Mistletoe Love :)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoya stuck her gloved and covered hands into her coat pockets before walking into the office where the door was already opened. She was welcomed with instant warmth and safety from the killer cold just out the door. She felt like a kid again when she struggled to take off her coat and gloves. When she was 6, she wasn't able to do it either and always needed her mother's help. She smiled to herself at the thought while attempting to take it off. She missed her childhood - somewhere along the lines of it, she simply stopped and grew up and regretted it immensely. Zoya smiled brightly once her eyes landed on the fresh pile of snow that was beginning to form outside, distracting her from all the upsetting thoughts of how she wasn't a child anymore and she was really just a lonely adult with too many responsibilities to handle. She went out of the office as quickly as she came in to enjoy the marking of the season.
Just as Zoya's thoughts were lingering away, Asad began to think about the season that he despised. She was more like a child - her personality was fun and playful and she gained interest in the simplest of things. He, on the other hand, was more bitter and serious and he found most things unappealing, like Christmas and everything about it. The Christmas carols bored him, choosing a tree became tiresome, and the decorations were just downright annoying. Christmas used to be his favorite holiday and he used to love everything about it. However, everything just went downhill after turning 10. Therefore, he was caught by surprise when he realized that he smiling after seeing Zoya enjoying the snow as if she was a small child through the clear office doors. Asad came back to senses and wiped the smile off his face in an instant, but as he continued to walk to his original destination which was the fax machine on the other side of the building, he couldn't help but get worried about her - she could definitely ruin him in a way that most people would want.
When Zoya entered the office, she bumped right into Asad. "Lovely," she muttered to herself after rubbing her head and realizing who she hit. "I'm sorry sir," she said more louder as he was supposed to hear it.
"And why were you late Ms. Farooqui?" Asad crossed his arms over his chest, ready for a lie that he was sure she was going to make up on the top of her head. He clearly saw her out there catching snowflakes on her tongue and though he was intrigued by it, he was ready to chew her out for it as well.
"You know," she began in a charismatic tone. He rolled her eyes when she started with her infamous two words that she always used when he caught her doing something she shouldn't be. "Sir, I think we're growing up awfully fast. I was just admiring how easy life was a couple years ago. I used to love this season and now it just... it doesn't feel the same."
"So you decide to come late to work and eat snowflakes outside the office?" he questioned her while raising an eyebrow. She grinned innocently while muttering something that sounded like sorry'. "I noticed that Christmas is more for children anyways, you might as well stop reminiscing and put the final touches for tomorrow's presentation."
Zoya gasped as an attempt to distract Asad further. "That doesn't mean you still can't enjoy it! Like you could drink hot cocoa and bake cookies and write letters to Santa," she gushed about all the plans she clearly had for her holiday break. "And you can tell Santa about all you want! Like how you want to fall in love or want everyone to just be happy!"
"I wrote to Santa once and he didn't do anything," Asad frowned and she could sense his frustration increasing. "Just go get started with work, Ms. Farooqui," he said rather harshly before going to the fax machine. Zoya made a face at him when he turned away and made her way to her desk.
"
Asad slipped out of his warm jacket after a long day of work. He didn't feel any cold breeze or regret after taking it off after realizing that he forgot to turn off the heater fan when he was leaving for work. He hung his jacket up on the coat rack before plopping down on the couch. His eyes couldn't help but wander around the house. He eyed the empty space where the coat rack used to previously be a long time ago. Asad had plans of using that space to hang up a small Christmas tree, just to get in the season and not be such a grinch, however, he never got around to it.
He stood back up to turn on the TV manually since the remote was somewhere in the kitchen. The local news blasted in the background as he trudged over to the kitchen. Work had drained the little energy he even had to begin with, so he decided to go for a cup of hot chocolate. Asad refused to believe that he made the switch from coffee to hot chocolate because he saw Zoya drinking it while working late in the office one night. He refused to believe that he was only drinking it because she insisted it was a way to enjoy the season. In fact, he refused to believe that it had anything to do with her.
After mixing the hot chocolate powder and hot water in a mug, he took it and looked out the window. He put one hand on the window and watched as snowflakes began trickling down softly. Other than hot chocolate, snow was also one of his favorite things about the season. Asad stirred the mixture a bit more with his straw while continuing to look out the window. His mind was elsewhere, with only one thing on it - Zoya, of course. He thought about earlier that day where she was enjoying herself and catching the snowflakes on her tongue. He chuckled and shook his head before taking a sip of his drink.
