HOLA! Here is chapter 1, the story will be in Zoya's POV, so what you read is what goes through her head...and Zoya's really in touch with her subconscious voice, which will always be italicized and mentioned so as to not confuse anyone. I hope you guys like it! Chapter 1Zoya's POV
UGH. Allah Miyah! Why did I even wake up today? Can I just rewind to this morning and wake up in my warm comfy bed? I groaned kicking the tire of my car. Great. Just f**king great. It's like the whole world was plotting to make me hate India and go back to England. My Mercedes gets a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and obviously there is no cell phone reception. And on top of that there is no spare tire in the trunk, and even if there was a tire there is no flippin jack. So I stand stranded in the middle of, what is perhaps, the quietest road in all of India...okay I exaggerate, the quietest road in Bhopal.
The bloody horror movies are quite accurate at explaining things like this. Why do cars always break down where there is no signal? No wonder "sun-saan jagas" have such a bad name. They are like the Bermuda Triangle. Ugh. This day couldn't get any worse.
"No no no." I whined cursing my brain, you don't tempt fate on a day like this! And of course as soon as I said that the grey winter skies of Bhopal opened up and it started to pour, without any advance warning. No little raindrop hitting my face, followed by drizzle, of course not. Zoya Farooqui wasn't that lucky. Especially since coming back to India...maybe I should just go back. Wasn't India supposed to be warm all year round? Because it was bloody freezing now and dark, ugh, it was getting dark. F*L. As kickass as I am, I have to admit to being scared. Stranded in a city that isn't even recognizable anymore, in the pouring rain and with the night fast approaching is f**king scary.
Maybe this is what I get for trying to spy on Humeira. But how could I let her suspicious behavior go? She was up to something, I knew it. And something big, she was my sister, well step-sister but her mother died giving birth to her so I kind of felt like her mother some days even though I was only four years older than her. Anyways, I still knew Humeira inside and out. She was going somewhere, being jumpy and secretive. It was definitely a boy, my little sister was seeing someone! A small part of me felt betrayed, I thought she would tell me first but I pushed that part back.
Humeira could hide her behavior from a family of lawyers...you know people who are trained to pay attention to these things. They didn't notice a thing, I swear sometimes I don't understand how my Abbu and brother can be so...unobservant. But you can't hide anything from a psychologist, especially Zoya f**king Fabulous Farooqui. Or ZF3 for short.
I squinted my eyes as I saw headlights approaching, I didn't quite know if I should have been relieved or scared - it could be a serial rapist for all I knew. But I didn't have much of a choice, I don't think cars frequented this road a lot, especially at this time of the day. Seeing the fact that it was a nice black sleek Audi made me smile a bit and feel a bit safer until my brain started thinking again. What if it was some creepy rich old dude or a drug dealer or one of those don types? There aren't many people in Bhopal who could afford an Audi. GAH! I debated putting my hand out for a lift but the car had stopped right beside me and the passenger side door was thrown open. Creeepy.
"Get in." Came a familiar voice that made the hairs on my neck stand up but also made me sigh with relief as a feeling of comfort settled over me. It was a voice that I hadn't heard in a few years and it was definitely deeper and sexier than before, but I could still recognize it, I could recognize it anywhere.
HALT! We don't call the enemy sexy Zoya.
Ah, yes that is correct subconscious.
I stood there debating if I should actually get in and let him help me or wait it out. I was half tempted to sit on the road because I didn't want his help. "I'd rather not Khan." I finally said.
"Get in the car Siddiqui." He groaned.
"I use my mom's last name for your information, so it's Farooqui and I don't need favors from you." He was the last person I wanted help from, he would not get the pleasure of me being thankful to him. He'd get that smug grin on his face.
And then you'd want to kiss it off his face.
I would not! Stupid subconscious.
Please Zoya, you know he is f**khot and you would jump him.
Yeah, but he is the enemy...we hate each other!
Yeah, explain the sexual tension then!
Well, he's f**khot and I am hormonal OKAY?
"Farooqui, I don't know why you are making those weird faces but swallow your pride and get in the car before you get raped or killed. This isn't England." His velvety voice came. Allah Miyah, why was his voice so sexy? f**k you puberty, like he wasn't bad enough before.
"Why do you care? Let me get raped and killed. It'll make your life easier." Okay, a bit over the top. But...meh, I loved being dramatic.
"What's wrong with you? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, and I just dislike you. Get in the car Farooqui."
