SantaClaus &Tooth Fairy-FF,Chapt 16 updated,(23/7) PG 70 - Page 26

Originally posted by: kaussar

Oh you just started reading the story... and you are giving me a review for each chapter... so sweet of you.. thanks Dear...😃

will reply to all your comments later... i am going to update chapter 13 now..
hope you will like rest of the chapters as well and is not disappointed when you read about Asad's past.😉

Here is Chapter 13... it's a really long Chapter but hope its worth for a Sunday afternoon reading... and if you liked it, Hit the like button and let me know.

CHAPTER 13 :

Next evening, when Asad returned home his Ammi was in the kitchen and Najma was sitting in the living room playing with Naina and Asad remembered what Zoya said regarding Naina previous night; and that made him wonder if Zoya had come there that evening or not. But it wasn't the first time he thought of Zoya that day.

In the afternoon he had gone to the hospital to change his dressing as per the Doctor's advice previous day, and while the nurse was cleaning his wound he remembered how Zoya had stood at a distance trying not to look but still wanting to look and how she scrunched up her nose seeing the wound being cleaned. He then remembered the way she drove him to hospital without giving a heed to his anger and the determination on her face to do what she felt was right.

And a single day spent with her without any preconceived notion in his mind regarding her had made him appreciate her thoughtfulness, warmth and kindness. And although he was still reluctant to trust her completely, he felt that Zoya was perhaps a genuinely nice girl as his Ammi had said.

"Asad, Najma... Come... dinner is ready. Najma serve your Bhaijaan and Naina and the three of you have dinner... I will go and give Zoya this soup and come back." Dilshad told loudly so that everyone heard what she said.

Asad who was just entering his room suddenly stopped wondering why his Ammi was all of a sudden taking soup to Zoya; and his confusion got cleared when he heard Najma's answering statement.

"Ammi I will also come with you... I want to see how Zoya is and whether her fever has come down or not."

"Najma!.. if both of us goes to see Zoya who will help Naina with her dinner? It's almost her bedtime now... and won't I be able to check how Zoya's fever is and tell you how she is when I return back?" Dilshad chided Najma and Najma smiled sheepishly.

"Alright Ammi.. it's just that I wanted to see how she is since we came back in the evening."

Earlier whenever Zoya was around, Asad had always noticed the care and concern that his Ammi and sister showed towards Zoya and he would get irritated seeing that, but tonight the only thing that registered to him after hearing their conversation was that Zoya was not well and was having fever; and if at all he did notice their care and concern, tonight it definitely did not bother him at all. And strangely, he himself immediately felt unsettled knowing she was not well and he wanted to know himself how she was and whether her fever had come down or not.

Asad saw his Ammi leaving and Najma, while going towards the kitchen saw him standing lost in thoughts near his door, and she called out to him.

"Bhaijaan, come for dinner."

"Tamatar I will just change and come... you and Naina can start." Asad called out to Najma and finally entered his room.

When he came out after about twenty minutes, Najma had almost finished giving Naina dinner, but there was no sign of his Ammi. Asad sat down for dinner and Najma served him. He started eating, but his gaze kept on shifting towards the door wondering when his Ammi would return.

"Umm.. Tamatar.." Asad cleared his throat.

"When's Ammi going to return?"

"I don't know Bhaijan... I am also wondering why she is getting so late... may be Zoya is again having fever." Najma answered with her mouth full and while chewing the food, and on another day Asad would have reprimanded her for that but his mind was too distracted tonight to really notice that.

"Tamatar, Umm... Ms.Farouqui... when did she get fever? Did she go to a doctor?" Asad asked hesitatingly and Najma was really surprised to hear Asad asking about Zoya and that too in such a concerned tone.

"Actually Bhaijaan, that stupid girl didn't even inform us that she was not well... Apparently she got fever last night and in the morning had high fever and didn't even go to office... and it was around 3Pm I texted her asking her to come here after office because Naina was insisting of seeing her, then she replied back saying she is not well and did not go to office as well... then we went to see her." Najma blabbered.

"Why didn't you and Ammi take her to doctor then?" Asad's usual authoritative voice returned.

"Bhaijaan... we would have done... but Zoya is so stubborn, she did not want to go to the doctor so soon... said it's seasonal Flu and viral something... I don't know... that girl knows about everything... Anyway, she said this type of Flu would be OK after one or two days rest and the only thing she need to do is, keep herself adequately hydrated... and she refused to go... so how could we take her?" Najma ranted.

