Live In Fantasy Index updated 23/05/16 BUDDY ME FOR PM - Page 16

Originally posted by: Aimer_vous

oh graciously lord , you took my breath away...these updates are out of this world...👏

Simply awesome, 😳

Edited !!!

Did I took your post place...oops...sorry ...I was reading so indulgently...I am feeling bad now...

Originally posted by: azsumay

Hey sanai loved it

This best gift on your birthday

Hey you hadn't count my story

Plz add my story too

Thanks for pm

Originally posted by: ..MereWhisper..

Your VMs are really graceful dear!

BeYourself

IT WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY

It was just another morning, like any other day. I woke up in the safe arms of my husband, Asad Ahmed Khan, the man whom I love unconditionally, or rather, it was my destiny to be in love with him. I found my head rested on his broad shoulders. It was the safest and the calmest place that I could ever be in. I placed a light kiss on his left cheek, making sure not to wake him up and got up from the bed to close the curtains as the rays of the Sun were causing a frown to appear on my loving husband's face.

He had the most handsome face that I had ever seen in my life. He looked like a baby curled up in his sleep... His face was innocent, just like his heart. He had the cutest dimples that a man could ever have; and I am proud to say that He is My Man. A small smile crept up to my face when I saw him taking turns... He was such a baby!

My thoughts drifted back to the days when we were kids. Feelings of love were not a part of our lives then. I was Zoya Farooqui back then.

-------------------------Flashback Starts (Zoya's POV)-------------------------

His father was my father's best friend and business partner. They had been together since their childhood and had started their own construction company in Mumbai, before getting married. I am the only daughter of Gafoor Farooqui and Razia Farooqui , and Asad and Najma are the children of Rashid Ahmed Khan and Dilshad Khan.

Our houses were not too far. Our families made it a point to have regular weekend meet ups. They were friends first and business partners later. We had the most beautiful Sundays till the day when Rashid Uncle had to move out to Delhi in order to extend the business further. Asad was eight and I was five years old when they had left Mumbai. He was not only my best friend but also my only friend at that time. Najma was like my own little sister. She was just three years old and was my most favorite toy. I could never imagine staying away from her.

The day they had left, I found myself curled up in bed and crying my heart out. My mother was the only person to understand me at that time.

"Why are you crying?", Mom asked me but I had no answer to her question. She smiled at my innocence and hugged me tight.

"You are crying because Najma left, right?"

I looked up at her and cried more. "And you are crying because Asad left too?"

I nodded my head in yes and hugged her again.

"Don't worry. He will come back one day. But now, he needs to stay with his parents. Rashid Uncle has some important work to do in Delhi. Moreover, it's not too far too. He will come during his vacations."

My face got lighted up with this new piece of information. I was happy to know that Asad and Najma would come here every year.

Ammi had been in touch with Dilshad Aunty over phone every day. I used to talk to her too but there was no way how I could manage to speak to any of my best friends. Asad was already a very sincere student and a boy of fewer words. As he grew up, this character of him became more dominant in him.

He came to Mumbai during the first two years after shifting to Delhi, but later, he stopped visiting. My dad often went to Delhi and Rashid Uncle came here too, but alone... I finally realized that I had lost my best friend and my only friend back then.

------------------------------------Flashback Ends---------------------------------

I still get goosebumps thinking about those days. A lone tear escaped from my eyes when I looked at my husband sleeping peacefully. The tear was replaced by my smile immediately when I remembered about the day when he had come to Mumbai.. I got back to bed and placed myself on him in the same way like I was before. I found him encircling his arm around my waist and tightening his hold by every passing second and it was then when I realized that he was awake.

"You were awake all this while?", I asked him, pretending to be shocked.

"Uhmm hmmm..."

He mumbled in his sleep and hugged me, nuzzling his face against my neck.

"Asad... I am feeling ticklish...", I said in between my giggles. He lifted up his head and hugged me tighter.

"May I know why were you up so early?", he asked me. I pointed my eyes towards the window and he got aware of the reason of my early rising. He kissed me on my cheeks and fell asleep once again, leaving a smile of content on my face. My thoughts again drifted back to the day when I got to know from my mother that he was coming to Mumbai.

------------------------------Flashback Starts (Zoya's POV)------------------------

I was happy when Ammi had told me about his arrival, but I pretended as if it did not affect me in any way. My mother was shocked to see that, but I knew that she understood that I was just angry with him. When Najma grew up a little, she used to call me up too, but I had never heard from him. I was disappointed with him. There was no way that I would talk to him... Not now, not ever, Never!

I went to my room and closed the door and pretended to be asleep. I heard a car stop at our door way. I heard my mother and Dilshad Aunty almost scream out in joy when they saw each other. I also heard Najma's voice. It was as sweet as it sounded over the phone. But I did not hear His. Did he not come then? I thought he was coming. I was confused. I wanted to run back downstairs and check whether he has come, but seeing him would melt my anger. It's not like I have not seen him in these years. Dad had always brought their photographs whenever he had gone to Delhi. Even Rashid uncle used to show us the pictures of his growing children during his visits to Mumbai. But I was stubborn, I refused to see any! But I was not a saint either...I always managed to get hold of his photographs and see him growing from a boy of 8 years to a handsome adult of 18 years. I have noticed all the changes that occurred in his face over the years. But I could never hear his voice...

And suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching towards my room...

-------------------------------------Flashback Ends---------------------------------------

Asad turned in his sleep again and finally woke up only to find me still awake.

"Are you crazy?", He asked me. I glared at him and he stopped teasing me, at once.

"Don't tell me that you are once again thinking about the past...", he asked me in a very obvious tone. I looked at him. I was shocked. Is he a mind reader or am I just so predictable?

"Hello, I am not a mind reader or something. You have been doing this since the very first morning after our marriage. Remember?" I smiled looking at him. It was the truth. I have been doing this since the last six months. Yes, I have been married to him since six months.

