Cinderella bhopal ki - an asya ff part 5 page 10 - Page 2

hi every body. its a trying time for asya fans i know but god willing we will see some good things soon. meanwhile hope u read this updt and like it. dont forget to like and comment

PART 3 - ANGELS AND DEMONS

Zoya entered inside the club from the usual entrance reserved for those working there. she then entered into the room where some other girls were just getting ready for their respective acts. as she looked around her, her mind went back by 2yrs- the first time she was here. she was a naive girl , all innocent ,unaware of the reputation of the place she had just entered. all she knew was that the owner of the place, pascal had lent her choti ammi some substantial amount of money and now they are unable to pay it back. his men had already threatened her choti ammi and they were supposed to pay that day but they had no money. yet instead of running, zoya thought may be she could plead for some time on razias behalf . she made her case infront of pascal, a thin wiry man with a mean expression . he did not say anything for a minute and then said " so your ammi plans to melt my heart sending you, a flower at the brink of bloom, does she?" zoya had felt repelled by the man and his insinuation scared her in to thinking that may be her choti ammi had sold her out. but destiny was in a strange way on her side that night. instead of harming her at that moment itself, pascal had decided to play with her like a toy. he threw her infront of a hoard of strange men, most of them dangerous and repulsive and left her to their mercy. zoya was terrified by the men and their demands of some entertainment and she did the only thing she knew about entertaining- she sang. and she kept singing as a hush fell over in the audience. she was much too scared to see what they were looking at, so she had covered her eyes and face and the only thing that had penetrated through her fear was the time when it struck 12. she stopped as if on automatic and ran, hoping never to have to go through that again.razia was angry with her when she reached home and said she might have failed and zoya had never before had a bigger thrashing than the one she received that day. only the next day pascal came home with an offer of a job at the club for her as payment for the debt. he said she will sing and whatever she earns ,she can repay the debt with it. zoya was not willing but then she saw she had no option, they were barely surviving as it is and somebody had to support the family. humeira was soon to be in college and zoya knew they had no money to let humeira have the kind of education she deserves, all in all she needed this too and pascal knew it well. he could easily have forced her in to this yet he played by the book and zoya knew she would do it. hence she put two conditions. one she would never be revealed in front of the audience and two, no one not pascal, nor anyone in the club harm her or touch her in any way. she didnt expect him to agree but surprising her he did.

zoya knew today that if she had placed any more demands he would have agreed to them too. what she didnot see then, but pascal could was that her voice was his golden goose. it could turn his entire fortune. and it did. in the two years zoya worked in the place, it transformed from a lowly bar to an elite club with only the best and biggest visiting it. and she was a star, albeit a notorious one. the mystery around her identity only increased the number of people turning up at the club and pascal used this fact well.

but zoya hated the place and she hated her helplessness to have to go there. she had vowed to herself in the first itself that she would someday get out of it and she was quite near her goal. she had almost paid back all her debt and she had saved enough so that she can support her family until she found a decent enough job. and she planned to tell pascal that today.

and there was another thing that she was planning on doing unknown to pascal ,she remembered as she came out of her memories and looked around the room again and spotted the person she was looking over. she beckoned to the girl silently and went in to the washroom as the girl followed.

"are u ready nadira?" she asked the young girl. nadira was younger than her when she got in to this mess of a place and zoya felt sympathy for the girl. nadira faced regular abuse from pascal and his men and the girl was slowly sinking. but nadiras hope for survival came in the form of aslam with whom nadira had fallen in love, aslam worked as a waiter in the club and he loved nadira to pieces. but both nadira and aslam knew pascal would kill them both if they were found out. it was then they had an idea of running from the place and without anyone else to turn to, they asked zoya for help and zoya agreed. today was the night they were planning escape.

nadira said in a scared voice,"iam terrified zoya aapa! what if..."

zoya firmly held up a finger and said " there is no question of what if nadira, not anymore. this is the only chance you will get"

nadira said"but aapi what if he found out? what will happen then?"

zoya replied,"you both will hopefully be gone and so will be i. iam about to leave this place soon and he will never be able to trace this to any of us" zoya said with more confidence than she felt.

and she added"nadira quit worrying and do just as i say, both of you."

nadira gulped, nodded and left. zoya came out and got ready. just then pascal entered. in the past two years he had put on some weight and was more meaner looking than before if that was possible. he still had his fake simpering smile he reserved for clients and it was the same smile he saved for zoya.

he approached her and said ," are u ready zoya?" as she nodded he turned to leave and then at the door only turned back to her and said,"tumhari choti ammi bahut buddhi hogayi zoya in do saalon mein."

zoya was surprised"tum choti ammi se kab mile? aur kyun?"

pascal said" i did not meet her she came to meet me. by the way zoya if u needed money u could have just asked me . why give your old lady the trouble to come here and ask for it?"

zoyas heart stopped for a second. fearing what she might hear she asked ina hushed voice,'what?"

pascal smiled and zoyas heart sank at the triumph that she saw there. pascal said"oh !its nothing to worry zoya.she came by just an hour ago. i just lent her some more money and i added that to your original debt thats all. there is nothing to worry, after all you can pay it back just the same way as you have been doing for the past two years, right?" and delivering that blow, pascal left.

zoya sat numb with shock." why? oh god why, would anyone do that to someone? why is her freedom so unobtainable? why? allah i am tired" she thought as a few hot tears leaked over her face. all her life she had faced everything on her own, fought with destiny every step of the way and she was now tired of the battle.she knew it will be a long time before she will be able to pay pascal completely- he is not going to let her go easily and apparently her stepmother wants her to rot her in this place. her heart ached as she remembered her ammi who told her fairytales. she thought"ammi iam tired . i cant fight anymore."

for once she wished someone would just come and take her away from all this, the way aslam wants to take away nadira. for the first time she felt jealous of nadira.

zoya slowly shook herself out of her misery. she may have been ealt with a blow but that did not mean she was out. she will find a way. if she has found a way for others she will find a way for herself too, thinking thus, zoya got up and went up the stage.

