|Power Cut| AsYa SS. LAST PART PG27NotePg32! - Page 19

Originally posted by: fee-fee

Oh my god!!!! I had to bite my lips from the excitement (I have guests over). Please update soon and PM me when you do. Fantastic! Please hurry with the update!!

Asad walked upstairs with determination. He knew that he had really messed up things during the power cut. He needed her to know that he really was sorry. But she was always so stubborn.

"She'll forgive you, Asad. She always does." He told himself.

He walked into her room and waited to knock. He could hear her talking to somebody. Without even realizing what he was doing, he listened into the conversation.

__

Zoya had stormed up to her room after their argument. She was beyond angry and upset. At this point, she had just given up on Asad. On ever making him her anything. His lack of respect for her was just dismal. She didn't understand why he always brought her parents into the argument, despite knowing how torn up she is about it.

She didn't want to see him because it made things so much worse.

She sat on her bed and looked at herself. She looked like such a love-sick loser. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt and a pair of shorts and her hair was worn down in a messy fashion. She needed a reality check.

"How are you supposed to get him to notice you if you don't notice yourself, Zoya?" she muttered.

She looked tired. She was tired. She just wanted to let go, somehow.

Maybe she should confront Mr.Khan and yell at him. That would unload things off her chest. After that confrontation, she needn't see him again.

"No, Zoya." Her mind said.

"You can't handle seeing him. Besides, if you intend to stop talking to him after this, then do you really want your last conversation with Mr.Khan to be a WWE final?"

She nodded in the negative. Seeing him wasn't an option.

She covered her face with her hands and a sob escaped her lips. She didn't know why God had made her fall for someone this cruel who had no respect for her whatsoever.

Although she wanted to rip him to shreds at the moment, the thought of leaving him and his family behind made her depressed. She had no idea how attached she had grown to them. They were all she had after Aapi and Jeeju.

Najma and Phoophi had made it clear today that they were always with her. That they would never let Tanveer and Asad's behavior sideline her.

But was it just Phoophi and Najma she wanted on her side?

A tear trickled down her face. Even if there were an army on her side, she would still want only one person.

Her Akdu Ahmed Khan.

And he had made it obvious that he didn't want anything to do with her.

She was sobbing in despair and she clutched her pillow. She heard the cutlery moving downstairs, they were eating dinner.

She didn't want to go down now just to hear him insult her cooking. She had had enough.

She wiped away her tears. She took a deep breath and called her Jeeju.

After the customary polite exchanges, Zoya got down to the main point of the conversation.

"Jeeju, you have a few relatives in Bhopal, don't you?"

She heard her Jeeju's smile in his voice when he replied, "There are relatives, yes. I don't have much contact with them. But one family I know very well! The sons in that house went to school with me. We were really good friends!"

She sighed in relief.

"You met them the last time you came to Bhopal?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course I did!" he said, his voice conveying his confusion.

"Zoya beta, why all these questions?" her Jeeju asked.

"I'. I want to move out of Phoophi's house for a while." Zoya took a deep breath. She was stammering.

"WHY?!" her Jeeju half-yelled. "Are you okay, beta? Is everyone treating you alright? Any pro-"

"JEEJU. I'm fine. Please don't worry. Everything's fine here." Zoya assured him.

"Then why this sudden move?" her Jeeju questioned.

"I'll be leaving India in a while and I figured it's only polite if I meet some of yours and Aapi's relatives." She lied smoothly.

"Really?" her Jeeju asked skeptically.

"Yes, Jeeju. Moreover, there's another guest staying at the Khan household right now. I don't want to trouble Phoophi anymore with having to deal with me. I'll just move somewhere else." Zoya convinced him.

"OH, I understand beta. You're right. Dilshad should have told me. I understand. You don't want to make her strain herself. I'll give you my friend's number right now, beta. You call him. He's a very nice gentleman. And he has a lovely family. You will love it there!" Her Jeeju sounded happy about her decision.

Her Jeeju called out the number to her and she noted it down.

Hesitating for a minute she asked, "Jeeju? If they were really so nice, then why did you send me to stay with Phoophi instead of staying with that family?"