I sighed, hating myself for being desperate enough to get help from him. I sat in the car, the leather seat cold beneath me and turned to look at him. Bloody Hell. Here I thought the guy that played Neville Longbottom was a miracle of puberty but this man, HOLY. If he was handsome before, he was drop dead gorgeous now. He bulked up, he was always tall but now he was built, that sexy built with a large chest and shoulders but a smaller waist so you knew that there were lickable abs in there somewhere.
The baby fat had disappeared off his face leaving cheekbones for days, and a jaw line you could sharpen knives on. Luckily, he was clean shaven, if there was stubble lining that face I would have jumped him right then and probably licked his jaw. His hair just begged to be touched and don't even get me started on how deliciously his white dress shirt stretched across his chest. It's like he knew that a white shirt with a skinny black tie was my weakness on guys because there he was after five years and my ovaries were screaming to let eggs lose for him to fertilize.
The enemy checked me out as I checked him out, the underlying sexual tension palpable. But there is nothing wrong with admiring a sexy man right, even if he is the enemy? Right? Who am I even asking for an answer? Stupid subconscious doesn't want to talk now does it?
"Why are you such a magnet for trouble?" He finally asked his eyes snapping up to mine.
"Why do you always end up where I am?" I retorted. "Are you stalking me?"
"Please, don't flatter yourself. I didn't even know you were back in town." He said driving the car as the rain fell heavily against the windshield, the heat was blasting in the car and I was thankful for the warmth.
"Did you miss me?" I asked.
"Not at all. The last five years have been bliss." He said.
Asshole, he knew the exact time I'd been gone. "Counting?" I teased.
"You wish. Why are you back?"
"To make your life miserable." I smiled.
"You do so by just existing. What the hell are you doing here anyways?" He asked.
"Uh..." I debated telling him that I was following Humeira but I didn't think it was wise. Plus I never did what he told me to do. It was against the handbook of family rivalries - well it was more of a his parents refused to talk to my dad rivalry. His mom and dad were kind to me and Humeira whenever they saw us, and his sisters used to be my friends, we'd lost touch over the years though. But Asad and I - we'd never gotten along. "I could ask you the same question." I said.
"I don't find it necessary to answer your questions." He replied smoothly, asshole. "Where are you going?"
"I don't know." I muttered to myself.
"I know you're dumb but how do you not know where you are going?" He groaned.
"Shut the f-" I stopped myself, he was being cordial and helping me, I shouldn't swear at him...just yet. Save that for later. "Humeira was being all secretive, I think she is sneaking out to see someone, so I was following her when my car broke down." There, now he knows. Maybe I shouldn't have told him...
He looked almost speculative. "Did she mention something about a cafe outside of town?" He asked.
"YES! OH MY GOD. Is that a dangerous place where girls get raped or something? Hai, I knew it! This country is crazy. Wait! WHY DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT? ALLAH MIYAH-"
"Shut up Zoya." He said, and f**k did I like the way my name rolled off his lips, it sounded so raspy and I wondered how much raspier it would sound if he moaned my name in my ear. He started talking again once I'd calmed down. "It's just that Ayaan was acting the same way..."
"Of course, I swear if Humeira went to..." I stopped, what were the chances right? Nervous internal giggle. "So you are following him too?" I asked. He nodded. "Great, I am thinking like you now. Allah Miyah, what's wrong with me?"
"Everything." He replied. "You've always been weird."
"Asshole." It was a completely irrational, juvenile response, I knew that. I should have just risen above it and refused to let him get under my skin.
"I see swearing is the only thing you've learnt in England." He said.
"You wish."
"Don't tell me you got a law degree."
"But of course." I smiled messing with him, let him think I am here to steal all his work from him.
"You know buying a law degree doesn't constitute as actually obtaining one. We all know that you don't have the brains for one."
ASSHOLE. I was pissed, I hated it when people questioned my intelligence. And the f**ker knew it because that stupid, crooked smile of his appeared. I was fighting down the urge to do something really juvenile like call him names...well more names or start throwing stuff at him. I was sure I had tampons in my purse...I can just imagine his face. Cue the internal giggling.
"Oh, is that how you got yours? I always wondered..." I retorted.
"You know you talk a bit too much for someone who looks like a drowned cat." He pointed out turning to me as he pulled up in front of a cafe.
"Please, I am sure I still look fabulous." I retorted. He didn't say anything, which was quite shocking for him. Interesting. Maybe he agreed.
"Maybe you shouldn't wear white when the skies look grey." He said to me as he reached towards the backseat and grabbed his suit jacket. I gasped and looked down.
