Asad-Zoya One-Shot ~ Choices (Updated Pg.9 :D) - Page 4

All these thoughts were driving Zoya crazy. So she made her way to the terrace to get some air and calm her working-overtime mind. She opened the gift her father had given her and gazed at the stars, the music soothing her nerves. Lost in the music, she failed to notice the single drop of water that escaped her eye and rolled onto her cheek.

oOo

With each step he took her words reverberated in his head Tum yahaan se chali jao aur main Mr. Khan ko kuch nahi bataungi. No, he had not misunderstood her. After all the times he'd done that, he now knew better. And the fact troubling him was that he knew exactly the reason why Zoya had proposed so, why she had decided not to tell him anything. She knew he had been betrayed by his father and how much it hurt him. He closed himself from the world after that. Zoya knew that this news had the potential to break him. But she doesn't know I have a pillar now. A pillar that will never let me break...if I allow her to hold me. But how can I ? What if I hurt her ? He scrunched his eyes tight and massaged his forehead with his hand. I REALLY needed some air.

The door to the terrace was ajar. Frowning, he stepped onto the terrace as feeling of Deja vu welcomed him. Standing near the 4 foot tall wall at the far end of the terrace was the same beauty he had seen in the Mazhaar that day. And in the same condition. A lone tear made its way down her cheek as she stood there calmly gazing at the stars with her father's sole reminder in her hand.

That was when realisation hit Asad Ahmed Khan. And so hard, that he had to take support of the wall behind him to stand up straight. Right from the first day he saw her till this day today, she had had immense pain buried deep in her heart. Pain that flowed through her eyes when she was alone. And yet, all through the day, she'd smile. Wider than anybody else. Always in effort of making everyone else smile as wide too. Never once letting even the slightest shadow of her pain hover over anybody else. And there he was, walking around with anger on his face and punishing everyone else for the pain in his heart.

Asad suddenly felt a bitter tugging at his heart. All the times he'd scolded her, insulted her flashed in front of his eyes. But what pained the most were her tears. Oh what a FOOL I had been ! In a trance, he made his way to her and softly brushed the back of his right hand on her cheek to wipe the tear. He did not like her tears.

Zoya jumped slightly at the sudden touch - must've been in some deep thoughts if she did not notice him. And then she looked at him with those big beautiful innocent eyes of hers. Asad stood there captivated, trying to read the emotions in those eyes, to understand those eyes...and to surrender to those eyes.

oOo

Zoya was looking at the twinkling stars, her state causing her to relate them to life in a very philosophical way when she felt a little warm brush on her cheek. She jumped slightly, surprised. She had been too preoccupied to notice anyone coming.

As she looked up to see the intruder - not that she did not know who it was, she could recognize the touch even in her dreams - their eyes locked. She stared into those deep pools, trying to break through the walls he'd built up. And for the first time since she'd known him, instead of breaking the eye-lock, he broke down the walls in his eyes, giving her direct access to his heart.

The amount of pain, hurt and regret she saw there gave Zoya goosebumps. It was then that she actually thought about how much this man had gone through. An 8 year old boy, hardly aware of the world outside the house, had been deprived of a father and suddenly given the responsibility of his whole family. And the worst part was that he knew it was his father's choice to leave them. Being the sole male member of the family, he had always kept all his problems, his troubles to himself, never letting it affect his family. Who could blame him for being the way he was ? He had never had the chance to express his feelings verbally, so how could one blame him if he was unable to do it now ?

Feeling a strong urge to hug him, Zoya broke the eye-lock and went back to staring at the sky, this time trying to calm her racing heart.

oOo

"Ye taare bhi kitne ajeeb hote hain na Mr. Khan, ek pal mein aise chamaktein hai jaise poore jahaan ko roshan kar denge aur dusre hi pal aise kho jaatein hai jaise kabhi the hi nahi.." he heard her say. They had been silently staring at the night sky for the last 2 minutes, trying to let the awkwardness pass.