"
Another tedious day of work made Zoya yawn as she walked in. However, she had taken it upon herself to turn Asad from the grinch he was into a happy soul, which gave her a boost of energy. She walked straight into his office with a beam on her face. "Ice skating!" she exclaimed, nearly startling him.
"What?" Asad asked. He sounded as if he was afraid to know what she was even talking about. "Zoy" er... Ms. Farooqui, what is with you and all these shenanigans?"
"They're not shenanigans!" she protested while flailing her hands in the air. In one of them, there was a white envelope that she was holding onto tightly. "It's just... I wanted to invite you somewhere! I always go to this annual ice skating event and I think it would do you some good if you come," she smiled and handed the envelope to him.
Normally, he would say no. In fact, his mind kept screaming at him to say no. "Okay," he started while taking the envelope from her hand. "I'll come."
Zoya's eyes went wide with surprise. She had plans on how to threaten Asad by going on strike against the company if he didn't. "REALLY? I mean... really? That's great! Okay, well... I'll see you there!" she shrugged her shoulders and left the office to go to her desk. She felt safe to let out the huge grin that she had been containing in his office.
Asad opened the envelope when Zoya was gone. Inside, there was a ticket and a small note.
Hey Asad sir - you look like you're in need of some holiday cheer even though you're grumpy all year round. >:) If you're reading this, then I'm assuming that you'll be coming with me! I'll see you on Saturday!
She had originally wrote the word love', but scribbled it out and signed with the word sincerely' instead.
"
Asad wouldn't be hanging on for his dear life on the handle bar if Zoya hadn't dragged him into the ice rink. He had gotten there before her and was enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate (ironically). However, once she entered the place, he seemed to be struggling more than anything.
"Do you need help?" Zoya asked. She finally decided to stop after whizzing past him 3 times. She giggled after observing how Asad clenched onto the handle bar and let his uncertainty show on her face.
"No," Asad snapped. "I'm just new to all this, that's all," he continued to make his way around the rink slowly while using the handle bars for support.
"I can see that," she covered her mouth and laughed softly. Without thinking about her actions first, she grabbed onto his hand and began to pull him along with her. "Let go of the bar!"
Instead of using the opportunity to better his terrible skating skills, he used it to stare at her and wonder what the hell was happening to him. When she turned her head and her eyes met his, he was quickly brought back to reality. "Oh no, I'm not going to fall so I can crush every bone in your body," he shook his head and shot her a look. "Who else is going to finish reports and presentations?"
Zoya glared. "Sir, I'm not afraid to push you," she laughed and squeezed Asad's hand tighter. He noticed the action and didn't know how to react. He felt flustered by her while she continued to make her way across the ice gracefully with him trailing behind. "That wasn't so bad, was it? Maybe you should take ice skating up as a hobby."
Asad didn't listen to a word she was saying. Instead he continued to stare at Zoya as he was doing earlier. Her medium length, brown hair was neat and straight as always. A few strands stuck to her flushed cheek, however. She looked so happy and carefree as she normally did. He didn't understand how she could possibly stay so optimistic - he couldn't believe that she was even real at times. Her face was glowing and he could see her happiness and determination in her eyes.
"Are you even listening to me? I can still push you, you know!"
"
Zoya was unsure why she was so nervous. The past few days were alright and surprisingly, Asad wasn't as mean to her. In fact, they were even on a formal first name basis. She clutched onto the pan of cookies she had baked while the elevator made it's journey upwards. She had received a beautiful anklet that she had only mentioned to him about in the mail and she was convinced that he had bought it. It made Zoya want to slap Asad - she was in awe that he spent so much money on her, despite not even being friends or anything of that sort.
She sighed and put down one of her bags filled with decorations so that she could put the handles around her wrist. been to his house once before and that was just last week to meet before a conference. His house was neat, but so bland. She decided to bring the holiday spirit into his home as well since it was so dull like him. Zoya finally built up the courage to knock on Asad's door.
He opened it rather quickly and he was surprised to see her standing on his porch on Christmas day. "Ms. Zoya? What are you doing here?" Asad asked while rubbing his eyes, unsure if he was seeing things clearly.
