AsYa SS: Mission AsYa.. Chapter 3 up..! - Page 5

Chapter 3

Part 1-Asad

Beep. Beep.

The alarm clock kept at Asad Ahmed Khan's bedside rang, indicating that it was 5:45am. Time for him to wake up. But it made no difference whatsoever to him. He was already wide awake. In fact, he had hardly slept a wink last night. He had been tossing and turning in his bed, thinking about something. Or to be more precise, thinking about a certain someone. That too, a girl. No. It wasn't the girl he was supposed to think about, the girl he was to be married to, namely, Tanveer. It was his Ammi's little house guest. Miss Zoya Farooqi. He had been thinking about her all night long. How she had entered as just a guest, how she had helped his family in their time of need, how she had made a permanent place in the hearts of all the members of his family. How she had--- Wait. Had he just said ALL the members of his family?? What was happening to him?? "Stop it Asad" he reprimanded himself "stop thinking about her. Stop thinking about her petite frame, her lovely legs, her Bambi-like eyes, her gorgeously dimpled smile, her rosy and full lips, her----" he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He was doing it again!! He was again letting his mind wander off to "Zoya land". After several (failed) attempts to stop thinking about Zoya, he concluded that no good would come from just lying on his bed. If he did, he would just keep thinking about her, however hard he tried not to. He hauled himself off his bed and walked to his balcony. He opened the window and a gust of wind entered his room. He breathed in the fresh air, and it relaxed him immediately. The weather was really pleasant. He could hear the birds chirping in the distance. He decided to go for a jog to take his mind of….things. He put on his tracksuit, grabbed a water bottle and got into his car. He drove to the nearest park and parked his car. He got out and inhaled the fresh air. It was really refreshing. He stretched for a while and then started jogging. Slowly first, he would gradually increase his speed. The park was pretty empty. The only people he saw were a few senior citizens, going on their brisk morning walk, and a young couple, getting all lovey-dovey on a park bench. There was also a family, who seemed to have come for a picnic. The father and two kids, a boy and a girl, along with a dog, were playing Frisbee. Their mother was seated a few yards away in the shade of a tree and was watching them and smiling. There was so much love between all of them. Asad was envious of that man. He wanted his family to be just like that. He imagined himself in this park, with his children. He imagined his Zoya sitting by the tree. It looked perfect……. But as soon as he realized what he had thought though, he mentally scolded himself. "What are you saying Asad? It's Tanveer. Not Zoya." he thought. He took another round and saw the lovey-dovey couple again, but this time further ahead. They were walking now, hand in hand. Suddenly, the girl tripped over something and the boy immediately caught her. Asad stopped to watch. The boy lifted up the girl, and made her sit on the bench. He went on his knees and examined her leg. Then, taking out his handkerchief, he tied it on her leg. This whole scene reminded him of yesterday. The only thing missing was the kiss. "Zoya" he thought. He HAD to get out of here. Everything here, some way or another, reminded him of Zoya. He felt claustrophobic. He checked his watch. It was 7 'o' clock. Ammi would wake up anytime now. In his hurry to get out of the house, he hadn't even left a note informing Ammi of his whereabouts. She would surely be worried. He quickened his pace, made his way towards his car, got into it, and drove home.

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He entered his house quietly, closing the door behind him. He did a quick scan of the living room. Ammi was nowhere in sight. He heaved a sigh of relief. She hadn't woken up yet. He was safe. He walked towards the kitchen to keep his bottle. And inside the kitchen was the person he had least expected to see at this hour. It was HER. It was Zoya Farooqi.

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Part 2- Zoya

Zoya Farooqi was having a rotten day. After all the drama last night, she had managed to somehow drift off to sleep. Only to be awoken by the ring of her phone 2 hours later. "Who in their right mind would call at this time??" she thought. If it was Ayaan, he was really going to have it. Angrily, she picked up her phone and pressed the answer button. And this is what she heard:-

Kaise bataayein, kyun tujhko chaahen

Yaara bata na paayein

Baatein dilon ki, dekho jo baaki

Aankhein tujhe samjhaayein

Tu jaane naa….. Tu jaane naa…..

