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The slap saga carries on. The slaps keep happening now and then. The injury is experienced everyday. The harrowing memory refuses to go away. The subconscious fear psychosis continues. Yes, Asad feels the sting and impact of the slap, the violence , the hatred he inflicted on her. Everytime he looks at her bandaged hand , he feels like a criminal in front of her. Unlike Asad, Zoe has put the slap behind her because she has understood his emotional trauma that caused it . She has chosen to see his goodness, his love for his mother and his genuine guilt and apology , instead of holding on to the sin or romanticizing it. Yet... whenever Asad gets a little irritated, shifty , and even begins to get aggressive , her subconscious fear of him and what he is capable of comes back to her.
The beauty of today's dance between Asad and Zoe is not the chemistry, not Asad's intensity , not Zoe's breathlessness at being touched by him like a man would touch a woman, not Asad's controlled desire for her, not Zoe's confused emotions when he left. Its the whole situation and the moment that triggered it. In one moment, Zoe is like a bratty little child who knows that she can get away with anything with Asad as he has changed his attitude towards her Another moment, just a little hand movement of Asad close to her face , evokes her subconscious fear of Asad's anger and his slap. From a pout-princess who is having the time of her life with all the attention, respect and tolerance from her Jahanpanah, she becomes a scared little kitten who recoils thinking that maybe Asad is going to hit her again. Her eyes fill up with tears and mouthing an apology for forcing him to dance , she switches off the princess button and retreats...
THAT... THAT does it for Asad once again. He is shocked, pained and guilt-ridden at the realization that his one mistake has scared Zoe to an extent where she gets terrified of him the moment he even shows a flicker of anger. The flashbacks of the slap , slap him. It shakes him and he knows that no matter how many times he says sorry, it will not change the truth that he raised his hand on her. It can only soften and melt away with time , oops, love and his success in proving to her that he is not a monster. That he does not hate her. That in his senses and all, he will never injure her. But how do you undo what you have done? You cannot. You can only do another individual act that is so beautiful that it erases the ugly.
Asad holding Zoe hand and pulling her into an intense dance which left him intense, and her breathless and confused was his way of doing what she wanted. Just to let her know that he is not an animal or an ogre who lives to injure her. To tell her that even if he cannot express it in words , he is not emotionally challenged and just as alive as her. To admit and fight the intensity that he feels for her but masks under a now-formal 'Miss.Farooqui'. To let her know that this push-pull-twirl-drop-into-my-arms is not a dance move, its their relationship. Yes, Asad will never say it , even if he cannot live without her tomorrow. He is not willing to risk himself to the love of this woman and we know it.
And Zoe? She did not understand anything - she was pulled into a whirpool of emotions and passion of a man to whom she connects and is bound in a twisted unconventional way. It was a whirlwind round of physical tension, attraction, surprise, raised heartbeat and the meeting of her feminine side with a man who holds a strange power over her. She will not be able to pinpoint how exactly she felt during the dance or when Asad walked away saying " Dance ise kehte hain , Miss.Farooqui' ( which meant I am not emotionally challenged). But whatever it was during those moments , it was very powerful .Her heart beat loud enough to leap out of her chest and her face , an amalgamation of emotions she cannot fathom.
Asad's behaviour and attitude towards Zoe is a sea-change in itself now. He gives her the attention she wants, is at his highest level of tolerance towards her, listens to her blabber with patience, is trying to build an equation with her where he doesn't do anything to make her face droop or take away her smile. He gives her the Princess treatment that she wants , and no, he is not doing it against his will. He is genuinely changing for her so that he can make that slap a distant memory and redeem himself from the damage that he has done. Today, he let Zoe investigate the guards as she wanted , let her get away with her cranky cuteness, came to her rescue only when she asked, believed in her conviction and was not angry at her when that shooter escaped.
And Zoe? Well, she is a happy cookie these days because Asad's scolding are limited to -"Aap neeche utariye". She can prance around him, have his 101% attention and not his hatred and disdain. He is giving her the respect , the attention, the appreciation, the trust and confidence that she always wanted from him. But does she let him know that? No. She says she is a strong girl when he says sorry looking at her bandaged knuckle area. His 'thank you' shocks her and she honestly tells him in a comic manner that 'Humein karele ki aadat hai'. Zoe just wants Asad to appreciate and respect her - she does not want to change Asad as a person. Use uske OCD waale Jahaanpanah hi qubool hain.
Asad knows that his feelings for Zoe are powerful. Zoe has no conscious inkling that what she feels for Asad is so powerful that she has given him the power and the liberty to injure her. She may tell Asad that she is a strong girl. But we know what the truth is. She can crumble like an oven fresh cookie with just one angry word from Asad.
In short, Zoe loves this Princess treatment that she is getting from Asad and the glow and happiness on her face says it all. Please Asad, do not change for the bad now. At the moment, who knows it better than you that how fragile this STRONG girl is.
I am truly touched by the trigger of AsYa's dance and Asad's intention behind it to take away Zoe's fear of him. Some deeep and sensitive thinking by the writer and the director.
As for the rest of the episode, i told you. Razia is a tigress with those tiger eyes. She makes everyone look like a bunch of idiots . Badii Bii continues to underestimate Razia and Ayaan joined the band of idiots. Seriously? This is how you tackle an evil mastermind? Buy some brains from Zoe and some common sense and maturity from Asad!
P.S- The moment that seemed like a foreshadowing today was Zoe running from an angry guard and screaming for Asad to come and save her. Asad pulled her off the line of fire and secured her safety. How does that sound to you? Zoe always seeking Asad to be her saviour and he would come for her - anywhere , anytime and lets say, forever?
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