Chapter 5

                                                                     Chapter 5

Asad was getting ready for work in the morning when he heard Zoya and Najma’s enthusiastic chatter and came to investigate. When Zoya saw him she averted her gaze as the last few days have been awkward between them after the fire incident and his unexplained hug the day after. Asad too felt a little uneasy so he directed his question to Najma, “Tamatar, why have you gotten ready on a Saturday? Are you going out somewhere?”, Najma smiled at her brother and said happily, “Yes Bhaijaan, Zoya and I are going to the town fair. We heard it had a variety of games and food so we are going to check it out”.

Asad looked concerned and unhappy, “Tamatar, you know I won’t allow you to go alone on such crowded public events, anything can happen to young women there. I’m sorry Tamatar but I have work so I can’t take you. You are not allowed to go today”, he said in a no-nonsense tone.

Najma’s face fell. “But Bhaijaan, I won’t be alone. Zoya is coming with me an-“, Asad cut her off and scoffed, “You mean I should consider you going with Ms. Farooqui a improvement than you going alone? Do you remember what happened when you both went for the cricket match? Both of you were acting like a couple of buffoons. It’s final, both of you are not allowed to go”

Zoya’s expression went from disbelief to mad during his tirade. This judgemental man will never change nor listen for that matter.“Look here Mr. Khan, you can’t ju-“, Zoya started saying when Asad held up his hands, “Enough! This conversation is over Ms. Farooqui”, and started walking away. Zoya spluttered in shock and managed to shout, “Conversation requires two people to speak, Jahapannah six packs”.

Asad stopped in his tracks and came back intent on teaching her manners when Tanveer appeared out of nowhere and said, “Jammy, can you please help me?”, Asad hid his irritation and asked, “What do you need?”.Zoya exchanged a disbelieving look with Najma and grunted in annoyance at his change in mood when it came to his Tanu.

“Jammy, I urgently need to go out of city to meet a client regarding a design. I am not able to find a cab. Can you please take me?”, she asked in a sweet voice. Asad looked conflicted after just refusing his sister and he definitely did not like the look Zoya was giving him with arms crossed. “Tanu, I have some work today. I can arrange for a driver to take you”, he said finally. Tanveer looked sad and said in a fake worried tone,“Jammy, I am really worried about this meeting since she is the first important client I am meeting after my factory burnt down, so if you are there with me it will be a huge emotional support for me”, she said in a pleading tone.

Zoya chimed in with a fake innocent tone, “Of course Tanveer, Mr. Khan will take you. After all he’s your close friend and it’s an important meeting for you, right Mr. Khan”, this she asked Asad. He looked uncomfortable with Zoya's tone but gave a short nod of approval.

That gesture gave Zoya the push she needed to shrug past the hurt she felt by his attitude towards her and say, “By the way Mr. Khan, since you don’t trust me to take care of Tamatar since I’m reckless, clumsy and above all, not a man, I just wanted to inform you Zayn will becoming with us, Najma or I would have told you this sooner and avoided all that lecture if you had listened to either of us without interrupting”, at this Zoya took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing “He should be here now”.

Asad was shocked at the jolt he felt in his heart at the tears Zoya was blinking away rapidly without looking at anyone. He had done it again, hurt her without listening to her or trusting her. He was just about to say something to her when their front door opened and the source of his constant irritation these days came waltzing in.

“Good morning lovely ladies”, he bowed and smiled at the women and gave a somber nod at Asad. “Wow, am I sensing some tension in the air”, he said looking from Zoya’s unhappy face to Asad’s grim one. Zoya shook herself out of her trance and said, “Nothing Zayn I was just telling Mr. Khan you will be the man of our group/guardian for today’s outing”. “Guardian? I like it”, he said puffing out his chest with pride. “But man of the group? That makes me sound so old Z. Besides you are there aren’t you, you are equal to about ten men combined”, he said dismissively, “Though you might need some of your karate skills if things go out of hand”, he said striking a pose. Zoya felt better looking at his antics.

“Zoya knows karate?”, Najma asked Zayn in surprise. Zayn straightened from his pose took Zoya’s arms and raised it in a victorious way, “Of course Tomato, Z here has a blue belt in karate”, he said proudly, “She would have gotten a brown belt had it been not for that unfortunate incident”, he trailed off lost in thought. “What incident?”, Tanveer asked curiously.

