AsYa Story-UNRECOGNIZED EMOTIONS-Thread 6- Parts 20-21 - Page 90

Zoya sat in one corner of the hall, trying her best to scrutinize Asad's peculiar behavior. He was cheerful, unlike the other times and had a broad smile that plastered his face. He seemed happy and there was no sign of uncertainty on his face for what he was doing. Zoya tried hard not to get her eyes glued to him, but the more she tried, the more he gained her attention. His magnificent look was doing wonders to her. Clad in a black sherwani, he was looking no less than a Greek God.

The gaze of other men on her did not bother her anymore, as she was busy showing her annoyance for the women who were staring at him, shamelessly. Asad was not a naive either. He was aware of Zoya's reactions whenever any girl approached him. It would be wrong to say that Asad was enjoying all this, but Zoya's priceless expressions gave him a little more patience to tolerate all the fuss around him. He half-heartedly took the glass of juice that was offered to him by one such dull-witted girl, but he gladly took a sip from it when he saw Zoya's irritation.

Unable to bear anymore of it, she got up from the chair and took long strides towards the terrace, hoping that the fresh air would calm her. She knew that Asad was doing all that deliberately, yet the presence of other women around him bothered her. As far as she knew him, flirting was the last thing that Mr. Tameez Ahmed Khan would do, that too with random girls!

She needed to pour her frustration on someone, rather something and her diary was the best option that she could even think of. She put her hand inside her handbag to get it but instead, got the shock of her life. Her hand searched every corner of her purse, yet there was no sign of her diary in it. She remembered taking it with her before going out of the house. Even the thought of losing it terrified her. She took out her phone and called up her mother.

"Hello Ammi.. Did you see my Diary somewhere? Did I leave it at home?", she asked Zeenat as soon as she took her call.

"Calm down Zoya! And speak the whole thing again. I couldn't get a single word of it!", Zeenat answered as she could hardly register anything that Zoya told her.

"Ammi.. It's my Diary..Did you see that? Did I leave it at home? Please check and tell me... ", she said, fear and pain of losing her precious companion was clear in her voice.

"Okay.. Fine.. Let me just check it. I'll let you know..."

"Please Ammi... Do it fast and search every corner of the house.. But what if it's not there? What if I had dropped it somewhere on my way? How could I be so careless?...", she went on and cursed herself for being so negligent about a thing that she claimed to be so precious to her.

"Zoya.. Enough... I said I wil check... You don't have to worry so much.. Where can it go? It neither has wings nor legs.. Let me just go and find it... You are there for the Mehendi ceremony, so enjoy that.. Ok?"

"Okay?", she asked her again when she did not reply the first time.

"Ok..."

Zoya disconnected the call and prayed to the Almighty to get her back her diary. She always knew how valuable it was to her, but after losing it, somewhere in her heart, she had a feeling of void. She hid her face in her palms and took in a deep breath.

"Zoya..", Asad called her from behind.

"Any problem?", he asked her again when she did not turn around or respond.

"No.. It's nothing...", she lied.

"Then what are you doing here, all alone when the whole world is downstairs enjoying the function?", he enquired as he could clearly read the tension on her face.

"I said it's nothing Asad! Isn't that enough?", she firmly answered.

"Fine.. Here.. Have this...", he extended her a glass of soft drink and decided not to dwell upon the matter anymore. Zoya eyed him and then the glass and back at him again.

"No thanks. I don't feel like having it", she replied curtly. Asad chuckled at her childish behavior.

"This isn't the one which that pretty girl had given to me. I have got this myself, only for you." He grinned as he said this.

"Pretty? You call her pretty? Have you seen the amount of make-up that she used on her face? She was looking no less than make-up kit herself. And how shameless was she! Who offers juice to someone like this on their first meet? She was falling on you every time her heel got twisted. I don't understand, what is the need to wear high heels when you can't walk in them? And You! You were enjoying all this so much! You were so ready to catch her every time she fell!" She yelled and pointed her finger at him, waiting for him to snap back at her.

Asad inched closer to her ears and amusedly asked, "Jealous huh?"

Zoya's eyes went wide for a moment and her mouth almost fell open.

"Jealous My Foot!", she said stamping her foot hard on the ground, that made Asad giggle freely now.

"You are unbelievable Asad!", she said when Asad made no attempt to control his laughter.

She pushed him away from her, and started to move towards the staircase, but Asad was faster than her. He caught her by her hand and twisted it a little causing Zoya to hiss in pain. Her back was now facing his front.