"You know what Zoya, I still laugh thinking about the day when I had returned to Mumbai. You were so silly at that time. Not like you are not now, but you were sillier then", Asad blurted out only to receive a few blows from me. He caught me by my wrist and pinned me down under him. He kissed me on my forehead and looked into my eyes, intently, and I understood that this time, it was his mind that went back to the day of his coming back to my life.

---------------------------------Flashback Starts (Asad's POV)----------------------------

I got down from the car and met every member of the house, except Zoya. She was nowhere to be seen. My expectant eyes searched for her in every corner of the living room, but to my disappointment, she was not there to welcome me. But again, it was something that I had already anticipated from her. Her anger on me was justified. I enquired Razia Aunty about her and she told me that Zoya was asleep in her room. I became worried.Was she not well? But then I got to know that she was just tired from school and hence was resting, and I understood that I was going to have a hard time pacifying her.

I climbed up the stairs and reached up to her room. I gathered a lot of courage and turned the door knob to open the door. I saw her sleeping, her face hidden under the blanket. It was the month of May and there was no way for her to feel cold. She was Angry, and her anger was unexplainable in words.

I called her, but she didn't respond. I wanted to see her beautiful face. Beautiful...Yes, that she was. She has now grown up to become a young lady of fifteen whose innocent beauty could make anyone fall for her. I have never missed out any of her photographs in these years. I kept them safely with me. I looked at them whenever I missed Her, my best friend and my only friend.

Over the years, I became quieter than before and I could never call her up. Even she had never asked for me though she had always had her regular conversations with Najma. I also tried to find out from my Abbu about her reactions after seeing my photographs, but to my disappointment, Abbu's reply was the same every time. I was unduly conscious to nudge him further. I stopped going to Mumbai. With time, studies took over me and my passion for Architecture grew stronger. I was here, to tell her about that and meet her for the last time, may be.

I called her again, but she did not respond. I wanted to return back, but then I notioned that we were not kids anymore. May be she was, but I wasn't. I was older than her, hence wiser by thoughts and actions. I pulled the duvet that covered her beautiful face. She looked like an angel, My Angel. I brushed away my thoughts and concentrated on what I had come here for.

Her eyes were shut and there was no chance of her responding to my voice. Was it that bad? I laughed at myself and thought of a different way to wake her up, no pull her up from her so called sleep! I was sure that she was not sleeping as I found her faintly smiling once, showing her dimples. I did not want to do what I was about to do, but then the thought of the amount of fun that it would bring along, drove away all my disciplined thoughts.

I took the jug of water that was kept on the bedside table and poured out every drop of water from it on her half covered face. She woke up with a sudden jolt as if she had seen a nightmare. For the first few seconds, she was shocked beyond words to react but later when she recovered from it, she understood the reason for her terror. Her face took the angriest look and then I knew that it was time for me to run for my life. She ran behind me throwing anything and everything that her hands could get hold of. I successfully dodged the pillows and caught the flower vase but her sandal landed on my face, causing a small cut to appear just above my left brows.

She at once stopped throwing things at me when she heard me wincing in pain. She came near me, made me sit on her couch and brought the first aid box. It was the first time when we both had looked into each other's eyes in these years. Her eyes were as innocent as they were when she was just five. She was fretting over me, and the worry on her face for me forced a smile on my face. She saw me staring at her and then she realized the position that we were sitting in. We were so close to each other that we could hear each other's increasing heartbeats. She moved back promptly and asked me, "Are you okay?"

I heard her voice! It was like a nightingale's chant to my ears... She asked me again and then I replied to her, with just a nod, unable to say anything more.

"What do you think of yourself?", she asked me furiously when she was finally assured that I was fine.

"Hello, I am talking to you.. What do you think of yourself?? All these years, I was like invisible and non-existent to you and now you are here and the first thing that you do is get me wet in this pool of water! Are you insane or something?", she yelled at me, anger and pain both clearly understandable in her voice.

I avoided saying anything. I moved forward and took her in a hug. At first she was shocked, but later she hugged me back. I whispered in her ear, "I missed you Zoya". After a while, she whispered back, "I missed you too".

Anger and complaints could wait!

--------------------------------------Flashback Ends----------------------------------------

I looked into her eyes; they were the same like they were before. But I could see tears brimming in them now.

"What happened?", I asked her softly, even though I knew the answer pretty well.

"Say, will you?", I asked her again on not getting any response before.

"I just remembered the day when you had left me again...", she said, looking into my eyes with her unshed tears.

"But it was different that time, right?", I said, trying to highlight optimism in it.

"Yes, it was different. I didn't lose you like before, it was just our first step to our togetherness", she said, dropping a kiss on my nose.

---------------------------------Flashback Starts (Zoya's POV)-----------------------------

It was the most beautiful vacation of my life. Asad was in Mumbai this time. I spent my days with him and Najma, reminiscing the old days. I remembered less than him and I was surprised to know that Asad had so many beautiful memories still carved in his mind, conspicuously. All these were unknown to Najma and she seemed to enjoy everything the most.

But he was there for only two weeks, and then, he would leave for New York to continue with his studies there. He was going there to pursue his dream to get his degree in Architecture. This meant that I would not see him again for the next five years. But this time, he ensured me that he would stay in touch. We had already shared our Email ID's and phone numbers and had also decided to Skype. This time, I could just not lose him.

Though he had assured me of it, but I was still not satisfied. I could neither be selfish enough to stop him though, nor had I any right to do so, but my stupid idiotic imprudent tears could just not let him be out of sight! I had a fear of losing him again after this long wait.

He placed the softest kiss on my forehead before leaving but this time reassuring me of his comeback.

----------------------------------Flashback Ends------------------------------------

I checked the time. It was almost 9 O' clock in the morning and we were still in bed, laughing, crying and rejoicing our old moments. It was a Sunday; hence Asad was allowed to wake up late. I got up from the bed again, and turned my head to look at his sleeping form. He was asleep once again! How much can a person sleep on weekends! I sighed heavily, chuckled a little and headed towards the washroom to freshen up.

