Posted:
Hi lovely readers. Another OS. The credit for the title again goes to my sweetum Sis Saima. I love you sis bahut saara. And thank you for always doing the naamkaran of my work.
This one goes out to My Sis, Nims and Ankie (MissHumptyDumpty). Ankie, this is not what you had requested but you know am a slow writer, so I finished what I was writing already and now will start on what you wanted. And yes thanks for suggesting that App. It's only cause of that that I finished what I had started almost 20 days ago 😃
I really hope this one is liked too. It starts from when Asad saves Zoya in mangalpur and brings her back home.
They both looked at their hands. As if still bound by the hand cuffs, their hands lifted in unison. Looking at each other and feeling nervous for the way their bodies and minds were responding to each other, they reluctantly pulled their hands away. They stood looking at each other still able to see the fright in the others eyes. Asad took a step closer to her, gently holding her hand, he led her to her room. Opening the door her nudged her in "Please change" he whispered.
Reluctantly letting their fingers disentangle Asad slowly walked backwards keeping his eyes locked with hers. The growing distance between them causing their insides to churn painfully. Taking a deep breath Zoya closed her eyes trying to calm her insides. As she opened her eyes she saw Asad still at his room door, looking at her intently.
With a slight nod he asked her what she was thinking about. She gently shook her head in the negative and slowly closed her door. Asad stood there looking at her silhouette through the frosted glass moving away from the door. The sight of her moving away from him pained his heart. He didn't know why this was happening but surely understood that if anything happened to the woman in that room he would surely cease to exist. Taking in a deep breath he to went to his room.
After a much needed shower they met at the dining table. Still looking at each other with uncertainty they looked around trying to look for something anything to break the silence that seemed to be deafening. Nervously looking at him Zoya spoke "Ummm, I will look for food in the fridge. Am sure phophi must have left something.
Rummaging through the fridge she found what they could call their first meal in the past 48 hours. Putting the Biryaani in the microwave for heating she turned around to lay the table but stopped in her tracks. She saw Asad placing the plates and cutlery. She stood there looking at a site she knew was rare. After a few seconds she walked up to him "It's OK Mr. Khan, I will lay the table"
Asad looked at her and then continued with his work said "I can do it too, rather am done." Zoya looked at the table and noticed how everything was impeccably placed. She also noticed how he had placed her plate next to his and not the original place she used to take at the table. Uncertainly nodding her head at him she went to bring the heated bowls to the table. They ate in silence only looking at each other from time to time.
They cleared the table after dinner, Asad made sure to clean every speck off the table. Once satisfied that the table was clean he looked at Zoya who had moved to the couch in the living room. He walked out the kitchen looking at her, he realized she still looked so scared. As he walked closer, Zoya looked at him. "Coffee' he asked and she nodded her head.
Asad walked back to the living room with their coffees and handed her her mug. They sat silently not wanting to break the peace of the moment. Asad noticed how she was lost in her thoughts. He knew she was still thinking about what they had been through. As he finished his coffee he spoke
"Zoya... Have you finished your coffee ?"
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear him speak. Asad called her name again and she finally looked at him with a confused expression. He gestured toward the cup and then she realized he was asking about the coffee. She handed him her empty cup, thanking him for the coffee. He took her cup and went to keep the used mugs in the kitchen.
As he came back he told her to take rest. Agreeing she walked towards her room. Asad stood rooted to his spot seeing how dazed she still was because of the events at mangalpur.
Zoya lay in her bed trying hard not to think about what could have happened, what if Asad had not found her in time, what if he would not have been able to save her, what if the people from the panchayat had not buried her alive but had shot her, killing her instantly or worse what if that groom would have been successful in forcefully getting married to her. As soon as that thought flashed in her mind, Zoya shot up, her breathing shallow. She couldn't imagine or she didn't want to imagine what her life would have turned into if she was forced into that wedding, if Asad was not there to save her.
She couldn't sleep, she knew she wouldn't be able to. Zoya leaned against the headboard taking deep breaths trying to calm herself. Slowly she brought her knees closer to her chest, she rest her forehead against her knees and her tears rolled out her eyes. She hugged herself as tight as she could. She still felt the pain and could still feel the effort she had to make to breathe when she had opened her eyes and saw Asad by her side, his eyes red and still brimming with tears, his face stained with a mixture of dirt and his tears and his clothes that were so badly soiled.
No matter how hard she tried she couldn't shrug all those uneasy feelings off. She closed her eyes and let her tears flow freely. She didn't know how long she had been sitting like that or when her silent tears had turned into sobs. She was startled to hear Asad right next to her bed. She looked up at him and immediately threw her arms around his waist crying harder.
