Heyya beautiful people! Thank you so much for reading this! I'll be posting a little late on my other stories, I hope you guys don't mind. I'm just really excited for this story and thus couldn't stop writing!! Note: Portions written in bold italics are flashbacks and dreams! Normal italics are thoughts and emphasis :)
Lost Without You
Chapter 2: You Had Me From Hello
Asad watched Karen keep the phone down with questioning eyes. She had an almost witch-like expression on her face when she called some employee named 'Farooqui'. The guy was probably dumb, Asad thought to himself. Karen kept the phone down smiled at him instantly, sensing his probing gaze.
"Employees...they just don't understand the first time do they?" She said and smiled animatedly. Asad nodded meekly and started looking at the artworks around Karen's cabin. They were pretty good, he was definitely impressed. Although he had a hunch that the artworks weren't by Karen herself, they seemed too creative for her. A soft knock at the cabin door brought him out of his thoughts.
"Come in." He said absentmindedly and turned around his chair to face away from a baffled Karen. He took a single look at her and was absolutely stunned by the woman in front of him. He couldn't take his eyes off her, hell he couldn't even blink! Was it her pink pouty lips, her silky hair, her doe-like brown eyes or her perfect figure he didn't know.
He had dated many women from super-models to actresses, but he had never been so captivated by any of them. For the first time, Asad had found a woman 'beautiful'. Otherwise it had always been "hot" or "sexy".
Shaking the thought off, he contemplated. He only 'wanted' her after all.
And damn do I want her.
"Oh, Farooqui. You're here, finally. Get me the files you have for the project you're working on. The Manhattan one?" Karen asked a nervous Zoya.
"Uh b-but-"
"Just get me the files Farooqui." Karen glared at her and said through gritted teeth, but was surprised when Asad held up a hand to stop Zoya.
"You were saying something gorgeous?" Asad said to her, with a small smirk on his face. Zoya's eyes widened in an expression that she thought said, "Excuse me asshole?!".
Okay, WHAT. Who the fu- frick does this guy think he is?! Tony Stark?!
"Uh, no? I-I wasn't saying anything." Zoya spluttered.
Asad eyed her figure and raised a brow. "Are you sure?" He asked huskily, making Karen swoon behind his back, but Zoya was steady as a rock. She raised a proud brow and turned to him confidently.
"Yeah, I'm sure. It's none of your concern anyways." Zoya said monotonously and almost sprinted out of the cabin to get the requested file. Karen glared at her retreating back for speaking this way to Asad, but Asad just took in the shape of her perfect waist and her hair swaying as she walked. Asad turned back around to face Karen, who still had a smile plastered on her face.
"Who was that?" He asked in a low, seductive voice that startled Karen.
"O-Oh that, that was just Ms Farooqui. She's the head designer." Karen said casually, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger.
"I meant, what's her name?" He whispered in her ear, startling her (and pleasuring) even more.
"Z-Zoya...Zoya Farooqui." Karen breathed and motioned to touch his chest, but he moved away instantly. Asad watched her from between the blinds of Karen's cabin. He was stunned yet again, this time by her perfect curves as she bent down on her desk to talk to someone.
"Hmm." He only said, trying to think straight. Desire was shooting through him like a storm. He had wanted many women before, but why did this one seem, more...intense? Again, he shook the thought off and remembered what day it was. Why he needed to get his mind off it and why he'd driven here to distract himself.
He needed to have some action to get his mind off his Ammi's birthday...and death anniversary. He was crumbling inside, but sexual action always helped him out of it. No feelings involved. Or drinking, but his father didn't like it. More like hated it. He contemplated drowning himself in his work, but that wasn't enough. Almost every week, he would sleep with a different woman, shooing her out of his bedroom the day after. The women seemed satisfied, so he never felt any kind of sympathy for them.
Forget it. If I can't have her, I'll have her boss. What's so 'special' about her anyways?
* * *
Zoya speed walked to her and Mitch's desk and bent down to whisper to Mitch, who was wearing headphones.
"Mitch!" She said. No response.
"Mitch!!" She whispered more harshly this time, still no response. Giving up, she yanked out a single headphone and yelled into his ear, "MITCH!"
"Good god woman you scared me!" Mitch clutched his chest and whispered back.
"Listen, give me the files for the huge Manhattan project. Regina George needs it." She said.
"I'm sorry, who?" Mitch blinked several times and asked.
"Regi- oh forget it Karen needs it." Zoya huffed. Mitch looked confused.
"Zoe, isn't that incomplete?" He asked as he dug out the files from a drawer. Zoya looked at him helplessly.
"I know! I tried to tell her but the bitch won't listen! Now she'll blame me if she loses the deal with Mr. Asshole..."
