrong this time so the whole family has decided to come here”, Zayn finished.

Dilshad thought for a while and said, “I heard my aunt saying she was looking for a girl for her son Faisal”, “No”, Asad said firmly. Everyone looked surprised at him. “Why Asad?”, Dilshad asked him finally. “Woh Ammi, he doesn’t have a stable job yet”, he told her. She nodded, “How about Afzal? He’s a nice man”, “No, no”, Asad said quickly. Everyone looked even more shocked now, “What now Asad?”, Dilshad asked. “Afzal’s family is looking for someone conservative Ammi, Miss. Farooqi can’t manage there”, he said in a small voice.

Zayn’s eyebrows kept on going higher and higher with each excuse Asad gave. This went on for a while with someone suggesting a guy and Asad refusing them. Everyone were starting to look confused with Asad’s behaviour except Zayn and Tanveer who could understand what was going on.

“So Asad”, Zayn said to Asad with a conspiratorial smile, “According to you, no one is right for Zoya”, “Yes”, Asad said without missing a beat. “No, I mean, Miss. Farooqi is very different so it might be hard to find someone for her”, he said avoiding his eyes. Now Zayn understood what Zoya meant by Asad blowing hot and cold.

He obviously likes her and doesn’t what anyone to have her but something is stopping him from accepting her. “Well then, No problem I will find someone who will love her and cherish her as she deserves, even if I have to go to mars to find him”, he finished in a joking voice. Or maybe the alien is right there in that room and just needs a push in the right direction, Zayn thought smirking.

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Asad was questioning his own behaviour that day when they were discussing Zoya's Nikaah when Dilshad walked in. “Asad, what happened? You look lost and confused since yesterday. “Nothing Ammi, I was just thinking about work”, he said not looking at her and fiddling with his laptop. Dilshad looked at him for a while, “Asad if I ask you something will you be honest with me?”, Asad looked up and said honestly, “Of course Ammi, tell me”, “Did something happen between you and Zoya?”, Asad looked taken aback, “Woh Ammi, what do you mean?”, he averted his gaze.

“I have been noticing you both are acting odd this week, you don’t fight often as usual and yesterday you looked close to tears when Zoya was panicking. I even saw you going into her room last night to check on her. Then today when we were talking about Zoya’s Nikaah you were acting very strange Asad. What’s going on beta?”, she asked concerned and curious at the same time. “Woh actually, it’s nothing Ammi, I was just worried about her because she’s our guest ”, he said unconvincingly. Dilshadcould see there was more to it than that but decided to drop it for now.

The Next Day

The whole Khan family had gone to Zayn’s house for lunch. Everyone had a great time talking and joking around. They were playing some games and having fun when the topic of Zoya leaving for New York popped up. “I don’t know Zayn, maybe I’ll just leave with you guys, my visa expires in a month anyways”, Zoya shrugged. The Khan family felt sad at this.

“I have a brilliant idea”, Zayn said brightly and fished out a coin, “Let’s toss for it”, Asad said annoyed, “Such a foolish idea”, Zoya chirped in at the same time, “I love it!”, “Of course you do”, Asad muttered under his breath. “Heads means I stay a bit longer, tails means I leave in a month”, Zoya said. “Okey dokey, Asad do you want to flip?”, Zayn asked with a small smirk. Asad gave him a suspicious look but took the coin and tossed it.

When he caught it he announced, “Sadly”, everyone’s face fell, “heads”. Zoya, Najma were jumping around happily and failed to see Asad opening his palm again with the image of the tails glistening in them. Zayn did notice and smiled to himself. Now he confirmed even though Asad told Zoya he didn’t care if she left, he very much did. Confused man, he thought shaking his head.

Unbeknownst to them Dilshad also saw the coin in Asad’s palm and was shocked to say the least. Asad lied to make Zoya stay. But why? Her son always tried to throw her out of their house but now, he’s going out of his way to make her stay. Judging by the stolen glances between Asad and Zoya she suspected something remarkable, but she needed to confirm it before deciding the best action to take. 

Hello guys!

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