"I don't want to die Asad, I don't want to die." As soon as he heard those words he closed his eyes reliving every second of what he had gone through, from the time he had touched her hand when she was still buried to the time she had breathed again in his arms. He removed her arms from around his waist and sat next to her pulling her closer to himself. He didn't want to relive those moments, he didn't want those feelings to course through his body again. He tightened his hold around her pulling her onto his lap.
Without hesitation Zoya sat on his lap winding her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck, still crying. She felt Asad rubbing her back saying soothing words to calm her down. She looked up at him and saw the pain in his eyes too. She moved a little on his lap trying to get even closer to him. She didn't know why but somehow being close to him assured her that she was safe that nothing could harm her that nothing could go wrong in her life. She leaned onto Asad clinging onto him like second skin. Asad knew she was still very scared so let her have her way. He rest his back against the headboard and kept rubbing her back and sometimes caressing her hair whispering into her ear, assuring her through her words that she was now safe. As he realized her sobs subside he said "Sleep Zoya, you need to rest."
She looked at him and shook her head "I tried, but am not able to sleep. If I close my eyes I feel those sensations, the feeling of being suffocated the feeling as if I was dying." As soon as those words left her lips Asad's hand stopped. He felt pain course through his body. He shook his head telling her not to say such things. Zoya closed her eyes letting her tears run down her cheeks and sobs to escape her lips. Asad wiped her tears and held her face between his palms.
"We are home now Zoya, and I promise I will never let anything like that happen to you. I will not let anyone from that village near you ever." With that he pulled her into a tight hug. He kissed the side of her head assuring her and himself that she was OK and was with him. After a few minutes Asad moved away from her a little "You sleep for some time." Zoya nodded her head and got off his lap. She lay down on her bed and looked up at Asad who looked unsure of what to do.
"Will you not sleep?" She asked him with concern. He looked at her and nodded his head. "I will go to my room."
"No don't..." She shot up. He looked at her confused "I mean, I won't be able to sleep alone. Please sleep here... I mean... I mean... I don't know" she said exasperated, fear evident in her eyes. Asad immediately sat next to her holding her hands in a tight grip.
"Nothing will happen Zoya, am in the other room. Just call out to me when you need me." He tried reasoning with her. She shook her head vigorously and immediately sat on his lap again hugging him close to herself. "Please Asad, please..." She pleaded with him her eyes starting to brim with tears again. He looked at her , unsure of what he should do and if he should actually do as she was saying. After pondering over what Zoya wanted he gently removed her hands from around his neck. Zoya looked at him worried. He gave her a reassuring smile and said "I will be back in a minute."
Asad came back with one of the chairs from the dining room. Zoya got up and looked at him confused. He looked at her and smiled at her expression "If I have to sleep in your room, I need a place too. I can't sleep on the floor and neither can we share the bed" he said feeling a little embarrassed at the last pasrt. Zoya shook her head understanding his point. "But you won't be comfortable sitting all night." "Don't worry, I will be and I don't have much options either." Zoya felt responsible for making him uncomfortable all night but felt helpless because of her own fear.
After arranging his chair next to her bed Asad sunk into it, propping his legs up onto her bed. He looked over at Zoya who was looking intently at him. "I hope you are comfortable." She Asked feeling bad for what she was making him do. Asad nodded his head "Try sleeping Zoya you need rest." He said. Zoya closed her eyes praying none of the uneasy feelings came back. But she knew better, as soon as she closed her eyes she felt the same sensations gripping her heart and her body reacting instantly to them.
Asad who had been looking at her saw her expressions change from calm to fear to pain merely in seconds and the next moment she sat up and opened her eyes that reflected the fear that he had seen on her face. He sat up straight immediately "Are you OK?" He asked her with concern. She shook her head in the negative. "I can't get rid of these sensations. I feel suffocated as soon as I close my eyes Asad. It feels like I will die... I don't want to die Asad, I don't want to..." And she cried again.
Asad held her hands tugging at them so she would look at him and when she did she saw fear in his eyes and his eyes too brimming with tears. " Don't say things like these Zoya, it kills me every time you say it. I will never let anything happen to you." Eyes locked onto each other, Asad slowly got up and sat on her bed next to her. He put his arm across her shoulder pulling her closer to himself. He held her tight against himself "I will not let anything happen to you Zoya., nothing can harm you till I am with you, I won't let any harm come your way." He looked down at her , her eyes hopeful that what he said he would do.
With Zoya still in his arms, Asad lay down on her bed making sure not to loosen his hold on her. Without hesitation she too snuggled closer to him wrapping her arms around his waist. Asad let her rest her head on his arm and looked down at her "Are you comfortable?" She smiled and nodded her head. They kept their eyes locked with each other a sense of belonging washing over them. They didn't know how long they had been looking at each other when Zoya finally blinked her eyes breaking the spell they had been under.
