AsYa FF: Destiny Comes Calling *CH 20* 11/11/13 Pg 134 - Page 84

Chapter 20: Zoya's new friend

MyJaan jumped around with excitement on seeing Asad. Over the last two and a half weeks the two had bonded a lot and this was evident seeing MyJaan's forlorn looks towards Asad's empty room in the last couple days. When Asad did not pay any attention to him but instead turned to his room, he had followed behind. Asad had not heard his soft barks either and had banged the door shutting the poor animal out leaving him stunned.

"What was that for?" Zoya turned to Azam to ask.

"Well that's Asad for you Zoe." He shrugged "Let me go check on Khala one last time and then I will head home. Its getting pretty late in the night and it's a pretty long drive for me."

Zoya waited in the living room for a while, wondering if Asad would need anything. She was not sure if he had had his dinner yet and wanted to check with him. But when he did not come out after a few minutes, she caustiously knocked on his door.

"Mr. Khan, do you want to have dinner? Coffee? Anything?" she asked the closed door.

No response.

She knocked again, but still there was no reply. She raised her hand one last time, when the door opened all of a sudden, causing her to lose her balance. She fell forward and right into the arms of Asad, who put his hands out to break her fall. They both landed on the floor, her on top of him, his hands on her waist and her on his chest, right above his wildly beating heart.

{Maula Mere...}

If it were not for MyJaan licking Asad's face trying to get his attention, the two would not have realized that they had been like that in each others arms for over a minute.

Asad let go of Zoya once he was sure that she had found her footing. He scooped up MyJaan as he made his way upstairs to see his Ammi.

"Mr. Khan? I was asking if you want something. Dinner? Coffee?" Zoya called from behind, making Asad pause and turn around.

"No thanks. I will take care of it myself. As it is you seem to be quite busy. Now let me go check on my mother, if you don't mind, that is." His ground out his words.

"Sure. Azam is also up there with her." She shouted behind his retreating back but he had already turned the corner towards Dilshaad's room and so she was unsure that he had heard her.

XXX

Asad was not sure what took over him when he saw Azam and Ms. Farooqui in the living room. He felt a rage build in him, something that he could not understand and did not wish to dwell on.

Growing up with Azam and listening to his escapades in London, he was all too familiar with his character. But he had not expected Ms. Farooqui to be so easily taken by his charm. Yes, early on he had misunderstood her behavior to be too modern, but over the last few weeks, he had noticed otherwise.

While he changed and tried to get over his anger, he heard her knock on the door and call out to him. He was hoping that she would go away if he did not answer. However, he knew she had a stubborn streak and that she would not go away easily. His doubts were confirmed when she continued to knock.

Frustrated he opened the door, only to watch her lose her balance and falling forward. He tried his best to break her fall, but the sudden movement from the two of them and MyJaan's scuffling between his legs, made his lose his balance too. When he finally realized that MyJaan was licking his face, he let her go, realizing what position they had been for God knows how long.

He glanced in the living room, he noticed that Azam was no where to be seen. He was eager to escape her and avoid any confrontation with her, and hence went to Ammi's room, trying his best to ignore her.

XXX

Dilshaad was fast asleep when he peeped into her dark room. He was glad that she was doing better now and it was nothing worse than a viral fever that was keeping her bed-riddde.

Next he went towards Najma's room to let her know that he was back and also wish her good night. Her door was ajar and he could hear voices from her room.

"Aap please yahan se chale jaaye Azam. Mujhe aapse koi baat nahi karni. Allah Hafeez. [You please leave Azam. I do not want to talk to you. Good bye.]" He heard Najma speak, and before he could knock, a desolate looking Azam stepped out.

On seeing Asad, he put on a smile and informed him that he was just wishing Najma goodnight before heading out. Asad quickly wished Najma and followed Azam downstairs.

"Aaj wapas yahan kaise aana hua Azam?[How come you are here again Azam?]" has asked from behind while his eyes seeked Zoya who was busy on her I-pad.

"I was passing by Najma's college when I saw her. She told me that Khala was unwell, so I came to check on her. Aur kuch nahi. [no other reason.]" Azam responded, turning to Zoya and wishing her good night before taking off.

XXX

Once Azam had left, Asad too headed to his home office, Jaan in tow. Zoya was getting bored sitting there by herself and decided to retire for the night too. However, as was her practice of the last 3 nights, she went up to check on Dilshaad and also inform Najma that she was heading to bed since she was on night duty in case Dilshaad needed anything.

As she approached Najma's room, she heard faint sobbing sounds. Instead of knocking, she walked in and sat by Najma taking her by complete surprise.