He came down for breakfast at 10, almost two hours later than his usual time. He followed his daily routine of kissing me on my cheeks and making me blush, before taking his seat beside me. How adorable can someone be!

"Zoya, do you remember that day when you almost gobbled your breakfast when you had found me online?"

I laughed hard and then realized that he was teasing me. I smacked him on his arm playfully and ordered him to eat.

-------------------------------Flashback starts (Zoya's POV)-------------------------------

I was having breakfast in my room when I heard a sound of ping from my laptop. I looked up and saw Asad was online. I turned around and gulped down the juice and swallowed the half chewed bread hurriedly. I saw him staring and laughing at me. No doubt, I was angry, but I was happier to see him.

Yes, he had kept his promise. He used to send me mails every other day and I always made sure to reply to them. It was his fourth year in New York and I had successfully passed out High School and took up Interior Designing as it was something in which I took interest in. Asad supported me the most in my decision and my parents also seemed to be happy about it. Asad was not only my friend, but my philosopher and guide too.

"Zoya, did someone ever tell you that you eat like a monkey?", he said, laughing like a maniac.

I threw a resentful glance at him and he stopped laughing instantly.

"I...I ... am... Sorry, but I just couldn't resist myself!", he said, trying to control his laughter.

"You saw me eating like a monkey but you did not see the reason behind it! How insensible of you Asad", I yelled with an evident pain visible on my face.

He showed me his most attractive smile and asked me the reason for my stress. Unlike other times, I reacted in a different way today. I always got irritated by his taunts but had never shouted at him. It was one of the most accustomed things between us and was more like a tradition.

And, he read my mind again. I told him about the project that I was given to handle and how brilliantly I had messed it up due to my stupidity. My professor was hell angry with me and I was given a deadline of the day after tomorrow to mend my mistakes.

As I said, Asad was my guide too. He helped me out and the project was indeed successful. He advised me not to panic at the time of crisis and like every other word of his, I stored this piece of advice in my memory too.

-------------------------------Flashback Ends------------------------------------

"I missed you so much during those five years Asad. My eyes longed to see you, my hands longed to touch you...", I said and sighed, hugging him from behind. He turned me around and held me by my waist. I scooped my arms around his neck as a reflex and looked into his eyes which conveyed only love for me.

"When will you stop with this Zoya?", he asked me.

I kissed him on his perfect jaw line and answered, "Never!"

He laughed and hugged me, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.

"You know, I was so excited on the day I was coming back. Only the thought of meeting you was increasing my adrenaline rush...", he said, while rubbing his hands possessively on my back.

"Hmmm...", I said, inhaling his scent that never failed to intoxicate me. There was no need to say anything more.

------------------------------Flashback Starts (Asad's POV)----------------------------

I was so excited. I was finally going back to India, back to my Zoya. I would be able to see her, not that I didn't see her in these five years, but it would be different now... I smiled inwardly at my thoughts and called her up for the last time from New York, before entering the Airport. She seemed to be more excited than I was and she did nothing to suppress her excitement this time.

I went to Delhi and met my parents. After a week, we decided to go to Mumbai for another vacation before the kick start of me joining our family business. I entered the Farooqui Villa' and the scenario was absolutely different this time. As soon as the door opened, I saw Zoya launching herself on me, not bothered about the presence of others in the room. She hugged me tighter and said, "I missed you so much Asad!!" I understood from her voice that she was about to cry, but I could not let that happen.

"Yes, I am back, good for you and not so good for me", I said, trying to lighten her mood. She laughed and smacked me on my arm, and welcomed me and my family inside.

I was there only for a week and I had another best vacation of my life. Spending time with Zoya was indeed the best thing in my life.

I returned to Delhi, but this time her face was not gloomy. She knew that I would go nowhere now.

-----------------------------------Flashback Ends------------------------------------

"Zoya, let's go out for dinner tonight", I said while looking up from my laptop screen.

"No." I was surprised by her answer. She never said no for eating out.

"And why is that so?", I asked her.

"Because, I want to spend some lone time with my husband today and not in any crowd...", she said, proudly flashing her endearing dimples.

"You are unbelievable sometimes! Do you know that?"

"Not more than you my dear husband!", she said while giggling.

"I know", I said winking at her.

----------------------------Flashback Starts (Zoya's POV)----------------------------

It was two years since Asad had got settled in our family business. His degree and profound knowledge in Architecture took the business to more heights and it flourished like never before. My Interior Designing course was over and I was also working for our own company on his suggestion. He said, my knowledge in it would help in the decor of the buildings or hotels that he made. His motivation was something that had always helped me.

People say, 'Behind every man's success, there is a woman'. But for me, My Man was behind my every success. His friendship became my strength, his companionship became my courage and his faith in me made me believe in myself. He says the same! Hahaha...!

It was a Friday when my father had informed me of Asad and his family's arrival in Mumbai. It was now the most natural thing to happen as we both travelled a lot to each other's places for business. I took it as just another visit of him with his family.

I greeted them in the usual way like I always did. I hugged him like every time, but this was the first time when I earned giggles from everyone after that. I looked at them suspiciously as I smelled something fishy in the air. I ignored it for the time being and moved inside with them.

During lunch, I saw Najma and others staring at me and chuckling at times. There was definitely something that I was unaware of. It did not take long for Najma to break out into fits of laughter.

"What is wrong with you all today? Why is everybody behaving with me so strangely?", I asked, unable to control my curiosity anymore.

"You will know that in some time", said Asad, mischief clearly visible in his eyes.

My Ammi and Dilshad Aunty called me in her room some time later after lunch. It was then when she broke out the actual reason for the arrival of Arora Family.

"At first, we had decided that we would not tell you anything, but now there is a bit of change in the plan", Dilshad Aunty said, cupping my face in her palms.

"Will you marry my son?", she asked me.

I was left speechless for a moment. I had never thought about it. It was not like I wasn't happy, but I wasn't ready...Not yet, as I had never talked about it with Asad before.

