OH MY GODDD! Today's episode made me cry so much guys! My tears were literally falling like Niagara Falls, the cuteness and sadness :( As much as I love the character growth and epicness Gul Khan has created, seeing them cry just makes me want to skip to Ajmer already. Anyways, I was sad. Clearly. So I decided to write. AN UPDATE TWO DAYS IN A ROW FOR YOU ALL! MWAH! This is for all my fellow Quboolians and apparently quite a few Directioners! WOOOT! I hope you like it!
Chapter 9
Asad and Arnav led Zoya and Khushi back to the car. Zoya slid in the front seat beside Asad while Arnav and Khushi slid into the back of the Range Rover.
"Next stop: Agra." Arnav said as the rain continued to pour.
"Do you think we'll be able to see the Taj Mahal?" Zoya asked excitedly as Asad pulled onto the road.
"Yeah, I want to see it!" Khushi added.
"We can't go see it but I am sure you'll be able to see it perfectly from the bridge we need to cross." Arnav said smiling.
"YAY!" Zoya squealed causing Asad to smile.
The conversations carried on until Khushi fell asleep, her head on Arnav's shoulder. A few minutes later Zoya also fell asleep, her head against the tinted window, the sound of the rain calming her. It was then that Asad noticed a black Honda following them. He'd seen them through the rearview mirror a few times but thought nothing of it.
"Arnav. Car. Right behind us. Black. Honda." Asad said changing lanes, the car followed. To his surprise another black car behind the first car also followed.
"Since the dhaba?" Arnav asked pulling out a hat and putting it on backwards. In the middle of the hat was a camera, controlled by Arnav's phone.
"Two cars. Both black. Hondas." Asad said. "Shit."
"Hm, two men in both cars." Arnav said looking at the feed from his phone. He used the phone to zoom the camera in. "I am going to run a search on the plate numbers. Try to lose them off your tail."
"Got it." Asad said speeding up. The bad thing about driving at night was that there was hardly any traffic making it easy to follow someone. Asad grinned as he saw a large truck in front of them, and a car coming in the other lane towards them. He had just enough time to take the car on the other side and put it in front of the truck. The car in the opposite lane honked loudly.
Asad smiled as he pulled in front of the truck, there was a line of oncoming traffic in the other lane, there was no way the cars would get past the truck. Asad saw a secluded mansion on the side of the road and pulled into the driveway between trees and parked in between the other cars in the driveway. He turned the car off and turned around to look at Arnav.
The girls were still sound asleep, thankfully.
"Both license plates are registered under the Siddiqui's company insurance policy." Arnav said staring at his phone. "What do we do now?"
"We need to split up, take two different cars and routes. They are going to be on the lookout for a black Range Rover and four people." Asad said.
"I'll take Khushi, you take Zoya. We'll meet in Agra." Arnav agreed.
Asad nodded. "I'll take that white BMW X6." He said pointing to the white car to their right. You take the black Lexus. Put everything in the BMW trunk."
Arnav nodded and quietly got out of the car taking care not to wake the girls. He took out his special key from his pocket, a thin metal strip and stuck it in the lock on the trunk for the BMW.
"Don't make any sounds. Please." He whispered to the car hoping no alarms would go off. Opening it from the trunk reduced the chances by a huge margin, but it was still possible. Arnav let out a sigh of relief as the trunk opened without a sound. He crawled into the trunk and to the front opening all the locks.
He opened the driver side door and pulled the panel under the steering wheel near the brakes, causing a bunch of wires to fall out. He pulled the two red wires stripping the insulation off and joining the two to provide electricity for the ignition components. He found the brown wire and stripped off the insulation and touched it to the red wire and the car came to life. He hit the race once to rev the engine lightly so the car wouldn't stop running. (PS. You now know how to hotwire a car, but some cars use yellow wires instead of red LOL)
"Success!" He whispered turning to Asad who was holding the suitcases. He put them in the trunk as Arnav did the same to the Lexus. Asad shook his head at Arnav's antics, he got so much joy from hotwiring cars. Asad removed the plates off the Range Rover as Arnav came to grab Khushi.
"We leave them the car and my Rolex watch. It should more than cover the costs of the two cars we steal and keep them from reporting us anytime soon." Asad said moving to the passenger side and picking up a sleeping Zoya as Arnav laughed picking up Khushi.
"Imagine if we were working with men again, we would never be able to pick them up like this." Arnav said smiling.
