PART TWO
It has been a week Asad got back to his routine... He busied himself in his work and when it comes to his work nothing could distract him but still sometimes he felt very upset...the feeling of hurt, betrayal...that spoiled his mood many times... His whole family was affected because of the girl who used to be his best friend...the part of their family...
Was she really?' How fool he was to trust her blindly...' Is the world is like this only...?' Is everyone here roaming around with the mask? Hiding the real face behind?' 'Or with time everything just changes...relations, feelings...everything!!!' Whatever it is he couldn't trust anyone... anymore...' Not any girl...girls are deceptive and he understands it very well now' He shook his head pushing all the disturbing thoughts away as his Ammi called him... Whatever may be the issues in his life, his parents are always his biggest strength...biggest support and that was enough for him...
Everything happens for a reason Asad, Isn't it good that you comes to know everything before' I agree it hurts a lot as she was always a family for us but shayad wo humara pyaar deserve hi nahi karti thi...' And because of some bad experiences you can't run away from life...you still have to learn many things...you have to learn what real life is Asad...' Recalling his Ammi's words a small smile lifted on his face...as it reminded him someone else...someone that left an impact on him... Just a little time with that crazy ice-cream lover and whenever he recalled that memory it made him feel better... His anger, his sadness all just evaporated...it's like the coolness of her ice-cream is still there...
Placing his laptop aside he sighed, She is also a girl and he is not going to trust any girl' Wasn't it he decided?' Then why he is thinking about her?' He ran fingers in his hair, Why it didn't feel wrong to share his issues with that stranger girl?' Why the little time with her and he did feel relieved...?' Shaking his head he got up as again his Ammi's voice traveled inside his room
It was Saturday and his Abbu will definitely scold him for working on weekends...He thought while coming out of his room...
"Look at yourself Asad...how stressed out you looks?" "Weekends are for relaxing and here whole day you are locked up inside the room with that laptop" Rashid, his father scolded him as he sat beside him on the sofa
"Busied yourself in work is not a solution Asad..." "Let it go now..." Dilshad, his mother said as she forwarded a cup of coffee to him...
"You should take out some time for yourself from busy routine...at least on weekends..."
He sipped his coffee when a word Routine made him think over something...
"We didn't even realize when new things become a routine..."
He remembered those words and a smile touched his lips...
"I really wish Allah blessed that person..." Najma, his sister's words broke the chain of his thoughts and he looked at her confused
"The person who is the reason for the smile on your face..." She cleared and he shook his head
Next hour he spent with his family but his mind was somewhere else... He tried to ignore but his stubborn mind was not ready to change the path... He couldn't understand from where the urge took birth and why...but the only thing his mind wished was visiting the place again... Hmm...that place was peaceful...and like Ammi said I should give some time to myself...' Pacing inside his room and contemplating for sometime finally he concluded and walked out...
"Every Saturday I come here..." his mind reminded her words as he walked towards the bench and he wondered if today also he would meet her... And soon his doubt cleared as his eyes captured her sitting on the bench with her ice-cream... He chuckled looking at her expressions like she was complaining for something... Talking with ice-cream...seriously...' He shook his head as she mumbled something looking at the spoonful of ice-cream...
******
"Zoya you can go out but not with your scooty..." "You are going in a car and with a driver, that's final..."
"Aapi please...I'll be fine...and it's just a small distance I'll be careful, please Aapi..."
Removing her helmet Zoya sighed remembering her Aapi's instructions... She parked her scooty... feeling a little dizziness she shook her head walking towards the ice-cream shop "I am sorry Aapi..." she pressed her lips not liking it a bit...upsetting her Aapi who cared for her that was not at all she wished to do...
"I hate it...why this Allah Miya...why?" "Ever I complained before...? I accepted everything...then why this fear suddenly...I don't want to be weak...I am strong...I'll never give up...I promised Ammi that I'll never cry...no...never..." Closing her eyes she took a deep breath to calm down herself before pushing the door open which leads towards something that always helped her...her ice-cream...
