|AsYa & ArShi FF:Classified Love Thread I| (Complete) - Page 75

"Zoya! Khushi!" Zeenat yelled as soon as she stepped out of the car. She ran up to the shocked girls and pulled them into a hug. "You crazy girls. I am so glad you are okay. Meine kaha tha naa ki India safe nahi hai Zoya, lekin tumne kabhi meri baat suni hi nahi. And you Khushi, ek baar humko batana toh chahiye tha ki tum bhi yaha aa rahi ho." She yelled in their ears.

"Aapi." Zoya said finally pulling out of the hug. "Why are you here?"

"To get you two of course."

"Lekin the court date..." Khushi said.

"I've talked to the judge, both of you can give your statement today and we'll leave for New York by tonight." Anwar finally said but got no response from the two girls.

Khushi and Zoya were shocked. They had thought that they had two days here, with the family, with Arnav and Asad. Time to say goodbye to everyone, to part properly and to talk to their respective partners. The news hit Zoya the hardest, she had planned on talking to Asad today. To figure out what was actually going on with them. To gauge his feelings about her impending removal from his life.

"Zoya, are you still mad at us?" Zeenat asked when they didn't reply.

"Mad would be an understatement." Zoya murmured under her breath.

"Let's go." Aapi said.

"I have to tell Asad." Zoya said.

"Why aren't they here? How is leaving them alone protecting them? Anwar, yeh kaise employe-"

"They did a great job, don't worry. At least they didn't lie to us." Zoya retorted causing Zeenat's face to fall a little. "We have to tell them before we leave."

"I'll let them know." Anwar nodded. "But we have to reach Delhi in two hours, so lets go."

"But jiju-"

"No buts Zoya."

"Jiju, we have to talk to them." Khushi said.

"We can't just leave without saying goodbye to the whole family, they've been wonderful to us these past few weeks, like family. We owe them that much." Zoya said, her voice confident. They were her family, she couldn't just leave without talking to them.

Anwar nodded. "You have thirty minutes. We'll stay here, go and do what you have to do. But only tell Asad and Arnav that we are here, for the rest of them tell them you have to leave due to a family emergency." Anwar said his voice filled with authority. Zoya couldn't help but notice the stark similarity between his tone and Asad's. Signs that were so obvious but never picked up on were suddenly very visible.

"Lets go." Khushi said grabbing Zoya's hand and walking to the gate. "You okay?" She asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.

"No. They aren't supposed to be here. I need two more days with him, I am not ready to say bye yet, I am never going to see him again." A frantic Zoya said to Khushi as they walked.

"Did you talk to him?" Khushi asked.

"I didn't have time! Ya Allah, I drugged him last night, I am so stupid."

"Talk to him now."

"And tell him what? Hey Asad, I am leaving in thirty minutes, I thought I'd take this time to tell you that I f**king love you, but I know that we can never see each other ever again because you won't quit your job, and I don't blame you because you love your job. I am just sad that you don't love me more than said job?" Zoya said very fast.

"That works." Khushi said as the Sharma's house came into sight along with a plethora of people.

"It doesn't. I don't want to guilt him into anything he doesn't want to do. If he loves me he'll do something about it, if he doesn't then..." Zoya trailed off.

"You can't honestly expect him to always be the one to take the first step." Khushi pointed out.

"Khushi, I told him that I wanted to stay." Zoya said remembering their conversation the night he carried her up the stairs.

"You were drunk."

"And..." Zoya said as if that didn't have anything to do with the situation. Khushi shook her head.

"Arnav!" Khushi yelled waving him over as he came into sight. He took one look at their sullen faces and practically ran to them.

"What happened?" He asked his eyes wide.

"Jiju and Aapi...they are here to take us. Right now, Jiju got the date moved up to today, he wants us to give our statements today and leave for New York by tonight." Khushi spoke very quickly.

"What the- but..."

"No time for that, we need to say bye to the whole family. Jiju said to tell them we have a family emergency..." She said and then glanced at Zoya.

Arnav's face fell even more with the look on Zoya's face. Her usually cheerful eyes were so sad and the smile that always graced her face was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Asad?" Khushi asked.

"Uh...he actually just left to get you two when he realized that they'd left you back there all alone." Arnav said.

"Okay..." Khushi nodded.

"Zoya." Arnav said putting his arm around her shoulders. "You okay?" He felt the need to ask because he felt so protective of her, just as he did of Anjali.

"Yeah...I'll just go say..." She said with a slight smile and walked over to Najma, Nikhat and Ayaan.