"Shut up Raizada. See you in Agra. Be careful and call if anything happens." Asad said.
"You too Asad." Arnav said placing Khushi in the passenger seat of the car and buckling her in.
Arnav drove off as Asad waited ten minutes before following. Zoya was still fast asleep a slight smile on her face. Asad tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before driving off.
Sadly, luck was not on sides of our two favourite couples. Within an hour the one of the two cars managed to find Arnav and Khushi.
"F**K!" Arnav exclaimed causing Khushi to jerk awake. She blinked a few times taking in her surroundings.
"What the! Where are we? Where are Asad and Zoya? How did I get here?"
"Calm down and stay quiet." Arnav said whizzing through traffic trying to lose them off their tails. To say Arnav was snappy when he was frustrated or overwhelmed was an understatement, he was downright incorrigible.
"Arnav. What is going on?" Khushi asked again to no reply. He didn't say a word, he didn't even look at her. Overwhelmed by his behaviour and the fact that the car was moving a bit too fast tears started streaming down her face as she clutched the seat.
"Damn it." Arnav said under his breath as he pulled into the forest seeing a clearing in between the trees and out the other side to the adjacent road. Khushi's eyes were wide as tears streamed down her face. Her mind was being assaulted with memories, memories she had been trying to suppress.
The fateful day when her drunk father was whizzing through the road just like this, yelling at his mother as usual as the heavy rain hit the windows.
Khushi was sitting in the back her eyes wide brimming with tears. She was used to that manyelling at her mother and hitting her. It was a sight she helplessly witnessed day after day. She wished that she was stronger so she could stop him. That was the day she lost her only parent, her mother. The man ran into a oncoming truck and killed them both leaving Khushi all alone. Khushi had fainted and later woke up in the hospital with her bua beside her, a kind woman unknown to the wickedness of her brother who took her away from her world. (Don't image Shashi as the father but some other nameless character, he is too sweet to be pulled into this.)
Arnav pulled the car back into another opening in the forest, he cringed as the side mirror fell off hitting a tree.
"Shit." He said as the car came to a stop suddenly. "Khu-" He said turning around to look at Khushi but stopped short. Tears were streaming down her face, her eyes wide, her nose red and a look of fear on her face.
"Khushi, tum theek ho?" [Khushi, are you okay?] asked Arnav reaching out towards her but she flinched back. "Khushi..." Arnav tried again but she flinched back again her eyes still wide, she looked almost dazed, as if she wasn't there right then. Arnav got out of the car and went to her side opening the door, getting completely soaked in the process. She sat still oblivious to her surroundings. Arnav picked her up in his arms and leaned her against the car causing her tears to mix in with the rain as she sobbed.
"Khushi, everything is okay." He whispered caressing her cheeks.
"Wh-what's going on?" Khushi whispered finally coming out of her trance to see that Arnav was in front of her.
"There are people following us, so we split up. Zoya's with Asad. Now we have to run and find a place to hide before they find us. Khushi, are you listening to me?" Arnav said.
Khushi nodded and took a deep breath. Arnav grabbed her hand and walked into the dark forest as lightning lit up the sky.
Meanwhile...
"I don't feel so good." Zoya groaned as she woke up. Her head was pounding and her body felt too hot.
"What happened?" Asad asked worried.
"I think I have a fever, it's a bit chilly, the rain- wait...ALLAH MIYAH! How'd we change cars? Where are Arnav and Khushi?" Zoya exclaimed as soon as she caught up to her surroundings.
"We were being chased, they took another car." Asad said.
"Wait...how'd you get this car?" She asked noticing that there was no key in the ignition. "YOU STOLE IT?"
"I left behind the Range Rover and my Rolex, enough to cover the cost of both cars."
"Aw, Asad. You even steal in style. How cool is this though?! How many cars are behind us? Are you going to jump over other cars? I always thought that was the coolest. You should let me drive, I drive like a ninja, they won't even see me whizzing by! Can I drive, please please please?"
"No, now be quiet. Please." Asad said shaking his head. This girl is going to be the death of me.
"No, but seriously...you should let me drive. If we are getting chased you can't drive like a grandma, you are almost as bad as Khushi. Change into the oncomers lane! You can pass like 7 cars that way! Go Go Go!" Zoya said.