That incident before three months shook her entirely...pushing her to some loneliness...spending days inside her room not able to do anything was horrified...that's not a life she wished...she don't want to be a burden on anyone even though she was aware that she was not a burden for her Aapi-Jeeju...never ever!!! But last three months the helplessness she was feeling gave a birth to that unknown fear... And many times she just wanted to cry but then she thought crying is sign of weakness and she was not weak...!!!
Sitting on the bench with a cup of ice-cream she looked ahead... Ice-cream always did the magic to her and she was relaxed... From the day she discovered this place she fell in love with the peaceful surrounding...silence there was something she started to enjoy and Saturday evening has became the new routine...the time for herself...ice-cream and the harmony in the silence was the new combination she discovered and enjoyed... But today her mind was not ready to enjoy the silence...it reminds her the previous Saturday evening... with stranger... Whole week she thought about the strange thing she did... She never shared her past...her father's truth with anyone...and why would she when that person didn't exist in her life... Then why now?' May be she was already disturbed...and listening to his story she had felt her own hurt feelings resurfaced which she had buried deep down all those years...' she put forward a reason of her action and sighed...
The stranger...she didn't even know what his name was...but she accepted, it felt easy to share something with him... And thinking about the little interaction with that stranger disturbed Zoya Farooqui's peaceful Saturday evening...
As per her routine when she walked towards her place her heart suddenly started beating frantically... Allah Miya what's wrong with me' she mumbled taking a deep breath trying to calm down her racing heart before walking around the trees... "Hmmm..." She sighed finding the place empty and sat on the bench placing the two cups of ice-cream beside... She didn't know why she bought two cups? Why it upsets her mood finding the place empty? Was she expecting him? No...why would I...this is my place and my time...I don't want it to disturb with anyone's presence' she shook her head looking at the cup in her hand...
"Nice to meet you too this time as you didn't follow the custom..."
"Hehhh..." She giggled remembering his comment... "Enemy of my ice-cream" She thought taking a spoonful of ice-cream... a feel of creamy luscious Almond Butter fudge and soon she got engrossed recalling her encounters with that stranger... She wondered if he was okay...
"Urgh!!! I should stop thinking about him" She scolded herself again looking at the spoonful of ice-cream
"Hii..."
Her eyes grew wide and the spoon halted to her lips as a voice reached her ears... She turned and blinked her eyes twice to confirm she was not hallucinating...
"Hope I didn't disturb you?" He asked walking towards her
"Huh?" That was her only reaction when he sat beside her
"I mean it is your place...no one is allowed here to disturb your peaceful time right?" He raised his brows
"Umm...hmm..." She nodded as she swallowed a spoonful of ice-cream
"So, I am not allowed?" he questioned
"No...You are allowed...I mean any one can actually...I didn't own this place..."
"Hehehh..." he laughed, "Is that so?" "But... if I am not wrong someone told me that this place is exclusively reserved..."
She just watched him as he smiled and looked ahead... "So you okay now?"
"Hmm..." He just hummed staring over the stilled surface...
She sighed looking at his sober expressions, "You should let it go...keep thinking about the happenings paralyzes you from moving forward and how the new things would come to you if you stay rooted to the place..." She explained but he didn't reply... "See...what you will gain with this sadness, anger...you are only troubling yourself..." She shook her head looking ahead... "Bad things happen to everyone but that doesn't mean you stop living your life...there is lot around us...the thing we have to do is change our view and find some new reason to move ahead..." She said looking ahead...lost in herself like she was explaining the fact to herself only...
He looked towards her... There is something in her words...the way she was explaining that his mind wanted to believe her...trust her... What he was doing...this girl is disturbing his resolves but then it didn't feel wrong...' "Hmm...I am trying..." he said and she looked towards him
"Good" She smiled and that dimpled smile forced him to smile back, "And as you know there is something that makes everything better..." He looked at her confused and she shook her head, "How could you forgot about it...here is that something..." she said offering the other cup to him
"Ice-cream...for me?" He raised his brows
"Almond Butter fudge...take it before I change my mind..." She warned and he shook his head taking a cup from her thinking how she always mentioned the flavor of her ice-cream...
