Fasaana | फसाना | فسانا
:a tale; a romance; a fiction
Zoya had spent her entire life adhering to societal and parental rules, feeling trapped like a bird in a cage. But what happens when she decides to shatter those restrictions and soar freely?
Al...
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I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time.
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Zoya entwined her fingers together and squeezed them tightly to release some stress. Dressed in a formal white pants, sea green silk top and a blazer in about two shades lighter than the top, she sat outside the room where placement interviews were taking place.
“Zoya Qadri?” A peon called out, and Zoya raised her hand. “You’re next.”
She stood up with her file in her hand. Running her hands through her hair, she walked towards the door. All the nervousness she was feeling couldn’t be reflected in her interview. So she took a second to let out a long sigh to release all her stress. Then she pushed the door open and strided in the room with her head held high.
There were three panel members. Two men and a woman. One man and the woman were in their mid-fifties, while the second man was relatively younger. She greeted them all, and they asked her to take a seat.
“So, Miss Qadri,” The older man started, “Please introduce herself.”
Zoya once had a teacher in her school who had taught her that a person’s introduction could never be something quantitative. The age, marks, score, rank, everything that was a number, shouldn’t be included when you’re introducing yourself to someone for the first time. So she told them everything qualitative about herself. She told them her hobbies, her strengths and weaknesses. Her mantra was to be honest, so she honestly said that she wasn’t a very diplomatic person that was needed for the job, but she was a fast learner. And she believed in herself and wasn’t afraid of hard work. The lady gave her a few situations to understand how she would behave and Zoya answered as truthfully as she could.
The interview went on for almost an hour. By the time she came out of the room, she felt exhausted. They said she would receive an email if she’d be selected.
When she walked out of the college building, she found Kian. But what surprised her was her daughter in his arms. She hurriedly went to them. "What are you both doing here?" Kian had given his interview yesterday and wasn't supposed to be in college.
"Well, I wanted to come to wish you good luck for the interview. But I was running late, so I thought of getting Sehru here so that when you get done with the interview, we can go celebrate." He said, and Sehrish giggled.
"Celebrate what?" She asked.
"You, getting the job." He shrugged nonchalantly.
She rolled her eyes. "I haven't gotten it yet. They'll mail me later."
"That's just a formality. I'm sure you'll get it. Right, baby?" He asked Sehrish with an assured smile.
"Yes. Yes," she said in her baby voice.
Zoya ignored him and took Sehrish in her arms. Then they went to the canteen to eat something. It had almost been ten months since Kian had known about Sehrish, and he had bonded with her so well over the time.
A few batchmates came over to their table upon seeing Sehrish. Most of them knew about her since Zoya had posted her pictures with her daughter on social media. Sehrish was not a shy baby, she didn’t hide from strangers. So she easily went to everyone who came to meet her and even spoke broken sentences. Her vocabulary had increased over the months and her speech was slowly becoming more clear.
Three days later, Zoya and Kian were sitting in the library, studying for the final semester exams coming up.
"This syllabus is going to kill me." Kian groaned in frustration and shut the book.
Zoya chuckled and kept highlighting important points.
"Zee," He called her by the nickname he had given her not very long ago. Zoya already had a very short name so no one had ever given her any nickname. But when Kian randomly called her Zee one day, it felt so special to her.
"Zee, please stop studying. Let's take a break." He pleaded with her.
She sighed and put the notes away.
Since they were in the library, she couldn’t talk so they came out to take a tea break.
"You are my one true love." He said while looking at the tea cup in his hand.
"You say that to every food item." She countered back, "Even your food doesn't take it seriously now."
"That's mean." He pouted.
"But it's true." She chuckled. "I don't think even a girl is going to take it seriously when you propose to her."
He stared at her teasing face for a few seconds before blurting out, "Will you?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Will I.. what?"
"Take me seriously if I propose to you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Why would you do that?"
She took a sip of her tea and when she looked back at him, he was still staring at her. His expressions were serious. Before she could question him, someone called Zoya from behind. She turned and found Agastya Awasthi walking towards her. He was the placement head of their department. He had a good rapport with many students in the college, Zoya and Kian included.
"Hello, sir." She smiled at him formally. Kian greeted him as well.
"How are your studies going?" He asked.
"Just preparing for the exams." Zoya shrugged.
"Good." He nodded his head, "And anyway both of your careers look bright."
Zoya looked at Kian while trying to decipher his words.
"What are you trying to say?" Kian asked with a subtle smile, almost understanding the meaning.
"You both will be receiving your offer letters by next week." He winked and walked away.
Zoya's eyes widened and Kian grinned. "Did he actually mean that?" She asked, almost containing her excitement.
"Of course," He said, "He is the placement head. The companies must have already given him the names of the selected students."
"Oh my God," She jumped up and down in joy and hugged him. He gladly reciprocated. He was happy about himself, but he was so much more happy for her. She deserved it and everything else. And he was also thankful to Agastya for interrupting them at the right time. He couldn't believe he was so close to telling her his feelings. He couldn't do that, not yet. She was not ready for anything else other than friendship. She needed more time. And he was ready to wait forever.
