Hey guys, I have VERY BIG THANK YOU to say to all of you...
Because of all your support, this SS was the SS of this week. So thank you SO SO SO much.
Another thing, I won't separate Asya... so don't worry :) and they will get married. I won't promise that the problems won't arise before the wedding. They will, but the wedding will also happen :) ... Just keep reading, i'm sure you will not be disappointed.
Part 9
Asad arrived by the riverside where he was supposed to meet Ayaan. He wondered what could have been so urgent. He hoped there was no trouble. Ayaan on the other hand was very tensed ... this matter wasn't about Zoya anymore. The thing he found out could ruin everybody's lives. He had proof, but it wasn't convincing enough for him to share it. Ayaan knew how much Asad loved Zoya ... had he not seen them last night, he might have told his bhaijaan. But now, he was not sure whether telling his bhaijaan would be the right thing to do.
He knew that his bhaijaan was a one-woman-man and if he found out he would be shattered, angry, upset and what not, and although he wouldn't stop loving Zoya ...he may indirectly hurt her. Ayaan had to be wise with his words.
"Asalam Walekum Bhaijaan"
"Walekum asalam Ayaan! why did you call me here so urgently? Is everything ok?"
"Bhaijaan, do you remember that photo of Zoya's abu you had sent me?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Well my friend had seen it, and his father had the same photo... but of course he wasn't the man you told me was Zoya's abu. He met her abu though, but very briefly... they had mutual friends. Anyways so the point is that his copy of the photo at home got destroyed so he was wondering if he could borrow the one you had, so that he could make a new one"
Ayaan was lying through his teeth. Such white lies! He was extremely anxious since his bhaijaan was one of those people who could read through him. But today luck favoured him, Asad was stressed with the wedding preparations so he was beyond noticing the disturbance in Ayaan's eyes. Ayaan was thankful, he couldn't hurt his bhaijaan for this.
"Ayaan, are you serious? You called me for this?" At first Ayaan thought that he got caught. Luckily, he wasn't.
"Yea, and I wanted to meet you. Wanted to see how you were doing with the wedding coming by so quick. Are you having cold feet?"
"Ayaan, you are a nautanki! I'm doing fine. I'm glad I could meet you. And no I'm not having cold feet." Asad rolled his eyes at him.
"About the photo, I have it scanned and saved on an email. I can forward it to you now and you can pass it on to your friend. Is that ok?" Asad tried to avoid the topic of how mushy he felt about the wedding. Little did he know the topic he was bringing back was actually what Ayaan had been wanting to know.
"That's perfect. Waise bhaijaan, you did find out about Zoya's abu right?"
"Yea, he's no more..." How is that possible thought Ayaan, could someone be behind this? He would try to gather more proofs. If it matched, there would be a lot more things hidden. If it didn't, then he probably got it all wrong.
"And what about her ammi?"
"Her ammi died in a fire mishap" Asad just blurted out, not realizing what he said. He was a man of few words and well-thought words. But his comfort level with Ayaan occasionally allowed him to blurt such things out.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you that, I'm sorry. Ayaan please keep this to yourself because Zoya doesn't know about it" These were the information that Ayaan was looking for. But if Zoya didn't know this... how did Asad?
"How do you know this?"
"Well, yesterday I took her for a date. It was meant to be candle-lit. When I was planning it in the afternoon her Api heard me. She came in and -"
Asad went on explaining the situation.
x-x-x flashback x-x-x
"Asad, may I have a few words with you?" Zeenat said after she knocked and walked into his room.
"Yes, Aapi..."
"I know a candle-lit dinner sounds amazing, but could you please make sure the candles are the fake, electrically lit ones. Zoya has a phobia of fire." This reminded Asad of the night in the balcony when she had explained her nightmares and her phobia...
"Aapi, do you know why she has the phobia?" At that point Asad didn't know about her scars either, had he known he wouldn't have asked.
"Asad, I can tell you the truth because you are going to be the closest one to Zoya after the nikaah. But even she doesn't know, rather doesn't remember this. So, if I tell you, it's up to you whether you want to tell her or not." This startled Asad ... how could she not remember, and what happened?
"Asad, her mom passed away due to a fire mishap, when Zoya was three. She saw it with her own eyes. After that she was sent to an orphanage where we adopted her from, she was in the state of shock for months! She barely spoke and when she started...all she would say is 'ammi ko bachao'. Slowly as time went by, she became normal and had forgotten everything that happened. But her subconscious mind reminds her time and again. She gets terrifying nightmares and her phobia of fire is also a prominent side-effect of this incident"
Asad had tears streaming down his eyes, he would never tell Zoya about this ... he didn't want to see her through the trauma again. He never wanted to see her hurt in any form. Aapi decided to not tell him about the scars... that was something Zoya could tell him. After all, these were the things that would make their relationship stronger.
x-x-x end of flashback x-x-x
Asad didn't tell Ayaan about her scars or anything that was not relevant. He told him about the fire mishap, the orphange and Zoya's phobia of fire.
"But Ayaan keep in mind that I don't want Zoya to be reminded of it, because at this point it has no significance. It will get her nowhere"
"But what if after knowing this truth she could trace her abu"
"If she could have, may be it would be worth it... but her abu is dead, remember?"
"Yaa, anyways I got the email bhaijaan. I think we should get going." Asad agreed and they hugged.
Asad thought that was a very strange conversation to have, it was so irrelevant and wondered why he said that. May be he needed to confide in somebody ...and who was better than Ayaan. Besides, after his engagement it seems as though he's matured in an instant. It was easier to relate to him, but Asad also missed the mischievous Ayaan.
Ayaan got all the information he needed, and he did it in a way that Asad had no reason to be suspicious. He rushed to a photo lab to get two copies of the photo. It only took five minutes. But what was he going to do with these photos. Razia wouldn't be an option, Ayaan already knew how shrewd she was - he didn't want to alert her.
And then an idea struck his head. Humeira. Humeira could ask mamujaan about it. He headed home.
This was so urgent for him, he needed to know before the marriage. He didn't want Asad and Zoya to face any difficulties after the wedding. And if he knew the truth and if it was hurtful ...he would not let it come in between of them. With all his strength, he would keep them away from the drama.
I always intended to write more events in one part, but then I end up with only one event in each part. Anyways... I hope you liked it :)
