Chapter TwelveZoya trudged out of bed and dressed in a pair of old jeans shorts and her high school cheer t-shirt. Very little else in the RV belonged to her. She hadn't paid for anything with the weekly checks she'd earned as a ARS employee because she hadn't needed to; Asad had always given her everything including clothes and bags of groceries, allowing her to build a small savings. So, suspecting she would soon be kicked out, she didn't bother packing. She wondered if Asad would knock on her door as usual, not to tell her to "rise and shine" so they could leave for work, but to tell her to leave his property. Or maybe he just expected her to head off on her own without being told.
She'd been watching the clock... Any second now the answer would become clear...
Two hard knocks sounded at the door. "Zoya," he snapped. "Get up. Let's go."
She yelped and tugged at the knob, not sure why she was surprised, considering she'd been waiting an eternity for this moment to arrive. He stood in the sunlight, his dark/light hair brushed back from his face, his lids narrowed, the tension from last night seeming to have doubled.
He looked her over and frowned. "That's how you want to go to the office today?"
He wasn't firing her or kicking her out? "Well...I wasn't sure I'd be welcome at the office."
His gaze flipped to hers and narrowed further. "Always thinking the worst of me."
Guilt gave her a good old-fashioned kick in the heart. "I don't always think the worst of you. I think the worst will happen to me. There's a difference."
"Whatever you need to tell yourself, honey. Let's go."
For once, he didn't open the car door for her, and all traces of his flirtatious side were gone. He switched on the radio, discouraging further chatting, but the loud music soon grated at her ears.
She turned off the radio and said, "Are you""
"I don't want to talk about last night." He said cutting her off.
"Good. Neither do I." She was still too raw. Still reeling. One kiss had ripped away her every defense, making her forget her long-term goals. "I was simply going to ask if you were coming over tonight so I can work on your portrait."
"No. I'm going out."
"With whom?" The question whipped from her before she could stop it, and she considered jumping out of the car. Eating thorns would be less painful than this conversation.
"That isn't any of your business."
She dug her nails into her thighs, cutting into skin. Just last night he'd had his tongue in her mouth, and now he treated her as if she were nothing special. Because"let's be honest"she wasn't. Not to him. But how much worse would it have hurt if she'd actually had sex with him, and then had to go through this same routine today?
Count my blessings."You're right. Forget I said anything," she managed with a carefree tone. She turned the radio back on.
When they arrived at the office, she didn't wait for him to come around the car"or not. She got out on her own and as casually as possible walked inside the building. The supplies she needed to sketch the new cast of characters were waiting in her office, as promised. The descriptions, the pencils and the notepads.
There was a note from Maya, as well.
Dear Zoya,
I never meant to encroach on your territory! I truly had no idea you were interested in Asad. For your peace of mind, you should know we canceled our date. Also, I'm heading back to S&S Financial. I'll be rooting for you. If anyone can tame a playboy, it's you. You're like a rose, thorns and all. You leave a mark. (And that's a good thing!) Make sure to send me an invitation to your wedding.
MayaZoya's heart skipped a treacherous beat.
She heard Asad come into the room, the clunk of his briefcase as he set it down, the thump of his shoes as he left the room. The swish of the door as it closed. Her heart drummed. She glanced up in time to watch him enter Rehaan's office, which was currently empty.
Disappointment and despair washed over her. Asad hadn't fired her or kicked her out, but he sure had written her out of his life. And she wasn't sure why. She'd told him she didn't want a one-night stand, and before that, he'd known she was interested in a long-term relationship. Why act as if she'd ripped out his heart and trampled on it?
Maybe Maya was right. Maybe Zoya had left a mark.
Shouldn't get my hopes up. Letting the descriptions of the character profiles play through her mind and guide her hand, she worked for several hours. One image after another came to life on the page, but none of them satisfied her. There was no spark. The images fit the narratives but lacked any sign of life. When she found herself subconsciously adding Asad's features to the hero of the game, well, she decided to call it quits for the day.
She had to talk to someone about what was going on. She desperately needed advice, her inexperience cloying, choking her. She'd never get anything done, otherwise. But who could she call?
Asad was her only real friend, and she couldn't ask for advise from him regarding him.
Priya might be willing to listen. While they weren't best of buddies, they didn't hate each other, either. At least Zoya hoped not. There was only one way to find out...
Zoya picked up the phone and dialed. Asad had given her a list of names and numbers soon after she'd begun working for him, just in case she had questions about something when he wasn't around.
Priya answered on the third ring. "Hey, Asad. What's up?"
"Uh, it's Zoya."
"Oh. Um. Hi."
"Listen. I know it's weird I'm calling, and you will never be my biggest fan, but I have nowhere else to turn, and I need help."
One beat of awkward silence, two. "Are you calling to get the recipe for bacon and marshmallow sandwich?"