ALLAH MIYAH! The shirt was thick, but you could still see through it, partly. And anyone with eyes could clearly see that I was only wearing a bra underneath it.
ALLAH MIYAH, he was looking at my boobs.
Do you feel violated?
No subconscious I do not. It kinda makes me...
You're blushing!
Why am I blushing? NO! ZOYA YOU CAN'T BLUSH.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" I snapped at him.
He just shrugged. He smiled smugly as he held out the jacket to me. f**ker. He knew that the last thing I wanted was another favor from him. Why does this always happen to me? Without taking his eyes off my face, he reached out bringing the jacket towards me, challenging me to not take it with that smirk. Ugh, he knew that I would take it. I HATE IT WHEN HE WINS.
Swallow your pride Zoya, you can't have people looking at your fabulous boobs, it is better to have his jacket.
Ugh, subconscious I really do not want to wear the jacket of the enemy.
Just imagine his sexy scent all over it, it'll smell like him, you like how he smells Zoya!
Sigh, I do subconscious I do.
So I wrapped my hand around the jacket trying to take it but his other hand shot out like a striking cheetah and closed around my wrist. I froze, stunned by the feel of his warm fingers on my skin and the current that ran through me every time he touched me, a current no one else was able to bring out. Because I didn't dislike anyone as much as I disliked him.
Yeah right.
SHUT UP SUBCONSCIOUS!
I forced myself to look back at his face, bloody hell, why was he staring at me like that? "What?" I snapped.
"I need this back, dry cleaned by Friday." OCD asshole.
I snapped out of whatever freaky spell he'd put me under and snatched my hand away. "You know where to find me."
"You are going to find me, I don't have time to run around after girls."
"Right." I snorted, very un-lady like but hey! Don't judge me.
"Why the snort?"
"I may not have been living here for the past few years but I have been privy to the page three news Khan." I said putting the jacket on. f**k, it did smell good - manly, musky and a hint of something unidentifiable.
"I wouldn't believe anything you read on page three." He murmured as I rolled up the sleeves of his coat, so they weren't hanging 37378 feet below my wrist.
"Shall we?" I asked.
"You go first, there is no way I am walking with you and having us appear on page three." He retorted.
"Don't worry about that, I am sure no one in their right mind would assume that we like each other." I said opening the door.
Yeah right! That's why you spent the past twenty minutes thinking about how sexy he is and about how raspy his voice would be when he moaned your name in your ear...
SHUT UP SUBCONSCIOUS. YOU ARE CALLED SUBCONSCIOUS FOR A REASON, STOP MAKING ME THINK, I AM TRYING TO REPRESS YOU.
We headed towards the cute one floor building to find the sneakers - not the shoes, like people who sneak around, HA, word play. I hoped that Humeira Siddiqui was not fraternizing with the enemy's brother! They weren't there yet, of course. They'd probably met up somewhere else before and then planned to come here. Khan looked almost impressed at my deduction when I told him about it. Rude much? So I decided to mess with him, as always. I walked up to the counter and smiled at the...boy who seemed to smile a bit too much for my taste.
"Hey! Can I help you?" He asked enthusiastically.
"Yes, can I have all your blueberry muffins? The ones in the back too. Every single one." I smiled.
"All of them?" He asked his eyes wide. "There are probably 50 of them."
"Perfect. All of them. 4 boxes of a dozen and 2 in a bag." I smiled.
"O-okay." He said confused before moving to box them for me. I sent out a text to my stepbrother, Imran, asking him to send a car here. The boy came back with four boxes. "Can you put the boxes in a bag for me please?" I smiled paying him and grabbing them. I turned around to find Asad staring at me flabbergasted, pinching his nose in annoyance. Bingo. Now all I need to do is move things around on the table and his OCD will come about.
I sat down on a table where he could clearly see and hear me. Putting the bag of boxes on my right, I moved the metal tissue box to the edge of the table and the salt + pepper shaker to the middle yet left. I watched as he pinched his nose, he was dying because he knew those were supposed to be in the middle of the table, in line with each other. I decided to annoy him even further and grabbed one of the muffins and bit into it making sure to make satisfied noises. Loud moans and groans like it was the best thing in the world. Asad's eyes widened and he ran his hands through his hair, that was his I am so annoyed' look. Haha, sucker. He f**king loved blueberry muffins, he never got anything else with his black coffee. And of course, as I expected he shot up angrily and marched over to the counter.
"Do you have any blueberry muffins?" Asad asked the guy behind the counter angrily.
