CHAPTER-3
Zoya scanned the whole party with extremely annoyed eyes as she stood in a corner, sipping her orange juice occasionally. She huffed at cheekily smiling Diya, her very good friend cum colleague, who was the culprit behind her latest misery, this party. If looks could kill, Diya would have died for the zillionth time, keeping in mind the intensity and the number of death glares Zoya was throwing in her direction since her arrival here twenty minutes ago. Zoya wanted to leave as soon as she came but Mr. James stopped her and requested to stay at least for an hour. As much as Zoya wanted to decline but she couldn't as she didn't want to hurt the feelings of this kind man who had supported her always, on his special day. After all it was his daughter's engagement and he wanted her to have everyone's good wishes.
A painful sigh escaped her lips as her eyes started to burn. She desperately blinked her eyes to stop the tears from appearing again. Each moment of her life increased the burning agony in her heart in many folds. If leaving Asad two years ago was the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life, there was no describing how much difficult it was to avoid him when he was in front of her. From the moment she left her cabin yesterday, she hadn't come face to face with him. She informed Mr. James that she wasn't feeling well which was also true and took a leave. She locked herself in her room and only cried and cried until her orbs felt dry as a desert. She was shaking violently as loud sobs were wrecking her body. She screamed, she cried, she hiccupped but there was no one to hear them, no one to console her and at that moment she missed her Api and Jeeju the most which in turn produced more tears. Though she didn't know that the company they were going to work with was Dilshad Constructions before her meeting with Asad in the office but she had heard from her boss that their new business associate from India was going back on this coming Monday. So she just wished to stay locked up in her room till then to avoid any further meeting with him. But it looked like destiny wasn't on her side and her sweet but annoying at times friend Diya thought this to be the perfect opportunity to call and nag her to attend this party in every ten minutes. Though Zoya never really went out of her apartment except work and at that moment she wasn't even remotely close to the emotional state to want to attend some function but still she had to give in to the pleas of her friend, reluctantly. She got ready and came to the party, all the while fervently hoping that Asad wouldn't come to the party and would go back to Bhopal next day, as decided. And as much as it hurt her to think, she hoped that he would forget their these two little meetings as some bad dream which even she knew was possible for neither of them.
Asad entered the party, searching for Mr. James through his eyes when he finally caught the sight of and couldn't help the smile from appearing on his lips. He wasn't someone who was fond of attending parties or functions but he was specially looking forward to attending this one after he got the invitation yesterday as his heart was continuously telling him that he would find her there and he at the present moment, he couldn't be more glad about the fact that he followed it. He drank in the sight of her standing in a quiet corner, sipping her juice as happiness and relief washed over him. He smiled a little wider to himself as he observed the simple but angelic beauty standing there, looking as breathtaking as ever in her simple red gown.
Zoya looked at her left feeling someone's intense gaze and the moment her brown orbs collided with his dark ones, she sucked in a breath. It was just a matter of two seconds or so that she looked away from him, panting heavily. She closed her eyes and by keeping her palm on her heart tried to calm down her erratic heart-beats. But she also knew that now when he was there, there was no way to control the tidal waves of heavy emotions that crashed on the shore of her heart. She looked down and as soon as her dress came in her view, a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. It was red, his favorite color on her which she unmindfully picked up while getting ready. She silently cried in absolute helplessness as once the eyes which made her feel like the most beautiful girl on this earth, today made her feel the most vulnerable and her true feelings naked.
Asad's staring session was broken by Mr. James who greeted him with a smile and ushered him towards the couple whose engagement ceremony was getting held. While Asad's eyes never left her face, Zoya tried her best to not to look at him and kept looking at the other side. Asad met the would-be-bride Suzy and to his great surprise, found out that the would-be-groom was his good friend from collage, Tarun. They were very good friends in collage but lost contact after as Tarun permanently left India with his family , soon after graduation and Asad got busy in his business. Both the friends were meeting each other for the first time after collage and they couldn't be any more happier that it happened on Tarun's big day.
-Asad I won't hear any excuses, you have to sing today.' After their initial excitement of meeting each other so long subdued, Tarun requested Asad to sing to sing something for them. Tarun knew that how good singer he was. So there was no way he could let him go without giving a performance on this happy occasion.
-no no Tarun. You know right that I am not comfortable in singing publically.' Asad hesitated.
- I won't take no for an answer today. We are meeting after so long and this is my engagement day. I can't simply let my friend go without giving a performance.' Tarun stubbornly requested. He knew that Asad was a very shy person but after having such a singer present there, he simply couldn't miss the chance to hear something amazing. After all it was his engagement and he can at least demand this much from his friend.