Her Jeeju sighed and said, "I don't know really, Zoya. It was an impulsive decision that I took at that moment. I had to keep you safe and I trusted Dilshad. I know that in her house, no harm would ever come your way."

Zoya held the phone. She felt choked by her emotions.

Her Jeeju, in a rare moment of weakness told her, "I hope I made the right decision."

A tear slipped down her face when she thought of the many moments during her stay where she had been hurt physically and emotionally, that too only by one person.

"Of course you did, Jeeju. I'm very safe and happy here." She lied.

"I'll speak to you later, Jeeju. I'll leave the Khan household in a day or two. I'll call you before I leave, okay? Meanwhile, put in a word to your friend please!"

Her Jeeju laughed and said, "Okay beta. Khuda hafiz."

"Allah hafiz." She murmured.

She put the phone down with a sigh and looked at the number in her hands. She was going to do it. She was going to leave this house.

A rhythmic knock on the door brought her out of her reverie. She moved to open the door, it was probably Phoophi calling her down for dinner.

Instead, she was greeted by a worried Mr.Khan.

She tore her eyes away from his penetrating gaze and she tried to shut the door. He pushed it open however and walked right in.

Both of them stood in the small threshold of the door. They was barely any space separating them.

They were eye to eye again. This time, however in different circumstances.

Asad made the first move. He had prepared an apology but it was all forgotten when he had heard her phone conversation.

"You're leaving." He said in a torn whisper.

She mustered up the courage to look at him in the face and she said, "Yes."

His eyes became haunted and he gripped her elbow, "How could you just decide to leave like that? That's just impulsive and cheap, after all that Ammi's done for you!"

Zoya recoiled under his touch and he loosened his grip.

Raking a hand through his hair he said, "Zoya. Are you really-"

Zoya muttered a prayer to the God above to give her the courage to face this.

"Yes, Mr. Khan. I am leaving. And you cannot change my mind. I think I've been a guest for way too long in this house. You yourself told me that I've overstepped my boundaries on many occasions. It's time that I leave."

"Miss. Farooqui, please. Are you really going to let some stupid fight we had downstairs affect you like this? Please don't do something rash." Asad chided her.

Zoya gave him a sardonic glance and she said, "No, Mr. Khan. I've thought this out multiple times. I don't want to be your liability anymore. So please, stop pretending like you want me to stay here. Both of us know that you're lying."

Asad lost his temper, "What is wrong with you, Zoya? I'. I didn't mean what I said. So please just don't-"

"OH please, Mr. Khan. What have you ever done to indicate that my stay here makes you happy? NOTHING."

Asad looked at her, the frustration evident on his face.

She looked at him with a decisive look and she whispered, "I'm telling Najma and Phoophi tomorrow and if all works well, I'm leaving tomorrow evening. This is what you've wanted since the day I stepped into this house."

Asad's resolve crumbled. She was slipping away from him right in front of his eyes. He drank in her messy appearance and her blood shot eyes. They were still standing in the threshold. If she would just let him take one step in.

He started to say something and Zoya muttered, "Please leave. I have to start packing."

His voice hoarse, he asked, "Won't you come down for dinner? You cooked, after all."

Zoya's calculated mask slipped and she said, "Err. No. I'm not hungry."

Asad nodded in response, too dazed to understand what was happening. He surveyed her room. She was already half packed.

He looked up at her face. She looked at him, her big eyes held so much restrained emotion.

He whispered, "Did you ever mean to tell me that you were leaving?"

She looked at him and then said, "No."

He knew that she would say that. Yet, the fact that she had planned on walking away from him, from them, without saying goodbye pierced his heart for an unknown reason.

He rasped out, "Ammi and Najma will miss you."

Zoya looked at his face, at his eyes. They had always told her something. Right now, in that threshold where they were meeting each other halfway, his eyes seemed to be blank. Absolutely void of any emotion.

She replied, "Yeah, I know."

"Mr. Khan. I have to pack-"Zoya started off with some explanation. She really wanted him to leave. She was afraid that she would break down entirely.

"Would it- Would it change your mind if I said that I still want you stay here?" Asad closed his eyes as he asked the question. He opened them again hesitatingly. He had actually let his guard down in front of Zoya.

