AsYa OS: The Story of an Hour

She didn't bother wasting time in formal greetings, they were measures to pompous for such an event. He trailed along behind as she led him through the door to a comfortable yet wasted couch. It didn't pull him down to the center, clearly it had barely been used.

"This... It's a nice comfortable cottage,"

"But wasted I know, not everyone's hearts can afford company. Every ruined relationship, every scar, starts out as friendly companionship."

"Yes of course, but that doesn't mean every companionship will turn itself into a scar," he subtly refuted.

"I can only attempt to foresee my future by learning from my past. I believe he who does not acknowledge his past with regards to his future is nothing but an incompetent fool, and Mr. Khan I have no desire in giving anyone the pleasure at my expense,"

"Your hesitation is understandable, however, the relationship between the past and the future is a paradox in itself. Your argument is valid in that only acknowledging past can guide us into the future but if we continue by clinging onto the past, then how can we ever have a future?"

"Mr. Khan," she finally grew irritated, "As much as I would love to sit here and philosophize with you, I am working under a bit of a time constraint. If you could get on with the purpose of your visit, it would be heavily appreciated."

"Zoya..." he leaned in to let his dry thumbs stroke the tenderness that were her cheeks, trying desperately to look into her eyes. If only she'd cooperate.

But the adamant Ms. Farooqui spurned his attempts. She held her composure, gripping it tight, refusing to let a mere pretty face with soft sparkling eyes to let it slip through her hold.

However she didn't brush him off either. With her eyes endeavoring to fascinate themselves with the the exhaustingly usual view of the white snow outside the deep cherry windowsill, she struggled to remind herself not to grow too attached to his touch, as she knew how hard it was to rid herself of its need.

But for a second, and only for a second, she allowed herself to relish the feeling and savor his scent.

Finally, out of worry that the snow would blind her if she continued on with her rebuttal, she admitted him to her sight and cut him off right when she noticed signs of hope. False hope.

"Mr. Khan, do not mistake my silence as my acceptance. You have wasted quite a bit of time, a valuable possession of mine which I do not have much to offer right now, please get on with the purpose of your visit and free me from my responsibilities as a host,"

Those words proved to be quite painful for Ms. Farooqui. Only she knew how she brought herself to utter them. It hurt, a lot more than it should have.

"Why? My question is why? Now that it is known, that the whole premise on which we both turned our lives into living hell was a lie, why Zoya, are you being so GODDAMN DIFFICULT?"

He immediately regretted what had just come out of his mouth. The tone of his voice rather than the actual words.

To his surprise, she was quiet. She took her time, a few sighs and a single deep breath, before answering his question with another question.

"Mr. Khan, do you believe in destiny?"

"That is not the answer to my question Zoya," he tried to maintain a calm tone and failed miserably as he only reflected obvious frustration.

"Don't you believe everything happens for a reason?" she ignored.

He knew where she was going with this and god did it feel worse than slamming his head against a brick wall. Was this the same intelligent and independent Ms. Farooqui he fell in love with?

"So now you're going to give me crap about destiny?"

"Don't you think that circumstances led us to separate for a reason?" she questioned.

"Zoya, this is craz-"

"Mr. Khan I think I've answered your question, you may leave now," she got up to show him to the door but all in vain. The wounded lion refused to budge.

"I do," he finally spoke after a moment thought leaving her confused, "I do..." he met her eyes, "...believe in destiny. I believe that of all the possible places you could have stayed, it was our house for a reason, I believe that despite the fact that there have been moments where I could barely stand you, and I'm quite sure this feeling is mutual, we fell in love... for a reason, and I also believe that what," he paused to find the right words, "...we went through..." he continued, "...was also for a reason. It was to make this relationship, if you must, that we share stronger. To show us what would become of our lives if we didn't have each other, to show us how idiotic we are and how we need each other to keep ourselves sane. Not for whatever foolish reason you might have decided on in that occasionally functional brain of yours," he finished hoping for the best.

Well he succeeded in leaving her tongue-tied, if that was his definition of "the best".

"I..." she started only to find herself unable to form a single sentence. Finally, she eyed the clock.

"It's been an hour Mr. Khan, I must get back to packing."

"So you're actually leaving huh? Just remember Zoya, after this, it's not destiny that will be making your life miserable, it's you."

"Khuda Hafiz Mr. Khan," she persisted.

"Khuda Hafiz," he finally replied, defeated heading for the door. He was just about out when his phone rang.

"I don't think I have the stamina for an international flight, considering our conversation drained quite a bit of unnecessary energy out of me. I think it would be wise of me to rest for a few days, some place warmer than Manali... like Bhopal for instance,"

He zipped through the living room to find her in her room, casually packing her bags with a handset held up by her shoulder.

"I believe you were right Asad, my brain occasionally does function properly."

_____________________________

Wrote on AsYa after a while. Didn't find a need for a depressing ending here, so yeah consider it my treat.

Haven't proofread it yet, will do so when I'm not so sleepy.

Hope you liked it.

-Shweta

Edit: So I listened to this song on repeat while writing it, it has nothing to with the OS but found it beautifully haunting.

Originally posted by: -ForeverYours-

The Story of an Hour

"I have an hour,"

She didn't bother wasting time in formal greetings, they were measures to pompous for such an event. He trailed along behind as she led him through the door to a comfortable yet wasted couch. It didn't pull him down to the center, clearly it had barely been used.

