Chapter 14
Iss pal main hun...Ya tum bhi ho
It was late hours of morning when Zoya lazily moved towards the window of her room.
The light rain adorned the greenery outside, disappearing into its crevices. She turned around, carefully observing the contours of his face as he breathed in and out steadily. The overcast grey skies shyly sieved the light through playing with his features.
He surely was the most fascinating, complicated and infuriating man she had ever seen. She believed sleep would evade her – for his closeness stretched her nerves tight. But she had been wrong. No matter how much her pulse quickened at his slightest touch, no matter how much desire simmered under the surface, there was something about him that comforted her…soothed her being…relaxed her worries.
After weeks of trepidation, she had finally felt at ease last night, sleeping like a baby in his arms.
Her skin turned rose reminiscing his tight hold on her body, his erratic heartbeat slowly returning to its normal rhythm, putting her into slumber.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, committing the moment to her memory.
A sudden commotion in the kitchen brought her back. Ammi’s back!
Looking at the clock, she strode towards the other end of the room to get ready for the day – and much more.
Asad woke up much later, a little disappointed not to find her in his arms. But it couldn’t keep his mood sore for too long. He found himself humming familiar tunes, whistling melodies as he dressed.
A smile hovered at edges of his mouth, around corners of his eyes when he stepped out.
Zoya beamed passing him his signature coffee at the breakfast table. He noticed she was wearing a suit again.
She knows I don’t mind her in jeans, right?
He won’t hold his breath too much on that thought, his begum usually pretty much did what she pleased.
And seeing the morning had brought with it a familiar Zoya spunk he had been deprived off, he sipped his coffee easy.
As if on cue, she said “Isi baat par ek shayar arz kiya hai, Aapi”
His hands clutched his forehead of their own accord. Spoke too soon Asad Miya…spoke too soon…
“Faasle kaise jab hum dill mein baste hain,
Faasle kaise jab hum dill mein baste hain
Hum vacations main ajayenge,
Aaj kal plane ke tickets bhi saste hain.
Shukriya shukriya”
“Waah waah” Jeeju exclaimed grinning joined by his Ammi and sister soon after.
It warmed Asad’s heart to know that growing up, Zoya had been loved right. He could comprehend that Jeeju was always her cheerleader and enthusiast. Even when it came to her shayari’s.
He cracked a smile despite of himself as Zoya moved forward to wipe her Aapi’s tears with her dupatta.
“I am going to miss you Zoya”
“I am going to miss you too…so much”
xx
“So…” he started pretending to fumble with his tie.
Zoya sat on the settee in their room cross- legged immersed in one of the books from his collection.
“So?” she questioned.
“I was thinking why don’t we detour and visit your Aapi and Jeeju when we leave”
Was there a planned trip she was unaware of
“Leave for?”
She saw him turn away hastily and whisper something.
“Mr. Khan?”
Why was he talking to himself? In fact, he’d been behaving weirdly since breakfast. Not Mr. khan- weird. Weird-weird.
“Sorry I cannot hear you, kya keh rahe hain aap” Zoya called out
“Arre maine itni baar kaha, aapko suna nahi kya” he replied his voice almost angry
“Bolenge toh sunega na, kya khudse badbada rahe hain” she retorted mirroring his tone
“I SAID” Zoya raised a brow. He lowered his voice.
“We should visit New York when we leave for… you know… woh…actually”
“Woh actually what Mr. Khan?” she countered returning back to her book.
“For our trip to Paris” he said in one breath and left the room at once.
“Allah Miyan!”
She tried not to sniff, smell or breathe the aroma around her. She loved the look of it but the smell just made her gag. But there was no escape today. She was the centre of attention, the dulhan to be, the main recipient or as tamatar put it the main bakra of the day.
Najma giggled as she saw Zoya grimace for the millionth time.
“Hey, mujhe toh laga tha you would enjoy all this”
“I do tamatar but at this point she might as well have pushed me into a tub filled with mehndi” Zoya whined.
“What’s wrong with you?” she laughed “You are the bride, itna toh chalta hai”
Zoya looked at bottom of her legs almost entirely covered with the green-brown concoction.
No matter how much she requested the mehndi vali aunty, she just kept going higher and higher, allah miyan!
Her phuphi’s reassuring looks had gotten her through the torture. Thank god, Jahapanah wasn’t here.
It wasn’t until she had scraped and washed it all off, that he had made an appearance.
“Bhaijaan chaliye na meri bhabhi ke haathon mein aapka naam dhoondh ne”
If she wasn’t embarrassed, she would have laughed at his helpless puppy face. Later, it was his childlike “shayad thik se likha nahi hai” that melted her heart when he wasn’t able to find it. She had sassed him back with some shayari and a flashing dimple.
But their comebacks were cut short by the besharam aunty parade again. The cheeky one liners and talks of honeymoon had them both blushing in seconds.
If it wasn’t a matter of her favorite destination, she’d never have spoken up.
“Paris, aap mujhe paris leke chalenge” she said excitedly realizing only a minute later what she had done.
Mortified at her own outburst, she had refused to meet his gaze then.
She hid her face behind the book now, giddy with excitement, any signs of mortification long gone. All her doubt went flying out the window and drowned in the never-ending rain as his words rang in her ears.
There was no way he would admit going for a honeymoon if he didn’t want it. Maybe her married life wasn’t going to be as sorry as she thought! Yay!
xx
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