"No. Nothing like that." Zoya peered through the glass into Rehaan's office. Asad had a phone to his ear. He threw back his head and laughed at whatever the speaker had just said. Confirming plans with his date tonight? A knife of jealousy stabbed at her chest.
"Then what do you want, Zoya?" Priya prompted.
"Zoya? As in Zoya Faaruqui?" Khushi said in the background. "What's she doing calling you?"
Ignore her. "Well, the problem is Asad, and I""
"I'm going to stop you right there," Priya said. "I won't give you any dirt on him."
"She wants dirt on him?" another voice gasped in the background. Anjali, maybe.
"I don't want dirt," she rushed out. "Besides, I already know about his past."
"How?" Priya demanded.
Okay, so, this call had been a mistake. Noted. "He told me. How else?"
"He
told you?"
"Yes." But that had nothing to do with her problem. "Look, I shouldn't have""
"What did he tell you?"
Curses! Would the girl always interrupt? "You'll have to forgive me, Priya, but I won't give you dirt on him, either. I don't know what he's shared with you and what he hasn't. I won't betray his confidence."
Silence.
Would Priya hang up now?
"All right. How can I help you?" the girl asked again, and this time a layer of warmth wrapped her tone.
Uh, talk about confusing. But thank god she was finally willing to listen... "Well, Asad and I kissed last night and now""
"You
kissed?""They kissed!" Khushi demanded.
Argh! "Would you please stopping butting in? You are the most frustrating person on the planet right now."
"Sorry, sorry," Priya said. "Where are you? No, you know what, forget I asked. You're at Asad's office. Duh. Caller ID. In just a few minutes, Asad is going to get a call. Soon after, he'll leave. And soon after that, I will arrive"I'm currently near the office only"and we will finish this conversation in person."
Click.
Okay. Wow. But true to the girl's word, Asad received a call on his cell phone before he stuck his head into Zoya's"his"office.
"I have to go," he announced. He wouldn't meet her gaze.
"Oh. Is something wrong?" Did she sound too breezy?
"Nothing I can't handle." He was gone a few seconds later"and she realized she missed him already.
What the heck is wrong with me?As she began to pace, she noticed Mary received a call, as well, and left soon after. Then Priya arrived with her sister and, sidekick, Anjali. The best friend. Zoya was too worked up to care about the potential hate mob.
The girls invaded the office, each pulling a chair up to the desk. Priya appeared giddy, Khushi suspicious and the sidekick Anjali confused
.
"How did you get Asad to leave?" Zoya asked.
"Had Samar call him for a bro-mergency," Priya said. "Meaning Samar is finally telling him how Mahek has been coming to the house, asking questions about Asad. She's there now, in fact."
What!
I mean, whatever. Wasn't as if an old flame of Asad's mattered. He never went back for seconds. "You are here to help me, right?" Zoya asked, hesitant.
"Yes," Priya and Khushi said in unison.
"Yes?" Anjali asked, looking more confused.
"So...how was the kiss?" Priya asked.
"Oh, she liked it, no doubt about it," Khushi conveyed it. "She didn't have to tell me that part. I just know from experience."
A twinge of jealousy.
Not important, either."Khushi is right. I liked it. But now I don't know what to do about it," Zoya said. "I would have done more than kiss him, but I want forever and he wants a single night, so we called it quits and now he's treating me like I'm the devil."
Anjali opened her mouth to say she is devil.
"I'm not," Zoya insisted, and Anjali closed her
mouth.
"I don't believe you, this doesn't sound right at all. Asad is always nice," Khushi said. "Even to his ex-girl friend's. Again, I know this from experience."
"I guess I really ticked him off. But I have no idea how."
Khushi tapped a fingertip against her chin. "I have a suspicion, but I need more info before I voice it. Tell me how he's treating you, exactly."
Easy. "He snaps at me. He glares at me, and he's stopped opening my car door for me. He doesn't call me
lollipop or dove.""Wait. Let's backtrack just a bit. We want to help Zoya Faaruqui...why?" Anjali asked.
"There's a good chance she isn't the girl we once knew," Priya explained.
"So we like her now?" Anjali asked.
"We're deciding." Priya settled deeper into the chair. "But either way, we are helping her today."
"Can you?" Zoya asked, not daring to hope.
"What was your suspicion, Khushi? You never said."
"Well, I think he still wants you, despite your desire for forever. And since you denied him, and he thinks he can't give you what you want, he's acting like a baby whose favorite toy was taken away."
The storm raging inside her stopped, just stopped, the sun suddenly shining brightly.
"Game changer, right?" Khushi asked. "Do you now just want Asad to be nicer to you"or do you still want him to commit to you?"
"Both?"
Could he commit? Why did he go for so many women? Just because he could, or was there a deeper reason behind his he-s**t behavior, the way there'd been a deeper reason behind her bullying?
