Thought of this in bed and couldn't help but pen it down before sleeping haha.
Najma's Secret
"Miss Farooqui, will you please explain to me why we're spying on my sister again?" Asad hissed at Zoya, as they crouched behind the sofa and watched Najma leave the house. Zoya smacked Asad's arm in response, glaring him down so he would keep quiet until Najma closed the door behind her.
"Because I'm pretty sure she has... I mean she's hiding something from me! I mean from you. I mean from both of us, okay??" Zoya exclaimed as soon as Najma left, springing out from behind the sofa. Asad continued staring at Zoya in a confused manner from his crouched position, until Zoya grabbed his arm and pulled him up. She began walking towards Najma's room in a hurry, assuming that Asad would follow behind her.
"I don't know about you, but I really don't think she's hiding anything from me. She never hides anything from me you know, I'm her bhaijaan," Asad reasoned proudly, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood in the very place he was crouching earlier. Zoya stopped in her tracks, and turned to Asad, the biggest grin adorning her face.
"Accha? Let's see... lying about her hair, going to the cricket match, hiding the fact that some guys were bugging her in college, need I go on?" Zoya ticked off her fingers, as she watched Asad's face crumble more with every raised finger. He sighed and nodded dejectedly before walking behind a victorious Zoya into Najma's room.
"What are we looking for again?" Asad asked, as he half-heartedly rummaged through the drawers on Najma's dresser. He craned to look over at Zoya, who was frowning as she peered into Najma's wardrobe. She shut one wardrobe door and opened another to continue her inspection.
"Some gifts or cards or anything of that sort," Zoya answered distractedly, without turning to Asad at all. Asad shut the drawer he was staring at and straightened up, clearing his throat loudly to try and gain Zoya's full attention. Zoya turned around irritably and raised her eyebrow at Asad questioningly.
"Are you saying my sister has been receiving gifts from someone, possibly a guy? Are you saying my sister has been hiding a boyfriend? Tell me everything you know right NOW," Asad demanded, and grabbed Zoya's upper arm in the heat of the moment.
"Relax Mr Khan! Dekha? This is why I didn't say anything earlier. Because I knew you'd react in this overprotective manner. I just overheard her talking on the phone the other day, and she seemed to be talking about some dinner reservations. And then just this morning I heard her thanking someone for some roses. Then I asked her about it, and she completely denied everything! But you and I both know that Najma is a really lousy liar, so I could easily catch that guilty look on her face. Let's just figure this out without her finding out okay?" Zoya explained, and she hoped Asad would agree with her. She'd already tried confronting Najma and evidently it hadn't worked out. It would be much easier to go behind her back to find out the truth, but she wasn't sure if Asad had it in him to contain his anger.
Zoya felt Asad slowly loosen his grip on her arm, his forehead creased as he thought deeply about what she had said. He looked up at Zoya once he had made his decision, and was just about to tell her when they both heard some sounds outside Najma's room. It was Najma's voice! She was on the phone again, her voice becoming louder as she neared her room door. Asad and Zoya looked at each other in panic for a few seconds, and just as Zoya opened her mouth to say something, Asad reached out to Zoya and covered her mouth with his hand, his other arm swiftly grabbing her by her waist and pulling her into his body as he shuffled both of them into the wardrobe. Asad had just managed to shut the wardrobe door behind them when Najma swung open her room door.
Asad and Zoya stood body against body in the narrow wardrobe, their faces inches apart. It was pretty dark, but there was still enough light seeping through the corners of the wardrobe door for them to see each other. Their breaths intermingled as they tried to calm their nerves. Neither of them was sure if they were nervous about nearly being caught by Najma, or by their current physical closeness in the wardrobe. But before they could make any sense of it, both of them turned towards the wardrobe door as they strained to hear Najma.
"Sorry!! I know, I know, it's so silly of me to leave my wallet at home. But I'm so glad bhaijaan and Zoya aren't home. It's so hard for me to keep secrets from either of them. Anyway, I'll be there in no time okay? I promise!" Najma apologized to the person on the phone. Zoya smiled smugly at Asad, giving him her best I-told-you-so look. He rolled his eyes at her and nudged her, telling her to concentrate on what Najma was saying.
"Par ammi, bhaijaan aur Zoya ko pata toh nahi chalega na? That we've set this whole thing up for them? Okay, let me just run it through with you again. I'll tell Zoya that I want to try the food at the new Thai restaurant near the badi masjid, and at the same time you'll tell bhaijaan that Prasad called and he has to meet some client at that very restaurant as well. Then once we're sure they've reached there, I'll call Zoya and say that I changed my mind because I want to diet, and you'll call bhaijaan and say that Prasad made a mistake and the meeting is next week. So they'll both be there, and then Ayaan bhaijaan will be hiding there to direct the manager to somehow make them meet each other, and then the manager will complain to both of them that they had reservations and cancelling at this point would cost him. Then they'll have no choice but to concede to having dinner together, and then he'll lead them to the private room which we've so beautifully decorated with roses!! Oh I'm so excited!" Najma said gleefully, as she completed spelling out the plan.
Asad and Zoya held their breaths as soon as Najma had said the first sentence, and then remained rooted in shock as Najma continued about the whole plan. They quickly turned to look at each other once Najma was done, their noses brushing as they did. They heard Najma walking out and closing the door, but neither of them moved from their positions as they continued staring at each other.
"They're trying to send us on a date," Zoya whispered, stating the obvious. Asad nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing up as he swallowed nervously. Zoya tried to reach for the wardrobe door to push it open, but Asad clasped her wrist to stop her. Zoya turned back to Asad, slightly shocked, but mostly curious.
"Do you want to go for this date?" Asad asked simply, his rich voice resonating in the confined area of the wardrobe. Zoya nodded without even thinking about it. Asad smiled ever so slightly as Zoya tried to look away from him, but there wasn't anywhere to look in such a small space. Asad held her chin gently, stopping her from looking away. He leaned in towards Zoya, and Zoya instinctively leaned in as well, raising both her arms to rest them on his shoulders. Their foreheads touched, and Asad wrapped his arms around her waist, gathering Zoya in his arms. Their lips touched just a little, before Asad took the lead and kissed her fully, and Zoya felt her insides melt. She hadn't even composed herself enough to kiss him back when a sudden bright light flashed on both Asad and Zoya, causing them to break apart.
Najma stood there in shock, staring at her bhaijaan and Zoya locked in a lovers' embrace inside her wardrobe. She could hear her mother repeatedly saying hello to her on the phone since she'd stopped talking halfway through a sentence when she had opened her wardrobe, too taken aback to even find her voice. She shook her head vigorously to collect her thoughts before answering her Dilshaad.
"Ammi, I don't think we need to go through with this elaborate plan. I think bhaijaan and Zoya will go on this date by themselves if we just tell them to," Najma said to her mother, her eyes still wider than usual as she stared at Asad and Zoya. Asad finally gathered enough common sense at that point to release his grip on Zoya and come out of the wardrobe with Zoya next to him, as they looked at each other and shared a goofy, sheepish grin.
Najma looked back and forth between her bhaijaan and Zoya and watched them staring at each other, completely oblivious to anything around them. She shook her head and smiled to herself. Guess she didn't need to keep any secrets from her two favourite people after all. They were the ones keeping secrets from her!
The End (:
XXX
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