Hey guys !
I'm here with the next chapter of this FF, Thank you so much to all of u for giving so much to this story and being eager to read, okay now i'll stop talking and here we go ! 😃
Chapter 14 :
Once at home, back from the airport, Zoya started looking for Peanut, but Asad took hold of her forearm, stopping her.
"Don't you think it's time for us to talk ?"
Zoya turned away, "I don't want to..."
"Stop running, Zoya ! Let's just have this talk out of the way !" Asad exclaimed, finally letting his frustration out by her behaviour.
The fact that she was running instead of trying to make things better between them irritated him to no ends.
All of a sudden, Zoya was nervous, she didn't want to have this talk, she didn't want their relationship to have a bad turn just because of each other's tempers. But she also knew that she couldn't just leave their situation at that.
Zoya faced Asad and crossed her arms over her chest and said simply, "Then talk."
Sensing her anger, Asad sighed, "Please, Zoya ! It has been over a week ! I'm fed up of being at the receiving end of your cold and silent treatment... Just say what you want to say and stop holding back..."
Zoya's anger went up a notch and Asad could sense it in her voice, "Oh ? You are fed up of my cold treatment ?!" Zoya then took a fake sugary sweet voice and spoke while putting her hand together in front of her, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Asad Ahmed Khan ! How can i even apologize for doing this big of a sin of making you fed up of my behaviour ?!"
Her tone made Asad angry and to hold it back, he pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose and replied quietly, "Stop it, Zoya ! You know exactly what i meant by that..."
Zoya raised her eyebrows, "Do i ?!" She pretended to think about it and then spoke, "You want me to stop holding back ?! Okay then, i'll say what i want to say..." She got up close to his face and pointed him directly on the center of his chest, "You are a weak person ! A coward ! You broke my trust in you ! You broke my heart ! You didn't just break it, you walked all over the shattered pieces afterwards !"
At the end of her tirade she felt her voice breaking and her tears rolling down her cheeks but for once she didn't try to wipe them away.
Asad suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and stumbled backwards at Zoya's words, and seeing the tears in her eyes was like putting salt over his wounds.
"What did you think ?! That i would never find out about the cigarettes, the booze, your girlfriend-"
"Ex-girlfriend !" Asad cut her in her rant.
"That's beside the point !" She held up her hand. "But tell me, you thought i would never find out whatever you did behind my back ?!"
"Zoya-" Asad, whose eyes had started watering tried to apologize but Zoya walked up to him and grabbed him by his collar.
"Answer me ! Just tell me the truth for a change !" Zoya shouted in his face with more tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I-I don't know, i never th-thought about it..." Asad answered, ashamed and Zoya released his collar, stepping back.
"'It' ? You mean me, right ?! Do you think i'm that stupid to never find out ?! This just proves my point ! And the fact that you never 'thought about it' just shows me how much you care about me and my feelings, but then also what can i expect from a person who didn't even want to marry me in the first place ?" Zoya paused, "Why did you have to play with my feelings ?! Just imagine all this happening to our daughter, to your sister or mother... You guys never think about what you are doing, to whom you are doing, that person is also someone's daughter, someone's sister...", feeling dejected, she slumped down on the sofa, not seeing Asad's flinch at her words.
Asad felt a sharp pain in his chest, thinking about if they had a daughter. He had the image in his mind of Zoya holding a bundle of a baby, him playing with her when she would get older. Asad then realized that before even conceiving her, he knew he would love her to the moon and back.
But then he realized that if anything would happen to her, he would become murderous and so, just thinking of someone ill-treating his would-be princess, someone ill-treating Nikhat or even his mother, he realized his mistake...
That's when he understood that it was time for him to make a choice, useless alcohol and cigarettes that he didn't even need in the first place, his lies and his stubborness or his wife, Zoya. He was quick to make that choice and he made the good one.
Asad took Zoya's hand and made her get up, despite her protests, and then led her to his study. He took out a trash bag and led her her to his desk where he took out the packets of cigarettes he used to stock and threw them in the bag. Then with his keys, he led Zoya to his discreet mini-bar in the small cupboard. As he kneeled down, he brushed his arm over the surface making all his bottles of different kind of alcohol fall in the trash bag, not bothering with the fact that the bottles broke or not.
When Asad said that he didn't really need those, it was a fact because ever since they got married, Asad had never touched a drop of alcohol except a week ago, when Zoya left their home to sleep at Humaira's. Then, the cigarettes, Asad admitted having smoked once or twice since they were married but even those weren't needed, just a habit that he now didn't have anymore.
Asad cupped her frowning face, "You don't want me to drink or smoke ? Done, i won't ever touch those again !", then he took out his phone and dialled Elena's number and put it on speaker, when he heard a 'Hello ?' Asad asked what he wanted, straight to the point.
"Elena, it's me Asad. Just answer this one question, when was the last time we spoke ?" He asked abruptly.
Zoya frowned, not liking Asad even talking to this girl at all, even if it were for any kind of clarifications.
