tree shows and one love story, love

New Story ones agian

- Arnav and Khushi from Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon.

- Asher and Khirad from Humsafar.

- Asad and Zoya from Qubool Hai.

*~*~*~Part One~ (1)

She was sat upon the hospital bed staring at the fragile being in her arms, wondering endlessly about its future. Their future - she wished objects like a crystal ball did exist so she could have been able to see what her future held for them two. But her experience had taught her that life was an unpredictable cycle - you could never guess how the next day was going to dawn upon you.

A teardrop dripped out of Khirad's eye and landed straight onto her new born daughter's cheek.

"What kind of a future do you have?"

She questioned, thinking about her past which was now their past together.

"She has a bright future!"

Khirad looked up to see who had arrived and instantly her lips curved upwards to form a smile. The man scooped the new baby in his arms and gently held her, carefully. "She has a very bright future, InshaAllah." He said, smiling away and making faces at the baby who had just opened up her eyes.

"Really, Asad?" Asked Khirad, rather innocently.

"Of course, Khirad!" Asad exclaimed. "What makes you think she doesn't?" He asked, his eyes still fixated upon the baby.

"The fact that she doesn't have a father..." Mumbled Khirad, under her breath.

Asad stiffened at the response he recieved but remained silent.

"Or should I say she does have one but is unlucky to not..." Khirad tried to continue further but stopped midway as Asad let out a huge sigh and rolled his eyes.

"I have told you before, Khirad, but I will tell you again." Asad went onto say, in a more serious tone. "To have a father like him it is best to not have a father at all!" He told her, with great determination. "I survived without a father, didn't I? And so will she!" He said, looking back at the baby girl.

Before Khirad was able to say anything, the Nurse walked inside with the discharge papers. "Mrs Hussain?" She called out the name.

Khirad sat up straight and took the discharge papers from the Nurse.

"Please sign here." The Nurse pointed out.

Staring at the papers carefully, Khirad then decided to make an adjustment. Taking the pen into her hand, she quickly crossed out her name "Mrs Khirad Hussain" and rewrote it as "Ms Khirad Ehsan" much to the Nurse's surprise and signed on the dottled line and returned them.

"You can leave whenever you are ready." The Nurse told her and then left.

"Come on," Said Asad, handing the baby back to Khirad - he picked up her bag. "Zoya has already messaged me a thousand times - she's waiting for you two!"

Smiling, Khirad got up from the bed with her daughter securely in her arms and followed Asad out of the ward.

*~*~*

He stopped biting on his pen and took at look at its chipped tip.

Nine whole months it had now been since he had last felt himself smile and appreciate his life. He had everything that a human being could dream of; a successful business and a lot of money - but what was the need of such things, he wondered time and again if the most important feature of his life was missing?

Happiness..

Asher Hussain had nothing to feel happy about, not even a reason to smile over.

"You're a coward Khirad."

He muttered to himself, under his breath.

"Running away from your sins is never going to give you peace." He said, picking up a file. "Nothing but a coward." He repeated again.

"Who is a coward?" Another voice trailed into his cabin, forcing Asher to look up.

Standing up, Asher folded his arms together. "You don't have any manners? Hasn't anybody told you to knock before entering?" He questioned the comer, raising his eyebrows.

The person, without an invitation carried on walking inside until he reached the chair and sat himself down. "Nobody tells me what to do, Mr Hussain."

"You haven't changed a single bit!" Asher exclaimed, shaking his head. "Arnav Singh Raizada - The arrogant fool!"

Arnav laughed, finally extending out his hand for Asher to shake. "You know you are the only person in this world who can talk to me like that. Even Khushi does not have that right!"

"So what brings you here, Arnav?" Asher took a seat. "You vanished out of the picture for about a year? Neither did you keep in contact with anyone!"

"Khushi wanted to get away and we had few things to sort out..."

"A few things or a few people?"

Rolling his eyes, Arnav smiled. "You know me too well! Ahh, I never apologised for not being able to attend your wedding..." He stopped speaking as he saw Asher's expressions take a u-turn. "Is everything alright? How is Bhabhi?"

"She is not your Bhabhi!" Asher immediatley stated, through gritted teeth.

Arnav, shocked to hear this questioned him about it.