"Aunty...I ..I...I think you should ask Asad first", I said. She laughed at my words.

"What do you think? We are doing it without his consent in all this? It was him who said that he wanted to marry you. Not like we didn't know...In fact, it was something that destiny had planned for you long before...but when he had told me about his feelings, I can't tell you how happy I was Zoya! ", she said while tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

Asad had told that himself and he was here to get married to me? My ears were still not able to believe this but my heart had already started doing summersaults.

"But why did that Duffer not tell anything to me before?", I asked, and bit my tongue when I realized that I was speaking to my future mother-in-law about her own son.

"I don't know about that. It's between you and him. But now, you tell me, should I take it as a yes from you?" , she asked me , smiling.

I looked at my mother before giving her any answer. She smiled and nodded her head at me to proceed.

"Yes", I said and my cheeks turned red.

"So, now that you are going to be my daughter-in-law, I want you to call me Ammi". I agreed and did what she said to which she hugged me again, blessing me for my blissful life ahead.

------------------------------------Flashback Ends--------------------------------------

"I really don't know what was wrong with you that day... Who comes all of a sudden to get engaged like this?", I asked him.

"Smart People like me of course!", he said, proudly.

"But what you did to me was nothing less than a torture Zoya... You had nearly given me a heart attack on that day!!", he said, faking a heart attack now. I glared at him to make him stop.

-------------------------------Flashback Starts (Asad's POV)------------------------------

Our engagement was planned to take place after two days with just the family being around. I wore a black Sherwani and she wore an Anarkali of red and green combination. She did not look less than any angel. I was proud of her. She was My Angel who came into my life only to make it more beautiful and brighter.

I took her hand in mine to put the ring in her finger when she suddenly drew it back.

"What happened to you?", I asked, shocked by her action.

"I don't want to get engaged to you", she said, frightening me more.

"What the hell are you saying Zoya?", I asked, my voice getting a little louder, yet trembling more in fear with each word.

"What? I am saying what I should be saying...", she said with a pout.

Her pout signified that she was up to some mischief. I indicated her with my eyes to go on with what she was saying.

"Ammis, Abbus and Najma, tell me, how can I agree to marry him when he didn't even propose me once?", she said, showing her puppy face and earning giggles from everyone at the plural of the words Ammi' and Abbu'..

"C'mon Zoya, we are getting engaged now, can't I do that later?", I asked, not quite believing her silly antics. Her face showed no sign of agreement; hence I decided to give in thinking that it was just the beginning of my slavery for her.

I took her hands in mine and asked her, "Will you marry me Zoya?"

"I will never marry you if you will propose me like this...", she said and turned around.

I finally made her look into my eyes and said what my heart felt at that moment, with utmost sincerity.

"I have not been with you for many years, but I have missed you every day... I did not see you for many years, but I did not forget to remember you every moment... I remember the days when I had left you, the days when we were away from each other, but I never failed to see you in my dreams... I always dreamt of the day when we would be together, forever... I don't know when I had started loving you, but being in love with you has been the best feeling in my life so far... And I want to cherish that feeling throughout the rest of my life... Will you be with me to cherish that too, forever? I love you..Will you marry me?"

She was not uttering any word. I understood that she was too contented to say anything. She was laughing and crying at the same time.

"I love you too...", she said, her voice quivering because of the lump that formed in her throat. I took her into the most gentle hug and slipped the ring into her ring finger and claimed her to be mine, forever.

Our wedding was a grand affair which was held after three months of our engagement. That day, my dream came true. Zoya was mine by all means. From this marriage I got an understanding and beautiful wife, a best friend, my love, in short, she was my Life Support System. That day was indeed another addition to the list of the best days of my life!

---------------------------------Flashback Ends--------------------------------------

(Zoya's POV)

I was working in the kitchen when I heard the doorbell. I opened the door and found a delivery boy with my favorite pizza and coke. It was only Asad who could order it for me. Even in his busy schedule, he never failed to take care of me in the absence of our family members.

Yes, now we were in Delhi as Asad's Mom and Dad had decided to move back to Mumbai to spend their lives with their friends. Even my parents got company over there and they all were happy to be together... I was here with Asad in Delhi as we had the business to take care of. My father and Rashid Abbu continued with their work in Mumbai as it was getting extremely difficult for Asad to travel so frequently. But we did go to Mumbai once a month to spend some quality time with our family.

I took the pizza box and went to our room where I saw Asad still working on his laptop. I took it and placed it away from him. He did not bother to stop me as he was sure that I would not listen to him. I took a slice and fed him. He did the same. Sharing pizza together was another conventional thing that we often did whenever we got any time.

He made me sit on his lap and kept looking at me, making me blush to a deeper shade of red.

"Asad...!!", I said, while my cheeks turned crimson.

"What?", he asked, innocently. I knew what he was up to. I pushed him back and said, "Asad, you are happy na?"

"Not yet", he said, with naughtiness visible in his eyes.

"Shut up!! Tell me, are you happy?", I asked him again.

He cupped my face and said, "With you, Yes...Without you, Never!"

"Promise me that you will always love me...", I said.

"I promise to love you for the rest of my life and later... I promise to love you more each day... I promise to be with you, till my last breath... I promise you everything!!" And with that, he sealed his promises with a warm kiss on my lips. It was a kiss of pure love and a vow that intensified with his every move.

With him, every day of my life was a pure bliss, pure marital bliss... It was just another day of our lives when we sailed together in the memories of our past. It Was Just Another Day of Love...

I paced around the room in smaller steps and my steps took a larger dimension with my mother's decreasing tone of voice. My anticipation was growing and I was almost starting to bite my nails.. Mind you, I never bite my nails, because I love them way too much! I looked at my hands for a moment and stared at my painted nails- a blood red nail color with a perfect gel look. My lips curved upwards for a smile and the Adrenaline rush had somewhat reduced while I stared dreamily at my fingers, preparing a mental note on the different colors that I still had to buy. I chuckled at my own fantasy.