"Zoya. This is not a f**cking field trip, your life is in danger. Stop acting like a little child." Asad snapped then mumbled. "I just had to say yes to this mission...this girl is going to be the death of me." Although he mumbled the words very quietly Zoya heard him loud and clear.
He regrets meeting me. The one thought rang through her mind over and over again making her head pound even more.
"Zoya, ZOYA!" Asad said trying to get her attention, he turned around to see that she was back asleep again. He sighed in relief as he drove. He hit the brakes when he noticed red brake lights everywhere in front of him. He rolled down his window to see what was going on when he noticed a police man walking around.
"Excuse me Sir." He yelled out causing the police man to walk towards the car. "Kya hua?" [What happened?] he asked motioning to the cars in front of him.
"Baarish ki wajay sai highway flood hogaya hai, aage se band hai. Yeh kaun hai?" [The highway got flooded due to the rain, its closed. Who is that?] He asked looking at Zoya, she looked to be unconscious.
"Meri patni, inhe halka saa bhukhar hai." [My wife, she has a light fever.] Asad said confidently causing the man to nod.
"Aap car ko reverse karke woh side waala road leh sakte hai, waha pai ek hotel hai." [You can reverse the car and take the side road, there is a hotel there.]
"Ji, shukriya." [Thank you] Asad said smiling rolling up the window. He backed the car up slowly and turned onto the road glancing at Zoya. Thankfully, the hotel was only a kilometer off the highway. Asad parked his car in front of the hotel and turned to wake up Zoya.
"Zoya." He said but got no response. "Zoya." He tried again, a bit louder.
He touched her face and gasped in shock. She was burning. He tried to shake her awake but to no avail.
Shit. She fainted. Asad thought getting out of the car. He went around to her side and picked her up in his arms and walked towards the hotel entrance. The gaurds at the door watched shocked as he made his way into the lobby. It wasn't everyday that a man walked in carrying a woman.
"Hi. I need a room." Asad said to the shocked receptionist.
"Uh sure, everything okay sir?" asked the man noticing the look of anguish on Asad's face.
"Yeah, my wife fainted. Do you know of any doctors nearby?" Asad asked.
"I'll call one for you and get them to your room sir." He said typing on his computer.
"Thank you." Asad said gratefully looking at Zoya's face.
"What shall I make the booking under?"
"Mr. Khan." Asad said trying to grab his wallet, but it was hard since he was carrying Zoya.
"Don't worry about it Sir. We will charge it when you check out. Let me take you to your room." he said getting up with a key leading them towards the elevator.
Asad nodded following.
"I'll try and see about the doctor." He said while opening the door to the room. "Call 0 on your phone if you need anything."
"Thank you so much." Asad said closing the door and carrying Zoya to the bed.
"Zoya." He whispered holding her face. "Zoya, wake up please."
Asad let out a little growl feeling helpless, he grabbed the jug of water on the side table and sprinkled a little bit of water on Zoya's face causing her to twitch.
"Zoya." He tried again his eyes now teary.
"Hm." Zoya responded her eyes still closed.
"Zoya, wake up."
"Asad?" She whispered opening her eyes and looking at her surroundings. "Where are we?"
"Y-you fainted so I brought you here. There is a doctor on the way."
"Doctor?"
"You have a fever." He said feeling her forehead again.
"Oh...that explains the headache." She tried to smile.
"Do you need anything? Water? Food?"
"No, I am okay." She said as she heard a roar of thunder.
"Where are Khushi and Arnav?" She asked.
Asad's eyes grew wide as he realized that Arnav should have called if the highway was closed. He couldn't have gone anywhere either. He had totally forgotten about it due to his worry for Zoya. He never forgot things like this, it was part of his job.
He took out his phone and dialed Arnav only to hear that it was not reachable. Shit! Asad thought.
"He's not picking up." Asad said.
On the other hand...
"RUN KHUSHI!" Arnav said pulling her along as the sound of a bullet rang out, louder than that of the thunder.
"Stay in front of me at all times okay? And do whatever I tell you to do. If I say run away, you run away and call Asad." Arnav said as he whisked through the trees. He turned back around to see two men hot on their trail.
Arnav pulled Khushi behind a tree and ducked. He thanked god that it was still dark, the two men ran past them swearing. Arnav waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps to pull Khushi up and run the other way.
They ran through the forest as the rain continued to pour down on them. Khushi cringed as the mud splashed up on her. The ground felt mushy underneath her feet, she was cold, scared and tired.
