AsYa One Shot: Meeting the Folks

Anwar Malik was an only child. Growing up, he had hated the loneliness of his childhood and had always craved for siblings. He had gotten his wish when he got married to Zeenat. They married young, fresh out of college as both of them wanted to start their lives together. Her younger cousin, Zoya, who Zeenat viewed as a combination of a baby sister and a daughter became an integral part of his life. When Zeenat's mother passed away after couple of months into their marriage, the fourteen year old Zoya came to live with them permanently and became the little sister Anwar always wished he had.

Now, however, he was regretting having the role of a big brother. The age old advice "Be careful what you wish for", went through his mind as he sat brooding at the kitchen table, his eyes fixated on the clock and a picture of a geeky teenaged Zoya in his hands. That's how his wife found him when she entered the kitchen, stopping at the doorway as a bemused smile crossed her lips before she schooled her features into a blank expression and made her way to the table. She sat down beside him and after a minute of him not noticing her presence she cleared her throat.

"Oh, hey. Its you." he said and then turned back to staring at the picture in his hands. She placed a tender hand on his shoulder and implored in a soft voice.

"Hey, what's wrong? You have been out of sorts since Zoya called and it has only worsened as the time of her visit came closer."

Anwar glanced at her with dejected eyes and gave a forlorn sigh.

"Its just that' ugh I am not ready. Time just flies by and before you know it your little sister is calling to tell you that she is going to be visiting with her boyfriend whom she plans on marrying. I am not ready to let her go yet."

She gave a soft smile to her sweet husband and stood up to put her arms around him in comfort. It was odd to seeing him in this state as he was usually the voice of reason and she was the one constantly getting worried about this and that regarding Zoya. But she guessed it figured because he and Zoya had always had an extraordinary bond which she had never understood and had even envied at times.

"Its not just that. I mean I have always given Zo her independence and knew this day would come. I just don't trust him."

He spat the word him with such distaste that you would think Anwar was talking about a shadowy criminal. Zeenat rolled her eyes as the real reason for his moodiness came to the front.

"Come on Anwar. We have talked about this countless of times. Asad is a perfectly mature and well groomed boy. He is successful, runs his own business, is respectful of his family and from what Zoya tells us he loves her very much. What more could we ask for? Personally, I am just happy that girl is getting married at last."

Anwar whirled around to look at his wife with incredulous eyes.

"Seriously? You are just happy with the fact that she is getting married. You don't care if she might be getting married to some sinister criminal whose past time pleasure is luring innocent, young girls into false dreams and then destroying them." She gave a hearty laugh at her husband's elaborate imagination as she sat down. She quieted down once she noticed the growing scowl on his face.

"But he isn't some sinister criminal whose, what did you say? Oh yeah, whose past time pleasure is luring young innocent girls into false dreams. He is Dilshaad baji's son. We have even met him when he was a teenager. And I think we will both agree that Zoya is far from innocent. I think she has a better chance of luring him instead of the other way around."

"I don't care whatever you say. I don't trust him nor care if he is Dilshaad baji's son. That doesn't give him a free pass in my book. I still know him as the guy who tormented our poor Zoya so many times and made her cry. I just know he will break her spirit. He doesn't deserve her."

"Anwar, Zoya called me let me know they have left the hotel an- What are you doing?" Zeenat exclaimed in shock to find her husband cleaning out the antique gun which had been passed down to him by his father after his demise. He hated violence and weapons of any kind so it had been locked away. It was the second time she was seeing it in her life. She watched with wide eyes as he calmly looked up from his chore, replying.

"Nothing. Just cleaning out the gun. The crime has gone up so much these days. I thought it was better to be safe than sorry."

Zeenat nodded unconvincingly, all the while eyeing the mechanism on the table unceasingly.

"And you are sure that this has nothing to do with tonight." He looked up at his wife with shock written all over his face.