It wasn't long when my smile had to disappear and the same anxiety took over me when I heard my mother exchange final good byes with the lady on the other end of the call. I started pacing the length of my room again and almost knocked out my head when it struck hard with that of my sister, Humeira.

"Ouch Aapi...!!", she winced while I flinched in pain at the blow that I just received along with her.

"Can't you see and walk Humeira? What's wrong with you? I was almost going to get knocked out had I not been careful..", I shouted and mentally patted my back for successfully placing the blame on her. However old one may turn, there's a divine happiness that lies in teasing your sibling.

"What?? It was you who was marching around without sparing a glance towards the door. I just walked into the room just to give you this news..."

"What news??"

Suddenly my pain and my teases flew out of the window when my brain concentrated on the news that my dearest sister brought along with her. Another truth about siblings- They might fight and tease, but they would never ditch you, and often bring you the 'News' which you might have been dying to hear all this while.

"Aapiii...", she screamed and her smile was way too broad and I knew that the 'news' was nowhere near to ' good' for me.

"Speak up!!!!", I ordered her.

"You know..."

"Humi..." Came my mother's voice. Zeenat Farooqui, a lovely lady who still looked young enough to compete with her daughters.

Ammi's gleeful face gave me the hint that I could freely curse my fate now.

"I am so happy for you Zoya... I was waiting for this day..so much that I can't even express my happiness."

"Ammi please...", I whined as I knew what she was talking about.

"What Ammi? Do you know how important this conversation was? Why were you trying to eavesdrop on us when I had clearly asked you to stay in your room?" She glared as she scolded me.

Great!!

"But Ammi.. you were talking about me. I guess I have the right to listen to all that.", I tried reasoning.

"You had, only if you didn't interrupt our conversation every time! What must she be thinking? I was so embarrassed."

"She won't be thinking anything. She is probably never going to call you again", I prayed as I said this. But some prayers came with the fate of never getting answered, and this was definitely one of them.

"You are not supposed to talk about her like this. She might just be your would be mother-in-law!!!" She scolded me again. This was not something that I was used to.

"Oh please Ammi... I haven't even met him!! How can I agree to marry him just like that??? And do you realize that I am just a small Baby.. I suppose you and Abbu don't want to do a crime like Child Marriage!!" This time she laughed at what I said. Humeira too giggled at my words and I knew that I was not taken seriously by any of them.

My words were not true either. It was true that I was a baby to my family, but my Birth Certificate told a different story. I was in my final year of MBA and was all set to take up the job that I was offered. I glared at Humeira as I couldn't do that to my mother and she understood that the fact was actually bothering me a lot. The word Lot wasn't going to suffice the 'lot' that I meant.

"We are not asking you to get married to him just like that. We are just asking you to meet him. That's it! There is no harm in doing that, is there?", she asked in her polite tone that I was usually used to hearing.

"What if he isn't good enough? What if he is not the one' for me? What if he turns out to be a pervert? Or a serial killer? Or a murderer or even a rapist? My life will be ruined then!!" All this made no sense, and even I was well aware of that. But I had to say something and this was all I could manage.

"Seriously Zoya?? You really think your parents would choose a murderer or a serial killer for you?", she said in between her giggles. "Now stop bothering yourself so much and have a little faith in us. We are just asking you to meet him. No more expectations!!"

I sighed heavily as I had no more justified or even baseless reasons to not meet him.

"I shouldn't have allowed you and Abbu to go for Nikhat's wedding last month. It all started from there!", I said, almost teary eyed, as I was not liking the sudden changes that my life brought in.

"And we are thankful that we had gone to Nikhat's wedding. Otherwise we would have clearly missed out the jewel that we had seen in Asad."

This time I rolled my eyes at her and immediately had an indescribable dislike towards Asad, whoever he was!

"Here you go..." My mother handed over a piece of paper to me. It had the name Asad written on it along with a ten digit number. It did not need an Einstein's brain to guess what my mother exactly wanted from me.

"This is not happening! Never!", I said as my fingers held the piece of paper. "You had just mentioned a meeting'. Phone calls were never there on the list!" This time my reasons were not irrelevant.

"Zoya...How can we just let our daughter meet an unknown guy just like that? What if he is a serial killer or a murderer? It's better to know him beforehand. Isn't it?", she winked as she said this and then went out of my room. She winked! My mother WINKED! It clearly meant that I was trapped. Revenge was now that my blood was calling for. I turned to Humeira and shot daggers at her.

"You knew this??" You knew about all of this!! I am going to kill you..."

Then she ran, and I ran behind her. We both threw pillows and whatever came our way to each other. In less than a couple of minutes, our room was in a huge mess and we both settled on the bed side by side, with our backs hitting the mattress.

"I am so afraid Humi.. What if he isn't the right person for me?", I voiced my fear to her, because I knew that out of all the people in the world, she was the one who always understood me more than I did myself.

"He will never be a part of your life if he isn't meant to be for you..", she said as she threw her leg and arm around me and crawled up to me like a baby, and I hugged her back. She knew that her hugs always soothed my inner turmoil.

Later that night, as I tried to doze off, I realized that my parents wouldn't go for anyone who wasn't the right one for me. He might not be the one', but he was definitely not going to be the wrong one. I saved his number in my phone and my thoughts diverted to the days, just a month back, when my parents had gone to Nikhat's wedding in Delhi.

Nikhat was Gafoor Ahmed Siddiqui and Razia Siddiqui's only daughter and her parents had been friends of my parents even before my birth. Asad was Nikhat's cousin and the son of Rashid Ahmed Khan and Dilshad Khan. I had never met him, but have always heard about him from Nikhat. It was in one of my visits to Delhi when I had met Dilshad Aunty once. I wasn't going to recall that meeting if my parents hadn't suddenly asked me, "Zoya, do you remember Dilshad?" I had ransacked almost all the memories of last 5 years only to be told by my mother that I was just 7 when I had met her. Like I was even supposed to remember that!!