Dilshad entered the house at that moment and Asad's gaze flew to her. He wanted to call out to her and ask her immediately about Zoya but he felt awkward to do it.

"Ammi you are back... we were wondering why you took so long in coming... Is Zoya Ok? Is she having fever again? Did she take soup?" Najma bombarded Dilshad with questions the moment she came near, so Asad did not have to ask anything himself.

"She is OK right now but her fever increased again after we came back... and she looked really sick... that's why I waited to make sure she had soup and medicine."

"Oh that's sad... poor Zoe... but Ammi will she be OK alone at home?" Najma got really worried and the same thought crossed Asad's mind.

"I asked her to come here and stay here with me tonight... but Najma, you know how stubborn she is isn't it?... she said she will be OK... and you know how she always tries to manage everything on her own... I think she doesn't want to depend on anyone even when she is not well... I have a feeling she has this fear of depending on anyone beyond a limit, so I thought I will not push her too much, even though I am not happy to leave her alone and come."

"May be I can go and stay there tonight?" Najma asked Dilshad.

"She would not want it Najma." Dilshad sighed sadly.

Asad just sat and listened to his Ammi and Najma talking about Zoya and he realized that he hardly knew anything about Zoya even though she had been around and in and out of his house since a couple of months; and strangely he suddenly felt left out.

And although few minutes back he had been talking to Najma regarding Zoya, he did not have the courage to say anything to his Ammi or ask her anything, as after what happened that night he had not yet apologized to his Ammi. And he felt a little bit of satisfaction remembering that he had at least apologized to Zoya yesterday. He knew he had to talk to his Ammi sometime soon and sort out their differences, and wondered if he should go to her room after dinner and try to talk to her tonight itself.

"Even I am feeling a bit tired tonight... I think I will go and sleep now... Najma will you clear the table?" hearing what his Ammi said Asad came out of his thoughts and felt that may be it wasn't a good idea to talk to his Ammi tonight while she was tired and in need of rest.

"Umm... Ammi are you OK? ... I mean are you having any fever or anything?" Asad got concerned.

"No I am alright Asad... just a little tired... that's all... Najma will you call Zoya just before you sleep and see if she is OK or not?" Dilshad was still worried about Zoya.

"

"Sure Ammi... don't worry... you go and sleep." Najma said lovingly.

Once Dilshad left to her room, Asad also got up from the table and went to his room. He had another important meeting with a longstanding procurement client next day and he wanted to go through the details of last year's dealings with him. But after an hour of going through the cost analysis he could still not get a grip on the thing and see whether there was anything missing or anything that he needed to change. And he realized that he was not really able to concentrate on the thing.

Somehow, he felt unsettled and disturbed again and he could not figure out why and he wondered if after all he should have gone and talked to his Ammi or not. He might have had a peace of mind then. He walked out of his room slowly and climbed upstairs to his Ammi's room. He saw that the lights were off in her room, and he slowly turned the knob of her door and opened it gently to see that his Ammi was sleeping calmly and he could hear her soft snores which indicated that she was in quite deep sleep. He stood staring at her with a gentle smile on his face and he felt satisfied knowing that she was at least sleeping well, because he knew very well that even his Ammi was still disturbed by what happened between the two of them that night, even though she was trying to behave normally as if nothing had happened.

After a while Asad closed the door of his Ammi's room and came down to his own room. He once again tried to concentrate on his work, but his thoughts kept on wandering and he continued to feel unsettled and restless. After staring at his laptop screen uselessly for another few minutes, Asad closed it and sighed. He leaned back in his sofa, rested his head on the back rest and closed his eyes, wondering what was making him so restless. And then the moment he closed his eyes, an image of a wet Zoya standing and shivering at the hospital, flashed across his mind and he opened his eyes abruptly and jumped up from the sofa.

He wanted to know how Zoya was and he wanted to know it right that moment, but he wondered how he can find that out. Then suddenly he remembered his Ammi telling Najma to call Zoya before sleeping. Najma usually slept a bit late when she had assignments to do and he knew that it must be the reason why Ammi told Najma to call Zoya before sleeping. Asad rushed out of his room and almost ran to Najma's room and tried to open her door to see that it was locked from inside. He was about to knock on her door when it suddenly occurred to him that may be Najma had already slept. He did not want to disturb her in case she had slept, so he again came back to his room, thinking perhaps it was best if he also tried to sleep.

Half an hour passed and Asad lay on his bed not able to sleep, thoughts of Zoya still invading his mind. And suddenly he became perplexed as to why he was all of a sudden worrying and thinking about Zoya so much.