He looked down at her face. She was looking at him with wonder in her face. Her face broke into a small smile and then tears pooled in her eyes.

She placed her hand on his chest. She could almost feel his heartbeat. She looked into his eyes.

And with all her strength she whispered, "No, it would change my mind if you meant it."

With one gentle push from her hand, he now stood outside the door. She closed the door on his face and before he could react, she had locked herself inside.

He could hear a muffled sob.

He cursed himself. He couldn't believe the sudden turn of events.

He walked down to the dining table like a zombie ignoring the looks from his mother and his sister.

His mother asked him, the anger laced in between her words, "Zoya doesn't want to come down, no?"

He looked at her and said, "No. She's not hungry."

He took his seat in the table. Tanveer was seated next to him. His mother and his sister had stopped eating abruptly. He looked at Zoya's empty seat and their conversation rushed back to him.

He felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. She was actually going to leave and it was all his fault.

He heard his mother clearing her throat. His mother and Najma held their plates in their hands and Najma was carrying an extra plate of food.

His mother said in a firm tone, "We're going upstairs to eat with Zoya. I don't care if you think it's messy or silly. We're still going to do it. Dinner isn't the same without her."

They both walked upstairs without waiting to hear his response. He could feel his headache mounting.

Tanveer offered him a glass of water and he took it gratefully.

She said, "Don't worry, Jammie. I'm still going to eat here with you."

He forced himself to smile at her.

His mother and his sister were right. Dinner wasn't the same without Zoya.

He realized with dismay that nothing would ever be the same without Zoya.

__

Zoya muttered a curse the next afternoon. She had just come out of Phoophi's room after a long conversation with her. She had discovered that morning that her Jeeju's friends whom she intended to stay with were on vacation for a month.

She couldn't stay with them. Her plan had gone down the drain. Nevertheless, she went to meet Phoophi to feed her some bullshit story about staying in a hostel.

Phoophi was furious with Zoya's preposterous idea of staying in a hostel and convinced her to camp at the Khan household once again.

Zoya didn't have much of a choice. She really had nowhere else to go.

Phoophi had understood where Zoya's impulsive need leave this house came from. But she assured Zoya that she would always be on her side.

Zoya thanked her stars that she hadn't told Najma as yet. Najma would have been a weeping mess.

She walked towards her room. She hadn't seen Mr. Khan today. He had left earlier for work than usual.

So much for her resolve the previous night. Strangely enough, the entire day she had been upset about the fact that she was going to leave the house without seeing him.

What a fail. She was going to end up staying here all over again.

She walked into her room and sat on the bed. Why was God making it so hard for her to leave this house?

She sighed and started unpacking.

Maybe God had some other plan.

She hoped he did. She couldn't face heartbreak again.

__

Asad walked into the house after work. He couldn't focus the entire day.

Zoya consumed his thoughts. She was everywhere. To think that the last conversation they had was a fight. Now he was never going to see her again. No, he had to meet her.

But what would he tell her?

He groaned in annoyance. The power had gone again.

He couldn't believe his luck. Ever since yesterday's power cut, he was positive that every time the power went something bad was bound to happen.

The storm that continued to rage outside and terrorize Bhopal was competition for the war that being fought between his brain and his heart.

He went upstairs and freshened up. He heard his mother's vague voice yelling at everyone to assemble in the living room.

Changing into his white kurta, he kneeled down to pray.

He prayed for forgiveness. For repentance. And he prayed for Zoya.

He prayed that if he were ever to meet her again, he would learn how to treat her right.

That he would give her all the attention she deserved, that he would be her friend and that he would care for her.

And then he prayed that one day, she would be able to forgive him for everything.

On finishing his prayers, he went downstairs.

His mother was just lighting up the candles again. Najma was sitting on the couch with some popcorn and Tanveer appeared to be organizing some sheets of paper and some materials.

"Asad?" his mother said.

"Ji, Ammi?" he replied. This room brought back all the memories of the fight yesterday. He suddenly felt claustrophobic.

"This matchbox is over. Get another one from the kitchen, please." His mother requested.

"I'. I don't know where it is." He replied.

"Ask Zoya. She knows." His mother replied in a tight voice.