I knew that something was coming up that was supposedly not going to be anything pleasant for me.

Ammi and Abbu filled me in with all the details of the wedding that I had missed because my exams were on. They told me about the Khan family that had come to India after 10 years, and how they still stayed so much connected to their roots even after spending more than three decades in New York. Ammi's attention slowly moved towards Asad and all his achievements at this very young age of 29. She told me about how nice he was to his parents, his baby sister Najma and to them and to all other guests at the wedding. How beautifully he had taken over the responsibilities of being an elder brother to Nikhat... and bla bla bla... They were on and on and I started paying no heed to what they said. I took it as an after effect of attending a lavish wedding of their best friend's daughter and having met them after ages.

But I was proved so badly wrong when my father all of a sudden mentioned, "Asad is such a nice guy. He is going to be a perfect match for our Zoya..." I spluttered out all the water that my mouth was filled with and choked on my breath at the mere mention of Asad being my perfect match.

And all this continued for a month, they pestering me to meet him once and me coming up with all sorts of excuses to somehow ignore the matter. But it was too late now, as Dilshad Aunty had already made up her mind to visit Bhopal along with her family to meet me, and probably hook me up with her son. Okay. Sorry, bad word. Make me her daughter in law.

I was cringing even at the thought of it. Was I ready for a marriage? Not that I have never dreamt of it, but I had never expected things to be the way it was now. I have always been an ardent fan of romance novels, and had never in my life expected anything other than falling in love with my Mr. Right. Here things were just going the reverse way.

Next morning...

I had added his number to my contacts, but I was never ever going to call him or message him by myself. This was the last thing that I would ever do. I didn't like men who lacked in the courage to make an approach themselves, instead waited for the girl to take the first step. But again, I didn't like men who were over friendly and unnecessarily too good to me either. Or may be, they had their reasons. In both ways, I was one choosy person and definitely not an easy nut to crack for Asad Ahmed Khan.

Just when I was hovering over the fact to call him or not to, my phone started ringing and my eyes almost came out of its sockets at the flash of his name on the screen. I was a confident lady in anything that I did, and this time too things shouldn't be any different. I took in a deep breath before I took the call.

"Hello...", I answered the call, trying hard to not let my voice tremble.

"Hi... Am I speaking to Ms. Zoya Farooqui?" I heard an extremely manly yet gentleman's voice coming from the other end. His voice sounded good, may be not as good as how he looked. I bit my lips as my mind flooded with the memory of the day when my parents had shown his photograph to me.

"Yes.. and is that Asad Ahmed Khan?", I asked the obvious.

"So we both know each other by our names atleast..", he said and I realized that the situation was nothing different for him too. If he was going to be a part of my life, than the same was with him too. There was an uncertainty that was present in both of our voices, which clearly stated the fact that we were 'nervous'! Damn! Nervous was not going to explain the sensations that we were going through now.

"So...", I said, because I didn't knew what more to say.

"What do you do?", he asked me after a minute of silence. He probably knew what I was doing, but he had to come up with something to carry on with the conversation. I told him about my MBA, my internship and how I plan to work even after I get married. He chuckled at what I said and I became aware of that too. I had mentioned marriage to the person who was probably my prospective groom.

I had to come up with a counter explanation or anything to hide what I said, and I did so. "Why are you laughing? Are you against women working and being independent enough to take care of themselves? I asked him, not only because I had to conceal what I had said before, but also because I really wanted to know his point of view regarding this since I really wanted to work.

I wanted his honest answer to this, and I never realized why, but I wanted him to read my mind and say what I wanted to listen.

"Ms. Farooqui.. First of all, I really appreciate you for being so thoughtful and serious about your career. And second, I am not any of those men who are against the working of women. My mother had been a participant in my father's business for years and was involved in it till the day I took over it. I would also consider myself to be the luckiest person if I get that same amount of support from my wife too.", he said and I could sense sincerity in his words.

I had my first conversation with Asad and I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was quite good, but I could never say that to Ammi. I still needed time to think.

~Asad's POV~

After the day when my mother broke the news of her to have successfully found my bride, I was literally left tormented. Ammi had that exceptional quality of judging people and this time it was Gafoor Mamu's friend, Anwar Farooqui's daughter that she was talking about. Zoya... I remember Nikhat taking that name quite a few times, but I had never tried knowing who she exactly was or how she was. Only if I knew that she was going to be my prospective bride.

Ammi gave me her number last night and after an hour long hesitation the next morning, I finally made up my mind to call her up; after all I could not let my parents be disappointed in me.

She picked up the phone with a simple hello and my heart probably skipped a beat when I heard her voice. I imagined how she must have been looking then. Was she really having those dimples which I believed there was when I had seen her photograph.

There was a dead silence as none of us said anything. I asked her what she was doing. Not that I didn't know about it, but I had to come up with something to break the tranquility. I got to know that she was willing to work and I was thankful to God that she was. I always wanted an independent and confident lady as my wife, who would also match up with every step of mine in our business, just like my mother. Even if she didn't want to join my business, I was very much willing enough to let her choose her way. I tried to explain her that and was glad when I recognized that that silence to be her acceptance to my honesty. From there, our first conversation went quite smooth. Unexpected, but definitely worth.

I was still in Delhi at Mamu's place and was supposed to reach Bhopal and meet Zoya after exactly 7 days. It was a long time in terms of business but when it came to meeting a girl, 7 days were way too less to prepare myself. I had no idea about what I had to say. Damn! Business meetings were easier!!

~Day 1: Zoya's POV~

I was following my usual routine. With my morning coffee, newspaper and a romantic novel by my side, I sat in the balcony bathing in the bright sun rays of a winter morning. My holidays were still on and this was my usual way to spend my lazy mornings, until today.

Just when I folded down the newspaper and took up the novel to read, I heard my phone ringing.Asad...

Was it telepathy or just a lucky morning for me? I was wondering whether Asad would ever call me again before coming to Bhopal. Would it be inappropriate if I called him? These thoughts were raking my mind ever since last night.

