Asya SS-'The 8:00AM Class' **Put on Hold** A/N-Page 21! - Page 9

Part 5

Asad had spent the night tossing and turning on the bed,his mind lost in the thoughts of the girl sleeping in the room right across the hall.When he had seen her for the very first time,talking to someone in the most amusingly animated way, he had realized right then that this girl drew him towards her like no one else ever did.He had gotten accustomed to feeling nervous around her...but this..this ever-growing concern and the need to protect her was baffling him to no end.And to make it worse, they had to work on this decidedly awkward project. He sighed as he finished his cup of coffee,just looking up to see Zoya come out of her room.

"Zoya beta, aa jao.Naashta karlo hum sabke saath",Dilshaad called out to Zoya.

Zoya hesitantly walked up to the breakfast table and sat beside Najma.

As Zoya started eating, Asad was intently looking at her with a soft expression on his face.This did not go unnoticed by any of the other women.Dilshaad and Najma shared a knowing look before Najma asked, "Bhaijaan,aaj to Sunday hai.koi plan hai kya aap ka?Nahin to mujhe mall le chaliye na,mujhe kuch shopping karni hai".

Asad reluctantly let go of his staring session as he said, "Aaj nahin jaa paunga Tamatar,Zoya aur mujhe ek project karna hai,to hum woh aaj hi shuru kar denge"

Before Najma and Dilshaad could even react to Asad's statement, Zoya burst out laughing. "Tamatarrr!Allah miah,whats wrong with you?Yeh kaisa nickname hai?!"

Asad didn't even hear what she said. The only thing his mind registered was her laughing and addressing him.He just kept on looking at her with a silly smile on his face.

"Woh kya hai na Zoya, Najma ko to tum dekh hi rahi ho, thodi si healthy hai,aur jab who sharmati hai ya gussa ho jati hai,to tamatar ki tarah lal ban jati hai. Isi liye Asad use pyaar se tamatar bulata hai" Dilshaad explained with a broad smile,the love for her children clearly showing on her face.

"Thodi healthy Ammi?Aap ki aankho ko kuch ho gaya hai kya?!", Asad teased.

Najma pouted, "koi is ghar mein mujhse pyaar hi nahijn karta.Hamesha mujhe chedte rehte hai aap dono"

"Awww Tamatar,aisa nahin kehte", Zoya cooed, "chalo,isi baat pe ek sher arz kiya hai,

Najma hai sab se cute,nickname uska Tamatar

Najma hai sab se cute,nickname uska Tamatar

Hum sab us se karte hai bohot pyaar!

Shukriya Shukriya Shukriya!"

Zoya recited loudly.Najma hugged Zoya laughing,while Dilshaad clapped and Asad just sat there spell-bound.He could clearly see the bonding Zoya formed with his family merely a day after her arrival.

"Waise, Asad I must say the nickname is really cute" Zoya turned to him,but just as she saw the smile on her face,she remembered her vow to remain cold with him.She straightened her features and resumed her breakfast.

Asad noticed the change in her behavior and decided to get to work. "Umm Ammi,hume project ka kaam shuru karna hai.So we should just go to my study to start our work"

"Thik hai beta,tum dono jaao",Dilshaad said.

Asad motioned Zoya to come with him. He took her to his study which happened to be a serene room with minimal furniture and a huge study table.Zoya was visibly impressed and Asad smirked seeing her reaction.

"What should we start with?" He asked her as he took a seat and signaled her to sit as well.

"I was thinking we should have a look at some secondary data first,like online sources maybe?" Zoya replied.

Asad nodded as he started his laptop.

"Ummm..what should I type in the search tab?" he asked uncomfortably.

Allah miah..abhi kuch shuru bhi nahin kiya aur humara yeh haal hai,kaise complete karenge yeh stupid project? Zoya silently cursed her fate. "lets type the topic itself"

Asad took a deep breath as he typed, "Pre-marital sex" in the tab,Zoya leaning in from her chair to see the results.

The first thing that came up was a po*n story of a guy having pre-marital sex with his gf and calling it the hottest experience ever.

Zoya gasped loudly and Asad groaned.This is so not happening to me.Allah miah,whats wrong with you?Did you have to put me in this awkward scenario with the only girl I have ever liked? Asad smiled as he realized what he said in his mind,seems like Zoya was really getting to him.

"Allah miah,whats wrong with you?These things are coming in the result and you are smiling?!" Zoya shouted.

Asad simply shrugged and decided to talk it out. "Look Zoya,if we want to complete this project,which we just need to because it contains 35% of the grades,we should stop feeling awkward about this and just deal with it professionally"

Zoya contemplated his words and realize he was right.She also did not want to do bad in this course.If this project was thrown at them,she was damned if she chickened out.She nodded at Asad,agreeing to do this with new-found determination.

Asad typed again, "Research papers about pre-marital sex".

This time,they were provided with more decent results which included some scholarly articles and online journals regarding their topic. Both of them took notes.

"Did you write down the references?" Zoya asked Asad.

He nodded.Is she still mad at me?well,at least she is talking to me.But I should try harder to make her smile somehow,Asad thought.

Allah miah,whats wrong with me?!mujhe Asad se naraaz rehna hai,uska handsome face dekh ke aahe nahin bharni hai! Zoya scolded herself silently.But what could she do?He looked so adorable when he was thinking something in his mind.

"Are these enough?or should we look into more sources?" Asad asked Zoya as he saw her lost in some thought.

"umm,I think this should be enough" she replied.

"Then lets pack up for today" Asad said as he shut down the laptop.

Zoya was already standing up,more than relieved to leave when Asad called her from behind.

"Zoya..woh actually..umm..when we go to college tomorrow,we need to start doing our survey" he said cautiously,trying to gauge her reaction.

"What survey?",she had no clue.

"You know for collecting our primary data,like what people think about this topic and all".he replied.

Then it dawned on Zoya.She sighed.Never in her life did she think that she would have to practically ask people if they ever had pre-marital sex or not and whether it was good or bad.This is insane!And like a sour cherry on the cake,her partner in this crime was none other than Asad Ahmed Khan,her first crush.

"Ok then,we will prepare the questionnaire tonight",she said dejectedly and Asad gave her a small,unsure smile.

Next update will also be soon,I promise😊