"Hote vahin hain, bas theek se dekhne ki zarurat hoti hai Miss Farooqi. Aur agar iss pal na mile, to agle pal phir chamakne wale to hain hi na ?"

He knew she was talking about life. About the fact that she had the been given a choice between her father and her family.

She looked at him, trying to grasp the meaning of his words, wishing they would be true.

"We'll find him Zoya." he said quietly.

He saw hope in her eyes for a fraction of a second before they grew the size of saucers with surprise. "K-kya ?"

"Did you REALLY not notice I never turned up with a glass of water even after like ages ?"

Zoya frowned and put an index finger on her chin, thinking. "Ya Allah ! Ye to maine socha hi nahi ! :O"

"Haan..kyuki sochne ke liye dimag chahiye."

"Mr Khan, aap phirse shuru ho gaye ?! Aap na mujhe Maya Sarabhai ki yaad dilaatein hai - Koi bhi topic se 'Zoya ki buraai' pe kaise aaye ye unhi se seekha hai na ? Kisi bhi baat pe shuru ho jaati thi vo 'Monisha murdabaad' speech mein !"

Meanwhile Asad Ahmed Khan stood there bewildered, with no whatsoever idea what the lady in front of him was so animatedly talking about. He just stood there enjoying the view. The way she moved her hands arround, the was her eyes grew big and small as per the emotion, the way her lips moved.

"I'm sorry."

Zoya froze. "eh ?"

"I'm sorry. There was not one moment that I had done right by you, that I trusted you. Believe me, I do regret it. I'm really sorry."

Zoya remembered the time not-so-long ago when she had asked him to say sorry for the first time. He had refused. And she had changed his phone password to "I am sorry Zoya". Even after a day full of inconvenience and trouble, he had chosen to break the phone rather than apologize to her. And today, even without asking, he said sorry to her. Thrice.

"Sab khairiyat hai na Mr. Khan ?" She blinked innocently, her eyebrows raised.

He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"Haan-haan sorry- I mean it's okay- vo main to bas- "

Seeing her all worried and worked up, a chuckle escaped his mouth. Asad then enjoyed the show of emotions on Zoya's face.

First came shock, followed by confusion when she decided to check if he was real, then came wonder, then slowly realization dawned and he saw a spark in her eye before she exploded, "HAAAWWW !! SO MEAN !! Aap- aap bohot bure ho Mr. Khan ! Bohot bure ! Mujhe aapse KOI baat nahi karni ! Hunh !" she turned away from him.

Asad smiled at the adorable woman standing in front of him. He held her by the shoulders and turned her toward him. She looked away, still pouting. Asad let his hands slide down her arms until they reached her palms. Meanwhile, he bent on his knees too.

oOo

"Arre, vo terrace pe hongi, main abhi aapki unse baat karvati hoon" Najma told Zoya's jeeju, rushing up the stairs to the terrace. Najma had borrowed Zoya's iPad and was playing games on it when suddenly Zoya's jeeju called.

The door was open, so she stepped onto the terrace without a sound, with the iPad in hand. The sight that greeted Najma and Anwar had them both speechless. Asad was on his knees, both of Zoya's hands in his. Anwar instantly took a screenshot and put the Skype video chat on record mode.

"Miss Zoya Farooqi, kya aap ko mujhse ye nikaah, haqeekat mein Qubool Hai ?" he asked, so earnestly that not only Zoya, but even Najma felt a shiver run down her spine. Najma's eyes filled up, but she couldn't help but smile as she saw the ever impatient Zoya plop down and hug her bhaijaan screaming "OBVIOUSLY!!". Pagli ! Unke khade hone ka bhi intezaar nahi kar sakti ! Najma quietly left understanding their need of privacy and excitedly asked Anwar to come with his wife ASAP. She then rushed to Dilshad's room to give her the good news.

Nobody mentioned anything about it till the after the weeding, when the family showed the newly-weds the whole video and gave them a big photo-frame where Zoya was practically on top of Asad after the proposal. That day, no one could decide who was more shy and embarrassed - Zoya or Asad ! 😆