After a pause, Elena answered, "Um, something like a week ago..."
Asad and Zoya remembered when she had called at the time of their fallout. "Before that !"
"Well, it has been years..."
Asad had a small smile, thinking that this would reassure Zoya. "Okay thanks and can you describe our relationship at that time ?"
"Why all these questions ?" Elena asked, annoyed.
"Please it's important, just answer this last question." Asad pleaded, trying not to toss the phone against the wall.
"Why should i answer these questions when you have been horrible to me the last time i called ?" She asked, getting angry.
Asad got angry, "Well, why wouldn't i be angry when you are the reason why me and my wife are fighting !"
Elena paused and then sighed, "I'm so sorry... Well, we only went to a couple of dates but then you broke it off because you chose your work over me..."
Asad saw Zoya's face which had paled when he had called Elena, getting back some color. The relief in her eyes was stricking.
Why wouldn't she be relieved ? At least Asad hadn't been unfaithful to her. He was ready to quit his bad habits only for her. It had to mean something, right ?
After muttering final farewells to Elena, he hung up. Asad looked at Zoya and cupped her face and spoke softly, "Don't you know ? You are the most important to me than these unnecessary things and you are the person who means the world to me, for whom i am ready to do anything and everything..."
He finished by kissing her forehead and wiping her cheekbones where her tears had dried up.
Zoya didn't how to deal with everything Asad just did and said, she didn't know where to begin with.
"But what about our marriage ?" Zoya asked in a strangled voice.
Asad sighed and explained to her the circumstances of their marriage, "Well, it wasn't you, it was just i didn't want to get married at all..." When Zoya looked away, he continued but in a strained voice, "My parents actually forced me into getting married... Before you, i had rejected every girl that Ammi showed me, not because the girls were bad or anything, but because i was the one who didn't want to get married..." Asad saw Zoya looking at him intently and continued blushing a little, "But then, when it was your turn, my parents saw that i genuinely liked you as a person, so when they heard the word 'sweet' from me, according to them, it was a 'yes'. But then also, i had no reasons to say 'no' to you because i liked you and i wanted to stop my parents from nagging me about getting married and then also there was Nikhat, i knew i had a responsability towards her as well because she couldn't get married until i did..."
This time Asad looked down, ashamed at himself, "But then, i didn't realize that you'll have to bear the consequences of my choices... I admit having deliberately tried to woo you before our wedding, but it had soon became true and genuine. I might have smoked a few times since we got married but i never touched a drop of alcohol until a week ago and don't intend to touch it ever again because it means so much to you...", he cupped her face and spoke softly, "Bhale hi humara rishta meri taraf se majburi ho ke shuru hua, but nobody can deny our today's truth, about where we both stand together..."
Before she could say anything, Asad slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck, hugging her to him, as if his life depended on it.
Zoya who had started crying again, first, lay limp in his arms but then she started hitting him on his back.
"You hid things from me !" She cried, hitting him on his back which felt nothing like a pat to him.
But he apologized nonetheless, "I'm sorry." As if to make it better, he even kissed her neck where his head was resting.
"You made me cry !" Zoya cried again.
At that, Asad slightly pulled back, "I'm sorry." He said, kissing one eyelid, then the other and wiping the tears which were rolling down her cheeks.
"You broke my heart when you said that you were forced into marrying me !" She cried again.
Asad pulled her to his chest again and caressed her head, "And i'm so so so sorry for that, Zoya..."
She finally had had enough of hitting him so she put her arms around his neck and hugged him back, still crying, but this time, having the comfort of his arms around her.
Still feeling her shaking in his arms, he caressed her hair and down her back in order to soothe her. Tightening his hold on her, he buried his face in her neck once again and she reciprocated in the same way.
No matter how much he hurt her, Zoya couldn't deny how much she had missed being in his arms. Right here, she felt cherished, appreciated, comfortable and most of all, she felt loved. Even though Asad hadn't said the words outright, she understood his meaning. Despite having grown up in such a fast moving country, Asad still was a reserved and a slight introvert person. She didn't care, they were going to spend the rest of their lives together, she could wait. Thinking of that, she nuzzled closer to him, content.
It was the same for Asad, having her back in his arms gave him the solace he didn't find anywhere else. It was like coming back home after after a decade. A thirst being soothed. He had her back in his arms, now he could go through anything for them, for her. It won't be easy to gain back that trust but they would get there.
*********
A/N : pata hai it's not that long 😆 but sorry, aisa lagta it's easier to write short updates but update more regularly, what do u think ? 😉 so ? AsYa fight over lekin ab dekhte hain aage kya hota hai 😉 hope u guys enjoyed and please leave me some feedback about what u liked or not so i can improve myself next time 😳
Naah mujhe shaadi mein aur mardon pe se aitbaar uth gaya hai 😕 main nahi karti kisi se bhi sagai, mujhe apni independence chahiye bas 😆
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