Hello! Here's the next part (: AsyaManic, you read my mind about the freshening up bit, so hope you like what I came up with! (:
Mangalpur Madness: Part 13
It was quite late in the morning when Asad and Zoya woke up to the sound of knocking at their door. Both of them opened their eyes at the same time, just to be greeted by the sight of each other's faces. During the course of the night, Zoya too had turned to face Asad, so they woke up holding hands, Asad's free arm hanging loosely over Zoya's waist, and Zoya's free hand clutching the fabric of Asad's shirt near the centre of his chest. Neither of them moved from their positions, simply staring at each other for the longest time. It took a second round of knocking by the person outside their door for them to break out of their thoughts and let go of each other. Confused, they turned to look at the door.
"Asad bhaijaan! Zoya Paaji! Why aren't you guys out yet? It's close to 10 now! Oh by the way, the locksmith is here and he's waiting for you guys, so please do come down soon! Okay I have a lot of work to do before the sangeet so I'll see you guys later," Maryam's voice chimed across their door. They waited for the sound of her footsteps to get further from the door, before turning to look at each other again. Neither of them had even visited the bathroom since yesterday, afraid to even bring up the topic. In fact, even their luggage remained untouched, since it would've been impossible to change in each other's presence. But currently, they both looked terribly messy after such an eventful night.
Silently, Asad led Zoya to the attached bathroom, and pointed towards the sink. Zoya smiled gratefully and began splashing her face with water using her free hand. She moved away from the sink thereafter, to allow Asad to do the same. While Asad washed up, Zoya looked around for a mirror, and realized that the bathroom didn't have one. Shrugging, she began to run her fingers through her hair, in an attempt to make herself look more presentable. By then, Asad was done, and he couldn't help but freeze as he watched Zoya play with those beautiful tresses of hers.
"Do I look okay?" Zoya asked, turning her head from side to side for Asad to inspect. Asad almost nodded. When did Zoya not look okay? In fact, she always looked more than okay. But another idea sneaked into his mind, and so he shook his head. Zoya frowned at his response.
"Your hair... I'll do it for you," Asad said, unable to come up with a proper excuse. Zoya's hair had fallen nicely into place just as it usually does, but Asad lied anyway. He lifted his hand towards her hair agonizingly slowly, before slowly running his fingers through it. Asad tried his best to keep his face straight, as he continued to feel the softness of Zoya's hair on his palm. He'd been looking for an opportunity to touch her hair again, ever since he got engulfed in the scent of it during their short stint in jail.
"Hogaya?" Zoya asked softly, after she'd realized that Asad was definitely taking much longer than needed to set her hair in place. Asad snapped out of the haze he was in and removed his hand from her hair, nodding once as he did. Zoya smiled at him, and this time, she decided to slip her handcuffed hand into his and lead them both out of the room. After all, the locksmith was going to free them of the handcuffs within the next few minutes, the opportunity to hold Asad's hand wouldn't pop up so easily anymore.
Asad and Zoya greeted the locksmith waiting for them, who let out a friendly chuckle upon understanding Asad and Zoya's predicament. He worked on the handcuffs for less than a minute, and with a jiggle and a pull, he removed the handcuffs from their wrists. Asad thanked him, and the locksmith smiled in return. Not because Asad had thanked him, but because he noticed that the couple hadn't let go of each other's hands even though he had removed the handcuffs.
Asad reached into his pocket to find some change for the locksmith, when Mansoor appeared from behind him and beat him to it. The locksmith graciously accepted the money and took his leave. Asad was just about to argue with Mansoor about the money when Mansoor decided to explain himself.
"Asad, I'd been feeling guilty since yesterday. If it wasn't for my police complaint, both of you wouldn't have gotten into such a mess. Take my paying the locksmith as a gesture of reducing the guilt I feel. Please Asad," Mansoor said, as he moved Asad's hand away from him. Asad shrugged and gave in, and a grateful Mansoor led both of them to the tables where the wedding guests were having breakfast.
"Asad bhaijaan, ek pura din beet chuka, at least now you can let go of your wife's hand!" Maryam announced, sneaking up from behind. Zoya blushed deeply and quickly pulled her hand out of Asad's grasp, as laughter from the crowd gathered for breakfast echoed in their ears. As soon as she did, Maryam took hold of her arm and steered her towards the group of giggling girls from yesterday, who were now sitting together for breakfast, and not surprisingly, still giggling. She turned her head slightly to see Mansoor lead Asad towards a table occupied by some young men. Once seated far away from each other, both Asad and Zoya touched their own wrists subconsciously, already feeling a certain void.
XXX
Okay guys I have bad news haha. My exams start on Monday, and I really cannot afford to spend so much time on this story and this forum in general, so I'll be going on a short hiatus. Hope you understand! I will be back soon (:
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
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