Isn't she the sweetest!! (: Anyway, I'm reposting this in a separate post to add it to my index haha. For you Nisha ji (:
Gift Exchange
Asad lay on his side with his hands tucked under his pillow, as he stared at the window, watching little flecks of white snow dance across the night sky and disappear. It'd been weeks since he and Zoya turned up at her Aapi and Jiju's apartment door in New York. While Zeenat remained a little apprehensive of Asad, Anwar had welcomed him in warmly, making sure to clear the guest room up for him to stay in. And Zoya... Asad shut his eyes and sighed loudly as he thought about her.
Zoya had tried to keep the smile on her face as her Aapi and Jiju bombarded her with questions, keeping her answers as simple as possible. She had even announced about how happy she was to be able to return to her old room, but Asad could hear the catch in her voice. He knew that it wasn't that she was unhappy with her Aapi and Jiju. She was unhappy with him, for snatching away from her any chance of finding her Abbu. But she didn't say anything to him, choosing instead to support his decision quietly.
And it was this forced happiness of Zoya's that made Asad feel worse everyday. To top it all off, tonight was Christmas eve, so quite naturally, Zoya was trying to be extra cheerful. Asad found himself unable to deal with it, so he walked off to his room without having dinner. Now he lay here on his bed, hungry and alone. He opened his eyes and continued staring at the snow as it fell, that being the only thing he had left to do since he'd just thrown the responsibilities of Dilshaad Constructions on the vice president without so much of an explanation.
A frown grew on Asad's face as he noticed an unusual movement at the corner of his window, someone... or maybe something red seemed to be creeping upwards slowly. His eyes widened as realization dawned upon him, when the top half of the face of the creeper came into view. Zoya! What in the world was she doing outside his window in the middle of the night?! He rushed over to the window and swung it open, reaching out to grab hold of Zoya's upper arms as he hauled her up.
"What do you think you're doing Miss Farooqui?! Climbing a building in the cold of the night in a flimsy cardigan?? Are you crazy?!" Asad yelled as he settled a shivering Zoya on her feet next to him. He began rubbing her arms over her red cardigan sleeves, trying to bring some warmth to her form. But the cardigan was wet, cold and unhelpful, so he peeled it off her skin and resumed rubbing her arms, this time directly on her skin. Zoya inhaled sharply as Asad shifted one hand to her face, pushing her wet locks away from it.
"Woh main... you didn't have dinner. And when I knocked on your door you didn't respond. So I thought of climbing through your window with coffee... just like old times. But it was difficult to climb with a frumpy jacket and a bag in hand, so I dumped the jacket downstairs. Didn't realize it was just going to get colder and colder with each step up the fire escape," Zoya tried to explain, pouting prettily as she gripped the bag in her hand a little tighter, just as Asad finally noticed it, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Zoya..." Asad whispered, as he wrapped his arm around her waist and gathered her body close to his, resting his chin on top of her head as she pressed her cheek on his chest, clutching his collar with her free hand. A small tear began to form at the corner of his eye despite the smile on his face. He laced his fingers in her hair as Zoya pulled her head backwards slightly, and gently placed a soft kiss on her forehead, earning a low but audible sigh of content from Zoya as she closed her eyes.
"Chalo, let's have that coffee," Asad decided, as he guided Zoya to the bed, sitting her down and taking the bag from her hand before settling down next to her. He took out a thermos and his favourite black mug from the bag, the one Zoya made sure to pack before they left India. As he began pouring the hot coffee into the mug, Zoya reached into the bag, pulling out a packet of butter cookies. She tore the packet open, making a few cookies fly onto the ground and bed. She smiled at Asad sheepishly before hastily picking them up, as soon as she heard his sad sigh.
The both of them sat there silently for a while, Asad taking slow sips from the mug before offering some to Zoya, and Zoya taking bites of the cookies before passing them on to Asad. Both the coffee and cookies finished that way, and Asad placed everything on the bedside table, pulling Zoya towards him as he engulfed her in a side hug. Zoya rested her head against his shoulder, drawing small circles on his thigh as he stroked her hair, tucking the loose bits behind her ear.
