Chapter 13: Mr. Muqaddar at Play
Azam had heard some shuffling outside in the hallway when she had approached him. He instantly knew he had to make sure that neither parties saw each other and had moved in between them.
He would be lying to himself if he were to say that her move of kissing him surprised him. He would have been shocked if she had not. She had been more than obliging in giving him the information he sought, a kiss would be a small price to pay. Once she was willing to let him go, he asked her to go back the same way she came in, which instantly won him a cunning smile. When he was sure that she was safely out of the way, he prepared to approach the mischievous peeping toms hidden behind the fluttering curtains. Most likely a couple of kids bored of the proceedings below.
"I hope you enjoyed the show out there." He spoke as he approached the two figures, not exactly hidden from him anymore. Now he was surprised.
"Najma, what are you doing up here alone? Is your brother aware of your whereabouts? Don't you know you should not be roaming around like this?" he instantly reprimanded her, ignoring Zoya who stood by her.
"You kissed her???" she responded accusingly.
Zoya could not read his expressions in the darkness, but did feel a slight change in the air around them and then he spoke up again, his voice sounding a lot different from the earlier gruff voice he had used
"Won't be the first time now, would it?" he said in an almost teasing tone.
"But you said...I thought..." Najma found herself fumbling with her words.
But this change in his tone, also alerted Zoya about something else. She shifted on her feet slightly, to get a better look at his face, up close.
"Ya Allah, aap toh? OMG." Zoya exclaimed.
Azam turned his attention towards her, "Took you long enough to figure it out, didn't it?" he smirked at her, before turning his attention back to Najma.
"Najma, I will talk to you later about this. But for now, please go from here before you are discovered or before Asad starts looking for you." his voice had softened considerably.
Azam went back out to the terrace, but this time he was watchful of the girls and made sure they reached downstairs without any trouble. After a little bit, he too went down and spent sometime talking to his hosts before retiring home for the night.
----
Zoya and Najma's absence had been noted but only by Dilshaad (or so they thought). The girls covered up saying they had gone to the restroom to freshen up after the dance. Najma and Zoya did not get a chance to talk about what had transpired before even though they both had questions and needed to talk. All the ladies of the Khan entourage had their dinner together and as the evening came to a close they all headed home.
----
Later that night, just as Zoya was preparing to retire for the night, she heard a discrete knock on her door, surprising her. At first, she thought it must be Najma, wanting to talk about the discovery they had made earlier today. They had both decided it would be best to wait until they were alone so there was a good chance that Najma was here for a chat.
However, she found the most unexpected person at the door.
"Woh... actually." Asad hesitated a little. When he noticed Jaan lying beside the bed he spoke up "I thought I will check if he needs a walk?"
"No thanks Mr. Khan. I made sure he went earlier in the day. Thanks for asking." It was obvious to her that Mr. Khan was here to talk about more than just taking MyJaan for a walk. However, when he made no attempt to speak again, she moved to close the door, but Asad jammed his foot in the door stopping the door from closing.
"Ji Mr. Khan. Kuch aur bhi kaam tha aapko?" [Yes Mr.Khan. Do you have some other work too?] Zoya asked.
"Hmm... I actually wanted to tell you that... Hmmm... woh... never mind" Zoya noticed his hesitation and almost ignored him but then thought better about it. So she just cocked her eyebrow waiting for him to speak.
"Well...I just wanted to give you a friendly advice..." Asad spoke as he tugged on his kurta collar behind his neck, indicating his discomfort with this conversation "I mean, I noticed a few things earlier today with regards to Azam and yourself... just steer clear of him. He is not the kind of guy you should associate with."
"Did you just say we are friends now?" she was getting more and more upset by the audacity of this man before her "Because, if I am not wrong, just last night you asked me to stay within my limits and not interfere with your personal affairs because I am guest in your house. By that logic, I don't see how you are giving me this advice. Shouldn't you stay out of my personal matters? And who I talk to and associate with is most definitely a personal matter. So good night Mr. Khan." She banged the door on his face, and made her way to the bed huffing and puffing. She even punched her pillow a couple times just for good measure.
----
Zoya was up early next morning. She had already completed her prayers and was dressed for the day when she came out for her breakfast.
"Kya baat hai Zoya, aaj to tum subah subah hi ready ho gai?" [Wow Zoya,you are up early today and ready too?] Dilshaad asked her.
"Ofcourse Phoopi, I could barely sleep all night from the excitement." Zoya chirped.
