Present Day: Hooda Penthouse, Mumbai
Noor woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing persistently in the early hours of morning. Groggily she reached out to her phone but the call got disconnected even before she could answer it. Stifling a yawn, she unlocked her phone to see who on earth could be trying to reach her at this hour and she was surprised to see five missed calls in the last fifteen minutes and that too from her abbu. Beside her Arjun slept soundly with a small smile playing on his face. She looked at him and then at her phone and wondered why her father was trying to reach out to her at this hour. She decided not to wake Arjun for now, not until she spoke to her father once.
Walking over to the far corner of the room, she called him.
"Salaam alaikum abbu! Is everything alright?" she asked her father tentatively hoping everything was fine yet she knew something was wrong.
Arjun turned to his side stretching his arm which hit the empty space where his wife had been a moment ago.
"Noor," he called out to the darkness but when he did not get a response he turned on the bedside lamp and he saw her walking towards their bed, all color drained from her face as she looked pale like a ghost.
"Arjun," she said in a shaky voice. "It's ammi!"
The next few hours went by in a blur with Arjun booking flight tickets to Dehradun and Noor packing some essentials along with getting Aliya ready for the day. As Aliya sat there nibbling on her toast, Noor turned to her husband.
"Arjun, I am worried for her. Wish we could take her along," she said looking worried.
"Noor, you know she is terrified of flights and don't worry, I will talk to Sakshi Aunty. She will come over," he assured his wife who didn't look convinced.
"But what about Adi bhaiyya? He has taken the day off. Between the two of us, we could somehow manage Aliya but now that we won't be here, she will try to sneak off to see him. What if he doesn't talk to her? What if he is rude to her? What if he pushes her away again?" she ranted.
"Chillax Noor! Bhai is Aliya's father and not some monster you are making him out to be. He may not acknowledge her presence but doesn't mean he would do anything to deliberately hurt her. Give it a rest, will you?" he said a tad bit annoyed at her overreaction.
"Damn this network," he cursed looking at his phone and walked away from there to the balcony of their room. In any case he needed some fresh air. Once the signal strength picked up, he located Sakshi's number from his contacts and as he was about to hit the dial button, a memory from the past flashed through his mind.
11 years ago: Dehardun, Siddiqui Mansion
Zoya sighed leaning against Adi as the atmosphere in the study room heated up while Arjun and Noor bickered their way to glory.
"You deliberately ruined my date! Why the hell don't you admit it? You are jealous!" Arjun yelled from across the room with a look of utter mutiny in his eyes.
Noor had the grace to look abashed for the briefest moment but the very next instant it was replaced by a look of righteous indignation.
"Jealous? Of you? Give me a break," she rebuffed.
"Have a kit kat. In any case that's your one stop solution for all the problems in life - binge on chocolates," he said his voice rising and added scornfully, "Chocomati!"
"And you don't need an excuse to indulge in coffee, Coffee Nawaaz. Looks like you are living off it and even enjoying its perks," she said scathingly as Arjun rolled his eyes.
"Well hello? If girls like to hang out with me over coffee, that's not my problem and I don't see why you are bothered. But I do smell something burning," he said pretending to sniff as Noor flushed.
"Stop flattering yourself Arjun Hooda. Just because of your stupid radio internship stint they think you are cool but you are nothing more than a nerdy geek!"
"Adi," Zoya groaned turning to look up at Adi who looked equally miserable. "Looks like we are up for another evening of babysitting."
"Damn and I had special plans for tonight," Adi said speaking out his thoughts loud but Zoya heard it anyways.
"Well whatever it is, it has to wait," Zoya replied scowling as Adi thought hard for a moment and then it struck him.
"Maybe it doesn't have to wait," Adi replied winking as Zoya looked perplexed.
"Wha..." she tried to ask but he motioned her to remain silent and taking her hand in his, snuck out of the study stealthily as Noor and Arjun turned the study room into a war zone.
"C'mon! For once you are not the center of the universe anymore and you can't stand the fact that I am being noticed. You can't stand it that you can't control me. I want you to know one thing Noor Siddiqui - the days of you bullying me are over," Arjun said haughtily and when the two were busy throwing daggers at each other, they heard the door to the study room being closed and the next moment they heard the sound of a lock.
"Shoot!" Arjun and Noor both cried out at the same time as they heard Aditya and Zoya snigger behind the door.
"Bhai please open the door na?" he pleaded his older brother.