"Arnav! Look a cottage!" She said as she spotted a cottage in her peripheral vision. Arnav breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the cottage and ran towards it with Khushi. "You go inside and wait. Do not come out no matter what." He said pushing her inside.
"Wait...where are you going?"
"I need to get rid of them, they'll find us and kill us both if we don't." He said taking out his gun.
"NO!" Khushi shouted. "Stay here."
"Khushi, I can't. Wait for me to come back, if I am not back within a few hours I want you to call Asad on this." He said handing her the phone. "But do not leave until it is light out. Okay?"
"No. Don't go. Wh-what if something happens to you?" She sobbed.
"Khushi, this is my job. I do this all the time. I'll be fine." He said holding her face between his hands.
"Promise? Promise that you'll come back." Khushi cried.
"I promise you silly girl. Nothing is going to keep me away from you." Arnav said smiling. He placed a kiss on her forehead and left.
Khushi didn't know why but she felt her heart sink as she fell to the ground. She felt as if the air just got knocked out of her.
Devi Maiya, keep him safe. She prayed closing her eyes. She sat in the corner of the cottage, surrounded by hay as the storm went on outside. Surprisingly, the storm brewing in her heart was worse than the one outside.
Meanwhile...
"I am going to give her some medicine now, the fever should break within a few hours. But you need to monitor her, if it goes up call me immediately." The white haired doctor advised Asad as he handed Zoya a pink tablet. Asad nodded and handed Zoya a glass of water.
"Take care of your wife son." The doctor said walking to the door. He smiled at the cute couple as he closed the door behind him. They reminded him of his late wife.
"Go to sleep now Zoya." Asad said sitting beside the bed and holding her hand.
"I am not sleepy." Zoya argued turning on her side to face him, her hand snug in his. "Can I ask you something?" Zoya said turning serious.
"Sure." Asad said.
"I-uh, there is something that's been bothering me for a while...I, do you like me Asad? At all? I just don't know what to think anymore, you know? Just when it feels like we might be on the same page, you do or say something to make me question everything that came before. One minute you seem like you care so much and the next minute you're ignoring me...Uh, I mean it makes perfect sense for a guy like you to not like a girl like me, but sometimes I feel like you might, I don't know why you would... I-I know you're way out of my league here but I need to know if there is something between us, because I've been going crazy with the mixed signals you're giving me here. I don't think we're getting anywhere Asad."
"I-well." Asad took a deep breath shocked at all the things that came out of her mouth. He wouldn't have imagined that she would confront him about it like that.
Well, that is one of the things I love - I mean like - about her right? That she is a puzzle. That I never know what to expect with her.
"Uh. Oh God. I messed up big time didn't I? I have got you doubting yourself. We can't be getting anywhere when I do my best to sabotage whatever this is every change I get now would we?" Asad said pulling his hair.
"Huh?" Zoya asked confused.
"You know for someone so intelligent, you really do love to assume the worst about yourself. It is infuriating that you put yourself down like that Zoya. It's YOU that's out of my league. You're perfect Zoya. Absolutely amazing. I can't even fathom how you can think that you're anything short of wonderful and beautiful. It's so hard not to fall for you. And that- that scares me, because you are the type of girl - not even type, there is no one in your type of category, actually. I am not making sense am I?" He asked.
Zoya shook her head to signal no.
"I saw you two years ago at-" Asad started only to be cut off.
"The Nyco Tech ball..." Zoya said her eyes wide.
"You saw me?" Asad asked surprised as Zoya nodded.
"That's the first time I saw you. I was on a job then and for the first time in my life I couldn't concentrate on a job, the client could have died if it wasn't for Arnav. I- I just couldn't stop looking at YOU. You were wearing a red dress standing in between a bunch of people laughing and you looked just perfect. You know that stupid movie clich, when time supposedly slows down, that happened. Of course I had heard about you and I was impressed as to how a girl your age could have achieved so much at such a young age. But- I- uh- I couldn't get you out of my head after taking one look at you. And it scared me. So I ran, I left thinking that I'd forget you, but I couldn't. You plagued my thoughts...for two years. And every time I saw your face on a magazine or somewhere I would be transported back to that night. And you are probably wondering why I am telling you all that- it is just that I - I am scared that I am going to fall in love with you Zoya, and I will break when you leave me."