"Aap jaante hai Mr Khan, main New York mein har saal Christmas manaati hoon. Sometimes it's a quiet affair, just Aapi, Jiju and I, drinking hot chocolate, all curled up on the sofa, watching Christmas movies. Sometimes I get invited to Christmas parties. I remember there was one year, I'd had a fight with my high school best friend right before Christmas. She kept trying to contact me after that, but I bluntly refused to speak to her. So on Christmas Eve, she sent me an invitation to her Christmas party through Aapi. I told Aapi I wouldn't go, but Aapi explained to me that since my friend was being the bigger person and extending a hand first, I shouldn't be childish about it and just give her another chance. So I finally did, albeit reluctantly. It was only when she spoke to me at the party that I understood where she was coming from, and we could finally start over. I realized all this happened only because I didn't give her a chance to speak to me, only because I had chosen to escape instead of face the problem," Zoya explained, her voice breaking a little towards the end of her story.
Asad pulled away, letting go of Zoya completely as he turned away and covered his face with both his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. He knew exactly what Zoya was trying to say, and it was a little surprising that she had even bothered. Since the time they had arrived in New York, both he and Zoya had not spoken about India at all. Dilshaad had tried to contact him by calling Zeenat numerous times, but Asad had never taken the call. Heck, even his vice president kept trying to contact him to ask him when he was going to come back, but he didn't even attend to those calls. It's true, he was shirking his responsibilities. Actually, Zoya had put it more aptly. He was escaping. Not only was he escaping his responsibilities, he was trying really hard to escape all of his problems, with Ammi, with Zoya, with... Mr Rashid Ahmed Khan, by hiding out in this small room in New York. And it wasn't going to work for much longer.
He turned back to Zoya when he heard the obvious swallowing of a sob, just to see Zoya stand up from the bed and begin walking to the door, wordlessly. Asad quickly got up and followed after her, grabbing her hand and stopping her just before she could open the door.
"Let's go back Zoya. Ghar chalte hai," Asad whispered, earning a loud gasp of shock from Zoya as she turned around. She took a large step towards him before throwing her arms around his neck, gripping him in a tight hug. Asad trailed his hands around her waist, gliding one upwards in a circular motion as he stroked her back.
"This is the best Christmas gift ever," Zoya exclaimed through her tears, before lifting her head from his shoulder and planting her lips on Asad's without further thought. She immediately pulled back, and looked away as she opened her mouth slowly, trying to explain herself. She cringed a little when she couldn't figure out what to say, pretty sure that Asad was going to give her an earful now for her lack of tehzeeb. But when she finally trailed her eyes back to his, she didn't find them full of anger like she had expected. They were twinkling in amusement and... something else she couldn't place.
Asad brought his hand close to Zoya's face, using the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear still finding its way down her face. She leaned into his touch as he cupped her face lightly, pushing her chin upwards as he lowered his face, capturing her lower lip between his just as she closed her upper one on his, kissing her softly. Zoya's hands gripped the back of his shirt as Asad weaved his finger through her hair, angling her head as he increased the intensity of their kiss.
"I take it back. That... that was the best Christmas gift ever," Zoya whispered after they finally broke the kiss, resting her ear against his chest as she soaked in the sound of his heartbeats. Asad chuckled softly, his arm still securely around her waist, pinning her to his body.
"Chalo, now it's time for my Christmas gift!" Zoya announced after a while, pulling away from Asad and grabbing his hand as she led him out of the room. They walked across the hall in silence, as Zoya pointed to Zeenat and Anwar's room door before pressing her index finger against her lips, indicating to Asad that they'd gone to sleep. They arrived at the kitchen, and Zoya guided Asad to the table, seating him there before taking a plate out of the fridge and putting it in the microwave.
"Your gift is dinner?" Asad asked incredulously, as Zoya brought the plate out of the microwave and set it down in front of him. She nodded and laughed, as she pulled the plastic microwave lid off of the plate.
"I wasn't going to let you sleep on an empty stomach, so I put your special Christmas dinner in the fridge. Now quickly have it so we can go to sleep!" Zoya explained happily, as she pushed the plate towards him. A small smile curled up her lips as she watched Asad stare at the plate in shock.
"Kya karoon Mr Khan, Christmas is a happy occasion, and Jiju loves this so it's what we have every Christmas, as well as any other happy occasion. Merry Christmas Mr Khan!" Zoya wished Asad, just as he tore off a piece of his roti and dipped it in the baigan bharta that Zeenat had prepared for the Christmas dinner. Merry Christmas indeed!
The End (:
A big thank you to whoever voted for me as well! Incredibly sweet of everyone (:
Lovelots,
goingreen
Other Works:
Woh Raat, Main Aur Aap - My Writing Index
Real Estate
Cryptocurrency
Financial markets and global economy
Book Talk
Aami Daakini