"This door will only open when the two of you have sorted out your issues and it's really getting out of hands Arjun," Zoya answered for Adi.
"Di, it's Noor! She..."
"Arjun, we don't care and we don't want to know. But we want you two to stop bickering. Honestly, it's annoying," Adi replied.
"Bhaiyya not fair," Noor whined. "It was Coffee Nawaaz who was being a jerk," she added as Arjun threw her a dirty look.
"Bhai you got to be kidding me! You can't lock me in with her," he said emphasizing on the last word.
"You guys either sort out the matter and shake hands like grownups else this study will remain closed for as long as I want and even Roshnaq Aunty would agree," Adi said firmly and continued, "anyways, me and Zoya are going out for coffee now."
"Oh no bhai!" Arjun muttered as Noor hopped around in agitation.
"Bhai if you guys go out for coffee, you end up having your dinner," Arjun protested. "We can't stay like this for an entire evening!"
"And if they go out for dinner, they only turn up for breakfast," Noor added sarcastically while Zoya blushed scarlet and Adi ran a hand through his hairs looking anywhere else but at Zoya.
"Bhai please..."
"Appi..."
Their siblings' continuous pleas jolted them back to the more pressing matter on hand.
Adi cleared his throat loudly.
"You heard us guys. Now the ball is in your court."
Present Day: Hooda Penthouse, Mumbai
Arjun smiled as he recounted the incident. Thanks to his brother, he knew what had to be done.
He instead dialed another number.
"Di, I need your help."
After he hung up, he walked back to his study and roughly drafted Aliya's timetable for the day along with adding notes against each line item.
"Arjun are you ready? The cab will be here any minute," Noor called out from the living room.
"Yeah baby, almost done," he replied tearing the sheet off his notepad.
"You spoke to Sakshi Aunty na? She will be coming over?" Noor asked him as he headed up the stairs to talk to his brother.
"Yeah, of course" he said with an air of nonchalance but not quite meeting her eyes. "Why will Sakshi Aunty say no? She adores Aliya and ummm... yeah I guess that's... sorted," he added shrugging his shoulders and before she could ask him any further he sprinted upstairs. If Noor found her husband's behavior strange, she said nothing.
Arjun heaved a sigh of relief once he was away from his wife and knocked the door to his brother's room. Now that he had crossed one hurdle off his list, he was faced with the prospect of another, a much bigger one this time. He sent out a silent plea to whoever could listen, hoping everything fell into place. Else he would be in big trouble, especially with his wife.
A moment later, the door opened and Adi stepped out, suppressing a yawn.
"Everything OK, Arjun?" Adi asked him stepping aside to let him in. One look at the somber expression on his brother's face, the little sleep his eyes held onto dissipated replacing it with one of concern.
"Bhai, Noor and I need to fly to Dehradun today. Abbu had called in the morning - Ammi had a minor attack yesterday," Arjun said as Adi now wide awake was positively alarmed.
"But she is fine now bhai," Arjun added to assure him.
"What happened all of a sudden though? She seemed alright when we spoke last week," Adi asked Arjun, worried for Roshnaq.
"Not sure bhai but abbu said that she has been upset about something for a while now and she is not talking to him about it even," Arjun replied in a grave voice. "Hopefully she opens up to Noor about whatever it is that's bothering her."
"Yeah, you are right," Adi agreed keeping a hand on Arjun's shoulder. "You should go first. I will probably plan something for this weekend. Your flight tickets are booked?"
"Yes bhai. We are leaving now and umm... bhai... about Aliya... we can't take her with us. Well she is sorta scared of flights," he added as Adi seemed surprised by this revelation.
"Scared of flights, huh?" Adi muttered frowning more to himself as Arjun smiled. So he does care after all, he mused.
"Oh and I asked Sakshi Aunty to come over to babysit her but she is out of town," Arjun said nervously as Adi did a double take.
"But not to worry bhai, everything is sorted. Radha Tai is more than up for the job," he assured an anxious Adi and handing him the note, added, "you know how forgetful she gets at times. All you need to do is follow up with her and everything is written in there bhai. I hope you can manage for one day."
Without bothering to wait for a reply he bid him farewell and ran downstairs.
Noor wondered if everything was alright with Arjun. He was acting strange and not to mention, avoiding her whenever she asked him about Sakshi. And now he was having a chat with their house help, Radha Tai who didn't seem convinced by something he was saying or asking her to do. After a long minute, Radha Tai nodded her head as Arjun smiled gratefully at her.