"You are jealous Miss Zoya Farroqui. So, just accept that.", he said by bringing his lips near to her ears with every word that he said.

Zoya tried her best to not give in to his tactics. She controlled her heavy breaths, but her faster heartbeats were beyond her control. She freed her hand and turned around before Asad could comprehend her uneasiness at his closeness.

"Look Mr. Khan.. I have better things to do rather than getting jealous of some random women who keep falling all over you!"

"Better things like?", he questioned her as he was now enjoying teasing her.

"That's none of your business. And I am sure you have those girls waiting for you downstairs. Go and feed them as they will soon need your help when they have henna on their hands.", she replied irritatedly.

"Aren't you going to put them on your hands too?", he asked her excitedly, ignoring what she said.

"I will...", she said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Then you will be needing my help too...", he winked at her. Zoya's mouth opened wide and was again closed when she understood what he was implying.

"You are disgusting Asad!"

She left from there giving him a death glare and heard his giggles while retreating down the steps. Even after being annoyed so much with him, she could not help but smile at his attempts. She knew something was still fishy about the sudden changes in him, but she could not deny that the changes were for the better.

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Zoya sat on the mattress beside Aafreen and forwarded her hand to get the floral designs imprinted on them. She loved the smell of henna, and more the color that it left afterwards. She had always desired to get the name of the person written on her hands with them whom she would love. Now, that she did love Asad, she did not know if she had the right to do so. She was never going to throw herself on him if he was not ready yet. But writing his name on her hands would be her own choice. It would not be any form of a demand from him for acceptance of what they have between them. Forcing themselves on each other was never a part of what they have shared till now.

She whispered in the ears of the artist to write the alphabet 'A' in such a manner that it would get hidden in between the floral designs. It was her decision to write his name on her hands and she would not let that provoke Asad's decision, whatever it was.

On the other hand, Asad's gaze never left Zoya even for a moment. He observed the happiness in her face when the artist put the first drop of henna in her hands; he saw the excitement in her eyes when the design was almost on the verge of completion. He had also seen her eyes that were welled up with tears after the artist wrote something that she had asked her to do. Zoya muttered a 'Thank You' to her when the design was finally complete, and that also did not go unnoticed by him. But Zoya's whisper to the artist did raise his curiosity to find out what it was.

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"Do you need some help?", he asked her in a soft voice when she saw her sitting in one corner and trying to blow away the locks of hair that fell on her face.

"No.. No thanks. I can manage.", she said dismissingly as she blew on the locks again. Asad nodded his head disbelievingly and stepped in to help her even after her denial.

He sat on the floor and raised himself a little to reach up to the level of her face. He touched the length of her face with his finger ever so lightly but Zoya moved back suddenly when she realized what he was doing.

"What.. What are you doing?", she asked sheepishly.

"Just trying to help you!", he said mischievously.

"I don't need your help. Go and help the other girls who are dying to get your help!", she said annoyingly, earning a good laugh from him.

"How does it matter what they want? I am here where I want to be. Isn't that enough?", he replied to her with sincerity. Zoya was left shocked for a moment. Her heart wanted to believe what he just said, but her mind was in a fear as it constantly tried to find out any form of hesitation in his voice, but shockingly, she found none.

"I said, Don't touch me!!", she said in a dangerously low tone.

"Fine! I won't!" He winked at her. Zoya was almost going to smile at her victory when she found Asad blowing air on her face to remove the locks that hindered his view of her beautiful face.

She was left baffled, but there was no scope to deny that she loved all the attention that she was receiving from him.

"See.. I kept your words, and I didn't touch you!", he said while showing his hands that were nowhere near to her. Zoya smiled at his innocence, but again regained her previous composure.

"That was cheating!" She faked her anger.

"No, it wasn't. You never asked me not to blow air on your face!"

Zoya had understood by then, that it was not possible to win this battle of words. She gave him a fake disgusted look and tried to get up and leave the place. But Asad did not let her do so, and pushed her back to make her sit on the chair once again. Zoya's annoyance was beyond control now. "What happened now?"

"Do you want to eat anything? Or do you want some water to drink?", he asked her with concern evident in his voice. At that very moment, Zoya could lose her heart to him again, if that was even possible.

"No.. I did eat before I sat for this..", she said showing her hands to him. For a second she had forgotten about Asad's name being written on her hands. She quickly drew them back when realization dawned upon her. She smiled at him again, as if smiling was the most natural thing to do at that time.

Asad did not pay any heed to it and returned back her smile with a wider one.

"I am going to drop you home. Tell me, when you want to go."

