OS: Problem, Mr Khan? (last part pg 37) - Page 26

Zoya buried her face in the pillow in order to block out the knocking on her door.

"Mona?" Ayaan called again, getting frustrated by her lack of response. He'd just done her a favour she should be worshipping him for, and there she was, hiding away in her room. "Mona, open up! I know you're not sleeping. Open the door or I'm going to break it." "Zoya Farooqui!" he shouted, when he still didn't get an answer "open this door right now, or you shall pay for your childishness!"

He was seriously considering breaking the godamned door, when Zoya opened it.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"Are you serious? Mona, bhaijaan just told you he loved you, and you're asking me what I want?! Here, let me quote a familiar line- 'Allah miyaan, what's wrong with you, Zoya?'. Mona, you should've been running into his arms the moment he confessed. But no, you both ran away! Allah! How can you guys be so aggressive during a fight and such top-class wimps during a romantic situation?!"

Zoya flopped back on her bed and put her head in her hands. "Please" she groaned "don't add to my confusion. I'm already at a loss. What do I do, now? How do I face him?"

Ayaan went and sat down beside her, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Mona, do you love him?"

"I don't know' is it love? Or is just a simple infatuation? Is he an important part of my life? Undoubtedly, yes. is he the one I always think about, when I'm in any sort of a mess? Of course. Do I trust him? Absolutely! Do I love him?..." Zoya closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Think, Mona. Listen to your heart. How do you feel about him? Do you feel him around you before you see him?"

"Yes"

"Do you miss him when you're not with him?"

"Yes"

"Does your heart skip several beats whenever you see him?"

"Yes"

"Do you feel like you'd rather die a thousand deaths than watch him go through even the tiniest amount of pain?"

"Yes"

"Do you love him?"

"Yes" Zoya opened her eyes and looked at Ayaan. "Yes, Ayaan. I love him" she said, with tears in her eyes and a jubiliant smile on her face. It was true. She did love him. She loved him so much that it actually surprised her. Yes, she was crazy about her 'Jahapanah', as she liked to call him, she drooled over his body and swore by his six-packs. She irritated him by breaking into her silly shayaris and loved it when he actually fought to control his smile over a few of them, just for the sake of his ego. They fought over the stupidest of things, shared each others' happiness and were pillars of support for each other during the rough phases of life. And that's why she loved him. So strong was their bond, that they would always stand by each other, no matter what happened.

"I should tell him, right?" she asked Ayaan excitedly. He nodded. "Then I'll tell him! I'm going to his office right now! I'll tell him just how much he means to me!" she squealed, and jumped up from the bed. Ayaan pulled her back down.

"Not now, Mona. Bhaijaan is in a meeting, right now. I called up to check on him, before coming here. Talk to him when he gets back home, tonight, okay?"

******

Asad reluctantly parked his car in the garage and got out. He had delayed coming back home for as long as he could. But he knew Ammi would get worried and so would Zoya. But he just didn't know how to face her. What if she rejected him? What if she laughed at him? What would he do? He wished he'd kept his mouth shut during lunch, then none of this would've happened! He made his way to the front door, silently praying that he didn't have to face her, just then. He knew he couldn't avoid her forever and no, he didn't regret confessing his love for her, but right now? He knew it would be super awkward. So this wasn't the time for any sort of confrontation. Thankfully, his prayers were answered when it was Najma who opened the door.

"Bhaijaan! You're late! Ammi was so worried!" she cried as she let him in and took his bag.

"I know, tamatar. I had some important work to complete"

"Would you like something to drink? A cup of coffee, maybe?"

"Yes, I'd love-" he stopped mid sentence as Zoya emerged from her room, headphones in, swaying merrily to whatever song she was listening to, the rest of the world forgotten. Asad hoped he could make it to his room before she saw him. "N-no, tamatar, I'm fine. I think I'll just go and freshen up and then join you for dinner, okay?" he said and hurried forward, eager to disappear from there before Zoya turned around. But alas! Luck was hardly ever on his side, when it came to Zoya. She saw him just as he was about to enter his room.

"Mr. Khan!" she called. He stopped, but didn't turn around.

"What?"

"Where were you? Phuphi was getting really worried. You should have at least informed her!"

"Yeah, I forgot. Look, Miss Farooqui, I'm tired. I need a bath. I'll talk to you later". With that, he shut the door to his room. Zoya looked at Najma dejectedly.

"See, tamatar? He's avoiding me like plague, now. How am I ever going to talk to him?"

"Relax, Zoya" Najma said, coming over and hugging her. "Give him some time. He'll snap out of it".

Zoya wasn't convinced. If Mr. Khan wasn't going to talk to her the normal way, then it was time for her 'flexible' brain to step in. she'd made wonderful plans in the past, and she was going to make one now.