What did she know about Asad's past? The loss of his mom, the rejection of his father, the family members who'd kicked him out. The foster system. No telling what he'd seen, heard and experienced as he was shuffled from one home to another.
Mental note: need to read a book on 'study problems foster kids might develop later on in life.'Fingers snapped in front of her face. She blinked, found Khushi leaning over the desk in a bid to gain her attention.
"What are you thinking?" the girl asked.
Zoya propped her elbows on the desk, rested her chin against her knuckles. "That's not so important. I was just thinking about Boys."
"Boys?" Priya echoed.
"They're all I know, but Asad is all man, and I'm out of my league with him. My last date took place my junior year of high school, and I rarely ever went out on a second with the same guy, and never... Well. You know."
"Never what?" Khushi perched at the edge of her seat. "My mind is going to some strange places right now."
If she said it, there would be no going back. These girls would know one of her secrets, and as Priya had said, they hadn't yet decided if they were her friends or not. They could betray her, strike at her while she was down the way she had once struck at them.
Just do it. Tell them. How they responded would reveal their true intentions toward her. And perhaps ruin what little happiness she'd managed to eke out for herself, but whatever.
"I'm... I've never...been with anyone, okay?" she finished in a whisper.
"What!" Khushi yelled. "No way my sweet little ears just heard such a lie. Are they bleeding? They feel like they're bleeding."
Would throwing a pen at her be considered an act of bullying?
"Are you sure you haven't slept with someone?" Priya asked her.
"What kind of dumb question is that? Her tone was irritating, "of course I'm sure."
"But...a virgin...how?" Anjali gasped out. "You were the parking queen."
"I don't know if you've been told, but parking doesn't always lead to sex."
The girl frowned. "I distinctly remember Akram and his friends were saying""
Zoya threw her hands up, exasperated. "I'm sure the boys said a lot of things, but I've never gone further than first base. And I'm not embarrassed about it." She was glad she'd waited. Back then, sex would have been about control rather than connection. A power play, without any involvement from the heart. "Everything you heard was an exaggeration."
"Does Asad know about this?" Khushi asked, as if they were discussing a diagnosis of cancer.
"No." Unless he'd guessed last night, which was totally possible. As experienced as he was, he could probably count how many men she'd kissed. "I'd prefer it if you guys weren't the ones to spill the truth to him." In high school, boys had reacted one of two ways. In challenge, wanting to be the one to win the prize, or in amusement, wanting to shame her into finally giving it up.
But again, Asad wasn't a boy. He might decide to have nothing to do with her.
Then again Hadn't he already not want to have anything to do with her?
"Don't look at me," Khushi said, holding up her hands. "I don't plan to tell anyone. I'd laugh so hard I'd puke before I ever even got the V word out. Not because of the V thing, of course, but because it's you."
Thanks. "That's great. Wonderful. Meanwhile you guys haven't helped me at all."
"Well, when I wanted to get Asad into bed," Khushi began to say, "I just""
"Argh! No. Getting him into bed isn't the problem. It's keeping him there." Though, if he went out with another woman tonight, slept with her after kissing Zoya, would she still welcome him there?
No. Of course not.
Probably not.
"Then I'm out," Khushi said. "Though I did go on a date with Vineet Mehra the other night and he asked me out again."
"He's hot," Anjali said, giving her friend a thumbs-up.
Pulling teeth would be easier than getting answers from these girls. "Enough about Vineet!"
"Someone's losing their temper." Khushi nudged her sister. "How'd you keep Samar?"
"He says I am the sunshine in his darkness. What? I am."
"That's great for you, but I'm not exactly anyone's idea of radiant." Zoya's shoulders slumped.
"You could try cooking and cleaning for Asad," Khushi suggested. "Guys love that kind of thing. Or so I've heard."
She shook her head. "I firmly believe guys should clean the messes they make, without help from a girl. Amen."
"All right. How about you, Anjali," Khushi said.
"How'd you keep your boyfriend?"
"According to him, I breathed."
That. That was what Zoya wanted. To be special. Treasured. Asad made her feel that way, of course, but only in a sudden gush . And sudden gush just weren't good enough. "Clearly, breathing isn't going to be enough for me."
"Then allow me to be a voice of reason," Priya said. "Be yourself. Do and say what comes naturally to you, what is right to you and for you. If he isn't what you need, if he won't step up to the plate, then he's not the one for you, and he's not worth your time and effort. Move on."
Finally! Advice. And it was good. The kick she really needed. But it worried her, too. Was she what Asad needed? So many questions had come to light during the conversation. Too many, it seemed. Why he was the way he was, and if the guy who so obviously hated change would ever be able to change himself.
Unfortunately, there was only one thing that would answer them all:
time.Edited by iluvasya - 9 years ago
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Arjun
Cricket
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