"There are many flavors of ice-cream and each flavor has something different..." She said before turning her attention to her cup, "Life is like an ice-cream... Don't let it melt and enjoy the each flavor..."
He watched her as she enjoyed her ice-cream with that blissful expressions on her face "As you said ice-cream helps when you feel upset...right? He asked eating a spoonful of his ice-cream and she nodded, "But then why you are roaming around with ice-cream all the time?" She raised her brows, "I mean...it's fourth time I am meeting you and the ice-cream is always there"
She laughed hearing his query, "That theory is not for me..." "Yes it helps to boost the mood but for me it does not just help me when I feel upset...ice-cream in my life is like a..." she looked ahead thinking for a proper word and shook her head not knowing how to explain, "umm...it's like whether I am upset or I am happy or it's just a normal time I want to spend by myself...Ice-cream should have to be there...like my all the time mate..."
"Hmm...I get it..." he pressed his lips as she looked at him, "And I have seen it too, how much it is important to you than anything else..." He said hinting to their first encounter and she laughed at the memory
"I was tired that day...exhausted...and badly needed ice-cream but you messed it up ..." She complained and he narrowed his eyes, "Okay...I agree you helped me but what about my ice-cream..."
"Hmm..." he hummed gazing in her questioning eyes, "So I owe you one..."
"One...?" she raised her brows and he laughed
"Hehh...okay four it is...two that I ruined and two you shared with me"
"Don't count the other two...I owed you too..." she said and smiled as he looked confused, "For your stained jackets..."
Both laughed and then silence prevailed as both enjoyed their ice-cream staring ahead...the completely still...clear surface of the lake...like it was conveying the feeling of peacefulness...
Moving his gaze away Asad looked towards her... What is it that he was feeling comfort...he was at total ease...how?' Is it the place or ice-cream or the girl sitting beside him?' He wondered...
"How come you here in Bhopal..." He asked breaking the silence, "You belongs here or just come here for your job...?" He queried and she looked towards him, "I mean working on any documentary?"
"Job..." She sighed before taking a spoonful of ice-cream...
Her expressions changed and he waited for her to continue as again she looked ahead, "It's never a job for me...but my passion... Traveling...I just love it..." A small smile lifted on her face while her gaze was fixed ahead... "Meeting different people, their different life, and different culture that always excite me..." "Exploring the new places that help me to build up courage...build up the confidence to choose something different in life... And I realized the life is so beautiful and there is much more to admire..." "Traveling always helped to learn so many things about life...it gives me a strange satisfaction..."
She paused and he stared at her as she enjoyed her ice-cream...lost in her own world... It was like again he was watching a different girl...like there were many layers to her character...each time he meets her a layer pulled off revealing her different side... She didn't seem an immature kid he met before and not even the girl who craved for her father's love...who was like lake that exhibits tranquility on surface while hiding chaos below... A girl who taught him to deal with the hurt, the betrayal...
But now she was again a different one...A passionate girl...the zeal in her eyes gave him the clear idea of how much she loved what she was doing...a strong smart girl, who opted a different path... Suddenly he felt proud for her... And he felt curious...curious to know her more...
She sighed and smiled looking towards him, "But now...I quit"
Zeal in her eyes he witnessed a moment back was gone, He was shocked... "Why?"
"You sounds curious" she giggled eating a spoonful of ice-cream
"Hmm..." he studied her for a moment, "It's disturbing you, isn't it?" He asked but she didn't reply, "Someone told me, talking with strangers helps..."
"Hehh...it's like you are following my each theory" she laughed
He shrugged his shoulders moving his attention towards his ice-cream, "When a theory works, it gets followers..."
"Hmm..." she sighed placing the empty cup aside and studied him for a moment... Her lips lifted in a small smile watching him as he enjoyed ice-cream... That made her happy...
