Winding down with Zoya - pt23 updt pg 60 - Page 7

Life for Zoya had transformed - for the better thankfully. From Zoya the Pizza Queen she pregnancy made her Zoya the health food freak. She ate only stir fried vegetables, Rotis, Soups of all kinds, sprouts, fruits and salads. She also walked a lot more so Asad had fewer options to garb Zoya outside the bedroom. Coffee continued to be banned from the breakfast table. Zoya insisted that she could lock herself in the guest room turned office and smell the roses, both Asad and Jeeju would hear nothing of it. They carried their covered cups out into the garden early and rinsed out the cups before Zoya woke up and then coffee was banished to the store. They developed a habit of chatting, and sometimes discussing architecture in the morning because Jeeju taught Mughal Art at the UCLA. Asad suggested that he use the day to look at some of the forts in the region and the temple art here was anyway on Jeeju's wish list to explore.

That morning they made an impromptu day trip plan. Asad organised for a car to drive Jeeju for the day and Jeeju insisted he did not need a guide. The women heard them discuss his trip. Dilshaad chimed into the conversation and added "Ujjain was the centre of the world in the ancient world maps."Asad beta would be working from home today"? asked Dilshaad. Ammi you must go if you would like to Appi was hesistant to leave Zoya for a whole day but she loved going places too. "Can I come?"asked Zoya. Asad was weighing in Zoya;s request before she decided not too, to everyone's relief. Asad insisted they pack a picnic and loads of water and fruits and set out for the day. The weather is good too he said. Jeeju was over the moon he was really happy to go out on a day trip with his Aapi Dilshaad. "When did we do this last Appi?" He asked, Dilshaad smiled in reply, just before Asad when I was 17 said Ammi. Asad felt a lump in his throat - She had me when she was 18 Najma a few years later. Struggle and single motherhood started when she was 25 - Zoya's age now gulped Asad in his head. The number was not lost on Zoya either as she choked on her tears. Asad and Zoya held each others gaze while the rest of the table was really excited about the trip.

Ujjain was about 40 miles from where they lived. So if they left right away they would beat the trafic and make it by 10. That would give them a clear 6 hours. Asad requested that they be back by 8.00 in the evening.

There was a great deal of bustle thereafter. All 3 of them walked over to Zoya; who has hammering away at her lap top from almost when she woke up today; at 3 different points unknown to each other and they walked over and repeated the same thing to her in different words. Don't run if you feel sick, Don't sit for too long, eat well and stay hydrated. Call Asad and call us if you need anything. A soft glow spread over Zoya's face every single time and she heard them like she had never heard those words before. Stretch your knees and ankles added Ammi before the trio walked out for the day. The warmth she radiated was a snap shot moment for Asad, She did not see him noticing this; she simply got back to her laptop with a wide grin.

Asad got a big chunk accomplished of work at his mid-morning break. He poured out some juice that Dilshaad had left for them. Set the glasses down in front of Zoya without batting an eyelid she gulped them both down and let herself out of the chair after shutting her laptop. Asad looked at her and he knew she was ready for a nap. He took her in and tucked her in..she played with his fingers when she was leaning on him and they were talking about what the trio would be doing when Zoya fell asleep. Asad whined about having to get back to work as he set aside the sleeping Zoya. He was dumping the glasses in the sink when he cheerfully noted that Zoya had not thrown up all morning. He wished she would stay that way past lunch too. He nevertheless ensured that their bedside table had her bags and water in case she needed it.

He was setting out lunch and trying to get some salad ready before he gave up and brought the fruits instead. He saw a refreshed Zoya heading to the table. Her scooped her up and set on the table muttering "I love this dish". She sat swinging her feet at the table and happily ate out of his plate, They both headed off their respective directions after clearing up - Asad with the guys from his office and Zoya back to the computer.

She waited restlessly for Asad's colleagues to leave. He was furious but managed to smile at her on his way back from the door. Zoya waltzed into his room asking him if he was free. Her looked up from his papers with worry and nodded. She brought her laptop showed what she had done. Asad was losing patience fast and appeared disinterested.

Mr.Asad Ahamed Khan " Aap mujhe seriously quyon nahi lethe hain??" she hollered. It got down the hill rapidly after that. "I have nothing but waltz around you these past weeks taking instructions from everyone about what to do and what not to do, and I don't need you coming into my office and tell me how to run my show". He snapped. She looked at him fiercely and said " your company is at least a year and a few thousand dollars away from what you have in this file". and flung it on the floor. " Change your ..my way or highway..attitude, be more open to things that are outside you comfort zone, and acknowledge there may be better way of doing things than your way of doing things and you will a be a dream CEO to work for... And that would have caused you 2 weeks of 2 hour sessions with an NLP certified consultant and a neat packet to see that on your laptop as a report" she spat venom, banged the door shut on her way out. Asad was stunned, they certainly had fights earlier but he had never seen her this furious.

He realised that he touched a raw nerve. He quickly ran out and sat down at Zoya;s bedside, She refused to let him touch her. "I am sorry Zoya" he muttered as he reached out for her hand. She snatched it back and Asad said sorry again. She let him hold her hand but was still not looking at him. "Can we do this again when I have an hour I have to get on a call now in 5 minutes. Once that's done we can sit on this I promise" he said sincerely. She was quick to forgive he looked at her kissed her before he got off the bed and she went back to her iPad to listen to some music.

The call was done Asad was blown when Zoya showed him what she had done. She gave him a stylus and a bamboo pad. He drew his designs on that using the stylus approximately rightly. He saw his design take shape on the screen, he could then write in the exact dimensions, colour it as he pleased, he could even generate a 3D view and it could be saved and emailed as a pdf. Asad knew all this existed earlier she made it one simple step for him. If he liked something he could take a picture of it and draw over the image on her iPad, fine tune it and it was a "good for construction" drawing. That was truly outstanding. "I have seen you work so assiduously Asad i wanted to help lighten it a little for you" she said for the 2nd time in 2 days. He crushed her to his chest " my tigress" he breathed out with a humongous smile.

The trio was back by 5.00 They recounted their exciting day. Zoya wanted to eat an early dinner as did the rest of lot. They quickly ate up and on Dilshaad suggestion sat with the legs stretched out in the lawn. Zoya joined them and quickly slunk onto her Aapi's lap, she was threading her fingers through Zoya's hair when Asad joined them. "Jeeju... Asad can we do this once a year please...I have never had all those who love -except Najma- in one place before in all my life". Sure said Jeeju as he crawled across the carpet to kiss her cheek. There was not a single dry eye on that lawn when they were all looking at the setting sun throw it's orange hues across the skies.

Asad Ahmad Khan felt pity for Ghaffur Siddiqui that moment. Some people were poor because they had little some poor because they did not recognize the non-materialistic treasure in front of them. At that moment Zoya was worth more than anything in the world to him. He told her that later in bed that night..he discreetly left out the bit about Siddiqui. "Asad" this afternoon I was way out of line I'm sorry" she said " I thought you found me less attractive now because of my stretch marks" she said meowed. "Oh that..."he said ...stripping her "I could do just the same thing that I did last time". Zoya must have been the only pregnant woman on the planet who giggled herself to sleep.

BLISS!! growled Asad Ahmed Khan as he fell on his tummy!