"The story of my life is simple, Arnav." Began Asher, "My wife cheated on me and when she could not face her sin, she ranaway!" Nostrils flared, Asher's desk feels his wrath.

"There must be some kind of an explanation..." Arnav replied, "Surely..."

"Surely what?! Are you trying to tell me that I am wrong?" Asher said, angrily. "I waited for her, Arnav. I waited for her to speak to me, to say anything in her defence, to tell me that she is innocent but how could she say all these things when she was guilty from day one? She finally feared the consequences of her actions and ranaway!"

"But..."

"But what, Arnav? How would you feel if you saw Khushi with another man in an inappropriate angle?" Asher asked and Arnav closed his eyes and was taken back to the time when he saw Khushi with Shyam - which led to the most major misunderstanding of his life, he could not let his friend make the same mistake. "Do I need to say anymore?"

Reopening his eyes, Arnav sat back. "It could all possibly a stupid misunderstanding..."

"Eyes don't decieve, Arnav! I know what I saw and that Khizer admitted himself that he was having an affair with Khirad!"

"Khushi Ji and I love each other so much, Saale Saab, how could we stay away from each other? You are just the wall between the two of us!"

Shyam's words rang again in Arnav's mind.

The desk phone rang and Asher answered it, hanging up he stood up. "I have to cut our reunion short, I'm afraid, my Clients have arrived."

"Sure." Arnav said, standing up. "No problem - why don't you come over for dinner sometime?"

"Yeah that will be great, we have a lot of catching up to do!" Asher and Arnav hugged each other. "Message me your new address and I'll check my diary to see when I can visit, InshaAllah." And with that Asher left his cabin, leaving Arnav behind.

We really do have a lot of catching up to do, Asher.

Arnav thought to himself.

*~*~*

"Whose the cute little baby!" Zoya cooed over the baby. "I am your Auntie! Oh yesh I am! She's so adorable, Khirad! Just like me!"

"You will never grow up." Asad said, rolling his eyes.

"Tou issi baat pe ek sher arz hai!" Zoya began excitedly. "Humein barre hone ka koi shouk nehi! Humein barre hone ka koi shouk nehi..." She was unable to continue as Khirad spoke up, her voice portraying that she is lost in a world of her own.

"When are we going back to Hyderabad?" Asked Khirad. "I don't like it here."

Asad and Zoya looked at each other.

"You know we only brought you here for the delivery because..." Zoya began but did not continue as Asad started to speak.

"It is not good for a newborn to travel so early, Khirad, when the time is right we will go back." Asad reassured her.

Without replying, Khirad got up from the sofa and picked up her daughter and walked out of the living room.

Letting out a huge sigh, Asad sat back down. "When I get my hands on Asher Hussain - I promise that I will make him pay for every tear Khirad has shed because of him." He promised. "I had promised Khirad's mother that I will take care of Khirad, I will ensure her safety but I could not even save her from that demon!"

"Asad!" Zoya ran over to him and sat herself down next to him. "You will not take any unecessary step, Asad, you have got me worried! After all, we are in Karachi and he.."

"Lives here..." Asad completed her sentence. "Why do you think I want to stay put here for longer, Zoya? I am going to find him."

😉

Placing her hand on Asad's shoulder, Zoya squeezed. "I trust you to not do anything stupid..."

Right then, their doorbell rang and Zoya went to answer it.

"Hi!" A young woman stood before Zoya with a plate of food in her hands. "I'm Khushi! Your new neighbour!"😊😊👏

~Part Two~

After going through piles and piles of files, Asher, tired decided to take a break.

"You work so hard, Asher!" Fareeda, Asher's mother walked inside his room with a tray of tea and snacks. "I have told you before, you should not take too much stress it will effect your health, Beta!" Fareeda sat down beside him.

"How can you ask me not to take stress, Mummy?" Asher questioned, whilst having his eyes closed. "I have only one stress in my life and that is Khirad."

Fareeda's eyes widened on hearing Khirad's name from Asher's lips after a long time. She had thought that her son would have already forgotton and taken that woman out of his mind and his life.

"You still think about her, Asher?" Bewildered, Fareeda questioned him. "After what she did to you..."