Dilshaad looked at her confused, expecting an explanation. Zoya too was slightly taken aback seeing Dilshaad's reaction.
"Phoopi...please tell me you did not forget about my trip to Itarsi today?" Zoya asked, preparing herself for the worse.
Dilshaad smacked her head as soon as she realized what Zoya was talking about. "Oh no. Asad came home after we had already left for the sangeet. And once we all returned, we all retired to our rooms right away. In fact, I had completely forgotten about it. I am so sorry beta. Please keep an eye on the stove for me. I will go talk to Asad right away." Dilshaad made her way towards Asads 'room.
"Allah, meri madat karna. Aaj to woh bahot gussa ho jaayega aise ein waqt par mein usse baat karne ja rahi hoon." [Lord, stay with me. He is going to get upset with me since I am going to talk to him at the very last minute] Dilshaad spoke more to herself, but Zoya had heard her. Dilshaad had barely got to the door of Asad's room when he stepped out ready for the day.
"Asad, mein tumhare hi paas aa rahi thi." [I was coming to see you.] she said.
"Kuch kaam tha ammi. What can I help you with?" he asked noticing the worry crease her forehead.
"Woh kya hai na beta [The thing is], I was supposed to talk to you yesterday but it completely escaped my mind." Dilshaad began to explain as they sat down on the table, while Zoya helped with setting up the table and bringing the breakfast to the table.
"Phoopi, please let it be. We will just get a private taxi." Zoya interrupted Dilshaad as she was about to continue. After last night's fiasco, there was no way this conversation will ever end well.
"Ammi, ignore her. Inhe to aadat hai beech mein dakhal dene ki. Aap bataiye, kahana jaana nahi Taxi lekar? Aap to Chachu ke ghar jaane wale the na."[She has a habit to interfere. You tell me, where do you need to go? I thought you were going to Salma's place today.]
"Haan wo Itarsi jaana hai isiliye car chahiye thi. [Yeah, need to go to Itarsi and hence needed the car.]I forgot to tell you yesterday to arrange for a company car since you will be taking the driver and car for your site visit."
"Company car arrange hote hote to time lag jayega.[It will take some time to arrange the company car.] If it is urgent, why don't you go with me? My work is in that direction only. Once I am done, I can take you there myself."
"Yeah, this will be for the best. That way Zoya will not have to go alone and even if it gets late for her to return, I will be relieved that you are with her. Right, Zoya?" Dilshaad spoke excitedly, her eyes darting between Asad and Zoya.
Zoya grimaced, preparing for the upcoming outburst. Asad, mumbled something under his breath, trying to avoid Ammi's eyes.
"Do you mean, you were asking for the car for Ms. Farooqui? I am sure she can go tomorrow or some other day when the car and driver is free. Mujhe laga aapko koi zaroori kaam hai, isiliye meine aapko saath lejane ki baat kari."[I thought you needed to go there for some important work, hence I offered to take you along.] Asad spoke, glaring meaningfully at Zoya.
"Haan Phoopi, rehne dijiye. Mein taxi se chali jaoongi ya phir dopahar mein jab car available ho jaayegi tab chali jaoongi. I don't want to impose on Mr. Khan."[Yes, please let it be. I will call for a taxi or wait till the company car is available.] Zoya glared back. Plus, I would not want to be cooped up in a car with you all day, anyways.
"Why imposition? If he can take me, he can take you too. As it is you are new here, and I was not comfortable having you go alone. I think everything worked out for the best. Now both of you start eating your breakfast, else you will get late." Dilshaad said with a finality of tone. What no one noticed was the smile she had on her face when she spoke, well, at least not the two people who she was talking to.
----
In another hour, both Asad and Zoya made their way towards the car. They had tried to make some excuses for avoiding to travel together, but neither wanted to bring up the real reason. They finally gave into Dilshaad's insistence.
Asad got into the 4*4 first and made sure that he dumped all the papers he was carrying in the middle of the seat,leaving just enough room for Zoya to sit. He noticed that Zoya and his mother were still talking in whispers by the door. Dilshaad went inside, but Zoya still waited there. He asked the driver to honk in order to get her attention, but then saw that Ammi was coming back out. She handed something to Zoya, which she instantly clasped tight in her fist. They finally hugged each other and said their goodbyes.
"Finally!" Asad exclaimed as Zoya took her seat, ignoring him and his remark.
She sniffed, wiped her nose with her hand that was still closed in a fist and finally grabbed her I-Pad, continuing to ignore him. What is she crying about now?
XXX
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