AsYa OS: The Rightful Owner

"Agale jumme mein Tanveer se Nikaah kar raha hoon"

His words rang in her ears again and again while she closed her ears with her hands so as to block that sound from reaching her.

"Lekin ithni jaldbazi kyon Asad"

She heard her Phoopi asking that question.

"I just want to marry her Ammi. That's it. I am responsible for her state and I want to correct my mistake. I don't want anyone to point finger at her because of me. I am marrying her and that's final"

And that did it. She found her leg becoming weak and she sunk in the floor with a thud causing every ones attention to divert to her.

She sat there all numb, tears flowing from her eyes while she stared into nothingness. Dilshad and Najma ran towards her leaving a heartbroken Asad behind. Dilshad engulfed her in a hug along with Najma, but she still sat there motionless. His heart broke seeing her condition. All he wanted to do at that moment was to run to her, gather in her arms, hug her and kiss her countlessly. But he did nothing of that sort as his rational mind overpowered his heart. He stood there, watching his Ammi and sister trying to evoke sense into her. He had done it again. Pushed her away from his life, this time too far that there was no way back.

After sometime which felt like eternity, she took a deep breath and looked at her Phoopi who was tearing up seeing her in that condition. After wiping her own tears as well as her Phoopi's tears she got up. Freeing herself from the arms of loved ones, she walked towards her room with staggering feet still staring into nothingness. She walked past Asad without sparing a glance at him while his heart flinched at that.

Everyone looked at her retrieving figure while she was oblivious to those watching eyes as she herself was lost somewhere in time.

"Asad, there was a day I used to be proud of you. That day is long gone. I cannot curse you as you are my son. At present all I am feeling towards you is pity. To cover one mistake you are making another grave mistake. You are giving away the only light in your life. I know you had made your decision and whatever I am telling is falling on deaf ears. But let me tell you, you have more responsibility towards Zoya than to your precious Tannu. Because you have promised her a life, a life full of love and happiness. The biggest coward is a man who awakens a woman's love without the intention of loving her back and fulfills those promises that he showered to her. Congrats to you, as you succeeded in becoming a coward…"

Asad looked painfully at his mother while she ignored his pain and walked away. He then looked at his little sister, his tamatar, who was by now on the verge of a break down. He could see the look of disappointment in her face. His eyes pleaded with her. She avoided his gaze and went and stood in front of Tanveer who was once again putting the faade of being innocent.

"You know Tanveer, when I was a kid, you were my role model. I wanted to be just like you when I grow up. But now I am glad, I didn't. Never ever in my wildest dreams I thought that a day will come when my family will be shattered because of you. Before you came to this house, my Zoya had made this home. After you came, it lost the status of home. Because in home, people love each other, care for each other, not betray each other. You have broken this home. You have broken Zoya. You have broken Bhaijan. You have broken Ammi and you have broken me. I hate you. I hate myself for even liking you once…"

With this Najma broke down crying her heart out. Seeing his little sister cry was unbearable for Asad as he immediately ran towards her to put his arm around her. But he had underestimated the hurt he caused to Najma. He understood that when he felt Najma, the sister who never spoke anything against him, pushed him away. He looked at her with his eyes wide open.

"Don't… Don't Bhaijan… till now I was supporting you even after knowing that you had broken everyone's trust. That was because I could see the love you have for Zoya. But I won't support you anymore. That's not because I can't see the love in your eyes anymore. Now also I can see the volume of love you hold for Zoya. But this time you have done the biggest mistake by choosing this Tanveer over my Zoya. Every time…every time you do the same. You chose Tanveer over her. I am noticing this from the time Tanveer had come here. You trust her a lot, why because she was your freaking best friend in childhood? Oh come on. She WAS your childhood best friend. She was NOT ALWAYS your best friend."

Najma knew, whatever word she is using is piercing her brother's heart. But she can't hold back, at least not now.

"I must congratulate you Bhaijan for what you have done today. You broke the heart of a person who loved you with all she had. She came back to you even after you ditched her on the altar. Why, so that you can again ditch her on the wedding day? My poor Zoya… you know what, this time you are all alone. You can fulfill your responsibility towards your pyaari Tannu who is the epitome of tameez and tehazeeb according to you. Remember, this time Zoya is not alone. She is my best friend forever and I will stick with her. I won't break my promise like you did. And I will make sure that your shadow also won't be reaching her. My Zoya is better off without you. You don't deserve an innocent girl like her. You are better with Tanveer who is manipulative, selfish b***h. Shaadi mubaarak ho…"

With that she walked away leaving to her room sparing a glaring glance at Tanveer whose face resembled a crooked witch to Najma. Asad stood there stunned at what his Tamatar had said. The same Tamatar who never dared to question him had stood in her feet and looked square at his eyes and rubbed the truth in his face. She had showed him a mirror to his deeds. How wrong he was all the time. Looking at his sister's retreating figure, he realized that he had lost not only Zoya, but also his Ammi and Najma.