Zayn started saying something but Zoya covered his mouth and said brightly, “Oh that’s not important. Come on Tamatar it’s getting late, let’s go”. Asad cut in, “What incident?”, he asked seriously. Zoya was taken aback by his interest her grip loosened, Zayn pried her hands off his mouth easily and said, “Z was participating in a tournament when her opponent got a little too touchy, if you know what I mean”, Zayn started saying inching away from Zoya and the death glare she was giving. “So as you can imagine Z got mad and “accidentally” kneed him in the you-know-where, more than once, so they kicked her out”, Zayn said failing badly to control his laughter while Zoya covered her face and groaned in embarrassment. Everyone looked shocked at each other lost for words.

Zoya grabbed the now chortling Zayn by his ears and dragged him out, calling for Najma over her shoulder. Asad stood rooted to the spot shocked by what he heard, then cleared his throat thinking to himself, “He should be careful around Ms. Farooqui, Allah knows what she might do in anger one day”, he shuddered at the thought and went to his room ignoring Tanveer’s offer of breakfast.

At the Town Fair

Zoya, Najma and Zayn were having a great time at the fair trying out all kinds of games and eating every kind of food otherwise not allowed at the Khan Villa. Najma had excused herself to use the washroom when Zayn broached the subject of that morning’s events.

Zoya sighed but gave arun down of what had happened. Zayn shook his head in amazement. “ I just don’t understand that guy Z. Maybe he is emotionally challenged as you say. From what I have seen he obviously likes you more than he lets on but honestly I can’t put a finger on why he acts so indifferent either. God, don’t even get me started on his trust issues”, he said exasperated. Zoya gave him a I-know-right look.

Just then they heard someone shout, “Mona!”, “Rabert?”, Zoya looked around surprised and saw Ayaan waving at her from a distance. Zoya called him over and saw Humeira, Nikhat and Nusrat were also with him. Zoya introduced everyone to Zayn and vice versa. “So Mona and Rabert is some kind of code word you guys are using for undercover missions I assume”, Zayn asked seriously. “Yep!”, Zoya and Ayaan said in unison. “I love it! Can I also have a secret name, pretty please”, Zayn said with a bright pleading smile. Everyone laughed, it felt like they have another crazy person in their group. They decided to explore the fair together for the rest of the day.

Somewhere outside the city

Asad had just dropped off Tanveer at her meeting spot and was waiting for her outside. He decided to call Ayaan as it has been a while since they talked. “As Salaam Alaikum”, he said in greeting. “Walaikum Assalam bhai”, Ayaan said in a bright voice. Asad could hear lot of background noise and asked, “Are you outside Ayaan?”, “Yes Bhai! The girls and I came to the town fair”. Asad was surprised, looks like everyone he knew were there today. 

“Guess what Bhai, your second favourite person is also here”, Ayaan said jokingly. “Who?, Asad asked suspiciously, “Don’t tell me you met Ms.Farooqui?”, “Bingo!”, Ayaan laughed, “We met at the fair and decided to hangout. By the way I really like her friend Zayn Bhai. He is just as crazy as me. It’s like looking in a mirror”, he said. Asad felt irritated, seems like everyone liked that guy. 

He mumbled a quick excuse and hanged up after lecturing him about calling Ms. Farooqui his favourite person. Asad sighed. He’s beginning to regret not taking Najma and Zoya. He should have at least gone with them to keep an eye on them, with so many crazy people together something is bound to go wrong. And to be honest the hurt in Zoya's eyes is still haunting him and he hated it.

After a while Tanveer came back and they started getting inside the car when a middle aged woman came running, “Tanveer di you forgot your purse inside”, she said handing Tanveer her purse, she thanked her but her face looked worried. Asad wondered why. The woman started to leave then turned around and said, “I almost forgot di, my sister loved the salwar from your Ramzan collection this year. She ordered it online and the delivery was also very fast, she got it yesterday. You are doing great work”, she said happily. Tanveer mumbled a thanks.

Asad couldn’t understand what that was about and asked Tanveer how the clothes were made when her factory is closed. Tanveer said, “Woh Jammy. That collection was made months before the fire, we were selling the extra stock online, that’s what she was saying. Asad nodded but felt something was off. Tanveer cursed the lady and her timing inside, that was too close.

Evening at Khan Villa

That evening Asad was sitting in the living room trying to read a book but his eyes kept on switching from the clock and the front door. After a while the door opened, he pretended not to notice. He could sense something was wrong so he looked up and noticed Zoya was looking a little loopy and had her arms around Zayn and Najma who were trying to steady her.

