AsYa OS: Missing Me

Hello Everyone, 🤗

Look who's back!! Me!!! *looks her and there to see smiling faces but gets only murderous glares* 😆

Back with an OS! And before you all start protesting, Destinies Intertwined will also be updated shortly. I know I know, I'm the best 🤣

I originally wrote this as an Arhi OS but turned it into an Asya one with a little changes here and there.

WARNING: It's a bit sad!! Ummm' quite a bit on second thoughts. So all those people who don't like sad stuff please stay away! I don't want you guys reading it and then bashing me for killing off Zoya. Though I tried to make the ending a bit heart-warming' 😃

NOTE: My work belongs to me and is not to be posted anywhere without my permission! This OS has already been plagiarized once on facebook and I don't want it happening again!!

Happy Reading 😛

ASYA OS: MISSING ME

He sat alone on a bench at a local park, close to tears, physically surrounded by people and children but mentally he couldn't have been more alone. Pain, his only companion, clenched his heart painfully making his breaths turn to gasps for air.

It was his Zoya's Death Anniversary today and the waves of pain that only lapped at him on normal days were rearing high up, threatening to wash over his head and pull him under.

How could his Zoya have left him so easily? Didn't she know he wouldn't be able to live without her? Breathe without her? He doubled over and tried to breathe without lungs but no matter how much he tried gulping air, it just wasn't enough and his breathing got more ragged as his head started spinning.

This past year had made him realize that the pain of loosing her was never going to subside. He just wished that he'll somehow learn to live with it.

He looked towards the overcast sky and for a second, thought it would've been better if he never knew her at all. At least he would've been spared of this excruciating pain but he discarded that thought almost immediately. If he hadn't known her, how would he have all those memories that he treasured in his heart so preciously?

Another tear managed to escape the confine of his eyes and trickle down his stubbled cheek as his mind went back to their first meeting.

*Flashback*

Asad was busy doing his math homework when a sharp and insistent knocking on the front door broke into his concentration, making him groan out loud. He hated being disturbed while studying. Snapping his notebook shut, he trudged towards the front door with a frown plastered firmly on his young handsome face.

"Asad, make sure you ask who it is before opening the door." Dilshad called out from the kitchen.

"I know, Ammi. You don't have to tell me this every time." He replied, rolling his eyes heavenwards.

On reaching the huge front oak doors, he asked in a loud grumpy voice, "Who's there?"

"Me!" Came back the cheeky reply of what sounded like a very young girl.

"What do you mean by 'Me'? Don't you have a name?" He snapped back, annoyed at her silliness.

"Oh Asad, it must be the little girl from next door! They just shifted to this neighborhood." Dilshad came hurrying forward to unlock the door herself.

A young girl of about 7 or 8 with beautiful brown eyes and her hair done in a pony tail which swished on her shoulders with each step let herself in, grinning from ear to ear, carrying a box in her hands.

"Aunty, my Ammi has sent you some Gulaab Jaamuns." She said in a cheerful voice, offering the box to Asad's mother who took it with an affectionate smile.

"You make Gulaab Jaamuns at home?" Dilshad asked.

"Oh yes!" the little girl chirped. "You know Aunty, my Ammi is the best cook in the world and she can make everything in this universe!" She beamed proudly, hand gestures supporting her every sentence.

Asad looked at the young girl annoyed by her cheerfulness. What was so terribly exciting about visiting your neighbors with a box of home-made Gulaab Jaamuns? And he was sure no matter how good a cook this girl's mother was, she couldn't beat his Ammi. No one could.

"I'm sure she can. Your name's Zoya, right?" Dilshad asked the little girl affectionately who bobbed her head in affirmation.

"So your name isn't 'Me'?" Asad asked her a little sarcastically, folding his arms over his chest and to his surprise, she giggled, shaking her head in negative.

"Okay Aunty, I should get going now. I'll see you later." She said, waving at them both before turning on her heels and running away.

"Such a sweet child," His mother said to herself, smiling fondly.

"Such an annoying child," Asad corrected her under his breath.

***

Asad was passing the Farooqi house on his way back from school on foot when he heard shrieks and squeals of laughter coming from inside the Farooqi household and a moment later, their front door banged out as two girls rushed out. He instantly recognized the little one, Zoya, who was drenched from head to toe and was now chasing the older one with a bottle of water in her hand.

He saw the older girl running his way and was about to move aside, when without warning, SPLASH!!

Zoya emptied the entire bottle on him, soaking him to the bone.

He glared at the young girl whose eyes turned to saucers while her mouth formed a perfect circle on seeing what she had done. Without uttering a word, she turned and ran back inside her house, making a soft smile adorn Asad's face at her childish antics.

***

Next morning, Asad was just getting out of his house to leave for school when Zoya came running towards his house clad in her uniform and with a meaningful look directed at him, dropped a piece of paper in his hardly-ever-used letterbox and ran away. He hadn't seen her since the water incident. Curiously, he retrieved the folded paper and read.