"Come on Zeenat. Its not like I am going to kill him or anything." She tried to be believe him but then why was there a strange gleam in his eyes when he talked about killing Asad. Dear God, her husband was going crazy and might make her sister a widow before she even got married.

" Aapi! Asalam-e-Alekum. And Happy Anniversary!"Zoya exclaimed while jubilantly embracing her sister. Asad stood back in the doorway to give the sisters room for their reunion, although they had just seen each other yesterday. But the way they were hugging each other you would think they had been separated for ages. Suddenly, he felt his skin pricking when you are being watched by someone. He glanced around to see a man scrutinizing him with narrow eyes and a strange expression. He guessed that this was Zoya's brother in law as he vaguely remembered meeting him when he was young. He couldn't ponder on why he would be looking at him with such a strange expression because Zoya quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.

"Aapi, Jeeju. This is Asad." She said with a wide smile. He greeted both of them with a polite smile, thanking them for inviting him.

When Anwar shook Asad's hand, he made sure to maintain a firm grip. A satisfied smile crossed his face when the younger man grimaced a bit, not expecting the unnecessary force behind the handshake. They party moved inside the house where a lot of their family friends were gathered to celebrate the anniversary and also to meet Zoya.

Anwar felt his annoyance growing every second as he observed the young couple across the room. They had not left each other's side all night. It was as if they were joined at the hip. What was even more disconcerting was the fact that they could not stop touching each other. One of them was always touching the other in some way or form. Right now Asad had his arm wrapped tightly around Zoya's waist as they conversed with her friends. He did not like the way he was holding her, did not like the way he looked at her and definitely did not like the smile that appeared on Zoya's face whenever she looked at him. These were all bad signs. This meant that their relationship was deep as his wife had stated. As if she had sensed he was thinking about her, Zeenat came to stand next to her husband. Following his gaze, her eyes landed on the couple, a soft sigh escaping her lips at the lovely picture they made. It seemed as if all her prayers had been answered.

"Aren't they just so cute? Did you notice they didn't leave each other's side all night. Its so sweet."

"Yeah, its definitely sweet." He replied, his voice dripping with disdain. She looked at him and rolled her eyes. She had given up and was not going to try to talk some sense into him. And besides if she was being truthful with herself, a part of thought it was adorable how he was acting so protective of Zoya. He was acting like a father would and it made her heart grow with love for her wonderful husband.

"Anyway, I came here to tell you that Asad wanted to talk to you about something. In private."

"God I am so tired!" Zeenat exclaimed as she sat down next to Anwar on the sofa. Finally all the guests had gone home and it was just them and Zoya and Asad.

"I hear ya. Hey where is Zoya?"

"Oh she is with Asad in the backyard." She said while rolling her neck to ease the cricks in the muscles.

"What? Its cold out there. I should call them back." He almost got up when Zeenat pulled him back down by his arm.

So Asad did the one thing he had never contemplated to doing before he met her, getting down on his knee in the dirt in front of a girl. She turned towards him to speak but her words died in her throat when she noticed what he was doing. He grasped her fidgeting gloved hands in both of his and looked into her eyes as he started speaking.

"I never thought I would be doing in my life. But as I have come realize there are lot of things I do now that I would have never done before. Simply put, I have realized that I would do anything for you Zoya Farooqi because I am completely and utterly in love with you. before I met you I was swimming a pool of darkness, pretending to live my life. But you. You brought me back to life and I spend forever thanking you for it. So Ms. Zoya Farooqi, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course yes!" she exclaimed and he had enough time to stand up before she jumped into his arms. He lifted her up and started spinning her around in circles, their carefree laugher dancing in the air. As he gently eased her to the ground, small flecks of snow started falling. She gazed into his eyes that were filled with love for eyes, watching him lowering his mouth until their lips touched each other. They kissed softly, slowly moving their lips together in a sweet kiss that regaled their feelings. The picturesque moment was perfect until-

"Zoya Farooqi!" They hastily broke apart to see Anwar standing in doorway that led inside the house, rage written clearly on his face. Asad gulped.