iss gaane ko apna caller tune banane ke liye *5666* par ek missed---

"Allah Miya! What's wrong with this caller tune company??" she shouted at the phone after disconnecting the call. "The first thing I am going to do tomorrow is to change my sim." She said. She flopped back down on the bed but she wasn't able to sleep. She checked the time. It read 6:00 am. "what?? 6 am??? Even Phoophi must be sleeping!" she thought. But she got up, and made her way towards the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. Coffee. Almost automatically it reminded her of Him. Every time she had a problem, he used to come along, with a cup of coffee, to support her. And even though the coffee was black and bitter, she didn't care. Because she knew…..or at least she thought she knew….. That it was from his heart. She picked up her mug and walked to the table. She looked at his chair and ran the tips of her fingers on the top. She closed her eyes and was instantly reminded of all the memories that she and Jahapanah had shared at this table. She felt her eyes getting wet. She quickly wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her kurti. "No Zoya. You will not think about him. He never was, and never will be, yours. Snap out of it." She mentally scolded herself. She was just taking a sip of her coffee when she felt it. A hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, she picked up the nearest object she could lay her hands on- a butter knife- and spun around; raising the knife I front of her like a sword. "Whoa..! Peace…" said Asad Ahmed Khan, backing off. "Allah Miya! What's wrong with you Mr. Khan?" Zoya said "don't you know better than sneaking up on people? You scared the hell out of me!". "I'm sorry." He said "I didn't think it would scare you. I just saw you sitting here all alone and I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You've been acting really….weird since last night, so I just--" he stopped midway. She looked at him, too stunned to say, or do, anything. Was he referring to the kiss? "Wishful Thinking, Zoya" she thought. "Umm…I mean" he continued "Ammi…..Ammi said she was, you know, worried about you after she heard voices last night….so I just wanted to….check." Zoya just continued to look at him. She couldn't say anything. At least not without bawling her eyes out. With great difficulty, she mumbled "I'm fine." and sank back into her chair. She wanted to run to her room, but she didn't want him to think that yesterday night had affected her in any way or that she was upset. But if the way he was looking at her was any indication, she was pretty sure that he knew that she was affected. Big time. She heard him sigh and saw him walking towards the kitchen sink and placing his bottle inside it. He threw one last glance at her and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her all alone. Like Always.