Zoya listened her eyes wide, she hadn't expected him to say that. Ever. She was expecting him to say something along the lines of not liking her that way. Never in a million years would Zoya have guessed that he'd seen her that day too, that he was avoiding her because he was afraid to fall in love with.
"Wh-why would I leave you?" Zoya managed to say.
"Huh?" Asad asked.
"You said that I'd leave you."
"Everyone leaves at sometime."
"Then why are you so afraid of it?"
"I-it's a long story."
"I've got time." Zoya smiled.
"I was four when my nani passed away, I didn't even know what death meant but I realized that she was gone. I watched that spark in my nana ji's eye leave that day. Gone was the happy man that he was, he turned into a shadow of himself, never smiling, not talking. It was like he died along with her. He gave up on life, he didn't live, he just was. He died a few months later in his sleep. The doctors said that he just didn't have the will to get up. Ammi said it was because he loved nani that much, that he was nothing without her. And that's when I realized how weak love can make a man, my nana ji was the strongest man I knew and he gave up on life because of love."
"Why do you think like that? To me that sounds like love was what kept your nana ji strong and alive. Love was the thing that made him strong, and without it he couldn't go on. Not the other way around Asad." Zoya whispered tears streaming down her face.
"I-I never thought about it like that." Asad whispered surprised. "When I was ten my uncle committed suicide. Waleed Ahmed Khan, India's biggest industrialist. He was such a strong man but he fell in love with a girl and it destroyed him. He signed over 35% of his companies' shares to her when they got married. He didn't know that she had been buying shares from the minority stake holders, her and her boyfriend. She sold her shares to her boyfriend, uncle's main competitor, and he took over the company with a majority stake-hold. It broke my uncle. He was so broken that he ended his life."
"That wasn't love. He fell into her trap. And maybe he did fall in love with her, but he didn't end his life because he loved her. If anything he was probably ashamed of having loved her, he lost everything he worked for. He probably ended his life because of that." Zoya reasoned.
"I-its..." Asad started.
"I saw you at the Nyco Tech Ball too. I gushed about you all night to Khushi you know. And then you disappeared, I thought that there was no way you'd be interested in me so I tried to forget you. But it didn't work, you'd be in my dreams every night. But your face got less and less clear as time went on until you were almost faceless. That is why it took me a while to recognize you, but there was this instant connection I felt, like this was meant to be. And I know I probably sound like some crazy girl right now. And you're probably freaking out on the inside since you have this weird ugly girl that is saying that she is obses-"
"Don't ever call yourself ugly. Weird, yes. Ugly? Not even close. You are absolutely beautiful, beyond beautiful." Asad whispered squeezing her hand.
"I am not. Stop lying." Zoya said sadly, it wasn't in the way girls tended to put themselves down to fish for compliments. She genuinely didn't believe she was beautiful.
"You are. And I am going to get you to admit that you are." Asad smiled.
"How?"
"By telling you that you are beautiful everyday until you see it yourself." He smiled caressing her cheek.
"You're going to be saying that for a long time then. Until you are Old Ahmed Khan." Zoya giggled causing Asad to laugh.
"You never say or do what I think you will, and that makes it impossible for me to stay away from you. I'm getting really tired of trying to."
"So stop trying," Zoya whispered back.
"I really like Zoya Beautiful Farooqui." Asad smiled.
"Honestly?" Zoya laughed at her new middle man. "I like you too Mr. Asad Bipolar Khan!"
"What? Bipolar?"
"Yeah! That's what I've been calling you in my head since you were jumping back and forth!" Zoya laughed.
"That's not nice. I give you such a nice middle name and I get bipolar." Asad pouted.
"How about you think of what you'd like your middle name to be while I sleep. By the way, did you try Arnav's phone again?" Zoya asked.
"I tried four times, it's not reachable."
"Do you think they're okay?" Zoya asked worried.
"I hope so." Asad said. "Go to sleep now Zoya." He said touching her forehead, which seemed to not be as hot as before.
In the middle of the forest...
"ARNAV!" Screamed a terrified Khushi as she tan towards a stumbling Arnav at the door of the cottage tears streaming down her face.
*Hides behind couch for ending it here*. Mwahahaha. Seriously, the chapter was getting too long, there is like 4500 words up there! Leave me sexy comments KAY! They make me smileee. I shall update soon! Don't worry, I am twitching to write and my boyfriend and his sister aren't back yet to distract me, idk if I should be happy or sad about that though...anyways, TATA LOVELIES!
Ishaani
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