When he joined her to board the cab, Noor asked him if he was keeping something from her.
"Jeez woman! What's the matter with you? By the looks of it, you should have joined the CBI. Now if your interrogation is over shall we leave? We are running late as it is," he said loudly in a bid to divert her attention which worked as a sulking Noor got into the cab.
*************
Adi quickly took a shower and came downstairs after he changed into a comfortable track suit and a T-shirt. He was greeted by a nervous looking Radha Tai at the foot of the stairs.
"Adi saheb, I... ummm... need... need to take an off," she mumbled incoherently, fiddling with the pallu of her saree as Adi looked flabbergasted.
"What??? Tai, no. I won't be able to manage," Adi pleaded her looking around helplessly.
"My husband has fallen sick and I need to go home. Sorry saheb," she said making an apologetic face, desperately hoping Noor madam would not shower all of her wrath the next day when she found out.
And with that, she hurried from there before Adi could stop her or see through her lies.
Adi ran a hand through his hairs in frustration.
"Damn it," he cursed loudly when he noticed a slight flicker of movement to his right.
Seated on the sofa, obscured by a giant pink colored teddy bear, a pair of curious eyes peeked through, stealing a glance his way. The moment his hazel brown eyes made contact with them, they widened in surprise as he looked away and once again they sought the shelter of the object shielding its view. A pair of tiny arms shot forward, hugging the bear closely as the pair of feet dangling beneath it, swayed gently to an invisible tune. Slowly - ever so slowly, gathering all the courage it possibly could, the pair of large doe eyes made its way out again carrying a hope with it this time. This time as it held his eyes captive, Adi could not bring himself to avert from that penetrating gaze. He was not sure what he should look for in them - anger? Disappointment, perhaps? Instead all he saw was a nervous anticipation for acceptance.
Once certain her father will not disappear on her like always, Aliya lifted her chin as high as her tiny neck would permit her and rested it on the top of her teddy's head. He stood there, rooted to the spot while she continued to look at him, blinking her large doe eyes at him.
You do realize you are a father, don't you? Aditya recalled his brother's words the night before.
He stared at the stranger before him that was his own daughter - his own flesh and blood. He stared at her like he was looking at her for the first time. Which was not entirely false. He had always found an excuse to evade her presence but this time there was no turning back. This was the first time, he truly saw her up close - warm chocolate brown eyes, a button nose and a tiny mouth resembling a rosebud encased in a round chubby face with hairs that fell in ringlets past her shoulder.
Just like my Zo Aditya thought to himself but the name only evoked the rush of painful memories he had locked away in the deep recesses of his mind. Clenching his fists hard, he squeezed his eyes shut to drive them away but now that the floodgate had opened, it flowed freely - he could recollect every memory vividly without any trace of the four long years that lay between him and Zoya like an impenetrable wall.
His only child was a bitter reminder of what he once had and what he had lost, perhaps forever. The world assumed he had moved on from his past but the truth was far from it. Every moment of every day had been an endless battle fought relentlessly but he always lost to the ghosts from his past. The remnants of which had perhaps not impacted him as much as it had an innocent child, thrusted into the middle of it all for no fault of hers.
Arjun was right - he had been a father for namesake and didn't he know that already? What did he know of his daughter? Did that even make him a father albeit a horrible one? Or was he a coward like his brother implied? Had he ever made an attempt to step out from the shadows of his past? Or had he allowed himself to wallow in it so he never had to face the truth? Had it been an easy way out all these years? As his tumultuous mind waged a war between what was rational and what was the right thing to do, his brother's voice rang out again:
You mean the world to her bhai but you don't even want to be a part of it!
With every ounce of will power he had, he willed himself to look at the little girl who waited hopefully that her father would make her acquaintance at last.
Aliya smiled up at him sweetly, that tiny dimple playing at the corner of her mouth and said in a voice sweeter than honey, "Good morning Pa!"
Pa - the word felt alien to him. Something that perhaps had never existed in his dictionary before and he was not sure how he had to reciprocate.
In between Arjun and Noor flying off to Dehradun, Sakshi Aunty out of town and Radha Tai bailing out on him, he now faced the biggest challenge of his life - a daunting prospect of spending a day and caring for a child that was a complete stranger to him as opposed to the fact of spending a day with his daughter.
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