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"yeh sab teri galati hai asad! bcoz of you we are late! abhi sirf 5 minute hain 12'o clock tak . tere stupid office deals aur teri slow driving ne late karadiya! ab tak toh performance khatm honewali hogi."

asad replied as they entered the club,"stop acting like a teenager attending his first live concert. waise bhi mujhe abhi bhi lagta hai tum iss singer ke baare mein exaggerate kar rahe ho. i dont think we are missing anything and my office call with those people couldnt be kept off and ..." asad was about to say more when he heard the announcement.

"ladies and gentlemen... for one last time this evening, we present to you...cinderella!"

as every body clapped , asad and anwar took their seats. asad skeptical and anwar excitedly waited. the lights all around the club dimmed and a spot light fell on the stage. a girl came up on the stage as everyone clapped again. asad supposed this was the cinderella they were talking of as she stood in front of the mike. the girls face was in the shadows and hidden. even though he was skeptical asad had to admire the way they were creating a mysterious element and allure around the singer. it was quite a neat trick to have everything about her visible except for her face. he supposed she might be ugly for she were beautiful, they would not let her hide her face, not at a place like this. but she had a good figure he noted almost absently. and the white long sleeved evening gown she wore suited it well

zoyas dress- this pic is from google

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just as zoyas performance ended. there was a power outtage in the place, a first, and as heavy rain was heard over the chaos and complaints that followed and zoya used it to her advantage. she quietly got off the stage and got hold of nadira and quickly slipped off with her to outside. zoya had caused the power outtage but luck helped her in the form of rain.

both she and nadira slipped out in to the darkness and rain that was pouring hard. the visibilty was so low that they had no idea where they were for a second. then orienting herself, zoya proceeded and both of them reached the place where aslam was supposed to wait for them.

asad was disturbed. he was rarely moved emotionally nowadays, and yet a nobodys voice made him want to cry and laugh at the same time. in the past few years he had been very harsh on himself regarding his display of emotions publicly.emotions meant weakness and today a nobody disturbed the balance he had created for himself. feeling out of sorts, asad told anwar he would go outside to take out the car and they would get out of here soon. he didnt want to stay here for a minute more.

as he stepped out into the rain in search of the parking place, he saw it. a flash of white in the darkness. he reflexively looked up . and saw her. the girl from the club. the singer. her face was still hidden as she held a dupatta over her head and face against the rain. the rain was still beating them up but he was near enough and there was enough light to spot the girl however obscurely and he could see she was beckoning to him. he was perplexed, what was she calling him for? and even as he wondered, a gust of wind blew and the girls face was revealed to him as her dupatta flew off her face and asad stood stock still staring at her.

"is she an angel?" that was the first thought in his mind as the lightning made her face even more visible and he took in her beautiful features. her beautiful dark eyes had a strange warmth in them. asad remembered how he had thought that may be they hide her face coz she was ugly but he could see that its quite the opposite. she was a beauty for whom people would die unrepentantly. he had never in his life seen someone so beautiful.

as he kept staring at her , he saw that she was still beckoning towards him. unknowingly asad moved forward. and just as he was about to reach her, someone brushed by his side bringing him back to reality. asad looked around and saw that a guy had brushed past him and was fastly approaching her. and she looked relieved on seeing him. for a moment there asad felt an inexplicable anger. who was he for her to be so happy on seeing him?

asad was surprised by his own emotion . what the hell was wrong with him, he thought. and again he looked up at the girl, only to see her with another girl who was now hugging the guy who had brushed past him. asad had by now reached within hearing distance and he began listening.

"allah ka shukar hai tum aagaye aslam" the other girl was saying.

the guy nodded and said"haan thoda mushkil tha par zoya ki madad se sab theek hai" he said thanking zoya.

zoya said"there is no much time. here are some supplies and your tickets. hurry up. you need to go before anyone realises you are gone"

nadira nodded and said "we will call you when..."

zoya said"no dont call me or contact me in anyway. you may be caught. just go away and forget this place"

nadira objected and was about to protest when zoya said"if u love each other and love me then you will do as i say. its the best for everyone"

nadira nodded and teary eyed, she hugged zoya and then disappeared in to the darkness along with aslam.

zoya wished and prayed for them as tears filled her eyes. she did not know when she herself would be free of this place but she was glad she helped someone get out of it. she turned back and that was when she saw him. the guy in the black suit. he had been staring at her for god knew how long. zoya looked at herself and realised in dismay that she was still wearing her evening gown and her face was no longer hidden which possibly meant that this man knew who she was. his searing gaze made her shiver. it was as if he was trying to figure her out. it made her uncomfortable and it made her afraid . and then he turned and disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. hoping against hope that he did not know who she was and if he did, he would atleast keep quiet about it, zoya made her way home in the rain suppressing her desire to run away . from what she didnt know.

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coming up...part four-RUNNING AWAY