"This... It's a nice comfortable cottage,"

"But wasted I know, not everyone's hearts can afford company. Every ruined relationship, every scar, starts out as friendly companionship."

"Yes of course, but that doesn't mean every companionship will turn itself into a scar," he subtly refuted.

"I can only attempt to foresee my future by learning from my past. I believe he who does not acknowledge his past with regards to his future is nothing but an incompetent fool, and Mr. Khan I have no desire in giving anyone the pleasure at my expense,"

"Your hesitation is understandable, however, the relationship between the past and the present is a paradox in itself. Your argument is valid in that only acknowledging past can only guide us into the future but if we continue by clinging onto the past, then how can we ever have a future?"

"Mr. Khan," she finally grew irritated, "As much as I would love to sit here and philosophize with you, I am working under a bit of a time constraint. If you could get on with the purpose of your visit, it would be heavily appreciated."

"Zoya..." he leaned in to let his dry thumbs stroke the tenderness that were her cheeks, trying desperately to look into her eyes. If only she'd cooperate.

But the adamant Ms. Farooqui spurned his attempts. She held her composure, gripping it tight, refusing to let a mere pretty face with soft sparkling eyes to let it slip through.

However she didn't brush him off. With her eyes endeavoring to fascinate themselves with the view of the exhausting usual view of the white snow outside the deep cherry windowsill, she struggled to remind herself not to grow too attached to his touch, as she knew how hard it was to rid herself of its need.

But for a second, and only for a second, she allowed herself to relish the feeling and savor his scent.

Finally, out of worry that the snow would blind her if she continued on with her rebuttal, she admitted him to her sight and cut him off right when he saw signs of hope. False hope.

"Mr. Khan, do not mistake my silence as my acceptance. You have wasted quite a bit of my time, a valuable possession of mine of which I do not have much to offer right now, please get on with the purpose of your visit and free me from my responsibilities as a host,"

Those words proved to be quite painful for Ms. Farooqui. Only she knew how she brought herself to utter them. It hurt, a lot more than it should have.

"Why? My question is why? Now that it is known, that the whole premise on which we both turned our lives into living hell was a lie, why Zoya, are you being so GODDAMN DIFFICULT?"

He immediately regretted what had just come out of his mouth. The tone of his voice as opposed to the actual words.

To his surprise, she was quiet. She took her time, a few sighs and deep breaths, before answering his question with another question.

"Mr. Khan, do you believe in destiny?"

"That is not the answer to my question Zoya," he tried to maintain a calm tone and failed miserably as he only reflected obvious frustration.

"Don't you believe everything happens for a reason?" she ignored.

He knew where she was going with this and god did it feel worse than slamming his head against a brick wall. Was this the same intelligent and independent Ms. Farooqui he fell in love with?

"So now you're going to give me crap about destiny?"

"Don't you think that circumstances led us to separate for a reason?" she questioned.

"Zoya, this is craz-"

"Mr. Khan I think I've answered your question, you may leave now," she got up to show him to the door but all in vain. The wounded lion refused to budge.

"I do," he finally spoke after a moment thought leaving her confused, "I do," he met her eyes, "...believe in destiny. I believe that of all the possible locations you could have resided in, it was our house for a reason, I believe that despite the fact that there have been moments where I could barely stand you, and I'm quite sure this feeling is mutual, we fell in love'for a reason, and I also believe that what," he paused to find the right words, "...we went through..." he continued, "...in the past few months was also for a reason. It was to make this relationship, if you must, that we share stronger. To show us what would become of our lives if we didn't have each other, to show us how idiotic we are and how we need each other to keep ourselves sane. Not for whatever foolish reason you might have decided on in that occasionally functional brain of yours," he finished hoping for the best.

Well he succeeded in leaving her tongue-tied, if that was his definition of "the best".

"I..." she started only to find herself unable to form a single sentence. Finally, she eyed the clock.

"It's been an hour Mr. Khan, I must get back to packing."

"So you're actually leaving huh? Just remember Zoya, after this, it's not destiny that will be making your life miserable, it's you."

"Khuda Hafiz Mr. Khan,"

"Khuda Hafiz," he finally replied, defeated heading for the door. He was just about out when his phone rang.

Unknown Number flashed on his screen.

"Hello," he answered with a suspicious voice.

"I don't think I have the stamina for an international flight, considering our conversation drained quite a bit of unnecessary energy out of me. I think it would be wise of me to rest for a few days, some place warmer than Manali' like Bhopal for instance,"

"Zoya'" he zipped through the living room to find her in her room, casually packing her bags with a phone held up by her shoulder.

"I believe you were right Asad, my brain does occasionally function properly."

_____________________________

Wrote on AsYa after a while. Didn't find a need for a depressing ending here, so yeah consider it my treat.

Haven't proofread it yet, will do so when I'm not so sleepy.

Hope you liked it.

-Shweta

Edit: So I listened to this song on repeat while writing it, it has nothing to with the OS but found it beautifully haunting.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR0S-ocAmvo[/YOUTUBE]

All throughout I was bitting my nails and pleading that please let Zoya decide against leaving him. But when Asad moved away dejected I thought gone my wish down the drain. But the ending...oh I so loved it. Beautiful! and oh thank you so much for the PM!!!