"It hasn't been long for me to forget about her so easily." Asher admitted to his mother. "Everyday, I try and think about the negatives, what she did to me so it helps me to hate her more but I still cannot stop thinking about those beautiful moments that we spent with each other. I really loved her, Mummy."

"But she never loved you." Immediatley, Fareeda replied. "When you had nothing but pure love for her in your heart she had nothing but cheat for you. She used you, Asher." She went onto say. "I am glad that we found out who she really was soon enough."

"How can you do this to me, Mummy?" Khirad had asked Fareeda, with tears streaming down her face. "If you don't care about me, that's fine! But what about this life in my womb? Your grandchild! Your Asher's baby!"

Fareeda laughed. "You can't fool me, Khirad, what proof do you have that this child belongs to my Asher? And even if it does - Asher doesn't know about it! And he is not going to find out! I am not going to let you melt my son's heart with that thing."

"Imagine if you had ended up with children!" Fareeda shook her head, in disbelief. "Then we would have been stuck in a huge mess!"

Sighing, Asher got up from his chair and walked over to the window. "You are right." He whispered.

*~*~*

"A man who can willingly abandon his pregnant wife has no right to live a peaceful life." Asad muttered angrily whilst getting inside his bed. "He could have come back for Khirad and his baby but he didn't. Even after reading Khirad's letter." Asad shook his head. "I am forced to think who is worse Rashid Ahmed Khan or Asher Hussain..."

Tying her hair, Zoya let out a huge yawn. "Life is unfair. Whom we think of as our own - turn away from us when we actually need them the most..." Whispered Zoya. "Asad, I was thinking about Ayaan..."

"What about him?" Questioned Asad, sitting upright at the name of his brother.

"Don't you think you should start talking to him again?" Suggested Zoya, biting her lip - wondering how her husband was going to react to this suggestion.

Asad rolled his eyes. "Is there anything left to talk about, Zoya?" He asked her instead. "My own brother refused to understand my feelings because of his own selfish needs. I gave him everything, I fulfilled his every single wish and what did he do? Tried his best to snatch away my happiness. He tried to take you away from me and you're asking me to talk to him?"

Tears emerged in Zoya's eyes. "I never wanted to become the reason of the drift between two brothers..." She said, her voice hoarse.

"Zoya..."

"You both were each other's life and soul but because of me..."

She was unable to continue anymore as she felt Asad's finger on her lips.

"You are my life and soul, Zoya." Asad said, quietly.

A teardrop rolled out of Zoya's eye to be caught by Asad's palm. Asad raised his fingers to Zoya's face and gently wiped away her tears.

Khirad who had been standing in the doorway, turned around and walked away - her lips trembled on seeing Asad and Zoya's love for each other. She wanted to cry at the thought of not having that love in her life.

"You are my life now, Khirad." Asher had once said to her. "Without Khirad there is no Asher..."

Reaching her room, Khirad closed the door shut and walked over to her bed where her daughter lay sleeping peacefully.

"I will not let him anywhere near you." Khirad said. "You are only my daughter." She went onto say. "I promise you that from now on, I will not let that man's thoughts hurt me and you know why? Because you are with me..." She took her daughter's tiny hand into her own and kissed it.

*~*~*

Khushi handed Arnav his green tea and sat down next to him in their new living room.

"I think I am going to like it here, Arnav Ji." She told him. "I met our neighbours today!" She exclaimed. "Well, I only met one person but she seemed really nice."

"Hmmm."

"Her name is Zoya and they are originally from Hyderabad." Khushi carried on. "I think Zoya and I will get along!"

"Hmmm."

Khushi turned her head towards Arnav and looked at him, curiously. "What is 'Hmmm!?' Are you not interested in what I did today, Arnav Ji?"

Instantly, Arnav sat up. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about something else..."

"Which is?" Khushi asked.

"I saw myself today, Khushi." Arnav told her. "Do you remember Asher Hussain, my friend?" Khushi nodded. "I met him today and seeing him I could see myself from a third person's point of view. How I must have appeared to you when I had refused to understand you, Khushi." Arnav closed his eyes for a moment and then reopened them. "How can we humans be so prone to misunderstandings? Why can't we be able to read in between the lines?"

Khushi placed her hand on top of Arnav's. "What happened, Arnav Ji? Is Asher Ji alright?"