Asad was about to protest some more but the whole family started to pester him to him, keen to listen him singing as they had Tarun praise his skills before too. Asad was really embarrassed and was about to decline sternly when his eyes landed on Zoya who was peeking at them through her thick lashes as she thought that he wasn't looking at her anymore. An idea came to his mind and he smirked a little.
-Ok done. I will sing.' Asad said smiling and everyone cheered.
- Hindi song please. Though I don't understand the meanings of the lyrics very well but still I love them.' Suzy requested sweetly and Asad nodded smilingly as he saw Tarun look lovingly at his fiance after hearing her request.
On the other hand, staying there was proving to be more and more difficult for Zoya with each passing moment. She was about to go away when the strumming of guitar caught her attention and soon a soulful but familiar voice entered her ears which immediately captivated her senses, forcing her to look in his direction fully this time.
tune mujhe pehchana nahi
Jana mai koi anjana nahi
Ashique hu mai tere naam ka
Dewaana hu mai dewana nahi...
Asad smiled at his as he started to hum who in return showed him a thumbs up sign. Tarun had somehow managed to arrange a guitar for him and Asad was thankful for that. He directly looked in her direction as he started to sing and found her looking at him with her doe eyes glistening with some unreadable emotions.
kaanta na tha jo nikal gaya
Kagaz na tha jo kho gaya
Likhha hai yeh dil pe tere
Tu hai meri, mai hu tera...
Asad continued to sing, keeping his eyes locked with hers. He was slowly walking towards her through the crowd as his eyes tried to read her gloomy ones. Zoya knew that though he was singing at someone else's request but the words of the song was for her. She wanted to look away but as if caught in some hypnotizing spell. Their eyes never left each others' as the song proceeded.
naam badal ke tu kahti hai
Tu woh nahi koi aur hai
Tune di thi yeh anguthi
Yeh kehti hai tu hai jhuti...
By now Asad had reached in front of her and that's when her spell broke. She turned away but something stopped her. She looked at her left hand to find him hooking his index finger with her bracelet and now eyeing intently the engagement ring dangling from it as he continued to sing. The moment he looked up to her face, she again turned away. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she jerked her hand away from his grip which resulted in the breaking of her bracelet's hook and without giving it a notice, she ran away from there. Asad looked at her retreating back as he finished his song. He bent down to picked up her ring which had fallen on the floor and smiled sadly looking at it.
Zoya came to the back garden of the house and hugged herself tightly to prevent herself from shaking. Her breathing was out of control and she could feel a light headache coming. Closing her eyes, she took a large gulp of air and exhaled loudly to slow down her speedy heartbeats. But suddenly her breath hitched and her body stilled as she heard his voice from behind.
-Running away again Ms. Farooqui?' Asad questioned her from behind.
-I have already told you Mr. Khan that I have nothing to talk to talk to you about except work. Don't you just understand?' Zoya said, desperately trying to sound confident but her badly shaking voice failed her miserably.
And before she could protest anymore, she found him pulling her towards himself. To balance herself, her right hand coiled around his neck while he securely held her from her waist. Their eyes got locked and his soothing cologne engulfed her senses.
-I understand that you don't have anything to tell me but I have a lot of things to hear from you and those are too damn personal, whether you like it or not.' Asad spoke in a tone which sent multiple shivers running down her spine and at that moment she knew that she couldn't run any more. Neither the discussion nor the night was going to end any soon and certainly not without the discovery of some cruel truths of their existence.
PRECAP: finally the reason behind their separation is going to be revealed with some more major twists.
Hey guys. I am back with a new chapter. To compensate for the delay I have given a long chapter. I know many of you must be worrying about it being a sad story, so let me tell you that I myself being a very much emotional person, I can never write a sad ending story. So of course this gonna have a happy ending and of course no one is dying.😃
So now that I have said this, I hope I haven't killed the suspense😆 so because I gave such a good news, I hope I will get more better response for this one. You all know that how much the support of the readers means for a writer and I really need my readers to be able to go on. So please show me your love and leave your likes and comments behind. Next update will be up after 40+ likes😃
The problem with my net connection is still not solved but I am trying my best to reply. They really mean a lot to me guys. So please keep them coming. Trust me, I read each and every comment and they mean a lot to me. They are the thing which keep me going. I will try to sort out the problem soon though it is not in my hands. Sorry and thank you again 🤗
ps. sorry if the lyrics was wrong somewhere. wrote it from memory 😳
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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