"They really need to talk." Khushi said.

"Oh yeah." Arnav agreed.

"Your friend is an idiot. He loves her right?" Khushi asked.

"He is and he does. I don't know why he hasn't talked to her yet..." Arnav sighed.

"I'll go say bye to everyone...I am going to be coming back but Zoya-"

"We'll figure it out Khushi." Arnav said meaning every word. He wasn't going to let his best friend throw away the best thing that'd ever happened to him. But he hoped they didn't have to intervene, it was something that Asad and Zoya should work out for themselves...but Khushi and him could always push them in the right direction, right?

Khushi nodded and followed Zoya to the family. After a few tearful hugs, a promise to celebrate the next Holi together and laughs the girls solemnly walked back with Arnav by their sides.

Meanwhile...

"Mr. Farooqui?" Asad said shocked as he saw his boss stand next to his white Mercedes. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Asad." Anwar smiled. "My wife here couldn't go any longer without the girls so we thought we'd make a trip out here. We are leaving soon, got the court date moved up to today and the flight's tonight. You've done a great job at keeping them concealed though, Siddiqui had his whole force out looking for them."

Asad stood there shocked as the words sunk in...she was leaving. Right now. He needed to talk to her. Now.

"Where is Zoya?" Asad asked. "And Khushi?" He added just for extra measure.

"They went to say goodbye to your families." Anwar said as his phone rang. "Excuse me." He said taking the call and moving aside as Zeenat moved towards them.

"Mrs. Farooqui, a pleasure to see you again." He greeted.

"Same here." Zeenat said. "Thank you for keeping her safe, keeping them safe...I was so scared that something would happen to them."

"It is my job." Asad said humbly. "I couldn't let anything happen to them."

"Zoya has a knack for finding trouble, she's too much of a free spirit. I am always afraid of what she'll do next, she needs to grow and take care of her responsibilities." Zeenat sighed.

"She's still young, she has the right to enjoy her life." Asad said defending Zoya.

"I think she's old enough to settle down and start her own family, that is the only thing that is going to stop her from disappearing for months on end." Aapi sighed. "I am going to have her engaged to Rehan as soon as we get back."

"Rehan?" Asad asked his heart clenching at the mention of Zoya being engaged to anyone.

"He is a family friend, Zoya and him have been friends for years. He'll be good for her. He is a practical businessman whereas Zoya is...quite the opposite. They'll be good for each other, have a stable relationship where she knows that he's coming home everyday and not lying dead somewhere." Zeenat whispered the last part looking towards her husband.

"And Zoya...does she?" Asad tried to ask if she would marry Rehan but was unable to get the words out. Zeenat seemed so sure of the relationship that Asad started to think that maybe Zoya wouldn't be opposed to it. Maybe she did like him...

"I don't see why she wouldn't want to marry him. They are great friends, I've always thought that they would eventually end up together along with everyone else I know...and she'll listen to what I have to say. She isn't very happy with us right now, she just found out about Anwar's job yesterday." Zeenat said as a few things clicked in Asad's head. He realized that this was probably the reason she'd been so distant, because she'd found out that the people she considered parents had been lying to her all these years...even after they'd promised her not to ever lie to her again.

"Why didn't you ever tell her before?" He asked.

"I wanted to keep her far away from your crazy world. You know how it is, you spend months away from your family. I know what I went through when Anwar would disappear for months and sometimes I wouldn't hear from him for weeks. I didn't want her to live with that fear, I didn't want her to know about your world. Anwar always insisted we tell her but...Zoya...she is a little girl at heart. And I was always afraid that she was going to get too involved with Anwar's work and employees...I could almost see her falling in love with someone like you and having to live with what I did all those years. And it is hard, I don't want her to go through that." She said not knowing why she felt the need to say this to him, she'd always liked Asad whenever they met, he had this charm and innocence about him that was endearing.

Asad's head was spinning...he didn't know what to do anymore. What did this Rehan mean to Zoya? Did she think the same way as her Aapi?

"But what if she did...fall in love with someone like me I mean, and he left the job because of her?" Asad asked.

"I don't think anyone would be able to do that...let's say you fell in love with Zoya, would you be able to quit your job right now knowing you'll never be able to see her again?" Zeenat asked hypothetically, but she was right on point with that comment.

Asad didn't know what to say. He wanted to say yes, that he would quit his job for her, because he was in fact in love with her. But a small part of him asked if he wouldn't want to go back one day, he loved his job. He worked his ass off for it, if he left it for her would he start resenting her because of it? Would that be fair to her? And this Rehan...why was Zeenat so sure that he was the one for Zoya? Was he? He was her childhood friend, he probably knew her inside and out...