"She is sick and she fell sick because of me... because of taking me to hospital and..." He reasoned out to himself. And once again he remembered how she had shivered at the hospital, but still stood around waiting patiently till his dressing was done. And even before the Sister pointed it out to him, he had sensed Zoya's concern and care towards him, and had felt that it was genuine and not a pretence. Later when he had thanked her, Zoya had however tried to bluff saying that she did it for her Phuppi but Asad knew that it was not the entire truth and that she did it out of concern for him as well.

And now he was concerned about her; and he felt responsible for her illness as well, so how could he sleep knowing she was alone and sick and might be in need of someone's help. What Asad did not yet realize was that the concern he had started to feel towards Zoya; and the restlessness he was feeling because of not knowing how she was, that went much beyond just a simple concern on his part for a person who cared enough to take him to hospital when he was injured.

After a while Asad got up from the bed and paced across his room wondering what he should do. He did not even have Zoya's number; otherwise he would have called her and asked how she was. He heard the tick tock of the wall clock as it struck midnight, and suddenly without thinking further, he walked out of his room and out of his front door towards the gate of his house. The night watchman looked at him in surprise because in the two years since he had been working for Asad, he had never seen him going anywhere this late or even coming home late.

He greeted Asad wondering if something was wrong, but Asad replied to him absentmindedly and walked out. He walked briskly up to Zoya's gate and tried to open it to see that it was locked from inside. He should have known that staying alone; Zoya would not keep her gate unlocked at night. He sighed in frustration and walked back to his home, not knowing what else he could do to find out how Zoya was. And then suddenly just as he entered his living room a thought occurred to him and he climbed upstairs and entered his Ammi's room once again.

She was still in deep sleep and Asad's eyes went across the room searchingly till it stopped on his Ammi's phone kept on the bedside table. He went and took it and scrolled through the contact list, and there just as he had known, his Ammi had Zoya's number saved. He copied the number to his keypad, put his Ammi's phone back where it was and walked out of the room softly.

Once he was back in his own room, he sat on his bed with his phone and stared at Zoya's number, suddenly feeling a little foolish thinking maybe he was over reacting about Zoya's fever. And he also started feeling apprehensive thinking how Zoya would react if he called her in the middle of the night.

And then suddenly before his mind took over and prevented him from doing what his heart desired to do, he pressed the call button and waited.

About thirty seconds passed and Zoya did not answer and just as he was about to disconnect the call, she did.

"Hello..." he heard Zoya's soft voice which sounded somewhat husky due to sleep.

"Hello..." Asad whispered equally softly.

"Who is it?" Zoya's voice sounded confused. She did not know the number of the caller and she could not recognize Asad's voice as well.

"Umm Ms.Farouqui...it's me Asad... I'm sorry to wake you up at this time... actually I came to know from Ammi that you were sick and I... I thought... I thought I should find out how you are... Since you are alone and all that...are you OK?"

The moment he said, it's me Asad', Zoya's sleepy mind became alert and registered everything he said but still, she could hardly believe it was Asad and he was calling her to find out if she was alright and to her surprise, his voice was laced with worry and sounded really concerned. "Why is Mr.Khan calling me himself like this?...has he really become so concerned about me to the extent of calling me at this time to find out how I am?...no it cannot be... probably Phuppi asked him to call me." Zoya thought to herself.

"Yea... yea Mr.khan.." hearing what he said, Zoya snapped out of her thoughts and finally managed to mumble.

"I am OK Mr.Khan... and thanks for calling and asking."

"How is your fever? Is it still there?...are you sure you are OK?" Asad's voice still sounded worried.

"There is no fever right now and I feel much better... please don't worry. I am really OK."Zoya answered calmly this time.

"That's good." Zoya heard Asad's sigh of relief but she was still feeling bewildered by his call and did not know anything to say in reply. Asad himself did not know what else to say to prolong the conversation and an awkward silence stretched between them for several seconds.

"Umm.. i... I guess I should say Good night then... I just wanted to find out how you were before I slept." Asad finally whispered awkwardly.

"Good night... and thanks" Zoya whispered back.

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

The next morning dawned bright and sunny for an early spring morning, and both Asad and Zoya woke up feeling fresh and rested. Zoya yawned, stretched her arms above her head and sat up. She did not have any fever during the night and the mild headache and body ache that she had on the previous day had almost disappeared as well. She wondered if she should go to office or not and right at that moment her phone started ringing. Zoya took the phone and saw Sara's name flashing on the screen and she smiled happily.

