Hi Buddies,
Please find below Chapter 6 for this story. Hope you like it. A humble request to all of you, including the silent readers, to please hit the like button in the end and please leave comments as they encourage me to continue writing. Happy Reading.
Chapter 6
Very gently Asad held her hand in his and lead her out the park and into his car. As soon as he took his place in the car Zoya looked at him with gratitude in her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile and gently blinked his eyes telling her all was ok. Zoya smiled at him, which he realized was the first genuine and happy smile she gave him since the time they had met. As he drove away from the park and in the direction of her house they both fell silent, just taking in the quiet that the closed windows of the car offered, trying to relax themselves after the heavy conversation that they had had.
Zoya noticed him concentrating on the road so she decided to look out the window. Asad saw her look in his direction and for a fraction of a second he was hopeful that she would talk to him, but then he saw her look out the window. He sighed and decided to let her be as it had been a very difficult afternoon for her. Zoya was still thinking about the afternoon where she was supposed to meet him and tell him that she couldn't marry him but the whole situation took a different turn altogether and she ended up telling him everything. She looked at Asad again and he looked back at her. Suddenly she felt embarrassed and looked away remembering she had, in her ranting at the cafe, complemented him for being a good looking man. As that sentence replayed in her mind she remembered his expression and she grew more embarrassed as he had looked pleased with her thoughts about him.
Asad wanted to talk to her, wanted to hear her voice as that did strange things to him and the feeling was something he liked. He stole glances at her and saw her blushing. A small smile crept on his face as he loved the pink hue on her cheeks. He looked at her and asked if she was ok. She blushed harder and said all was fine. She soon realized that he was pulling into the driveway of her house but she had not told him her address nor the directions to her house. She looked at him and he understood what her question was.
"I had dropped Aapi here last weekend."
She nodded her head and got off the car. He followed her out the car and stood infront of her.
"I better get going, Aapi must be waiting. Our meeting was not supposed to last this long. She might be getting worried."
He saw her turn around ready to leave when he called out to her. She turned around to look at him.
"So... you will... what will you tell your Aapi? I mean about our meeting... we were supposed to meet and decide..." He trailed off wanting to know her answer.
She half smiled at him and said "I don't know. I didn't expect our meeting to turnout the way it did. I need some time to sort myself out, to calm myself and I need to talk to Aapi about what she's done..."
She saw his face fall and a sudden sadness take over his eyes. Asad nodded at her in agreement and with a soft "Allaha hafiz" turned around to leave. She felt a blanket of sadness envelope her heart and involuntarily called out to him and he turned around immediately.
"I didn't mean to hurt you and neither do I want to keep you under any wrong notion. Please give me a few days and then I will give you my answer. It's just that I need time..." She said with a smile on her face and assurance in her eyes.
"Will you tell her you know the truth and talk to her about why she didn't tell you?" Asad asked her with concern in his voice. "I know it's your personal matter Zoya. But since whatever we have shared at the park I would suggest you don't push your Aapi and Jiju too much for the truth. I am sure they must have had good reasons to not tell you the truth." He was the sole witness of her breakdown when she spoke to him about it and he didn't want her to go through the same pain again. Not when he was not there with her, he thought. He somehow felt that only he could take care of her in a situation like this. He felt responsible for her which he immediately tied to the pull his heart felt towards her. He was not happy that he would not be with her when she spoke to her Aapi.
Zoya nodded her head "I need to Asad. It's the most important thing that's happening in my life as of now. I need some answers and I hope you understand." She tried to look calm and half smiled at him.
Asad smiled back and with hope he left for his home. Zoya turned around and walked up the stairs and into the house. She was about to go straight to her room but heard her Aapi call out to her. Zoya stood still without turning to her Aapi.
"Zoya how was your meeting? Did you like him?" Zeenat asked in an enthusiastic tone.
"Aapi I want to rest. Please can we talk about it later?" Zoya turned around to face her and Zeenat immediately saw her swollen eyes.
"What happened princess why have you been crying?"
Zoya tried to look away but it was too late Zeenat had seen the tears brimming in her eyes and had pulled her into a hug. It's alright sweetheart. No one's forcing you to get married if you don't want to... It's just that I had met Asad and liked him instantly ... and ...and I saw you liked Dilshaad too so we both, I mean Dilshaad and I thought it would be a good idea if you two got married."
Zoya pulled away from Zeenat and looked at her in the eyes and said "Aapi I know everything..."
Zeenat didn't understand what Zoya said and her eyes conveyed what she felt. Zoya saw confusion in her Aapi's eyes and said "About me. I know I don't belong to you... I know I don't belong to Jiju... I know I don't belong." She said with tears brimming in her eyes but her voice, confident. She left for her room leaving behind a broken Zeenat who wanted to talk to Zoya, hold her in her arms and comfort her. But Zoya was already in her room and Zeenat saw the door close behind her. Zeenat immediately went to her room and woke Anwar up and told him what Zoya said. They both immediately headed for her room and knocked at the door. Upon getting no response from inside, they pushed open the door and entered her room. They saw the empty room but heard the shower running. Zeenat suggested they give her some space and time to recover from the shock and decided to talk to Asad to check what exactly happened when they met and how come Zoya knows the truth.
On the other hand Asad told his mother what happened when he met Zoya and how she already knew the truth. Hearing about the girl's breakdown Dilshaad had tears in her eyes and she said a silent prayer to the God above to help Zoya cope with the situation. As soon as Asad and Dilshaad ended their conversation about Zoya, Asad's phone rang and he saw Zeenat's number flash on it. Asad looked at his mother and picked the phone. He greeted Zeenat and then listened intently at what she had to say. He put his phone on speaker so Dilshaad could also listen to what was happening. Listening to Zoya's reaction his heart constricted and he wanted to hold her in his arms again. Dilshaad saw the pain in his eyes and realized that Asad had developed a certain level of liking for Zoya. He heard Zeenat asking him about what happened at their meeting and how did Zoya get to know the truth.
Asad told Zeenat all that happened between him and Zoya starting from the caf till the last moment when he dropped her home. He also told her how Zoya got to know the truth a long time ago. Both Asad and Dilshaad could hear Zeenat crying openly and cursing herself to have hidden this fact from Zoya and to have pushed her to get married.
"Allaha, I wish I had not forced her to get married. All this wouldn't have happened and she wouldn't have been going through so much pain." Zeenat said.
Anwar held Zeenat close to himself and said "Zeenat it wasn't your fault. She would have known sooner or later. Allaha has put all of us through this test and I know we will be fine."
Asad looked at his mother and saw silent tears rolling down her cheeks for the pain her friend and family were going through. He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head telling her not to cry. He handed the phone to his mother and walked out the room as it was unbearable for him to listen to all that Zeenat had to say. Listening to Zeenat made him realize how much pain the whole family was going through. All that he wanted to do was hold Zoya in his arms and comfort her. He didn't know why but he just wanted to be with her and takeaway all her pain.
P.S. Please do hit the like button and leave your comments they really encourage me to continue.
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