I'm very sorry for throwing water on you yesterday. I didn't mean to; that water was actually meant for my Zeenat Aapi. I'm sorry! I would've apologized to you straight away but you looked like you were going to eat me if I stayed there any longer so I ran away. Hope you aren't mad at me anymore.
Love,

Me!

He stared at how she had signed her little note with 'Me' instead of her name, with a carefully drawn winking smiley next to it and felt his lips curving up in a smile.

He looked up and saw her watching him from behind a hedge and had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from laughing out loud.

Quickly fishing a pen out of his bag, he turned the note around and scribbled his reply on the backside before going over to her house to drop it in her letterbox. It read:

Dear Me,
I'm not angry at you at all. I'm Asad by the way and I don't eat people no matter how angry I get!

This was the start of their friendship.

A friendship that flourished with every passing day. Over the upcoming years, hundreds of notes were exchanged as they slowly got over their awkwardness and became best pen pals telling each other, every thing.

Even when Zoya's parents passed away and she moved in with Zeenat Aapi in New York, their contact remained. Exchanging E-mails containing every significant little detail of their daily life were now a regular part in their lives.

Their phone conversation would always start with Zoya chirping, "Hello Asad, it's Me", making him laugh wholeheartedly. He had even saved her number in his cell phone under the name, Me.

None of them even realized when their friendship changed into love and the next time Zoya came to India, Asad had gotten down on his knees with a diamond ring and proposed to this girl who had become as integral a part of his life as breathing. Zoya had been too overwhelmed to speak and nodding a Yes with tears streaming down her cheeks, she had jumped on him for a hug whispering joyously, "I love you Asad! I love you so very much!"

"Love you more!" Asad whispered while engulfing her in his arms tightly, feeling like the happiest man alive.

"No, I love you more!" She pulled back, trying to make a mock angry face but not quite succeeding because her dimples refused to go anywhere at the moment.

"I love you more than anything in this world, Zoya!" Asad's eyes turned a little intense, despite the smile on his lips.

"And I love you more than anything in this universe, Asad!" She sang.

"I love you more than life itself."

"So do I, Asad! You know, we can keep bickering about this till we're both gray-haired and wrinkled, but I'm not going to back off on this one." Zoya's dimples dug deeper as she rested her head on his chest blissfully.

"Neither am I, but I love you more and that's final! BAS!! It's not open to arguments!"

"You're so unfair!" Zoya pretended to pout while her eyes sparkled with the intense happiness of the moment that filled her heart and overwhelmed her being.

"Well, that's the way I am. Take it or leave it."

"I think I'll take it! It's not like I have much choice!" Zoya pouted adorably before laughing loudly and jumping on him for a hug once again.

Before they knew it, they were blissfully married.

*End of Flashback*

The tinkling sound of her laughter echoed in his ears once again as he put his hand inside his pocket pulling a neatly folded piece of paper out. The heavily creased paper looked like it had been opened and folded countless time. He read the text for what felt like the thousandth time. A last note from Zoya left on their refrigerator...

Going out with Maryam for shopping. Will be back soon
Love you!
Me

She was lying. She didn't come back soon. She left him for good. Left him with an unbearable pain that slowly ate him from within.

He wondered for the billionth time how wonderful life would've been if she hadn't had that fatal accident on her way back home.

He didn't realize when it had started raining. The cold rain dripped through his hair and trickled across his cheeks like freshwater tears. It helped to clear his mind a little.

A big beach ball bounced his way and he caught it without thinking. He saw a little girl with her hair in a pony tail making her way towards him.

"Can I have my ball back please?" She asked him sweetly with a shy smile. He noticed her deep set of dimples at once.

"Sure." He managed to croak out, handing the ball back to her.

"Why are you sitting here in the rain all alone?" She asked, tilting her head adorably.

"Because' I don't have anyone to sit with me." He told her hoarsely, trying to swallow the painful lump, clogging his throat.

"Oh!" She seemed confused at his answer. "Do you want to play with me and my friends?" She asked him cheerfully.

"No, I should be getting home. My mother and sister will be worried. You should go home too. It's almost dark."

"Do you know where I live?" She asked him, wide eyed.

"No!" He replied, smiling a little at her innocence. For some reason, this little girl reminded him so much of Zoya. Or maybe it just seemed that way because he was missing her so terribly today.

"Good! You shouldn't because you're a stranger." She told him, nodding wisely making him smile.

"You know, you should smile more often. It makes you look nice, less akdu!" She giggled to herself, unaware of the look of bewilderment that crossed his face. This girl was reminding him more and more of Zoya every passing second.

"What's your name?" She inquired suddenly.

"Asad. What's yours?" He asked, getting up.

"I can't tell you. You're a stranger, remember?" She replied.

Asad laughed out loud without realizing. "What can I call you then?"

"Umm... You can call me what my bestfriend calls me! ME!!" She shouted happily, skipping away with the ball, her swishing pony tail reminding him of another girl from all those years ago.

He stared open-mouthed at her retreating figure and felt a warm feeling fill his entire being and at that moment, he knew his Zoya had never left him completely'

*THE END