"Hello Darling. Good morning." Sara heard Zoya's chirpy voice and immediately knew that Zoya was feeling better. Sara had wanted to come and stay with Zoya previous night, but she had to stay at the office late and finish some work, part of which Zoya was supposed to do. And Zoya was more than grateful to Sara for staying late and finishing her work as well and she had insisted that Sara need not come to her place afterwards as she knew that Sara would be really tired by the time she finished.

"A very good morning to you too... sounds like my best friend has recovered fully and is in a very good mood."

"Yes Sara... I am feeling completely fine and I am thinking of coming to office today." Zoya replied.

"Office!... no Zoe... you should take rest today as well... I have almost finished the work and I just need to recheck what I did before I submit it to Boss... so there is no need for you to come to office today.. . rest well and come back tomorrow."

"But Sara..." Sara interrupted Zoya before she could say anything more and started talking.

"No but Sara... I am telling you, you should rest today... If you want o do something then I will mail you the work I did yesterday... you can just go through it and check it for me... that's the only work I am allowing you to do today."

"Alright... mail it to me then... you are really impossible you know."

"That I know... And I don't care about it." Sara quipped.

"Oh really!... alright bye then.. I need to freshen up." Zoya smiled

"Ok... bye and take care." Sara chuckled at her end.

Zoya was still smiling when she disconnected the call. She hugged her knees and rested her chin on it and thought how lucky she was to find Sara as a friend. She knew that Sara was someone who truly cared about her and a warm feeling always engulfed her whenever Sara fussed over her. And then suddenly she remembered the call she received from Asad previous night. Even though they had ended the call awkwardly, his call had still left her with a similar kind of feeling and she had fallen asleep feeling happy and cared for.

She took her phone once again and looked at the call log and saw his number, a number she did not know till last night. But there it was proof that he did indeed call her last night and it was not a figment of her fever induced delirium. A small smile appeared on her face and she sighed contentedly and saved his number.

When Asad came for breakfast, Dilshad was sitting at the table sipping a juice and he knew that she had been waiting for him, it was after all her daily routine. Her life revolved around Asad, Najma and Naina and selflessly she had adjusted her own life to ways by which she could attend to every need of them. He wished her and asked her how she was as she was feeling tired previous night.

"I am OK Asad... it was just a little tiredness... nothing to worry." Dilshad smiled at Asad.

"Ammi..." Asad reached out and held Dilshad's hand and Dilshad looked at him questioningly.

"Ammi I am sorry for that night... I shouldn't have said all those things to you... I didn't mean it...please forgive me Ammi."

"It's OK Asad. I understand... and... and anyway what you said that night was true... I am the one responsible for what happened.. if I had not forced you and pushed you to marry Tanveer all that would not have happened... so it's actually me who should say sorry to you and ask for your forgiveness." Dilshad said sadly.

"No Ammi.. you shouldn't think that way. You pushed me to marry but your intention was always good and you wanted me to be happy and what you did, you did because you care about me. You trusted Tanveer and even I did and neither of us had any way of knowing what her true nature was like. And I have never blamed you in my heart for pushing me into that marriage... I really don't know what came over me that night... I guess it's just that I was too wary of MS. Farouqui and I could not trust her and had doubts about her motive when she started coming here... and when I saw you and Najma being so friendly with her, I ... I felt that you are again falling into the trap of another young woman who on the surface behaved nicely to you and hid her true nature just like Tanveer did,... and... and I was scared again for you and I felt like protecting you from her... but you took her side so much and defended her so much and then brought out the topic of Tanveer saying because of her I am not trusting anyone... and that angered me so much when it shouldn't have...anyway I blurted out all those things in anger... and I shouldn't have... I'm really sorry Ammi." Asad was close to tears when he finished talking and Dilshad also became teary eyed.

"Please Ammi... never blame yourself for what happened...I cannot bear it if you do that... you and me, we both are victims of Tanveer's game... victims of life's cruelty...so here after, you should never blame yourself and hold yourself responsible even if I say anything to you in anger again... and you should never feel guilty as well... promise me this Ammi" Asad said pleadingly and shook Dilshad's hand a little.

"OK ... I promise you..." Dilshad looked at Asad lovingly with tears in her eyes.

"And Asad... I am glad you talked to me today in this manner... I was feeling so sad after that night." With her left hand, Dilshad caressed Asad's right hand which was holding her right hand. The bandage had been removed from his right hand as it was almost healed but Dilshad could still see the fading colour of small bruises and scars. Since two days she had been seeing that both his hands were bandaged and had guessed what might have happened but she did not ask anything because she did not want to make him more uncomfortable.