He looked up and their eyes met... She sighed and looked ahead as his curious gaze hovered on her face... "It's not like disturbing me much now but sometimes I felt empty...incomplete..." She paused and looked towards him, "I was working as a freelancer and after the Mumbai event there was a project lined up, Ethnicity of Rajasthan... I was so curious to study the culture, the customs...and the folk music of Rajasthan that always fascinates me..." She smiled and turned to look ahead, "It was a weeklong trip but I never thought it would be my last project..." Her eyes met with his, "While returning back I met with an accident...a severe head injury and I was in coma for a month..." His eyes widened and she smiled, "Unpredictable..." taking a deep breath she looked ahead, "That life is...we never know what next moment holds...we remain with no option but accept what life chooses for us..." "It's not that I can't travel and all but now there are some restrictions and then my Aapi-Jeeju, they are not allowing me... They are the only family I have and who knows if tomorrow I'll get the chance to do something for them or not...so I quit..."
He looked at her amazed as she smiled showing her dimples... The girl has definitely some strong power that she keeps smiling at everything...' "Let go of something that used to be some obsession... something that gives a reason to go ahead, it must be hurting...isn't it?"
"Hey...chill..." She laughed looking at his sober expressions, "Yes it hurts...a lot...but when?" She asked making him confuse, "You know what, nothing is constant in life...life keeps changing and you have to change your priorities as per the situation...when we accept the fact, life becomes easy..." "I agree it's not easy to let go something that you loved...but what you will get if you sit mourning over the loss..." "Instead you should have to move ahead with the treasure of those memories...towards something new..." "Something that is waiting ahead to give you new experience...new pleasure...right?"
"You are a real thing...seriously..." He smiled appreciating her, "So have you get that something new..."
"Umm...maybe still it's not the time" She shrugged her shoulders "Filhal I am enjoying my freedom after two months of house arrest" She laughed, "And from last month I am trying to understand how people work with a walls around" She joked, "Jeeju asked me to work with him and it was a relief that finally I am out of the house but I know one day I will find something that would become the new reason...my new passion..."
"Hmm..." He just smiled admiringly
"Okay...enough of this philosophy...I hope I didn't bore you...I am not always like this...it just..." she shrugged her shoulders
"Hehhh...I know...I have seen the real you too..." He teased
"What do you mean?"
"The real you...crazy kid who just care for ice-cream and nothing else..."
"You won't let go that na?" She giggled getting up, "Ohh...didn't even realize we were talking for two hours..." her eyes widened as she checked the time
"Hmm..." Getting up he followed her, "It's a nice change for me...and I guess taking out some time from routine is not a bad idea..."
"Be aware..." Turning back she warned and he looked at her confused, "We never know when the little change in life becomes a routine..."
"I won't mind if it does...and this place is nice to spend some peaceful time..."
"So are you planning to acquire my place...?" She asked in a demanding tone
"Hmm..." Shoving hands in pant pockets he stared at her, "Filhal...I am planning to reimburse something"
"Huh?"
"I owe something to someone"
He said smiling at her expressions and turned towards his car but remembering something he again turned before opening his car door, "Umm...hello..."
She didn't bother to look back... he watched her as she put on her helmet, started her scooty and drove towards his direction...
Scooty stopped near him and flipping up the visor on her helmet she smiled, "Call me Zoya..." She replied as if knowing his unasked question...
He smiled back, "Asad..."
"Hmm..." she blinked her eyes before flipping the visor down "bye Asad..." A muffled voice came from the helmet before she accelerated her scooty and zoomed away...
"Zoya..." he smiled staring ahead till her scooty disappeared, "That she is!!!" Feeling relaxed yet again with the taste of new flavor he drove off...
Life is unexpected indeed...and has different flavors...you have to be ready to discover it!!!
So how is it guys??
Do you like the flavor??
waiting for your reviews 😳
❤️
--Deepti--
Edited by -Prinky- - 8 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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