Asad had no time to think about it as the girls walked towards him with Arnav. All of them had a sullen look on their face, Zoya's eyes met his and he froze. It was like she was asking him a thousand questions with her eyes. Questions he didn't have an answer to. Questions he didn't even know. Why did she have to leave right now? He needed time to think...time to talk to her, but that is one thing he didn't have. Time.

"Arnav." Anwar smiled as they walked towards him. "I guess this is it then, your last day for the agency, you are a free man now."

Arnav smiled. "I guess so. Thank you...for everything." He said genuinely, Anwar had come to be a father figure of sorts to Asad and Arnav over the last few years.

"You are always welcome back." Anwar said.

"I don't think I'll be able to." Arnav said looking at Khushi.

"Okay, go get your stuff girls...we should get going." He said turning to Zoya and Khushi who nodded. Khushi started walking towards the house but Zoya just stood rooted at her spot staring at Asad. She was just waiting for him to say something, to tell her to stop, to do something. But he just stood there, saying nothing and doing nothing. Zoya looked away her heart breaking into tiny little pieces as she walked after Khushi. She was still hoping that he'd follow her as Khushi walked into their room and started throwing everything into the suitcases.

She stood in the middle of the room letting Khushi do all the work, she waited. And waited and waited.

"Zoya..." Khushi whispered. "I am done..."

Zoya turned around to see Khushi with two large suitcases and their purses. The closet was empty, the little things always lying around the room were gone.

"Lets go." Zoya said.

"Are you okay?" Khushi asked.

"I don't know."

They met Arnav at the top of the stairs where he grabbed their suitcases as he shrugged to Khushi's silent question of where Asad. Zoya and Khushi followed him down the stairs and out the house where Zeenat and Anwar were present but Asad was no where to be seen. Zoya looked all around her but found no sight of him.

The driver got out of the car and put their suitcases in the trunk as Zoya's eyes looked for Asad.

"Call me as soon as you land and text me your address. I'll be there bright and early Monday morning. And I'll personally drag the idiot along if he doesn't get his shit together. " Arnav smiled at Khushi, referring to Asad.

"By Monday?" Khushi asked shocked.

"Yeah, I really don't think I'll be able to last any longer without you Miss Gupta, I've kind of gotten used to you."

"Good." Khushi said and then looked over at Zoya and then Asad, who was slowly walking towards her. "What is he doing?" Khushi asked.

"I don't know...Asad's not the best at making decisions on the spot. I think he is a bit shocked to be honest."

"Why isn't he talking to her?" Khushi asked sadly. "She's breaking."

"I think your Aapi said something to him...they looked quite serious when we got here."

"He is being stupid, he loves her. He wants to be with her, then why is he doing this. I am just going to-" She said starting to walk towards them only to be held back by Arnav.

"You can't interfere, it is their problem and they need to learn to work it out themselves. If they can't do it now...then..." Arnav trailed off sadly.

"So..." Zoya said as Asad walked up to her.

"So." Asad replied.

"Is there anything you want to say to me?" She asked.

"Uh...woh..." Asad started and then stopped not knowing what to say.

Zoya stared at him expectantly. "Nothing at all? Aren't you even going to tell me goodbye?"

"Zoya...uh, woh actually, the things is...uh." Asad ran his hands through his hair, the words stuck at the tip of his tongue.

"Well then I guess this is goodbye, it was nice knowing you Mr. Khan. I hope you have a great life." Zoya said coldly and turned around leaving a stunned Asad behind.

"Lets go Khushi." She said and then waved to Arnav. "I guess I'll be seeing you soon."

Arnav nodded and watched as Khushi sat in the car and Zoya followed. She rolled down the window, her eyes on Asad as the car pulled away. There was still a little hope in her heart, she was still waiting for something...but nothing happened as the car pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.

A lone tear rolled down her right cheek as she closed her eyes. Khushi silently put her arm around Zoya while calling Asad Ahmed Khan a hundred names in her head.

Zoya was...lost. She hated herself for falling in love with him, she had hoped that they would end up somewhere, she was so sure that he'd say something. But he didn't...he just stood there. The very idea of not seeing him for the rest of her life ripped her apart in two. But he didn't care for her enough to not let her go, so she wasn't going to think about it. She'd try to forget him...like a beautiful dream.

At least that is what she told herself, but even Zoya knew that it would be impossible.