"Good Morning Ms. Farooqui." His voice sounded heavier, but not nervous like before.

"Good Morning Mr. Khan..", I greeted him back.

"I thought to let you know, we have booked out tickets for Bhopal. It's in a week."

A Week! SEVEN Days!! OMG!! Was I dreaming or is it really true? Are things really moving that fast or was I simply hallucinating? I wished I was, but to my disappointment, I wasn't.

"Oh..Okay... Ummm... Thanks for letting me know.", I thanked him.

"Are you nervous?", he asked me.

I wasn't going to lie to him. "Yeah.. I am...", I said as I took a breath in.

"Same here Ms. Farooqui...", he admitted. I liked it when guys admitted their fears, not because it made them weak in front of girls, but simply because they were made of flesh and blood too and feeling the anxiety wasn't anything to be ashamed of. It was...natural...!!

The call ended with a decent talk of a few more minutes that included letting each other know about the weather and what we usually did in cold wintry days when work deprived. I got to know how difficult it was getting for him to manage work from here, though his advisors were efficiently working on their tip toes to keep the business going.

He was a hard working man, that's what I concluded that day.

~Day 2: Asad's POV~

It was quite a tedious job to manage my time with that of New York. I was working overnight and slept only after dawn. My employees, which included my assistant Prasad was one of the most efficient workers that I had. Beyond the premises of my office, I shared a brotherly relation with him. So, when he got to know that I was staying here for a few more days to meet my bride, he was more than HAPPY to take up the entire work load on himself. He had also mentioned the word 'Bhabi' quite a number of times when I was in a video conference with him.

After switching off my laptop and finally hitting my back to the mattress, I thought about what Prasad said. 'Bhabi' definitely didn't seem that weird now, if it was for her. I slept with a small smile on my face, the reason for which was unknown, yet quite fulfilling.

I woke up at the violent shriek of my phone. Yes, when you sleep so late and then be woken up again after few insufficient hours, then your most soothing ringtone too sounds like screeching. I took the call, because the caller was too adamant to not stop calling me. I didn't bother taking a look at the name.

"Hello...", I said in a sleepy and annoying tone.

"Good Morning Mr. Khan..." That's it! Her voice was just enough to drive out the sleep from my eyes.

"Ms. Farooqui.. I'm sorry.. Good...good morning...", I mumbled and yawned.

"I just called to greet you.. Anyway.. I didn't know that you were a late riser.", she said and I knew that she must have been shocked to know that even a business man could sleep till so late. If my sleepy brain could comprehend right, then I was sure that I had heard a chuckle, which I felt likeignoring quite willingly.

"I was up all night. You know, It kinda gets tough to work when you are 10 and a half hours ahead of the place where you work in.", I said and she agreed. She was a sensible woman, and the woman who herself wanted to enter the world of business would understand me for no doubt.

"Good Night Mr. Khan... Sleep well...", she laughed as she said this.

"I guess I am done with it.." It was true; I was no more a sleepyhead now.

"Hmm... Your mom had called my mom to let her know about your arrival. Ammi was a little shocked when I didn't react to it, like the way I do every time. And then when she asked me, I told her that it was you who had told me about it. Then I heard her talking to Dilshad Aunty again. So just thought of letting you know this.."

My hands automatically reached to my forehead and started pressing it as I knew that my parents and my whole family would now bug me to no end till the time I give them every details of what I said to Zoya and what she had said to me. I was here wondering that I had nothing enough to do the whole day, but now I had my afternoon packed with answering to the questionnaire coming from people of all age groups.

"Thanks..It should be helpful.." This time I was sure that she was laughing when I sighed heavily repenting on the awkward situation that was about to come.

"Stop laughing.. It doesn't take too long for the tables to turn. I am sure Nikhat would be too glad to do the same favors to you as well..", I smirked as I said this.

"We will see it then.. Right now, it's you who are going through all this, and I am way too enjoying it...", her muffled laughter was what I heard next and I didn't have the heart to say anything more which would interrupt me from hearing her laughing. It felt good, quite strangely as it was, but I did feel good thinking that she was happy. We were much at ease while talking to each other this time.

I hanged up the call and went to freshen up while I got ready to start my day with lots of teasing on the way.

~Day 3: Zoya's POV~

I was taking my afternoon nap, and quite strangely thinking about Asad and smiling. Yeah, Smiling... This was the first time when Zoya Farooqui was smiling thinking about some guy whom she had never met. Yesterday I had taken up the initiative to call him when he didn't, but today, I somehow knew that he would have stayed awake all night again. So I preferred texting him rather than dragging him out of his sleep. I was right in my preconceived notion, as his reply came to me after a good four hours.

My phone buzzed and I found His message, and the smile immediately broadened. But what I saw next had replaced my smile with embarrassment and then anger. He had sent me a childhood picture of mine along with few other kids, but unlike them, I was bald headed and also had my lower lip folded downwards which clearly depicted that I was hell annoyed with the photo session back then. In short, that photograph was not the one which any girl would want her probable fiance to see.

I called him but was welcomed by a female voice which I need not take a second more to realize to be Nikhat's. She was back from her honeymoon.

"I am going to kill you Nikhat!! Why did you show this picture to him???", I shouted at her, and it increased my annoyance when she laughed more.

"Zoya, I was just showing Bhaijaan our old albums, and you were there in many of them. This one just came up suddenly and he got a hold of it before I could take it away from him."

"Then take it now!!! And I swear, I have many more embarrassing photographs of yours which I can any day show it to Imraan jeeju..", I tried blackmailing, only to fail.

"Oh Zoya.. do you really think it would bother me? Imraan is tied up with me now, and so am I. Even if he teases me and I get angry, we would kiss and make up you know...", she said with a glint of naughtiness and a blush which I was sure she must be having then.

"TMI Nikhat... I really don't want descriptions of you and him kissing.. Just take away the photograph from him, right now!!!!"

