EDIT: Oops I forgot!! For Applef as well haha, for being the first one to guess Singapore correctly (:
Through The Monsoon: Part 19
Asad sat on the green settee next to his bed with a loud sigh, burying his face in his hands. Flashes of whatever he could remember from the night before played in his mind. Hugging Zoya as she cried about her father, Zoya climbing into his lap after he'd drawn a sketch of her beautiful face, sharing that box of leftover pizza, falling on the floor with Zoya on top of him during the scuffle over the apple... and then what? Asad sighed again. He was well aware that his heart was beating faster with every passing memory. But they needed to figure this out somehow! Asad got up decidedly and strode to Zoya's room. Maybe she could remember something about last night, anything at all!
Asad knocked on Zoya's door at the same time as when the sky growled in a thunderous roar, announcing the start of yet another downpour. He pushed the door open to find Zoya's room in a serious mess, like as though the thunderstorm had actually entered the room. He looked around for Zoya and finally found her emerging from behind her open closet door, dragging a huge suitcase with her. She dumped it on her bed and zipped it open before throwing in her belongings, strewn all across the room, whilst swallowing loud sobs.
"Aap yeh kya kar rahi ho, Miss Farooqui!" Asad shouted, as he took two large steps and stood menacingly in front of Zoya, grabbing her wrist in a bid to stop her from continuing. Zoya used the back of her free hand to wipe a tear trailing down her face before struggling against Asad's grip.
"Chodiye mujhe Mr Khan, let me finish packing. Main jaanti hoon ke Phuphi ki di huyi shart hum poori nahi karsakte. Maybe I was never meant to meet my abbu," Zoya concluded, as she managed to wring her wrist free. She ignored the fact that Asad was staring daggers at her, and continued to throw her stuff into the open bag, her vision blurring as her eyes watered up again.
"Put your stuff back in the closet Miss Farooqui. I'm going to tell Ammi that we're ready for this nikaah," Asad announced, before turning away and taking a step towards the door. Zoya stared incredulously at Asad's retreating back and quickly jumped over a pile of clothes on the floor to reach him, curling her fingers around his wrist gently. Asad stopped immediately, but made no attempt to turn back to her. They stood that way for a while, the sound of raindrops hitting on Zoya's window the only thing breaking the silence.
"Aap mujhse nikaah karna chahte ho?" Zoya whispered, holding her breath once she'd managed to let the words tumble out of her mouth. She watched curiously as Asad turned towards her in a painfully slow fashion. He pried her fingers free of his wrist and crossed his arms across his chest.
"Are you mad? I'm just going to tell Ammi that, iska matlab yeh nahi ke hum sach mein nikaah karenge. It's Monday now, and Ammi wants the nikaah to be performed on Friday. So if we agree for now, it'll buy you time until Friday to look for your abbu. Then if you find your abbu by then, we don't need to get the nikaah done," Asad replied calmly, but without eye contact. Zoya frowned as she noticed Asad looking somewhere over her head as he answered her.
"And if I don't find him?" Zoya retorted, stretching to her the tip of her toes in a bid to become a little taller and establish eye contact with Asad. But Asad simply looked away, cutting off her attempt. Zoya lowered her heels disappointedly, shaking her head as she did.
"Tab ki baat tab karenge. Now are you coming with me to tell Ammi or what?" Asad asked impatiently, glancing over his shoulder very slightly just to see if Zoya was going to follow him out. Zoya stayed rooted in her spot, mostly out of shock. She was convinced that he'd tell her she'd have to go back to New York should she fail to find her abbu by Friday. She hadn't expected him to give her this strangely vague answer instead. She took a step towards him to question him, but Asad immediately began striding out of her room. She smiled softly to herself before hurrying to catch up with him.
Asad walked out of the room once he could see from his peripheral vision that Zoya was indeed following behind him. He felt her hand slip into his palm and hold it gently, once she'd caught up with him. He stopped in his tracks and waited for Zoya to take a few steps and stand next to him. A flash of lightning dance across the sky as Asad looked down at her, sensing that she was staring at him. Her eyes brimmed with tears, tears of gratitude this time. He nodded stiffly at her, acknowledging her silent thanks before continuing their walk to Dilshaad's room, hand in hand.
Tanveer swung open her room door in frustration, unable to think of any plan other than hoping that Asad wouldn't agree to marry and Zoya would then have no choice but to leave. But she knew deep down inside that Asad and Zoya were indeed attracted to each other, like Dilshaad had pointed out earlier. But there was still no harm hoping right? Maybe she could try to brainwash Asad, she was always good at that. An evil smirk appeared on her face as she thought about it, and immediately turned to the staircase to run to Asad's room.
Tanveer's face dropped as soon as she'd taken the first step down the staircase, when she noticed Asad and Zoya approaching the other end, unabashedly holding hands. She scrambled back into her room, and watched them from her doorway as they walked up slowly, exchanging soft glances once in a while. Oh how her blood boiled! She waited for them to enter Dilshaad's bedroom before following behind them casually, already expecting the worst.
"Hum dono nikaah ke liye tayyaar hai," Asad announced simply, a roll of thunder following his announcement in quick succession. Dilshaad's eyes softened considerably in the face of the announcement. She smiled lovingly as she stood up from the bed and approached her two children, patting their cheeks with her hands. Her motherly instinct didn't fail her after all. Najma squealed in delight in the background, while Tanveer scowled openly, completely sure that no one had even noticed that she was there anyway. She had to do something, and she had to do it as soon as possible.
XXXOkay my final year in college just started, so be a little patient with me with regards to the frequency of the updates yeah (:
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