"Uhh, WHO?!" Mitch asked apprehensively, folding his arms.
"Yes, Mr. Asshole. I don't know how his big head fit in that cabin." She said and glared at the frosted glass doors of her boss's cabin.
"Okay...moving on." Mitch dodged the matter smoothly and said, "Are you okay? I mean is...Tanveer..."
"Oh no, thankfully she isn't there." Zoya said and smiled genuinely, not aware of the beast of desire she had evoked within a person sitting in the very cabin she so loathed.
"Here..." Mitch muttered, handing a fat file to Zoya. "Just tell her that the digital rendering hasn't been done yet okay?" He said.
"Yeah I know. Thanks." Zoya said and hurried off to the cabin. She knocked more confidently this time.
"Come in." Came a female voice now, the one Zoya was used to. She couldn't help but notice that the voice seemed kinda breathy. Oh my god was she dying? HECK YEAH! Zoya stifled a laugh at her thoughts. She entered the cool air conditioned room and wished she hadn't the moment she saw what was transpiring.
'The AAK' and Karen, her FREAKING boss, were making out shamelessly on a desk.
What... the... hell?
"Mmmh, Farooqui, put it over ther-oh!" Karen moaned as Asad skillfully nipped at her neck. Zoya's eyes remained wide as saucers as she took precise aim and threw the file on a spot of the desk that wasn't occupied.
"MMHM! Oh yes! Yes!" Karen moaned, Asad groaned responsively and wrapped Karen's legs around his waist.
"You're so hot..." He said huskily as Karen tried catching a breath, before Asad went down on her neck again. Zoya couldn't help but notice he was exceptionally good at this. She mentally slapped herself for not focusing on the task at hand.
ESCAPE ESCAPE ESCAPE!
Trying to avert her gaze as she saw an unadulterated display of tongues, Zoya literally sprinted out of the cabin. Thanking God that she preferred flats. Zoya almost slammed the door shut and stood against it. Looking as if she had just been petrified.
"Lemme guess, they were having sex?" said a smug voice from beside her, startling Zoya to death. "Hey, no need to get scared! I'm Amir, Mr Khan's Project Manager." Zoya saw a kind faced man, probably in his 40s, hold out a friendly hand for her to shake. She nodded and shook his hand gently.
"So?" He asked, his eyes darting between Zoya and the cabin door.
"Oh that, hehe. No thankfully they were just making out." She sighed in relief, wondering what kind of hell this poor guy might've been through if he knew what happened in all those 'cabins'. "But thanks for the warning." She whispered and Amir chuckled. "I'm Zoya Farooqui. Nice to meet you! I'll be looking forward to seeing you again." She said politely.
"Yes, if we get through with the deal. Which is getting more obvious by the second-" he was interrupted by a loud moan from the cabin. Amir sighed in annoyance. Zoya laughed and cringed at the door.
"I'll see you later I guess?" Amir said, making finger guns.
Zoya laughed. "Yep! See ya later." She too made finger guns and proceeded towards her's and Mitch's desk to tell him that the deal was DEFINITELY on.
* * *
Rashid was busy washing his used dishes, listening to music and vibing when the doorbell of the luxurious apartment that his son had gifted him rang. He quickly wiped his hands on his apron and removed it. The long walkway to the door irritated him, but he was thankful to Asad nevertheless.
"ABBUUUU!" boomed a joyful young voice throughout the apartment.
"Ayaan! Give your old man a hug c'mon!" Rashid chuckled and pulled Ayaan into a loving bear-hug.
"Hey, where's Bhai?" Ayaan asked, his eyes scanning the apartment for Asad.
"He's gone for work. You know how he is today..." Rashid said defeated.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." Ayaan muttered.
"Anyway, get settled! I'll order pizza!." Rashid said, clamping his hands together.
"With Bhaijaan coming in the evening? No thanks I choose life!" Ayaan said and guffawed, Rashid rolled his eyes. "You know how much he hates pizza!"
"Yeah okay. I'll heat up some leftover pasta from yesterday..." Rashid grumbled.
* * *
"Yo Zoya!" Mitch called from another end of their office. "What format do I use for the new canvas again?!"
"How many times Mitch? CMYK for the canvas and JPEG as the image format if you wanna print it!" Zoya hollered back across the spacious room. Causing many friendly laughs and chuckles to go around. They all were used to this lively atmosphere in the office. Sometimes it was dampened by their boss, but Zoya being the next in charge, instantly assured them that they're okay.
"Kay thanks!" He yelled. Zoya went back to her iPad to continue sketching a rough copy of a client's task. Her client was a fashion designer, and wanted to create realistic versions of her dresses. The client was definitely not acquainted with technology so thus she came to Nebula Designs. Zoya continued stroking her iPencil along the skirt that was flowing down to the models ankles, until her phone rang. She broke out of her zone and answered it, not noticing the name on the screen.