"What's wrong tamatar? Why are you crying? Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Nothing MQ. I am just tired and stressed I guess. Its been a tough week for me." A faint smile appeared on her face as she spoke

"Are you sure? These last few days you have been awfully quiet and lost. Are you sure it is just college related stress and nothing else? Is there anything I can help with maybe? You know, right, that you can come talk to me about anything." Zoya eyed her suspiciously as Najma wiped the last remaining tears off her face.

"I know Zoya. I am just going to go sleep now. I need a lot a rest which I fully intend to do this coming weekend. And I do know I can talk to you and I will, promise, if there is ever a time when I need to." Zoya was not convinced but she accepted her words and smile for real.

"Sounds good. I am heading to my room. Call me if you need anything. Allah Hafeez." Zoya then made her way to her room, calling it a night.

"Acha ek baat batao tomato. [Tell me something, tomato]." Zoya quickly turned around as she thought of something "This guy Azam, your cousin, has he always been like this?"

"What do you mean?" confusion marred her face.

"You know, joking and fun loving types? He was here barely for a few minutes, but he had me rolling with laughter at his outrageously funny stories and jokes. He is such a riot." She laughed reminiscing.

"Yeah, he was always like this. But only with our family. To the outside world he is very different, aloof and stiff." A forlorn look came over her face."Isiliye to bhaijaan aur unki nahi banti. [That's why Asad and he don't get along.]There was a time when they were best of friends and inseperable. But then, suddenly things changed between them. Bhaijaan changed overnight and his relationship with Azam also became more formal."

"That I had noticed. Anyways, raat bahot ho chuki hai aur tum thaki ho. [It's too late and you are tires too.] We can chat later, you can tell me all your childhood stories." Zoya hugged her goodnight and left.

XXX

In another day or so, Dilshaad was feeling better and was moving around too. Zoya on the other hand had began to worry. She had not heard back from the newspaper offices and she had not made any progress either. She still had another day before she was to call them, but she was really hoping that they would get back to her sooner.

She had just about 10 days before her travel visas would expire and had not other option but to head back. She had looked into visa extension options, but there was no other option but to leave the country and come back with a new tourist visa.

Earlier in the week she was planning on going back to the jeweler to see if the last name Siddique rang any bells. But based on the information she already had from Dilshaad, she figured it would not result in much. She was at her wits end as no other ideas were popping in her head.

Dilshaad had noticed her worry and on inquiry had found out what was worrying Zoya so much. She advised her to not lose hope and that everything would work out fine. She talked to a few of her friends if they were aware of any Siddique families that had lost a child 20 years ago or who had migrated abroad. As word would spread, she was sure, something or the other would turn up.

They were also considering the option of hiring a private detective to help out. They were certain that he would have more resources handy than what was available to Zoya. They decided that they would check with Asad and see what his opinion was.

XXX

Asad and Zoya's relationship had started on a sour note. But over time, they had reached an understanding. Even when they fought, it was never too bitter between them, like on the day when Asad left for Delhi, they had reached some kind of truce while he was away. It was evident from the way the other skype calls went. However, since his return, Zoya had noticed that Asad was ignoring her and never really initiated a conversation with her.

If she tried to, he would reply in monosyllables and then get away on pretext of being busy. She was not sure what was bothering him, but she wondered if Rukhsaar had something to do with it. Afterall, he did spend time with her when he was there, right? Could she be jealous or not like her presence in his house? Not that the girl had given her any such vibes while she was here, but she was his almost- fianc.

XXX

Later that night, Dilshaad spoke to Asad about the PI and he said that he would look into it and give them names. Nothing more was spoken about the topic again.

XXX

Next day morning, Zoya was ready with a new vigor. She was going to go to the newspaper offices to see if they had any information for her. She was positive that she would be able to find some information today, she had to.

"Chale Ms. Farooqui? [Can we leave, Ms. Farooqui?]" Mr. Khan asked her as he rose from the breakfast table.

She looked up at him, surprised and unsure why he was talking to her suddenly.

"Hmm?" Zoya mumbled as she responded chewing on her bite of toast.

"Don't we have to go to the newspapers offices today? And then I figured we could go meet with the PI that Prasad found some info on."

"Aap...mere saath chal rahe hain? [Are you accompanying me?] You did not mention anything about coming along before so I was just not expecting you to...never mind. I am ready, just give me two minutes." Zoya was confused and a little surprised too

"Ms. Farooqui. Can you please not talk with food in your mouth? It's extremely gross when you do that." How her habit of talking while eating irritated him!

Zoya gulped the food that was in her mouth "Allah Miyah, whats wrong with you? You were the one who started talking to me while I was still eating."