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Honeymoon Troubles
'Mr. Khan,' Zoya whined. 'What is this?'
Asad looked up from his laptop. The look on his face might make one think that he is somebody who has been disturbed at a very important meeting by his wife. Except that he was not in the middle of a conference. He was in Goa, enjoying his honeymoon. Or rather not enjoying it.
One would have thought that after a broken nikaah, a spineless father, an evil ex-best friend and a step-aunt from hell, Asad Ahmed Khan and Zoya Farooqui would have learnt to appreciate their love. Far from it. Even after umpteen kidnapping attempts, evil henchmen who refused to leave their trail, and loads of family drama, they seemed as seemingly uncompatible as ever. Fire and ice, sun and the moon, earth and the sky.
Zoya had, inspite of Asad's disapproval, put on an red sarong, coupled with a red camisole. She had hoped that the stares of passers-by would put Asad into 'Jealous Protective Husband' mode and make him give her the passion she had been craving for ever since they had arrived. Unfortunately, after a five minute lecture on public exposure, Asad seemed to have given up and gone back to communicating with a foreign client through Skype.
Zoya had then decided to dance to 'Hawa Hawaai' in the hopes that perhaps a sultry beach seductress look would make Asad wake up to the fact that he was married and thus, shared conjugal rights with her. Nope. He'd just rolled his eyes and continued typing some stupid e-mail, even though the Skype conversation was over and he could now devote time to her.
Zoya looked at the sea enviously. Not only were the crashing waves reminding her of her hormonal cycles that had been raging ever since she'd first spotted Asad's six packs, she could also see Ayaan and Humeira frolicking in them. Asad had insisted on bringing them along, as he was more interested in the concept of 'family holiday' then 'red hot honeymoon'. Ayaan had not let that discourage him however. He and Humeira swum back to the beach in perfect sync. At first Humeira had been scared that she would drown, but Ayaan had assured her that he would save her(Zoya doubted whether he actually knew swimming though). Humeira had also been self-conscious about the other men on the beach, so Asad being Jahapanah Moneybags Six-packs had requested for a private area. Ayaan and Humeira were now clearly having the time of their lives.
If there was anybody who felt like they were stuck in Jaws, it was Zoya.
'Zoya, are you going to tell me what the problem is?' he asked.
'Nevermind,' she said angrily, 'I'm going back to the bungalow'. Asad had rented a beautiful 1960's style villa facing the sea. It had a small garden and a swing on the porch. Zoya had made many plans for candlelight dinners and sitting on the porch and looking at the sea together, but now they had all turned to nothing more than the fine grains of sand she was walking upon.
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By the time Asad returned, it was nighttime and a big swarm of insects had rushed into Zoya's bedroom from the garden. She was curled up underneath the blanket, irritably muttering certain incoherent words underneath her breath.
'What is this Ms. Farooqui? I told you to close the windows after the sun sets-'
'My name is Mrs. Khan!!' she yelled. 'Maybe you've come to the wrong villa!" "Oh", she added on further thought, 'and I may be a terrorist, but I'm not a boring, stuck up person like you are!!'
Asad flinched. Even though he'd courted Zoya for over a year now, he still hadn't lost the habit of calling her Ms. Farooqui. He couldn't help it. For some reason it helped to lessen his terror about the fact that she was his wife. Even though his Ammi and Tamatar had given him pep talks before the nikaah, even though Zoya herself had assured him that she was okay with it, his old fear had still not vanished. He had married her, but would he be a good husband? He still shared a strained relationship with Rashid.
Whenever he called Zoya by her maiden name, he was able to fool himself into thinking that she was the same irresponsible, childish Ms. Farooqui whom he'd always wanted out of his house, except that now he would only let her leave over his dead body. She was just a guest, not his responsibility. If he hurt her, she had the choice to walk away instead of staying with him and suffering due to nature.
'Ms. Farooqui, don't be dramatic,' he said, trying not to show how guilty he was feeling. However Zoya knew him too well by now, and she also knew the best way to pull his strings. "I thought that all that stuff you said about not treating me properly after marriage...it was just a stupid insecurity on your part. But now I know it was true!'
Zoya regretted the words as soon as she had spoken them. Asad was mad. She'd seen him angry earlier, but this was different. This wasn't the stupid fake frustration he used to make up to get over his feelings for her, or blame for something she'd done to his Ammi. Nope, the lion was directly challenging her. Well, she was Zoya Farooqui, and she wasn't scared of anybody! Fine, those steely eyes were freaking her out a little bit, but she wouldn't let them dampen her resolve!
She swallowed the lump in her throat, lifted her head higher and stared directly into his eyes. It was as if there had been something dislodged in Asad's heart all along, and it finally snapped. He lounged at her with a growl. She was far from frightened though. It took all her might not to giggle at his cat-like antics, as he tackled her to the bed.
After all, was there anything in the world Zoya Farooqui couldn't do?
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Zoya never even realized when she'd fallen asleep. However, she woke up as soon as she sensed Asad's absence beside her. It was as if some essential part of herself had gone missing.
She pulled on her night-robe and stumbled outside, still exhausted from last night's shenanigans. Asad was thankfully sitting on the porch and counting the stars, his favourite hobby.
'What happened??' she asked, bleary-eyed.
"I was scared Ms. Farooqui," he said, looking at her.
"I was too, but the amount of time you made me wait I really couldn't care less by last night."
"I was just thinking...was I-am I good enough for you Ms. Farooqui?" he asked delicately.
"Good enough in what sense?" she frowned. "Aaah..." she said naughtily, "that way. Allah Miyan Mr. Khan you know wives don't discuss such things,' she said coyly, her eyelashes fluttering.
"Oh please Ms. Farooqui," he snorted.
"Mrs. Asad Ahmed Khan please," she said firmly, drawing herself up to her full height and giving him a steely-eyed look not unlike the one he'd given her earlier, even though she'd spent a very little part of the night sleeping. "We have consummated our marriage. At least now give me my due!'
"Very well then," he said, a wicked grin of his own slowly spreading on his face. "Shall we go inside Mrs. Asad Ahmed Khan?"
"Please...I thought you would never ask. You still have so much left to do..."
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The end😉
This was a random OS inspired partly by Honeymoon Travels the movie and partly by ZNMD. Anyway hope you liked it!😳
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Itti Si Khushi Sab TV