Dinner passed rather uneventfully, with Zoya completely ignoring Asad's presence, while Dilshad and Najma looked on worriedly. But, they decided not to say anything. Once, Asad thought she was going to bring up the topic, when Dilshad asked her something about compatibility between two people, but she didn't. He was both grateful and irritated at Zoya for ignoring him. Grateful, because he didn't want to talk to her and irritated, because he wanted to talk to her. Damn. There was a f**king tug-of-war going on inside his head, and he could do nothing about it.

******

Zoya waited till everyone had gone to sleep and decided to put her plan into action. She sneaked out into the garden area adjoining Asad's room, through one of the hall doors, and made her way to his window. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Asad had locked it from inside.

"Damn!" she muttered "Mr. Khan is such a- oh I know!" she squealed and clasped her hand over her mouth, fearing the sleeping lion had heard her. She peeped in to check and found him peacefully snoring away.

"Allah miyaan! What kind of a man is he? He should be spending sleepless nights after confessing like that, today, and look at him! Ye toh ghode bech ke so rahe hain!"

Ruling out the possibility of entering his room through the window, Zoya scoured further back towards the part of the house where all the pipes and wires were fixed. Her eyes searched the walls of the house till they found what they were looking for.

"Allah miyaan! That's quite a height. I think I should put off talking to him till tomorrow morning" she mused and then immediately slapped herself mentally, for her treacherous thoughts. "No, never! I'll talk to him today and I'll talk to him now! No matter what it costs, I have to get into Jahapanah's room". With that, she caught her torch in her mouth, and began climbing.

"Thank you, Allah miyaan, for not breaking any of my bones" she prayed silently, once she was inside his room. Discarding her torch on the nearby table, she tiptoed over to where Asad was sleeping and poked him in the arm.

"Mr. Khan?" she whispered loudly "Mr. Khan, wake up!" Asad merely grunted and turned over, now facing her, as he slept on. Zoya rolled her eyes. The man who usually woke up because the leaves outside his window were rustling too loudly, was sleeping like a baby today. Where was the justice in this world?

"Mr. Khan! Wake up, you lazy oaf!" she cried, as softly as she could manage and shook him hard. Asad's eyes flew open and he reached out and grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip and flipped her on to the bed. He pinned her wrists above her head, with one hand and switched on his bedside lamp with the other. His eyes nearly dropped out of their sockets when he saw who it was.

"Zoya?" he choked out "how the hell did you get in here? I though I'd closed the window!"

"Yes, you did, Mr. Khan. It was very smart of you. But, you see, I'm smarter. You forgot to block your bathroom ventilator. You should have sealed that up too, then I most certainly would not have been able to enter your room" she replied, sounding extremely pleased with herself.

"Ya Allah! What's wrong with you? Couldn't you wait until tomorrow morning? Why did you have to sneak in like that?"

"Yes, I'd love to tell you that, provided you let the blood flow through my wrists again, Mr. Khan" she said pointedly. Asad suddenly realized the position they were in. Zoya lying under him, their bodies pressed together, while he held her hands above her head. Her chest heaved slightly as she spoke, sending all sorts of sinful thoughts through his mind. He let go of her immediately, and sat up. Zoya did the same.

"Why are you avoiding me, Mr. Khan?" she asked him.

"I- no. I'm not avoiding you"

"Yeah, of course you're not. Did you know Britney Spears stays in my house whenever she comes to New York? We're best friends. We have pyjama parties too". Asad rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Khan, please. I want to talk to you. Please don't avoid me. Remember what you'd promised me yesterday? That you'd never push me away, again and would talk to me instead of running away". Asad sighed. He didn't know what to do.

"Fine, we'll talk" he told her, running a hand through his hair.

"Do you regret what you did, this morning?"

"God, Zoya! Can you just not jump to it, directly?"

"Oh, you want to slowly approach the issue. Okay, fine, have it your way. So, how was work today, Mr. Khan?" Asad gave her a 'that isn't helping either' look and stood up. He walked over to his window an opened it, letting the cool night air refresh him. After some time, Zoya came and stood beside him.

"I don't regret it, Zoya" he told her softly, without looking at her. He closed his eyes one last time before he revealed his heart to her. "I meant what I said. I do love you. I-"

"Shh" Zoya silenced him, placing her finger on his lips. "You don't need to say anything else. You know, I know why you were avoiding me. You thought I was going to reject you or make fun of you for confessing, didn't you? You were scared that maybe I didn't feel the same way about you. So you avoided my calls, came home late and ran off to your room as soon as you returned. You know what, Mr. Khan, you should never get any ideas before you know the whole story. But, that is exactly the kind of thing you always do, isn't it?" she said and ignored him when he glared at her. " didn't it ever strike you that maybe all your fears were in vain? That maybe, all your efforts of trying to hide your feelings from me were completely unnecessary?"