"Hello?" She said hurriedly.
"Hey, Zoya." Drawled a voice from the other end, Zoya froze. "Doing well, I suppose? Asad is coming to your office today I heard."
"What do you want Tanveer?" Zoya whispered through gritted teeth. Why couldn't she just...die?!
"Oh, going straight to the point are we? Hmm, I like that."
"I don't care, about what you like or don't like." She said angrily, Mitch had come back to his desk and instantly understood what was going on.
"You know what I want Zoe."
"Don't call me that!"
"Easy there tiger! One wrong move, and I could easily tell him. Now it's even easier for him you know." She threatened coldly.
"W-what do you mean? A-Abbu's in India right?...RIGHT?!" Zoya said, not being able to control the panic attack coming over her. What did she mean? Abbu can't be...Ya Allah what's happening?!
Mitch was instantly by her side as she spoke, placing a calming hand on her shoulder and squeezing it lightly.
"Oh! You don't know? Abbu's in New York. We all live together now. Abbu runs his business and I work as Asad Ahmed Khan's PA."
"W-when did he come here?" she whispered in shock.
"Two months ago. That's why I told you, Zoe! One wrong move, and I can bring you down." Tanveer said and cut the call. Leaving a shaken and almost broken Zoya sitting on her chair, clutching the receiver to her chest.
"He's here." She breathed to a worried Mitch.
"What? Who? W-who's here Zoya?" He said frantically searching for his bottle of water. "Here, have some water first."
Zoya nodded gratefully and took a sip before speaking. "Gaffur Abbas Siddiqui, m-my father. God, I don't even want to call him that!" She said laughing lightly and crying at the same time. Mitch beamed at her. He couldn't understand how she could be laughing after all the shit that had been thrown her way!
"Oh dear." Mitch whispered. "Are you, okay?" He asked, taking her hand into his.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just when this day couldn't get any worse.' She sighed.
"And Tanveer, why...?"
"Oh the usual. 'Give me what I want' and 'one wrong move and I'll tell Abbu where you are' BS. I don't understand! She's literally Mr. Asshole's PA, so she probably gets a lotta dough at the end of the month, then where does all the money go?!"
"I don't know, she probably only asks 'cause she wants to cause you problems?" Mitch said shrugging.
"Nah she's not that naive. I guess she just spends it away. Anyways, as usual I'll just transfer the money to her." Zoya said rolling her eyes and got back to work. Mitch thanked the one above for letting Zoya into his life.
* * *
Asad sat staring at the skyline, leaning against his chair in his own apartment in Madison Ave which was pretty close to his father's house in Lexington Ave. He took a huge swig and grunted. The twinkling lights of New York City at night were illuminating the dark living room.
"Ammi? Ammi where are you? It's time to open your gifts!" Asad called out through the corridor of their Villa. "Ammi!" He called again.
Asad took another swig of the whiskey he was gulping down directly from the bottle. He hadn't had anyone in bed to take his mind off today's date, so the last option was to drink.
He walked through the corridor, calling out for his Ammi and opening every door to check behind it. He was happy, his dad was happy, everyone was happy! She deserved to be happy too!
Asad lifted up the bottle to take another gulp, but nothing met his lips. He glared at the empty bottle and threw it on the ground, shattering it. Taking support of multiple chairs and tables, he reached the mini-bar and pulled out another bottle from the shelves. Popping out the cork, he put the bottle to his lips and gulped. He drank like he had just come out of a desert, wanting to drown himself in the sensations rising. He wanted to forget, to not be aware that his Ammi was long gone.
He reached the end of the corridor and slowly opened the door. The sight in front of him froze his blood.
"AMMIIIII!!!"
"AMMIIIII!!!" he let out a gutteral cry and smashed the second empty bottle to the floor. Staggering and swaying, he picked up his jacket and headed out the door. Not aware that he had forgotten the exclusive keys to the door. He walked out of the building in his drunk state and walked towards where he thought was his Abbu's house. Taking support of flustered people and the buildings and cars around him, he walked down the street which gradually became darker and quieter.
"Why did you leave us Ammi... weren't we enough?" He slurried. He continued walking down the unknown lane, reminiscing about his mother.
Asad let out a loud "OOF" as he bumped into a soft but sturdy body. "Get the f*ck outta my way!" He said drunkenly.
"What in the- oh you've gotta be shitting me." Said a royally pissed Zoya.
Bahahaha! So that was the second chapter people! Will update the next one soon!!
Please do let me know your thoughts on it!!!
Love you loads ❤️❤️
P.S: Buddy me for PMs!!
Edited by Captain_Crash - 2 years ago
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