"Asher's wife is missing..." Arnav sighed, switching on his laptop in order to access his emails and in the mean time he filled Khushi in with Asher's story. "It is like our story all over again, Khushi..." Once Arnav gained access to his emails, he looked for an old email from a year ago which Asher had sent him. On finding it, he clicked open. "Look at them, Khushi." He said, whilst going through the wedding pictures of Asher and Khirad. "How happy they were..."

Khushi sighed. "I am not going to take anyone's side because we don't know exactly what happened between them two but you said that Khirad Ji never spoke to Asher Ji about it - if only we knew the whereabouts of Khirad Ji, if only for even a moment we could get them to talk it out..."

"Impossible!" Arnav said, sitting upright. "Where in the entire country would we search for Khirad?"

*~*~*

The following morning...

"Asad, have your breakfast." Zoya placed his breakfast in front of him. "Whilst I put the rubbish out!"

Picking up the bags, Zoya stepped out into her front garden - once she was done she was about to walk back inside when her eyes landed upon someone who she was not expecting to see.

👏

Asher Hussain walked up the driveway of her neighbour's house and stood there after ringing the doorbell. Zoya felt her throat go dry at the very sight of him.

"When I get my hands on Asher Hussain..."

Asad's words rang in Zoya's mind and she began to bite her lip hard.

"Zoya?" Appeared Asad in the hallway of their house, walking in her direction.

😉

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,🥳

~Part Three~

😆

Zoya's head moved left and right a number of times, wondering what to do and hoping for somebody to quickly let Asher inside before Asad could come out. Biting her lip, Zoya ran towards Asad at full speed and hugged him.Confused, Asad looked down at his wife who had her face buried in his chest.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

Looking up, Zoya smiled. "Does there need to be anything wrong for a wife to give her husband a hug?" Before Asad could say anything, Zoya grabbed hold of his hand and dragged him to the dining room and forced him to sit down on the sofa. "You haven't even finished your breakfast, yet!"

"I am full..."

"Really?" Zoya folded her arms together. "You are full? Then would you like to begin your morning with some shyari?" Eyebrows raised, Zoya opened her mouth to speak but stopped as Asad ran back inside the kitchen to finish off his breakfast.

Seizing her chance, Zoya ran out of her house to see Asher Hussain still standing outside. What was that woman's name? Zoya thought to herself. Oh yes, Khushi! Why isn't she letting him inside?!

On hearing a rustle at the side, Asher turned his head slightly to the right and saw Zoya standing, he started to walk towards her.

And now why is he coming here?!

Zoya quickly closed the front door of the house shut.

"Are your neighbours at home?" Asher asked Zoya.

"How would I know?" Zoya fired back at him and then covered her mouth, thinking that she may have sounded rude. "I meant, I haven't seen them this morning..."

Nodding, Asher turned around when his attention was caught by a crying. He instantly looked upwards towards Zoya's house to where the crying was coming from the upstairs room.

A strange sensation immediatley engulfed Asher as he continued staring upwards towards the open bedroom window as the wailing carried on. His heart had begun to race unusually fast and he had to undo his shirt's collar button, as if that was going to make him feel better, what's wrong with me? Thought Asher, why do I feel so strange all of a sudden?

Zoya observed him carefully, the way he had reacted to the sound of the baby's cry made her smile, that's the sound of your own daughter, Zoya thought to herself.

"Your child is crying..." Asher told Zoya, after coming out of his thoughts.

Zoya looked back at him, confused. "I don't have a..." She had begun to reply when she remembered Khirad and the baby. "Oh yes!" She smiled. "Thank you!" And with that she turned around to go back inside but realised that she had accidentally locked herself out.

"Now I will have to ring the doorbell!" Zoya, quietly screamed at herself. "Allah Miyah! - do you really want my husband to beat Asher Hussain into a pulp?"

Before Zoya could knock on the door - it opened and Khirad stood in front of her. Instantly, Zoya's eyes trailed over to Asher who finally was being let inside the house.

"What are you doing here, Khirad?" Zoya asked Khirad.

"I came to throw this away," Khirad answered, holding up the baby's nappy. "But what are you doing outside?"

"I accidentally got locked out..." Zoya said, snatching the plastic bag from Khirad and stating that she will throw it away.