"What- what do you mean, Zoya? And how did you know what I was thinking?" Asad breathed, hardly able to believe what he was hearing.

"I can read you better than you think. And I mean that I love you too, Mr. Khan. I love you more than anything else in the world". Asad stared at her for a moment, and then simply pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. He clung to her, never wanting to let her go and wishing this moment would never end.

"What did you think, Mr. Khan? That all I did was simply drool over you and those heavenly six packs of yours?" Zoya said, while in his arms. She pulled back to look at him. "No, Mr. Khan. That's just the physical aspect of things. It has always been much, much more than that. No matter how much we've fought and disagreed, you've always been there for me, holding me, supporting me, when I needed you the most. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have even been alive, Mr. Khan. You have no idea how much you mean to me. I love you, Asad. And I'll never stop loving you for the rest of my life".

"Say it again" Asad whispered, mesmerized by how beautiful she made his name sound.

"I love you"

"No, my name. Say my name again"

"Asad"

Asad stepped closer and ran his fingers down the side of her face. Zoya took a step back, while he took another towards her. "Again"

"Asad" she said, backing up against the wall, her heart ready to leap out of her chest, any moment, now. His fingers traveled down her face and stopped at the side of her neck, where he now placed his hand.

"Again" he whispered, leaning in, his face only a few centimeters away from her own. His breath fanned her face and a pulse throbbed at the base of her throat, which he traced with his thumb.

"As-asad" she managed to say, closing her eyes in anticipation as his thumb continued making hypnotic patters on her skin. She felt his other hand come to rest on her cheek and complied as he tilted her head back. Slowly, very slowly, Asad captured her lips in his own, determined to etch this moment in his memory, forever.

Zoya's heart stopped, skipped a beat and then took off at an alarming rate as her body drowned in a whirlpool of sensations. She opened her mouth to grant him access, as he deepened the kiss, her hands tightening around his neck. No words were needed as their souls connected, telling each other all they had wanted to say, for days. They kissed till they could no longer deny the need of oxygen to their bodies. They both broke the kiss together, chests heaving, eyes burning and a thousand emotions running through them. Asad gently leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers.

"I love you, Zoya. And I promise that I'll never let you go. You are my life, now. I promise to keep you happy, forever and I'll never make you cry. I don't know what my life would be, if you weren't in it".

"Asad?"

"Hmm?"

"That was quite cliched, you know. And the part about you never making me cry, I don't believe it. You always make me cry". Asad's head snapped up as he looked at her disbelievingly.

"What!? I make you cry?" Zoya just looked at him and shrugged nonchalantly. Asad gave her his signature eye-roll.

"Okay, fine. I know, it's my fault, most of the time, but from now onwards, I'll try not to make you cry too much".

"Try? Do you hear yourself, Mr. Khan? You should be swearing on your life, not to misunderstand me, ever again!"

"Stop calling me 'Mr. Khan'!"

"Start concentrating on what I'm trying to tell you, here!" Zoya cried and snapped her fingers in front of him.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Do you ever see me complaining about your OCD? No, right? Then? You know what?- Forget it. I'm leaving. You're impossible!"

"Hey, what did I do?"

"Goodnight, Asad" she said, disentangling herself from him and making her way towards the door. They'd actually had this whole argument wrapped up in each other's arms, she noticed. She threw his door open and stormed out, not even sparing him a backward glance.

Asad watched her go with an expression of mild frustration, and then suddenly chuckled.

"Some things never change" he said, smiling to himself as he closed the door, mentally making a note to check out the damage Zoya had caused to his ventilator, in the morning.

AND THEN THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER! 😆😆😆 this was the end, guys.. pakka waala! so, did you like it??? theek tha? thanda tha? please tell me what you thought about it! i LOOVVEEE reading all your comments! you guys are too sweet! 🤗

now for the most important part. this chapter is dedicated to sucker4arhiluv coz its her BIRTHDAY today!!! happy birthday, dear!! many many happy returns of the day! may all your wishes come true!! have a blast!!!! 🤗

And now... banner credits- x_Mishti_x: I LOVE YOU, GURL!!!!!! this banner is AMAZING!!!!!! you are the BEST!!!!!

And for those who loved the last two parts of the story, i'm not the one you should be thanking! we all owe it to the two most lovely ladies in the world- JAZMEEN and LuvUAsYa!!! They were the reason behind the story lasting two more parts! i LOVE you girls!!!! ❤️

And lastly, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH TO ALL THOSE WHO READ MY STORY!!!!! you guys are lovely, lovely people!!!!!! stay blessed and i can never thank you enough! i don't know when i'll write next, coz my exams are just around the corner... but whenever i do, I'M GOING TO SEND IT TO ALL OF YOU, whether you like it or not!!! 😆😆😆

till then, *LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!!!!*- Spock style! 😉😉

Lots and Lots of love,

Peppy ❤️