Banner credits - ME! đ
Part 6 - You Owe Me A Dress!
After taking Amrin's dress she really didn't have anything else to do, and she was in no mood to go back to the parlour and play 21 questions about Asad with Amrin. She never really felt like talking about him with anyone. She didn't know the reason behind it, maybe it was because all this while she had willed herself to not think about him. The initial years without him in New York had gone in an insanely slow pace, there wasn't a time when she did not think about him, when she did not miss him, and she was convinced they were going to meet again she had explained to her heart to forget about him. It would only cause her more pain if she thought about him who far beyond her reach. And now after so many years she was going to meet him again and she couldn't be happier. She was excited to meet him, he must've changed so much and she wanted to see him because no matter how much she tried to not think about him, she always ended up thinking the most about him. He was after all her best friend, the only person who knew the real her, the only person who could understand her and probably the only one who would be for her in every situation. Even at the age of five she always felt safe and secure around him, safe from the cruel world that she had been living in.
She smiled to herself, she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the person in front of her who was also busy in his own world and she crashed into him. She fell down on the ground and her leg twisted because of the sudden movement. She clutched her ankle and yelled,
"Allah Miyan what's wrong with you." Her eyes shot up to look at who the blind was but she was surprised that it was none other than Mr Suit-n-tie.
"You?" he asked bewildered.
"Yes Mr suit-n-tie, me! This mall isn't your private property that I can't be here." Zoya said haughtily.
Asad rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. His coffee had spilled all because of that stupid girl. A loud shriek of "Allah Miyan" made him turn back towards her to see what had happened. He saw Zoya looking at the bag which a few minutes back was in her hand but now lay on the ground. He moved his gaze from Zoya's horrified expression to the object of her attention and he felt his own eyes threatening to come out of his sockets. Due to their crash his coffee had fallen on Zoya's bag which contained Amrin's dress for the mehendi function and some of the coffee fell on the dress as well staining it instantly.
He moved towards Zoya on his own accord and looked helplessly at her with an apologetic face.
"Ya Allah what am I going to do now? The dress is ruined. What will Rehaan's mother think of me? That I could not even handle a single dress, how will I even manage the wedding?" Zoya cried. She didn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks, she didn't care about her mascara smudging thus making her look like a raccoon. She had no idea how to break this news to Amrin; she did not want to worry her. Amrin already had a lot on her plate and her wedding jitters would get them nowhere.
She contemplated calling Rehaan but she didn't want to disturb him at work. he already had to miss a lot of his shifts for all the pre-wedding preparations and so much of leave will not be good for him especially when he was just starting in the hospital.
Zoya slumped down near the dress not caring that she was actually sitting on the floor of a mall.
"I'm sorry." Came the soft voice of Asad from behind her. He knelt down and raised her hand to put it on her shoulder to comfort her but he stopped himself. He didn't think comforting a stranger with whom he had only fought every time they met was not a very bright idea.
Zoya didn't bother accusing him or coming up with a sarcastic reply for his sorry', she simply wiped her tears, took the dress and stood up, making her way towards the bridal shop again. Oh, how will she face the saleslady whom she had accosted just a few minutes back? She would have to watch her smirk and the evil way she would say "I'm sorry there is nothing to be done." Oh, boy she was in deep trouble.
Asad was not sure what she was up to and he was surprised at her silence when he was expecting a well-deserved outburst. His eyebrows scrunched in confusion when he saw her gather the dress and walking towards a bridal shop. He saw Najma appearing from ahead and to his surprise he saw her not coming towards him but towards Zoya. How did they know each other?
Zoya saw Najma and gave her a smile that did not reach her eyes as it usually did and Najma there was some problem.
"Hey what happened?"
Zoya simply showed her the dress. Najma was shocked to see a huge brown stain on the blouse and some splatters on the heavy dupatta.
"Najma?" Asad came and stood beside her.
"Bhaijaan!"
"How do you know her?" he asked in a low voice but Zoya heard his question, she chose not to respond to it.
"Oh bhaijaan she helped me in getting the dress exchanged, the saleslady was so mean. Look na bhaijaan her dress is ruined." She replied sadly.
"It's all because of you. Look what happened. Do you have any idea how mad Rehaan's mother will be?" Zoya felt a bit better after the small outburst. Asad didn't retort back. he just let her say which surprised him. He was never the kind of man who took shit from people. He never let anyone talk in an aggressive tone with him but this time he felt guilty and even though he knew he wasn't entirely at fault it was just an accident but he knew Zoya was upset, any bride would be upset at seeing her dress ruined and that is why he decided to keep mum.
"Aw calm down! Why don't you buy a new dress?" Najma suggested.
"You don't understand Najma Rehaan's mother had personally selected this dress. She will feel so bad if I tell her that I had to buy a new one."
"Then why don't you buy a similar one?" Najma said casually as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Asad and Zoya's head whipped at her. She thought about it for a while. It was a possibility but the odds of finding a similar dress was very low, there were other problems she problems she was facing.
"But Najma where will I find the exact same dress? The shop had this only piece with them and I don't even know many showrooms here. Damn if I was in New York I wouldn't even have any problem.
"Is that the only problem? I know a lot of shops that sell heavy bridal wear. My mother is into designing so she knows many showrooms and I know it through her. You might also get some discount if I come with you." Najma said proudly.
"But I don't have enough Indian currency with me and I can't tell anyone, I mean I might tell Rehaan about this but I'm not sure, I'll need some time."
"It's ok I'll pay for the dress." Asad finally spoke.
Zoya looked at him to rebuke him but her words were stuck in her throat when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. He was genuinely concerned for her and he really wanted to help.
"I c-cant."
"It's ok, it's the least I can do. You helped my sister so I think I should help you too, you don't even have to tell anyone anything and trust me a dress won't burn a hole in my bank account. Najma and ammi buy a dozen dresses every day."
He joked to lighten the mood. Najma was shocked. Did her usually cryptic and monosyllabic bhaijaan just joke? She shook her head and turned to look at Zoya.
"Now your problem is solved right? I would've come with you but I have a test tomorrow."
"It's ok I'll take her to the shops, you concentrate on your studies tamatar."
Najma glared at Asad for using the nickname in front of Zoya and Asad bit his tongue.
"Anyway I'll text the address of the shops to bhaijaan and he'll take you there. Now you don't need to worry about anything." Najma smiled and Zoya and walked away.
Zoya sighed and turned to look at Asad.
"So let's go?" he motioned with his hand. Zoya nodded and walked ahead when she remembered that Amrin might be waiting for her at the parlour.
"I need to make a quick call, I'll see you at the parking lot?"
Asad nodded and went outside. Zoya made a lame excuse to Amrin about running an errand for the wedding. Fooling her was never an easy task but Amrin was preoccupied with the waxing torture and thankfully she didn't question much. Taking a deep breath she walked towards the elevator and pressed the button for the parking lot. She hoped she would be able to find the same dress although she felt guilty at cheating like this but such small problems are always created in every wedding and this wouldn't be the first time she was lying while planning a wedding.
XXX
A/N - and I know it's after a long time I'm updating any of my fiction! I'm really sorry and this part is also short (although its 1670 words long) but I've got my one month long vacation in front of me so I have lots of time to update so I'll try to be regular in updating. I was planning to add the dress hunt in this chapter only but then it was going too long and I needed to cut it somewhere. My next update might be of any of my fiction! (most probably of RM or a collab by sand and me).
Leave me some love!
Live long and prosper *Sheldon ishtyle*
Love,
Sadie! đ
PS - check out the new banner! đ
Edited by --starstruck-- - 11 years ago
Shiv Shakti
124