"Ammi, I am also glad we talked...I have also been very disturbed after that night." Asad smiled sadly and sighed.

"Alright!... let's have breakfast now... otherwise you will get late to your own office and would fret about it." Dilshad wiped away her tears and smiled at Asad brightly and Asad thanked Allah silently for giving him at least an Ammi like her, who was so understanding, so forgiving; and always ready to do anything to make him happy, to lift his mood and to brighten his day.

"Umm... Ammi, actually... actually I have said sorry to Ms.Farouqui as well." Halfway through breakfast Asad suddenly blurted out.

"You did?..." Dilshad kept the piece of fruit that she was about to put in her mouth back in her plate and looked at Asad with surprise and wonder and Asad squirmed in his chair suddenly feeling too self-conscious and embarrassed. He had been thinking about Zoya again since morning wondering if she was OK and he suddenly wanted to tell his Ammi that he said sorry to Zoya because she would feel happy knowing that, but now he wished he had not told because she appeared too surprised as if she had never expected him to do it.

"Yea I did... I ...I mean, I... I felt that I hurt her too, so I said sorry." Asad stammered like a kid.

"That's actually wonderful Asad... I'm really happy you did... Zoya is a nice girl Asad... you will know it if you get to know her." Dilshad smiled at him.

Asad wanted to tell his Ammi that he had already experienced Zoya's care and concern and had come to believe that she was genuinely nice but for an unknown reason he suddenly started feeling awkward to talk to his Ammi regarding Zoya and felt that it's best to keep it a secret, the time he had spent with Zoya and even the phone call he made to Zoya on the previous night. And without saying anything else, he hurried with his breakfast and finished it in silence.

When Asad drove his car out of his gate, he could not help in glancing at Zoya's gate and he once again wondered how she was feeling this morning. His Ammi did not look worried when he saw her first in the morning and that had reassured him that Zoya was alright because he knew that the first thing his Ammi would have done in the morning was check on Zoya.

But he still felt like checking on her himself and he stopped his car and parked it near Zoya's gate and climbed out. And to his luck the gate was open and he entered through it and walked up to her door, but just before pressing the bell he hesitated wondering if he should do it or not. And it was as if his hand had a mind of its own and his hand reached out and pressed the bell button.

Zoya wondered who it could be who had come so early in the morning to visit her. She wondered if it was Phuppi who had come with something once again, just two hours after she brought breakfast for her. But it wasn't Phuppi but her son who stood at her door when Zoya opened it, and she stood staring at him dumbly because he was the last person she expected to see at her door.

"Hi..." seeing her staring, Asad whispered awkwardly

"Umm... Hi." Zoya came out of her trance and whispered breathlessly.

"I... I just thought of seeing how you are before I went to office... are you feeling better?"

"Yea... I am feeling better now... no fever since last night." Zoya answered and smiled at Asad.

"That's good... Umm... I will make a move then... but in case you need anything or any help, please don't hesitate to call me... I know you would rather call Ammi or Najma, but I am also here to help." Asad said hesitatingly and looked at Zoya uncertainly wondering if she would accept his help at anytime.

"Thanks Mr. Khan... that's really very nice of you... and thanks for coming to see how I am." Zoya knew she sounded very formal, but under the circumstances she could not talk to Asad in any other way.

And she stood staring at his back till he walked through her gate and disappeared from her sight. She then knew that he had come to visit her on his own because Phuppi had already visited her with breakfast and knew that she was alright and so wouldn't have asked Asad to go and see how she was and then she realized that even last night's call also he must have made on his own and not because Phuppi had asked him to do.

She was too surprised and bewildered by the change in his attitude towards her; nevertheless she felt happy and her heart fluttered a little realizing that Asad Ahmed khan cared enough to call her in the middle of the night and visit her early in the morning just to see how she was feeling.

Originally posted by: aarzoo50

res
unres...
beautiful update...
loved it...
zoya is such a kid... so excited to take the car out of parking lot...
asad could b only amused on this... but gave her the car to take care of...
i loved it that instead of being his self Asad apologised...
but for zoya ...she couldnt bring herself to accept it as she was really hurt by his behaviour...
zoya put forward wt she feels abt his family n gave her reasons as to why she visits there... why she was talking to naina abt her mom that day...
asad felt guilty n vunderstood her point... and he couldnt help it but tel zoya to visit his house whenever she wants...
zoya was waiting for an outburst...lol... bt that nva came...
so friendship on the way...
continue soon