"I was so scared Asad, all the while that we had been running away, trying to save ourselves... I was so scared." She whispered.
"Me too Zoya, I didn't want anything to happen to you. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you..." He whispered back looking at her in the eye. Zoya saw something in his eyes that she had never seen. Her heart told her what it was but she didn't want to believe it. She knew her Mr. Khan well and knew he could not feel anything like that for her.
"What if they had been successful in capturing us? Or worse what if that groom was successful in getting married to me. I made Mariyam run away, what if they forcefully got me married to him?" She clutched his kurta in a tight grip as if she would be pulled away from him.
Asad wrapped his other arm around her waist pulling her flush against himself "I would never let that happen." The look in his eyes told her that as much as the thought was painful for her it was equally torturous for him too. She nodded her head before she rest her head on his arm again. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she rest her head back on his arm closing her eyes trying to get some much needed sleep. Asad looked at her not wanting to close his eyes fear of losing her gripping his heart painfully.
With her eyes still shut she spoke again "I was so foolish to have not listened to you when you asked me to return to Bhopal. Only if I had..." She trailed off. Asad looked at her trembling lip understanding she would cry again any minute. "I was foolish too, to not have listened to you when you wanted to tell me the reason behind what you did. I am sorry for not trusting you rather for never listening to you." He finished softly. Zoya looked up at him and saw an apologetic smile on his face. Without responding to it she put her head back on his arm and closed her eyes again.
After a while with her head still resting on his arm Zoya spoke again in barely a whisper "What if you didn't find me in time, what if you had never found me... What if I had died?" She felt her cheeks getting wet and Asad's arms tighten around her but he didn't answer. She waited for a while and then looked up. She saw Asad looking straight in her eyes. She waited for him to answer her question "Tell me Asad, what if I had not survived..." Drawing a deep breath in and letting it out in a whoosh he answered her question "I would have died too."
"Asad..." She whispered his name in shock.
He nodded his head telling her what he just said was the truth. " Yes Zoya, as strange as it may sound to you, this is the truth. If any thing had happened to you, if I had lost you today, I would have died too... I don't know how, when, where or why, but it happened...and this is what it took for me to realize what you have come to mean to me... I cannot imagine my life without you in it Zoya. You have come to mean so much to me. More than what I had wanted, ever... But now that you do, now that I know, and now that you know too, will you be with me always?"
Zoya didn't know what to say. She looked in his eyes that looked so hopeful. Taking a deep breath Zoya tried to sort her thoughts that suddenly seemed to be everywhere after what Asad had just said. Looking straight in his eyes she said "I dont know what to say Asad... I mean I do love phoophi and tamatar a lot... And never thought that one day I will have to leave them and go... But you... I don't know." Asad felt as if a fist had gripped his heart causing the immense pain he felt in his chest. Feeling dejected he loosened his hold on her. As soon as Zoya felt it she held onto his kurta tightly pulling him just a little closer and continued "But you, you Asad have come to mean so much more to me now. I cannot explain how it felt to be in your arms as soon as I had opened my eyes, the sensations that coursed through my body as I had taken in your sent... Lungs full of it as soon as I was able to breath again. The feeling of your warm body against mine, your firm arms holding my trembling body safely against yourself. How your eyes had conveyed it all to me when we were still in mangalpur. I cannot explain what I felt then and what I feel now, laying next to you, in the safest place Allah could make for me. I don't want to be anywhere else Asad, I want to stay here with phoophi, with tamatar... With YOU, always." Saying that she snuggled closer to him taking deep breaths of his sent, wanting to drown in it.
As she finished what she wanted to say, Asad felt her move closer to him and he in turn held her tight against himself. He rest his cheek against the top of her head inhaling the sweet smell of her shampoo, something he knew he was going to love more and more as they spent their life together. With a smile spreading on his face he rubbed his nose on her head taking in a deep breath. Softly kissing her crown he whispered to her "I love you Zoya". Zoya shot her head up immediately looking at him wide eyed "Say it again" she said more out of shock than happiness but she wanted to hear it again and again. Asad smiled at her, placing a finger under her chin he held her face in place "I love you" he whispered again looking deep in her eyes. Zoya smiled wide at him and without any hesitation said what he wanted to hear "I love you too Asad, I love you too". With goofy smiles adorning their faces, Zoya placed her head back on his arm and Asad rest his cheek on her head. She didn't know when she fell asleep but eventually she did, in the strong and safe arms of her love, her Asad.
P.S. The usual drill for you lovely people, hit the like button and leave me your comments. Am eager to read them all.
Cricket
Debate Mansion
Bigg Boss 19
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
124