"N-no...the lady just bought them all." He stuttered. Hell yeah I did. And damn, they were good. I smirked as I bit into it again, I couldn't hear him yelling anymore. What a pity, I wanted to know what he was saying. A few minutes later he went back to his table, with a Kit Kat bar in his hand.
He looked at me pointedly as he opened the package. He wouldn't. I watched shocked as he BIT the bar, HE DIDN'T BREAK IT INTO STICKS! HE ATE A CHUNK OF IT. THAT IS NOT HOW YOU EAT IT. YOU DON'T BITE INTO THE BAR. Ugh. He knew it was bothering me because he smirked. Asshole.
He took the fun out of eating his blueberry muffins. Luckily, I didn't have to ponder how to waste time because exactly at that moment Humeira walked in...on the arms of the younger Ahmed Khan, Ayaan. Allah Miyah, he didn't look like a total dweeb anymore either, he kind of looked like a more cutesy version of his hot brother. Asad's head snapped up in their direction too, his hand finding his nose again. Ah, the frustrated nose pinch. Of all the men in the world, Humeira decided to go for the Ahmed Khan.
"B-B-baaji." Humeira's eyes went wide as she looked at me.
"B-bhai-Bhaijaan." Apparently both Humeira and Ayaan had the same stuttering problem.
"ALLAH MIYAH. HUMEIRA! PURI DUNIYA MEIN TUMHE YAHI MILA THAA." I groaned walking towards them.
"Exactly. Ayaan, tum pagal hogai ho...a Siddiqui." Asad said standing beside me.
"Excuse me! What do you mean by saying "a Siddiqui" in that tone? You brother is lucky a Siddiqui could fall for an Ahmed Khan!" I asked turning to him, the audacity honestly!
"Yeah right, your sister is the one clinging onto an Ahmed Khan! Clearly she is smart." He snapped, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Acha! Please! She could have any guy in the world."
"Except Ayaan."
"Who said she wanted him? Take him with you to the zoo."
"Of course! We'll get a ticket to see you in your cage at the zoo."
"Allah Miyah! Please, if we were the attractions at a zoo, you'd be too classless to get admitted."
"Classless? Me?" He scoffed.
"Allah Miyah! Humeira-" I said turning around to her but she wasn't there...neither was Ayaan the bandar's bhai.
"Great! Look what you did." He groaned. I turned just as Ayaan and Humeira got in the car...the one Imran sent for me. I was f**king stranded again.
"It's your fault."
"Acha?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest. "If I am deducing correctly, and my deductions are impeccable, you are stranded here and your ride just left."
"So?"
"So ask me for a ride." He smirked.
"I will not." Absolutely not. It was bad enough that I had to catch a ride with him all the way here and wear his coat. "I'll call a taxi."
"There is a transport strike going on."
I can't call home either, if I did I'd have to tell Imran or Abbu about where the car they sent went...that would lead to exposing Humeira, which I couldn't do yet. ALLAH MIYAH, WHY DO YOU HATE ME?
"You know your facial expressions still change while you think." He laughed.
"Shut up."
"You should be nice to someone who you are going to ask a favor of."
Do it Zoya. Swallow your pride. Ask him. Ask him. Just say it.
"Can you drive me home?" I said as fast as I could.
"What? You spoke a bit too fast, I couldn't hear the 'please' in your question. And no smile?" Asshat. Ugh. I hate this.
"Can I please get a ride with you?" I asked making sure to smile, even though I am pretty sure it came out as a grimace.
"Maybe if you said thank you for bringing you here and giving you that." He said pointing to my jacket.
"Aren't you a bit too childish?"
"I am a kid at heart." He said causing me to laugh.
"Please, you acted like a grandpa half the time while you were a kid."
"I am leaving soon." He said looking at his watch. Why do I have to thank the enemy? I don't want to.
"Fine. Thank you for driving me here and giving me your jacket Khan." I grumbled.
"It didn't sound genuine. Again, with a smile this time. And it's Asad." He smirked.
"But I always call you Khan-"
"I want you to call me Asad."
"Why?" I asked confused.
He just shrugged and motioned for me to continue. Ugh. I don't call him Asad, it's too...personal.
Personal? Puh-lease, you know you want to get up close and personal with him, just look at him.
Shut up subconscious, yes, he is hot but that doesn't mean I want to get up close and personal.
Yeah right, that's why you think about him sometimes, and stalk his Facebook profile.
I DO NOT. I just saw it one day okay, because he's friends with my friends. And it's not like he had any pictures up anyways.
Hmmm.
Anways, like I was saying, I call him Khan, it's always been like that. Sigh.