"What do you want Nikhat to do right now, Ms. Farooqui??" I knew he was smirking, but my voice had suddenly gone down hearing his. There was something intoxicating in that voice of his which I was still not able to discern what it did to me.

"I don't want you to see it..", I simply stated.

"The damage is already done Ms. Farooqui.. I have seen it already.."

"Arrgghhh..!! Mr. Khan, this is really not fair. Let me get hold of one of your old pictures, and then I will show you what I am capable of.."

"And may I know how would you get one?", he asked me amusedly.

"Allah Miyan! What's wrong with you Mr. Khan? Of course when I go to New York..." This time I did the damage myself. Arrows left from the bow and words from the mouth could never be brought back.

"I mean, I always wanted to go to New York, you know..to visit and all... So...", I tried to rectify my mistake but it was too late.

"Hopefully We will Ms. Farooqui..."

Did I just hear him right? Was he actually mentioning me about going to New York, with him? I thanked my stars since Asad was not infront of me then. The color of my cheeks had already gone red to redder when he agreed to what I blabbered.

"You are really looking nice in this.. I mean cute..." he said and I smiled at the way he said the word cute. It kinda seemed cute to hear it coming from him.

"But I don't look like that now, definitely not bald anymore. I have long hair that almost touches my waist.", I stated proudly.

"How would I know that you are saying the truth? I have never met you or seen you. It's still 4 days to go you see.."

I didn't know what he was exactly implied, but my heart indicated to me to say what I said next.

"It's not necessary to wait till then.. We can surely skype, you know...", I suggested and prayed so that he doesn't consider me to be creepy or anything. Thankfully he didn't and the next thing that I knew was, we both anticipated seeing each other.

~Day 4: Asad's POV~

I was busy on a conference call with my board members. When I had finally wrapped up all my work, it was almost 4 in the morning.

Freak!! Zoya would have gone to sleep while waiting for my call.. I cursed myself for being so irresponsible towards her.

"You there?"- I texted her.

I got her reply within a minute. I called her, this time, a video call.

"Hey..", I said in my usual tone..

"Hi...", she hushed.

"Why are you whispering? And why is it so dark behind you?", I asked her as it was unusual of her to talk in a whispering tone.

"I am in the balcony..and my sister Humeira is sleeping in the adjacent room. I don't want her to wake up.", she said, and seemed to look a little shy. I still couldn't see her properly, and I hastily told her so.

"I can't see you.. I mea...meannn... it's too dark out there..."

She angled herself in a proper way and I could see her now. She looked far more beautiful that what I had seen her in her photograph. The photograph didn't show her dimples when she said 'Thanks' shyly..It didn't show her long moving eyelids that drooped down when her almond shaped eyes shyly looked down to avoid my gaze. It was then when I realized that I had my eyes stuck on her. I cleared my throat and apologized to her for the delay.

"I am really sorry.. I got busy with work. You know, the time difference is getting too difficult to manage."

"I know.. I was awake..so no need to say a sorry.."

"You were awake? Waiting for me to call Ms. Farooqui?", I asked her amusedly and with a smirk at the corner of my lips.

She rolled her eyes and shied away. "I was reading.."

"So you love reading?? What kind of books do you prefer?", I decided not to tease her or embarrass her anymore, so went with what she had started.

"Don't have a specific genre, but Romance is what I prefer the most..", she cooed as she said this and I understood that she was an extreme lover of romantic novels. My first gift to her was decided.

"What about you? What kind of books do you like?"

"I am definitely not into romantic novels.." I said and she laughed at it. I believe it was clear enough to her by now that I was a person quite opposite to her in few respects.

"But I don't mind giving it a try now.. You know...",I said with sincerity.

"Okay then, read it and let me know how you found it. Nikhat has a huge collection of them. Just get hold of one from her shelf and start reading!!" I laughed at her antics. Was she too naive to get what I meant, or just too smart enough to play with her words so well? I decided to consider the latter as the former had nothing to do with the Zoya Farooqui I got to know by now.

We decided to call it a night, or rather a morning when I saw her trying to suppress her yawn.

~Day 5: Zoya's POV~

If it wouldn't have been darker at my side, then I was sure I would have been caught by him for turning crimson red. He was in a simple black tee, with his hair mostly out of place, yet his features had that indescribable power of getting me attracted towards him. The slight stubble on his face and the smirk that it hid behind them was what made him look more handsome than he already was.

I could easily comprehend what he meant by "I don't mind giving it a try now..", but I acted innocent there. I think I was caught, but he didn't pester on it further and that's all it mattered.

Tonight, I was again waiting for him to call me, and he did. We talked and admired each other for a number of things which were unknown to us. I told him about my interest in drama and poetry and how much I was into them when I was in school. He encouraged me to resume them and I did the same when he told me about his interest towards basket ball. We asked each other about our likes and dislikes in foods, movies, hobbies and not to forget, the weather.. Above all that, the thing which really touched a delicate string in my heart was his concern for me when I shivered as a gush of cold wind blew.

We were not sleepy tonight, yet he declared a 'Good Night' quite early as I was the one feeling cold sitting in the balcony.

~Day 6: Asad's POV~

"Do you like roses?", I asked her when I stopped my car on the way in front of a flower shop.

"I do..", she answered, a little flabbergasted as this was not the usual time when I called, neither did I say anything ever before saying a Hello.

"Tell me which color?", I asked as I got down from my car.

"Will it sound weird if I say that I like white roses more than the red ones?", she said hesitatingly.

I loved the way how a confident girl like her became all shy when it came to expressing her desires to me.

"I will definitely not mind if you turn out to like marigold more than roses or lilies. I would still respect that.", I said genuinely.

"Are you planning to buy me flowers from Delhi Mr. Khan?? You still have a day to go, if you remember." I heard her melodious laughter after she said this.

"Oh..I really wish I hadn't...", I sighed. In these last few days I had been quite observant about my growing feelings towards her. I liked her, and I often confided that to myself and I had already started respecting her more each day. I was actually looking forward to meet her.