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Helloo guys ! Yahi soch rahe ho na - "Ye phir aa gayi ? Peechha hi nahi chhodti yaar ye to !" 😆 Kya karoon yaar, iss show ne mujhe apne changul mein phasa liya hai..poore din dimag mein yahi marathon bhagta rehta hai ! To socha thoda bahar nikal doon 😆
WARNING - OS padhne se pehle kripaya karke aaj ka precap bhool jaaye. In my OS, Asad thinks Dilshad's outburst was because of Nikhat's broken engagement.
"NAHI ! KOI ZARURAT NAHI HAI !" All heads turned toward the voice. "Ayaan koi kasam nahi khayega. Aur na hi koi uss khandaan se baat karne jaayega. Rahi baat Asad Ahmed Khan ki, to aap logon ke kuch bhi kehne se sach nahi badalnewala ammi. Asad Ahmed Khan humaare bhaijaan the, hain aur hamesha rahenge ! Aur agar kisiko iss baat se inqaar hai, to ye unki problem hai. Hum kisi aire-gaire ke liye humaare bhaijaan se rishta kyun tode ?! Kal ko agar uss Hassena bi ne ye kaha ke sagaai ke liye hume Ayaan se rishta todna hoga to aap humse kya aisa kareyegi ? Nahi na ? Phir aap Asad bhai jaan ke saath aisa kaise kar sakti hai ammi ?" questioned Nikhat. "Hume ummeed hai ke iss ghar ke saare buzurg ab hume Asad bhai jaan ko shaan se apne bhai-jaan bulaane ki ijazat denge. Aur ye bhi ummeed hai, ke koi aise ghar se humaara rishta nahi jodenge jinhe humaare bhai-jaan qubool na ho."
oOo
His phone screen flashed - 37 missed calls, 14 unread messages. Ayaan.
In all these 17 years, Asad Ahmed Khan had never lived the saying 'So close, yet so far' so badly as he did today. Just a click away, and yet he couldn't reach out to his Ayaan, his little brother. Asad broke the 4th phone that month.
He couldn't come to terms with the fact that he could no longer talk to Ayaan, listen to his bakwaas shayris, threaten to make him meet 'Mukka Ahmed Khan'. Asad smiled fondly at the memory. How could he live without meeting his Ayaan ? He was an integral part of his life, a part of him infact ! He couldn't believe that no one would burst through his window in the middle of the night simply for a hug, that no one would come up with girl related ways of doing everything, no one would make him play guitar with him in the middle of the market.
He had tried everything. He had tried to make her understand patiently. He had tried arguing. He had tried fighting. He had even tried reasoning - 'Jisse ungli pakadkar chalna sikhaya vo jab chalna seekha to use raasta dikhane ke jagah chhod doon?' But to no avail. His ammi had given him the ultimatum. It was either her or Ayaan. And unlike Ayaan, Dilshad and Najma only had him. He couldn't possibly abandon them. They were his life. And so he had to let Ayaan go.
He looked around his room. The guitar, the window, the broken phone, the curtains, all reminded him of Ayaan. He knew that tonight, sleep would evade him like plague. And so he made his way to the garden bench, hoping to find a way out. To live with him or without him. He wasn't sure he could do the latter. But the former seemed nearly as impossible after Ammi's kasam.
oOo
"Allah Miyan, what's wrong with you Mr. Khan ?!" Zoya wondered as she saw him break one more phone. She didn't mean to, but it happened when she was on her way to the kitchen to make some coffee for herself. It had been another long day..She had forgotten about the one way and had ended up on the wrong side. She then had to go all around again.
When she did finally reach that place, she compared it to the photograph n number of times to make sure it was the place. Once she was certain, she looked around, her heart thudding. This was it. She found it. The place that haunted her dreams. The place that housed secrets. The place that she believed had answers to many of her questions. The place she had lots of hope with, ummeed with.
Once the initial excitement wore off, she realised that the place was quite deserted and eerie. Moreover, the Sun was nearly down and it was already 6:30. Initially she hadn't bothered much, but after the Jahapana Bond khulasa, Zoya felt it was better for her to silently obey Mr.Bodybuilder's rules. For all she knew, after his deadline all terrorists and bandits roamed the streets freely !
M A ! Na baba na ! Hume in jhanjhato mein nahi padna ! she thought as she turned back, determined to be back here soon, during the day, and find out the truth. The truth that brought her to India, the truth that gave her the scars, the truth that her life depended on, and the truth that would either make or break her. Either way, she was going to face it, and face it head on. Even if it had the potential to make her fall head first.
She was a bit late, but fortunately, Mr. Six-Pack hadn't returned from the office as of yet. She greeted her phuphi and went to her room to freshen up. Was it only her or did phuphi really seem a bit off ? Well, she'd see to it once she freshened up a bit.
Just as she was leaving her room to go down, she saw her iPad flash. Jiju ! And thanks to the earphones in her ears, Ms. Zoya Farooqi remained blissfully unaware of the heated argument that took place downstairs between the mother-son duo regarding a particular 'Ayaan'...