"Do you talk to yourself in your head or something?" The enemy asked, his arms were crossed across his chest and he looked all kinds of se-. "I am still waiting for my thank you by the way."
I sighed. This morning when I woke up I felt like I was 6 foot tall, filled with pride, and now I feel like I am a dwarf hunched over the floor. I hate this. "Thank you for driving me here and lending me your jacket Asad." I will ignore the fact that I liked the way his name rolled off my tongue.
"Better. Now apologize for buying all the blueberry muffins."
"I will not."
"You bought them to piss me off."
"Oh please, my world doesn't revolve around you."
"You don't even like blueberry muffins, you like cheesecake." He said. Wait, what?
"How do you know that?" I asked confused. I don't recall ever telling him. Nor do I remember buying or eating it in front of him. He didn't respond.
"Let's go." He said walking towards his car. Okay then. I grabbed my bag of muffins and followed him to his car. I watched shocked as he went to the passenger side and opened the door...for me.
"What?" He snapped looking at my shocked face. "I've been raised right, although you aren't exactly what I would describe as a lady, you are categorized as one."
"Real gentlemen don't insult women, it kind of undermines your effort." I said sitting in the car, he closed the door behind me and went to the driver's side of the car.
The ride back was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Not awkward at all. Which was weird. I looked at the bag of muffins in my lap and debated giving him one. But I knew he wouldn't take it. But what would I do with so many muffins? Eating one was good, but I didn'tlove blueberry muffins and would probably get tired after the second one...and the calories.
I sighed as we entered back into the traffic filled city. He stopped at a red light, his hands drumming on the steering wheel when a knock sounded on his window. It was a little kid, a beggar asking for money. He couldn't have been more than five. His clothes were ripped and dirty, he looked tired and his face sad. Asad opened the window and was about to give him money when I stopped him.
"You don't give them money, most of them work for people who make them beg for it and keep it. That's not what the kids want. They want food." I handed the bag of muffins to Asad to pass onto the kids.
"Apne dosto kai saath baant kar khana, theek hai?" I smiled when his face lit up realizing it was food.
"Shukriya." He said walking away as Asad closed the window.
"That was nice of you." He said as I watched the kid walk away.
"Doesn't it piss you off seeing what these kids have to go through?" The little kid walked to the side of the road and under the bridge. "Sometimes I wish I could do something to take them all off the street, they shouldn't be here, they should be at school learning." It absolutely pissed me off, they had done no wrong, they didn't deserve this life. No one did.
"You can't change the whole world overnight."
"But I want to, so bad. It...I feel so helpless sometimes like I can't help anyone."
"You helped that kid, and all his friends." He said driving as the light turned green. "At least my muffins met a good fate."
"Ha, I was wondering what to do with them-" Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that.
"I knew it! You did buy them all to piss me off. You are so childish." He exclaimed.
"Hello! I am not the one who bought a Kit Kat the wrong way. YOU DON'T TAKE A BITE OUT OF IT!"
"Says who? The Kit Kat Rulebook?"
"Everyone knows that you break the sticks and eat them one at a time."
"That's only if you are sharing with someone."
"Allah Miyah! What's wrong with you? It doesn't matter who is eating it, you don't bite it. No matter what."
"I can't believe that it still bothers you." He laughed.
"You're such an asshole you know." I pointed out.
"Only to you."
"Drop me off here." I said when we reached the end of my street.
"It's dark outside." Was his reply.
"It's like 50 feet!"
"50 feet in the dark with no streetlights. This is India, not England." He said driving towards my house, up the driveway to the door.
"You're so paranoid." I said as he stopped the car. I sighed before I spoke the next words. "Thank you." I said while taking the brown paper bag with a blueberry muffin in it and handing it to him.
"You didn't poison it right?" He asked as I got out of the car.
"Maybe I did. Bye Khan." I said slamming the door shut. He backed out of the driveway as I walked up the stairs, my hand hitting the pocket of the coat. There was something in it and of course I had to check, not because I was curious but because it was his jacket...and he turned it over a bit too quickly. He was up to something. What if it's a bug? I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling the object through the material, it didn't move. It felt like metal. I hesitantly put my hand in the pocket and grasped the object, taking it out. What I saw shocked me beyond belief.
TADAAA! Do let me know what you think pleaseee, I would love to hear your views on the first chapter and what you think might happen. And let's play: WHAT IS IN THE POCKET? Oooh, and PM lists and stuff, just click that sexy "BUDDY" button and you'll get a PM as long as you're on my friends list.
Chapter 2 - Page 10
Edited by astonm - 9 years ago