"I'm just celebrating Christmas!" she answered in a perky tone. She invited herself inside and set down the pan of cookies on a small, empty table next to the coat rack. "I'm not going to let you be a grinch today," she slipped the bag of decorations off her wrist and onto the ground before bending down and pulling out a medium-sized Christmas tree which had taken up most of the space in the bag. "It's the least I could do after you bought me that anklet... thank you, by the way."
"How'd you know about the anklet?" he covered his mouth and yawned before raising an eyebrow up at her. He watched as she put the little tree next to the coat rack where he had always planned to have a tree. He smiled to himself when he noticed her wearing the gold chain he had bought her.
"You're kinda the only one I told about it," Zoya laughed after perfecting the position of the tree on the ground. "All those little sellers that sold trees were closed last... because... um... it's Christmas, so I'm hoping that this is okay? I tried to cut the log straight at the bottom so it would stay, but I'm not really good at it," she admitted. She was talking fast and Asad watched as she began to get flustered like she did at the ice skating rink. Zoya stood up and noticed how dangerously close she was to him. "Hey um, can I ask you something?" she asked in a quiet voice when she realized he wasn't going to say anything. He nodded his head and motioned for her to go for it. "Why aren't you with your family? It's Christmas."
Asad closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt a familiar lump in his throat beginning to form - one that erupted whenever he talked about his mother and father. "I would be if they were still with me, but..." he cleared his throat after receiving a confused look from Zoya and realized that he would have to explain. "My parents died when I was 10."
"Oh... I... um... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, you didn't know."
The room was filled with silence until Asad broke it. "So, I hope you brought some stuff to decorate the tree because I have nothing."
Zoya looked up at him and noticed that he was attempting to change the subject. "Of course! I have a bunch of stuff like ornaments and a mistletoe and I baked some cookies."
He didn't really feel like talking and she simply just felt bad, so they decorated the tree in silence. They had their occasional small talk and giggles, but the room remained quiet for most of the time. "Hey, it's not as bad as I thought it would be!"
"You thought it was going to be bad and you still brought it here?" Asad chuckled while putting a small star on top of the tree. He reached for a cookie afterwards and Zoya watched with big eyes to see what his reaction would be. His eyes went wide after swallowing down his bite and she beamed.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I just brought anything in my house and anything from the stores that were open and hoped for the best," she admitted in the midst of her laughter. She rummaged through the bag of leftover ornaments only to see that there was one thing left - the mistletoe. They had already put up lights, other little decorations, and the tree and that was the only thing left. She took it out of the back and held it in front of their eyes.
"Mistletoe? Zoya, no one's going to be visiting me," he chuckled and watched as she decided for herself where to hang it.
"You can invite a girl that you like to come over, then," she shrugged her shoulders while examining it a bit more. He silently hoped that she would accidentally raise it above them, just to give him an excuse to kiss her. Zoya was intelligent, but she could be a bit naive and dumb at times as well. Asad noticed her trying to hang the mistletoe somewhere, however it was long forgotten when he put his hands around her waist and kissed her.
She dropped the mistletoe and her eyes went wide, but closed slowly as her hands cupped his face. He brought her in closer against him before they pulled away for air. Zoya didn't expect any of that that to happen. She didn't expect to perform a good deed and get rewarded for it in the most wonderful way that sent her into euphoria. "I didn't see that coming... this was supposed to be Mission: Make sure Asad had a really good Christmas," she laughed while he simply beamed down at her. "I got a really good present out of it too... there needs to be more holidays so this can keep happening," she said the last part a bit softly.
"I think this is the best part of the mission," he began while tangling his fingers into hers. "You." Asad's lips hovered around the corner of Zoya's house. He could hear her whimpers, which only made him want to laugh. He stopped teasing her and kissed again - much more softly and gently this time around.
Just like that, Christmas became his favorite holiday again. The void in his life and the loneliness and bitterness that caused him to despise the holiday was gone. He saw it coming when he noticed himself trying to taste snowflakes and when he started choosing hot chocolate over his staple coffee. December 25 became a special day for Asad because that's when he got Zoya Farooqui all to himself - she was his and that was the best gift anyone could have ever given him. Santa Claus had read his wishlist from when he was a child and though he granted his wishes a bit late, his wishes were still answered. He was able to relive his childhood from time to time with Zoya and he couldn't have asked for anything better.
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
4