Later at dinner, she'd had the shock of her lifetime. And that too not once, but twice ! For one, Jahapana did not comment on two tiny flecks of dirt on the dining table. That definitely shocked her. But that wasn't anything compared to what happened next. Her hand hit the salad plate by mistake, making all its contents scatter over the table and the floor.
All the three ladies gasped, covered their mouths with their hands and looked at Asad with wide eyes full of fear and worry. Both emotions strengthened, and mixed with a mighty amount of shock when all he did in response was remove the pieces from his clothes and continue eating. Zoya was on the verge of a heart-attack. Not only did he NOT give her a long stern and boring lecture on cleanliness, but he didn't even glare at her ! Zoya continued staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. He completed what was in his plate, which was not much, and left silently, as if his mind were elsewhere.
Zoya spent the next few hours wondering if she was dreaming. And she tried various ways to confirm, to make sure she wasn't, like pinching herself, throwing ice-cold water on her face etc. When she was finally convinced that she wasn't dreaming, she concluded that something was terribly wrong with Jahapana.
And she was proved right when she saw him break yet another phone. He was mad. REAL mad. She quickly ran down the stairs and into the kitchen when she saw him advance toward the door. She didn't want to get caught yet again. The gun...nahi nahi Zoya, shubh shubh socho. She hid behind the kitchen counter as a terribly disturbed Mr. Bodybuilder made his was to the garden.
She had left her room to make coffee for herself. The fact that she'd finally found that place and that she might get her answers soon had made her all jumpy. Sleep was miles away today. She figured now that she was making coffee, she'd make some for him too..
oOo
"Coffee ?"
Silence.
She cleared her throat, "Mr. Bon-uhh Khan, coffee ?"
His head jerked to her, as if he'd suddenly been disturbed, "Hunh ?" He seemed lost.
"Coffee ?" She offered, yet again.
He expressed his gratitude with a slight nod as he accepted it. "Shukriya".
Zoya couldn't help but admire his chivalry. After all, this was the first time she'd been honored yo receive it ! "May I ?" She gestured toward the empty space next to him.
He moved away a little in response.
She smiled and slumped down next to him. Both stared ahead.
"Bohot raat ho chuki hai, aap abhi tak soyi nahi ?"
Zoya remembered the khandar. The dream she'd been chasing since ages, the place with the answers she'd been searching for since ages "Jab khuli aakhon se barso purana sapna poora ho raha hota hai na, tab neend aksar dhokha de jaati hai Mr. Khan." she said in a trance. "Aur aap ?"
"Jab khuli aakhon se barso purana khof sach hokar aapse aapki sabse keemti cheez chheen leta hai na, tab aksar neend bhi usi ke saath tashreef le jaati hai Ms. Farooqi.." he replied, so lost in thoughts of Ayaan that he failed to register what he was saying, and to whom.
"Har raat ke baad ek nayi subah hoti hai"
"Kabhi kabhi andhera har roshni ki kiran ko apne andar samaa leta hai" Pehle abbu, ab Ayaan, he thought.
The pain was so evident in his voice that Zoya couldn't help but ask, "Aap khairiyat to hai na Mr. Khan ?". She was genuinely worried now.
Asad turned. His gaze locked with beautiful brown orbs, glistening with genuine concern. Looking into her eyes, he failed to lie. "Nahi" he replied honestly. In that moment, the pain she saw in his eyes gave her goosebumps. Without breaking the eye-lock she said, "Insha-Allah sab khairiyat ho jaayega."
He looked away. "Kehna kitna aasaan hai na ?"
"Bas yaqeen hona chhahiye"
"Andha yaqeen bas thokare hi khilata hai"
"Kabhi kabhi sapno se ya apno se bhi takra deta hai"
Her answer made him look at her. And believe in her. Believe that the night in his life would also end, that someday soon, he too would get to meet Ayaan, talk to him, threaten him, hit him playfully and listen to his non-stop chatter and bakwas Shayris.
"Sach ?"
"Much" she said, and smiled a dazzling smile. A slight smile touched his lips too. She saw she had been successful. She could see it in his eyes. A flicker of hope. Ummeed par to poori duniya chalti hai Asad miyan, aaj aap bhi ise aazma kar dekh lijiye !
She got up to leave. "Good night sir !" she did a mock salute.
"Dhyaan se ! Behosh mat ho jaana !" he said with a smirk.
That was the last straw. Jahapana Asad Ahmed Bond JOKED. With HER.
Zoya Farooqi fell to the ground with a THUD. And poor Asad had to carry her to her room once again. This time, with a smile. A smile that reflected on her lips too once he lay her on her bed and turned around to leave for the night.
oOo
"Ahha ! Two new idiots to harass ! "exclaimed two excited voices - namely sleep and love - at the same time.
Sleep turned to love - "Aapki baari baad mein aayegi janab, abhi to humaari baari hai ! Dree-eams !" Sleep called out, rubbing its hands in an evil manner with a naughty glint in its eyes.
Love smiled. It was going to be a long night. And a long story.
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