"No.. It's all fine! I will mange.. ", she answered softly.

"And may I know how will you even manage to drive when you have your hands covered up with all this?", he said, slightly losing his patience now.

"I don't know, but I will."

"I am taking you back home tonight, and that's final. I guess I am loud enough to be audible now!", he said authoritatively. Zoya was shocked at his no-nonsense tone as it was the first time during the day that Asad was talking to her like that. He had been patient all throughout the day. She meekly nodded her head in affirmation and did not argue anymore.

Asad and Zoya finally bid good bye to Aafreen and her family and proceeded towards the car. Asad called up his driver to take back Zoya's car and drop it to her house the next day, which meant, he would suggest picking her up even the next day. Even though, Zoya understood it, she chose to keep quiet at that moment.

Asad, like a gentleman, held open the door for Zoya as she settled in. She was sitting beside him in his car after six years. Memories of the good old days flooded her mind, and soon she was lost in her own thoughts. Zoya was busy staring at nothing in particular outside, whereas, Asad stole glances at her whenever he could.

"Zoya..."

"Hmm..."

"We are there... "

"Huh?", she asked her absentmindedly.

"We have reached your home."

Zoya immediately regained her consciousness. She tried to open the door but Asad stopped her from doing so. He got down and went to the other side to help Zoya.

"Thanks", she said as she straightened herself on the ground. "Bye.."

"Zoya... Wait.. ", Asad called her back, when she already took some steps towards her house.

"Yes?", she asked, though she knew what he would be saying.

"I will come and pick you up for the wedding tomorrow. Be ready. "

Zoya sighed heavily and walked back to him.

"Look.. Asad.. I know what you are trying to do.. But, seriously.. you don't have to do anything that you don't want to."

"And what do you think I am doing?", Asad asked her bemusedly.

"You know what I am trying to say.. ", she replied as if that was the most obvious thing for him to know.

"No.. I don't.. Care to explain?" He said sarcastically.

"Look... I know that you are here for Aafreen Baji's wedding, and then you might just leave. Trust me, I won't stop you and will neither force you to stay back here. It was never my intention Asad. You must be thinking that I was hoping for you to come back, but I never intended to do that. I tried to hide my feelings Asad, I tried a lot, but I couldn't.. But I don't want our relationship to be based on sacrifices... I understand... I.."

"Are you done?", he asked her in a stern voice. Asad continued when he found her quiet.

"We will talk about it later Zoya. This isn't important now. I am here to stay! And do you really think that it is only the wedding that I am here for?", he asked her holding her by her shoulders.

Zoya looked into his eyes only to find lots of emotions in them which urged her to believe that he was there for her. But could she let her heart believe that? Was it wrong for her to expect Asad to say it himself? She thought and refused to believe it.

"I don't know! I just don't know.. You never say anything Asad!" Her voice was choking now as a lump formed in her throat.

"But again, I don't want you to say anything that I can't bear to listen." She said looking away from him.

"Is that why you wrote my name in between these designs in your hand?"

Saying Zoya was shocked will be an understatement. She never imagined that Asad would actually come aware of it.

"It's nothing like that..."

"Really?" Asad asked as he ran his palms along the length of her arm and rested them on her wrists and pointed his eyes towards the alphabet 'A' which was right in between her thumb and index finger. "What is this then?"

"I.. I.. don't know...", she stuttered.

Asad left her wrists and moved his arms towards her waist and pulled her closer with a force so that she landed on his chest.

"You still don't know?" Asad's eyes showed no mischief in them.

Zoya used all her strength and pushed him away from her.

"I fail to understand you Asad.. You shock me with your actions... I have never forced you for anything.. And even if I did, that was never on purpose. Even now, you are expecting me to know something. Why can't it be you?", Her tears flowed down freely.

"Zoya...", he proceeded to move forward to her.

"Stop there... Just be where you are... Your mail was enough Asad. I don't want anything from you now.."

Asad had a befuddled look on his face. He had never seen Zoya losing her control over herself.

"Zoya.. Atleast listen to me once.."

Zoya motioned with her hands to stop him from coming near to her.

"I want to go inside.. Please.", she said earnestly while rubbing the tears from her eyes and smudging the kohl that lined them.

"Okay.. But you don't need to stress yourself so much.. Ok? You go in..", he said in the most concerned voice and rubbed her tears with his thumb.

"Zoya... ", he called her back again.

"I am still going to come and pick you up for tomorrow."

Zoya did not respond and finally got inside the house wondering about Asad's unbending resolve. The thought of her missing diary was long forgotten.