His throat constricted. He thought he hadn't heard her properly. Had she just told him to ask Zoya?

"No worries, Phoophi. I have it here with me."

He whipped around to face her. She was wearing one of her standard blue shirts and her jeans. And on her face she had a small smile.

She was actually in front of him.

How?

Zoya ignored him and she passed the matchbox to Dilshad. Asad's eyes ran over her form, like he was trying to memorize every small detail about her.

He held her hand.

Sparks flew between them. There was undeniable chemistry.

Zoya shrugged his hand off and she sat on the sofa.

Dilshad cleared her throat and said, "Today, Tanveer has some suggestions on how to spend our power-cut time. Considering yesterday went off quite horribly, let's hope this keeps everyone happy."

Tanveer graced everyone with a smile and said, "I have an idea! And I must say, it's a very interesting one. It's something that Jammie and I used to love when we were kids! SUDOKU!"

Najma started choking over her popcorn and Dilshad looked horrified.

Asad was too busy staring at Zoya and she was flushing under his intense gaze.

"Isn't it awesome, Jammie?" asked Tanveer in excitement.

"Huh? Yeah. Totally." He tried to smile at her.

She passed the sheets around the room and gave instructions to everyone. Asad ignored her, he was a pro at Sudoku.

Zoya was trying hard to understand the instructions. Leave it to Tanveer to make them all play games for Senior Citizens! Tomorrow she would suggest Chair Aerobics or something!

She turned for a second and caught Asad's questioning gaze. Zoya ignored him and started doing her Sudoku puzzle.

A comfortable silence fell around the room with each person trying to solve their own puzzle.

Zoya couldn't figure it out. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt someone's weight sink into the sofa.

His cologne filled her nostrils and she turned to look at his face. His eyes spoke volumes. He looked at her with so much concern. Like she was something to cherish.

She looked away and told herself, "Focus, Zoya."

She froze when his right hand gripped hers.

His hand covered hers, covered the pencil she was holding and he gently whispered into her ear, "You're doing it wrong."

She flushed at their proximity and scanned the room. Everyone seemed to have their noses dug deep into their sheets. No one noticed them.

He whispered in that baritone of his, "You cannot repeat the numbers in a row."

She forced herself to nod. His hand was still placed on hers.

"You didn't listen to the instructions?" he asked.

She looked into his eyes and said, "I can't understand them."

And for a split second, he knew that she wasn't speaking about the instructions alone.

"Do you want me to explain?" he whispered.

There was pure wonder in her eyes and she said, "Err. Okay."

So he started, "Okay, so this is a 9x9 squared grid and it'."

He went on with the instructions and he saw her follow him with determination in her eyes. She seemed to catch the drift and she asked doubts in between.

After he was done he asked her, "Do you want to try now?"

There were a few centimeters separating their faces.

Zoya whispered, "You know, Asad, I would love to. But you need to let go of my hand first."

He looked down at their hands and he dropped her hand like hot potato.

He heard a small giggle and he looked up to see her giggles turn into a hearty laugh.

Everybody looked up from their puzzles to see Zoya laughing at something. The smile reached her eyes.

Dilshad said a small prayer. She always wanted her Zoya to smile like this.

Asad looked at her laugh in awe. God had been merciful to him. She was actually laughing.

He couldn't help but smile back at her and when she looked at his face with a grin he held her gaze.

She whispered, "I'll start?"

He nodded in the affirmative with a smile.

She peered into her paper and then he happened to catch his Ammi's gaze. She was smiling at him, after so long.

He looked back at Zoya and thought, "Maybe these power cuts aren't so bad after all."

__

I know many of you might have wanted romance, but unfortunately, this is the way I write! You guys will have to put up with that. :P

Now what's next?

I'm going to finish my SS : Hugs and Kisses! :D *yayy* For those of you who haven't read it, this is the link!

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/qubool-hai/3285764/asad-zoya-ss-hugs-and-kisses-updatepg19-on-26-1

Please put up with me till my Boards get over! :D

So once again, thank you all for sticking with me through the journey of this SS which has lasted for 4 days to be precise. :P

Four days - Four parts! I've been good. :D

Love you all!