*****************************************

"Was it hard?" I ask.
Letting go?"
Not as hard as holding on to something that wasn't real."
? Lisa Schroeder

Zoya stood in the balcony looking at the moon, tears slowly falling from her eyes. It was her daily routine for the past few days, to be precise, from the day Asad had announced his marriage with Tanveer. She cried and cried cursing her fate. The same fate which is hell bent on snatching everything she held close. She believed him; she was ready to give their relationship a chance. It's not that she ever stop trusting him, it's just that she was fed up of his trust on his Tannu rather than on her. But she went back to him in expectation of a new life with him forgetting about the past one month they had suffered without each other. But Alas! This time also he chose Tanveer over her. She was fed up. Fed up of his blind trust on Tanveer. If he is not ready to look beyond the veil of trust that had blinded him, how was she supposed to make him understand that he was in fact innocent? She knew about the pregnancy card played by Tanveer but was helpless.

She was tired of proving herself over and over. All she wanted was to feel accepted by him under all circumstances, be it when he was guilty or when he was innocent. But he chose not to accept her when he felt he was guilty, instead he chose to accept Tanveer. He had decided to give his entire life to Tanveer just because he feels that he is responsible for his best friend's pain? What about her pain, the throbbing pain she face each and every moment… She hates to stay under the same roof as he is, but was tied with the love her Phoopi and Najma showered on her. She have to stay until Mr. Khan's nikhah is over which will be taking place the next day. Nikhah!!! The mere thought brought tears in her eyes as she remembered her nikhah day with Mr. Khan… The day when he left her in altar waiting for him…The day when he fallen in the trap of his so-called-best friend… She tried vigorously to wipe away the tears from her eyes but failed miserably as more and more tears came. Giving up, she slide onto the cold floor in the balcony and lied down in fetal position. She started crying uncontrollably, giving up her resolution not to cry. Suddenly it started raining out of nowhere. It was as if the sky also was crying in that poor girl's sadness. Rain drops fall on her mixing with her tears but she made no move to get up. She still lay in the same position crying draining the last bit of energy she had.

Unbeknownst to her, Asad was watching her break down from his room. His heart ached seeing her condition. He was the one responsible for her condition. He had broken his Zoya's heart. He had broken his family. He cursed himself for choosing Tanveer again and again over Zoya. He wanted to held her close and tell her that it was she whom he wants to choose. But what to do, his heart was not as strong as hers. It was soo vulnerable that his mind always manages to shut it off. He watched with pain stricken face as she slide onto the cold floor and lied down in a fetal position. She looked vulnerable, her eyes droopy and swollen. She had been avoiding him since the day he had announced his marriage. Not only she, his mother and sister also avoiding him. They did roza and iftaar in Zoya's room leaving him all alone in the hall to break the fast with Tanveer. Tanveer as usual was hell bent on irritating him with soft spoken nature. If it would have been any other situation, he would have been really touched with that. But the circumstances were different. He couldn't help but to snap at her for sticking to him like a glue. He wanted to scream to her that he don't want to marry her.

Marriage!!! That thought brought him back to reality. He will marry Tanveer within a few hours. She will be forever bonded to him. She will have her place in his life. And Zoya, she will be gone away from his life forever. NO…. his heart screamed at the very thought of that. His thought process was broken by the sudden sound of thunder. He looked outside only to see the rain drops falling. Great! Now the rain is also mocking him.

Suddenly it struck to him that Zoya was still in balcony. He looked outside to see her in same position. She was not ready to move. Without a second thought he dashed towards the balcony. He stopped and caught his breath as he saw the love of his life lying there.

She could feel her eyes drooping as her body drained out of energy. The rain was soothing her with its cold droplets. Suddenly she felt a warm hand encasing her. The electricity that flown through her body with that mere touch was enough for her to understand to whom that hand belong to. Her hands went around his neck as he scooped her up in his arms and walked inside the house. She looked at him longingly. How much she missed his touch... And she is gonna miss the safety and warmth she feels in his arms for her entire life as he is getting married within a few hours. Wait! He is getting married and what the hell she was doing in his arms! When the sudden realization drowned upon her she tried to wriggle free of his arms. He was amused at first but one look at her eyes and he got the answer. He gently put her down and decided to walk away to his room.