“What’s wrong with Ms. Farooqui?”, he asked getting up. Zaynand Najma exchanged a look. “Woh Bhaijaan..”, Najma started but trailed off helplessly seeing his expression. Zayn pitched in, “Zoya kind of got the wrong chai in one of the stalls”, Asad glared at him and asked, “What does that mean?”, “There was some alcohol mixed in her drink”, Zayn said with a wide innocent smile. Asad looked shocked, then angry. “Of course Ms. Farooqui got drunk by mistake”,Asad said with a deep sigh, raked his hair through his hair and started angrily, “Ms. Farooqui, how can you be so carele-“, Zoya hearing her name stumbled out of Zayn’s grip and said, “Jahapannah six packs! Reporting sir!”, she saluted and then giggled. Asad was taken aback. Najma and Zayn tried controlling their laughter. “Oh wait”, she slapped her hands on her forehead,“Mr. Khan is not a secret agent so, no sir”, she nodded gravely.

Asad looked beyond incredulous so Zayn stepped in and took Zoya’s arms, “Don’t worry Asad, I’ll just put her to bed. She’ll be back to normal tomorrow”, saying this he started walking away. Asad sent Najma to help Zayn with Zoya and left muttering about foolish people.

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Asad was feeling restless that day and decided to take a walk. When he came outside he was surprised to see Zoya sitting on the garden bench swaying a little. He went closer to her and saw her shivering. He quickly went inside, got a shawl and draped it around her. Zoya looked up startled, then realising who it was started smiling goofily at him.

Asad cleared his throat realising she’s still not fully sober but sat down on the bench next to her. “Mr. Asad Ahmed Khan, were you not able to sleep either?”, she put her hands on her chin and pretended to think for a while, “Hah, did you get a nightmare where you became fat or Mmm... you were trapped in a room covered in dirt”, Zoya asked seriously. Asad rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help smiling a little. Zoya scooted closer to Asad, he was surprised and started moving away when Zoya caught his arms. Asad stilled and looked at her.

“Mr. Khan?”, “Yes, Ms. Farooqui”, Asad said facing her, she was too close and it was driving his heart rate crazy. Zoya suddenly put her head on his shoulders and wrapped her arms loosely around his middle and sighed. Asad was startled and tried extracting himself from her grip. “No let me atleast hold you in my dream”, Zoya mumbled and nestled closer to his chest. Asad sighed but let her be. It felt like Deja Vu.

“I will miss this feeling Mr. Khan”, she said softly. “What feeling Ms. Farooqui?”, he asked absently pushing stray hairs away from her face. “Safe, you make me feel safe. After I leave I will miss this feeling of security”, Asad felt overwhelmed but said nothing. Both were silent for awhile. “Mr. Khan will you miss me after I leave?”, Zoya asked looking up into his eyes. Asad couldn’t hold back his emotions anymore and put his arms around her and held her closer. “What do you think Ms. Farooqui?”, he asked her tiredly.

Zoya grunted, “Oh no, I am not trusting my instincts anymore Mr. Khan. The last time I did, I confessed to the guy I liked and he rejected me”, she said looking sad then perked up, “Oh yeah, that was you”, she said confused, “Why are my thoughts all over the place”, she mumbled to herself. "Mr. Khan when I think I can understand your feelings you start acting indifferent and don't trust me. It's confusing Mr. khan. Like yesterday when you suddenly hugged me,  but then ignored the whole incident altogether after that", she sighed tiredly, "I give up Mr. Khan. I am gonna accept fate and move on like nothing happened", she finished. Asad was lost for words. How can he tell her he's afraid of hurting her in the future just like this if they do get married and that's holding him back. After all he is Rashid Khan's son.

“Mr. Khan will I be able to ever forget you?”, she asked softly. Asad looked away but didn’t say anything. “I hope I can, I am sure Aapi is planning for my marriage and I don’t want to hurt her anymore by running away from my promises”, she sighed. Asad tightened his arms feeling the sudden urge to keep her there forever. “Do you have to leave?”, Asad asked in a small voice. Zoya laughed painfully and said, “Mr. Khan I am just a guest in your house and guests are bound to leave one day. Besides I don’t think I can handle watching you marry Tanveer or any other girl for that matter. I am strong, but not unbreakable”, she finished. Asad felt a deep sadness seeing her pain. After a while Zoya fell asleep against him so Asad picked her up and took her inside.

Dilshad was sitting in her room deep in thought. She was still shocked and trying to process what she had seen in the garden. Asad had been hugging Zoya and both were talking softly to each other. So her suspicions were right.

Hello guys!

Hope you like this chapter. Do let me know your feedbacks/comments. The next chapter might be late as I am stuck with some work. I will try my best to post soon. Thanks for reading!