************

"Good morning Phoopi." Zoya said with a bright smile, as Dilshaad walked into the kitchen. "Arre, Zoya, you're up so early? Good morning" replied Dilshaad. "Phoopi, can I help you in making breakfast today?" Zoya asked. Phoopi gave her an astonished look and said "uh..of course, of course." Zoya knew that Phoopi suspected that something was wrong with her. After all, she was a mother. She could sense when something was wrong. Zoya walked into the kitchen and stood near Phoopi. Phoopi said "Ok Zoya. Today we are going to make a fruit and vegetable salad, waffles and orange juice. we have to personally make the juice because Asad thinks the juice cartons are unhealthy." she sighed "That boy, I tell you." Zoya couldn't help smiling. She knew what a health freak Mr. Khan was. She could imagine him blowing his lid over something as Carton juice. "So, you can make the salad, and I'll manage the waffles and the juice. Is that ok?" Phoopi asked her. "Of course Phoopi." she replied and set to work. "This is fun." she thought, while peeling an apple and cutting it. She was just slicing a Tomato, when she heard footsteps. And voices. One of them belonged to Mr. Khan. She could recognize that voice anywhere. And the other belonged to...Tanveer. The name itself made Zoya angry. The girl hadn't done anything to offend her, but she had STOLEN her Jahapanah Six Packs and transformed him into Jammy. This was enough for Zoya to loathe this girl. She heard the footsteps draw closer, but she still couldn't decipher their conversation. Finally, she could make out only one word, spoken by her Jahapanah. Beautiful. That's what he'd said. Then they stopped talking as they entered the dining room. Zoya looked at Tanveer. She was wearing her pink anarkali, which she wore once in about every 5 days. What was so beautiful about that? "Zoya?" Phoopi said, breaking her chain of thoughts "You have to use the Tomatoes for the salad, not for a puree." Zoya looked at her quizzically, then looked at her Tomato –or what was left of it anyway- and gasped. The only thing remaining was the juice. In her anger, she had murdered the tomato. "I am so sorry Phoopi" she said "I was just distracted". Dilshaad gave her a smile, like she knew EXACTLY why Zoya was distracted and said "It's ok, beta. We have plenty more Tomatoes. You can use them". Zoya smiled and grabbed another tomato and got to work. Tanveer then entered the kitchen and said "Good Morning Khala, Good Morning Zoya". "Good Morning" Dilshaad and Zoya replied. "Can I help you in any way?" Tanveer asked. "No, beta. Zoya's got it covered." Phoopi said. Tanveer looked at Zoya and gave an obviously forced smile. "That's great" she said "I can anyway help you for the rest of my life, so Zoya can do it for now." she said, emphasizing on 'rest of my life'. Zoya fought back tears. She didn't like to be constantly reminded of the fact that Tanveer was Asad's to be fiance. Phoopi was just starting to say something when Asad said "Good Morning ammi. Good Morning Zo- Miss. Farooqi" Zoya muttered a meek 'good morning' in response. Tanveer walked to the table and sat on the chair next to Asad's and smiled at him. Zoya looked away and concentrated on her work. She had everything she needed for the salad. She picked up a plate and plated up the salad in a very systematic and beautiful manner. After she finished, she showed the plate to Phoopi, who said "Wow Zoya! That looks marvelous! But I think you've forgotten lemon." she smiled. "Oopsies!" said Zoya and ran off to get a lemon. "Phoopi" she called "there are no lemons in the fridge". "There may be some in the basket on the dining table." Phoopi replied, and Zoya walked to the table, to search for the lemon. Asad and Tanveer were already seated at the table, and were having, what looked like, a serious conversation. Normally, Zoya would have tried to eavesdrop, but this time, she didn't want to. Asad and Tanveer were soon to be married and deserved privacy. She cleared her throat to make her presence known, and immediately Tanveer and Asad stopped talking. She walked to the table and started searching the baskets. "What are you searching for?" Asad asked her. "A lemon." she replied. "Here, let me help you" he said and started to get up. "It's Ok Mr.Khan. I'm capable of finding a LEMON by myself, thank you very much." she snapped. "No I didn't mean--" he started, only to be cut short by Zoya. "Aha! There you are" she said, and clutching the lemon in her palm, she walked off. She put it on the kitchen slab and picked up her knife. Suddenly, she heard Tanveer's voice. "So, as I was saying Jammy, I have to go out of town for sometime next month" she said "So I was wondering if we could have our engagement earlier, maybe next week" "Owch" cried Zoya, and examined her finger. Blood was oozing out. She had unknowingly cut herself when Tanveer had mentioned the engagement.

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Part 3- Asad

"Owch" He heard her cry out, and then, like his feet had a mind of their own, he rushed to her. Ammi was holding Zoya's hand and taking her towards the sink. Zoya's hand was bleeding. He felt a pang of worry. "Tannu, go and get the first aid box" he ordered. He looked at Zoya and said "Does it hurt a lot?" he asked her. "Yes. More than you can imagine" she said. He understood that she was not only referring to the cut. "Zoya" he whispered, as Tanveer came in with the first aid box. "Here" she said. Asad quickly opened the box and was just starting to tend to her wound when she pulled her hand away. He looked at her, stunned. "Thanks Mr. Khan. Thanks Tanveer. I can bandage this up myself now." she said. He looked up at her, and she looked away. Had he caused her so much hurt that she didn't even want to look at him now. He saw her leaving the kitchen and going towards her room. Without thinking, he followed her, and stood at the doorway. He saw her opening the First Aid Box and pouring some Savlon on a piece of cotton. She dabbed her finger with it and winced. He surged forward, and then stopped. It was like an automatic reaction. She was hurt, and he was in pain. "What is happening to me? What am I doing here? Why am I not at the dining table?" thoughts clouded his head, and he quietly made his way out of her room, thinking that she had not seen him.

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Part 4- Zoya

But she had. She had witnessed everything. Asad standing at her doorway; Asad rushing to her when she winced; Asad leaving, when he thought she hadn't seen him. He cared. It was evident. He cared about her and he loved her. She could see it in his eyes. She had to make him realize that he loved her as much as she loved him. By hook or by crook. She wouldn't stand by and watch him ruin his life. No Way. With new determination, she called Ayaan. He picked up after three rings. "I knew you'd call." he said "So.. what's the decision?".

"I am ready." Zoya replied. "Tell me what I have to do."

"That's brilliant" said Ayaan. "Meet me at Caf Coffee Day at 12:30. I'll be waiting"