*~*~*

Asher sat down on the sofa in Arnav and Khushi's living room. "That was a lovely way of treating a guest." He commented as Arnav came and sat down next to him.

"Khushi forgot where she left the keys last night." Arnav informed him. "And you came without informing, now where have your manners gone - Mr Hussain?"

Khushi walked inside with a tray full of breakfast and placed it in front of Arnav and Asher and sat down opposite the two friends. "We're really sorry Asher Ji for not letting you inside earlier - the keys seemed to have legs of their own!" Smiled Khushi.

"No need to apologise, Khushi." Said Asher, "Why didn't you guys get a house in a gated community instead?" Asher said, looking around. "There's more security..."

Taking a sip of his tea, Arnav answered. "This was the only house we could find in such short notice." He told him. "So what really brought you here, Asher? Were you missing your friend or something else?"

"Have you heard about that business event taking place next week? I have reserved my company's tickets, how about AR Designs?"

"Our models will be modelling our collection at it!" Khushi exclaimed, excitedly.

*~*~*

Afternoon...

Khirad sat down on her bed and took out her diary and started to write again.

"Dear Diary,

No matter how much I thank Allah it will never be enough for giving me my daughter, who has and will become my strength. I have finally found a reason to live for - when all hope had been lost, when I had began to doubt my existence - along came this fragile angel whom whenever I look at I cannot stop myself from smiling.

Becoming a mother, I have been enriched with this new but beautiful feelings that go hand in hand with my responsibilities as a my daughter's guardian. I know that I will always think in the best interests of my child. I had thought all mother's are the same when it comes to their children but after meeting that woman whom I had once referred to as a mother, I have been proven wrong. A woman like her does not deserve to even be called a mother! Fareeda Hussain played a hideous game with me - I guess that I shouldn't be complaining about her when my own husband turned his back towards me and his baby.

If Asher Hussain had a clean heart, he would have come for me after finding out about his baby, the truth. It seems as if though, he was looking for an excuse to get rid of me - who knows he may have played a part in this plan his mother put together. I don't know. He may be the biological father of my daughter but he will only remain as that - he is never going to have the priviledge of being a father, he is going to long for this feeling until I forgive him - will I ever be able to forgive after what he did to my daughter? I don't care about myself..."

Khirad glanced over to her daughter who was sleeping.

"If this had just been about me then maybe there may have been a chance for forgiveness but it concerns my daughter..."

She is unable to continue on as there is a knock on her room's door. Closing the diary shut -Khirad set it aside as Asad walked in.

"Since we are going to be here for a while - Zoya and I are popping out to do some grocery shopping," He informed her. "Do you need anything in particular?"

Khirad shook her head.

"We will be back within an hour or so, InshaAllah." Asad stated and left.

*~*~*

Allah Miyah? Zoya thought to herself in the car, as Asad drove them to the local supermarket. Am I doing the wrong thing in hiding this information from Asad and Khirad? As much as I would love for Asher and Khirad to talk to each other about what happened, as much as I would like to tell Asher that he has become a father of a daughter - who actually needs him. Because I know how it feels like to grow up without a father, I don't want Khirad's baby to go through the same but still I am reluctant to tell anyone that I met Asher Hussain and that he has some kind of a connection with our neighbours.

Zoya closed her eyes shut.

Am I being too selfish, as much as I would love for Khirad's family to be complete... Opening her eyes, Zoya glanced over at Asad. I have decided to keep my mouth shut with the hope that we may not come across Asher again. The question is does Asher Hussain deserve a place in Khirad and his daughter's life after what happened?

"You are a bit too quiet today?" Asad questioned Zoya, whilst driving.

"When are we going back to Hyderabad?"

"When I find that man and punish him." Replied Asad, making Zoya's heart squirm.

*~*~*

Hanging up the new curtains in her bedroom, Khushi's eyes widened when her eyes landed upon someone in particular in her neighbour's garden. She rubbed her eyes again and again.

"Where in the entire country are we going to search for Khirad?"

Arnav's statement started to play in her mind again as she sped out of her room, down the stairs and straight out of her house, in excitement. Running up the driveway, Khushi reached the front door and knocked, without even thinking once about it.👏

😛😳

Contines tomarrow...