As he turned away, he felt a tug in his wrist. He stopped and turned around only to get drowned in a pair of baby brown eyes which held volume of emotions. Slowly she took steps towards him aware about their increasing heartbeat. She raised her right hand and touched his left cheek gently. He closed his eyes and tilted his head savoring the touch. Zoya watched the various emotions playing across his face with her mere touch. She let out a sad smile and withdrew her hands causing Asad to open his eyes.

"I wish things were different. I wish you have never chosen her over me. I wish you trust me as much as I trust you. Alas! None of those things happened. So here we are, right? Congratulations in advance Mr. Khan for your marriage. I hope you get all the happiness in your life. I am sure you will get that. After all you don't have to bear this trouble maker for rest of your life. I am going back Mr. Khan. Once I see your wedding with my own eyes, I will go back. It's just that I need to attend your wedding to make my stupid heart understand that you belong to someone else. I will go away once it is over."

His face gave away the pain he tried to suppress at the mere mentioning about her going away. He wanted to scream that she was not a trouble maker in his life, but the meaning of life. The expression in his face was a dead giveaway. She could see him hurting. But she had to mend her own heart which was broken by the very man in front of her. She closed her eyes trying to hold back her tears. Opening her eyes she looked at him who was looking at her painfully. Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed and dropped a kiss on his cheek letting her lips linger there for a while. She then leaned closer to his ears and whispered,

"I love you Asad"

With that she turned on her heels and ran towards her room leaving a flabbergasted Asad behind.

He was shocked will be an understatement. He was emotionally bowled over by what had suddenly happened. He raised his hands to touch his cheeks where her lips had lingered. She confessed those three words to him for which he waited for ages and she also called him by his name. Look at the irony; she had done all these when there was no tomorrow for them. He pulled his hair in agony and slumped onto the floor.

****************************************

It's usually say that morning brings happiness and energy. But in Khan Mansion, it was different. As the night gave its way to morning, there came the time for the Nikhah. Even though Dilshad and Najma decided not to attend the wedding first, due to the persuasion from Zoya eventually they came down to witness. Asad stood there in a normal Kurta with pain stricken face while Tanveer stood there wearing a heavy lehenga with happiness and evilness written all over her face. The Maulavi Sahib started the rituals and after everything asked Tanveer. And instantly she told,

"Qubool hai"

He repeated the same question to Asad. He drew a deep breath and looked around. He saw Tanveer's excited face. He saw his Ammi's and sister's pain stricken face. Lastly his eyes landed on Zoya who was clutching the railing of stairs for support with her eyes closed. He was broken out of trance by Maulavi Sahib repeating the question. He turned to him and uttered,

"Qubool nahi hai…"

He could here gasps of shock and relieving sighs, but his eyes was fixated on Zoya. She had just opened her eyes as she heard him say 'qubool nahi hai'. He could see her yes watering, but whether in pain or in relief, he couldn't make out. He had to do this, now or never. He turned his attention to Tanveer who was looking shocked. Getting up from his position, he walked towards Tanveer who had already stood up by now.

"Jammy… what is this?"

"I am sorry Tanveer. I can't do this. I can't do this to my Zoya. I can't do this to my Ammi and Najma. I can't do this to my family. I know what I have done to you is unforgivable mistake. But to cover that mistake, I am not ready to punish those I love. I can't marry you. Only Zoya has that place in my life. Only she has right on me. I know for the mistake I had done, I may not get Zoya ever. But it's ok. I will live with memory of the love we have shared. But never ever I will give her position in my life to anyone else. Till now, I let my mind take over my heart, but not anymore. I love Zoya and always will. It's time for me to take my responsibility towards her. I had promised her that no one won't be able to take her place in my life. Now I am gonna fulfill that. I can give all the monitory support to you and your unborn child. I promise, I will also give the baby all love I have, but not marriage. Marriage is the union of two souls. I can't marry you simply because my soul and heart is left with Zoya. She is the rightful owner of my life. Forgive me if you can…"

With that he strode towards his room leaving others shocked. As he passed Zoya, he stood there for a moment and whispered,

"I love you too Zoya. And I always will…"