Fasaana

NINETEEN

You're beautiful, Every little piece, love, don't you know?
You're really gonna be someone.

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In the month of October, the work in the new apartment started.

Zoya decided on a rustic gray wallpaper for her room. The other room was made into a nursery for Sehrish, with floral wallpaper. The crib that Aarti got for Sehrish was brought over to this apartment. And the third room was designed according to Malti's liking. The living room and kitchen walls were left white.
Zoya also went shopping with Aarti and Rohit. They bought all the basic stuff like refrigerator, washing machine, bed, television, couch and a lot of utensils. It was enough for them to start living there, and with time, she would keep adding on the rest of the stuff.

After everything was set properly, all the clothes and other stuff were brought over from Rohit's home.

The first night in the apartment, after putting Sehrish to bed, she strutted into the living room balcony and took a deep breath. She stood for a very long time, watching the moon, and relishing her independence.

________________

"Mama, choco!" Sehrish pouted cutely.

Zoya smiled at her baby and took out the chocolate sauce from the fridge and poured it over the small pancakes that she had especially made for Sehrish.

"Eat up." Zoya said while cutting the pancakes into small pieces for her and handing her the fork. Sehrish held onto her fork carefully and stabbed a piece. Then she brought it to her mouth and gobbled it down.

Zoya poured hot milk in a glass for Sehrish and put it in front of her.

Zoya turned towards Malti, "Please give Sehru her fruits at 12. And no matter how many cute faces she makes, you will feed it to her."

Sehrish giggled at that, while Malti just nodded. Zoya ate her breakfast with coffee as well. Then before leaving for work, she kissed Sehrish goodbye.

At work, an employee came to Zoya to take a file, and her eyes fell on the photo frame kept on Zoya’s desk. It was a picture of her with Sehrish from her first birthday.

"Is that your daughter?" She asked.

Zoya smiled. "Yes."

"Really, how old is she?"

"She turned three last month." Zoya answered. Her baby was growing too fast.

"You don't look like a mother of a three year old. When did you get married?" The woman said, amused.

"I am actually divorced." Zoya had crossed the phase where she felt ashamed of her past. She didn’t shy away from openly accepting that she is a divorcee.

The next day was Saturday. And Zoya had promised to take Sehrish out. There was some furniture that needed to be bought for the home, so first they went to the furniture shop. Zoya looked for a nice glass table for the living room, another small table and couch for the balcony. Then Sehrish wanted pizza so they had their lunch at Pizza Hut.

After coming back home, Zoya stopped to see the security guard of her building.

"Are there any gardeners in our society?" She asked the guard.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied.

"Send him tomorrow to apartment  510." She requested him. She wanted some plants for her home.

The gardener came the next day, and Zoya filled half of her balcony with plants. She also got a few indoor ones for the rooms.

A couple of months later, she went to Banjara Market with Aarti. It was the hub for budget-friendly furniture and home decor stuff.  Both the ladies spent the entire day shopping and bought enough stuff to fill the entire car. They had bought every piece of home decor stuff that Zoya would probably need.

Slowly Zoya's home was becoming the small, peaceful sanctuary she had always wanted.

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"I think that's about it. Does anyone else want to add something?" Vishwas asked while shutting the flap of his laptop.

A chorus of no came from the rest of the team members. Everyone got up and started to leave the conference room. Zoya also picked up her laptop and dairy, when Vishwas stopped her. "I need to discuss something with you."

"Yes?" She sat back on her chair.

"The management had decided to take over a company. They've been running into losses for almost a year now." Vishwas started.

"Okay."

"Someone from our department has to go there to talk to the CEO and secure the deal." He told her, "And I want you to be that person."

"What?" She asked, confused, "But this isn't in my job profile. Send Gaurav."

"Gaurav is going to China tomorrow to secure the deal with Wang Li." He tried to make her understand. "I know it isn't exactly your job, but you can do it. You're so good at your work, and you have all the leadership qualities to represent our company. This deal is important for us, please."

"Is it in Delhi? Or do I have to travel?" She asked.

"It is in Jaipur."

Zoya sighed. "How can I go, sir? I can't leave Sehrish here alone."

"It won't take you more than two days." He said, "And you can take Sehrish along with you. Also, it is Jaipur. I know your parents live there, so you will also get to meet them."

Zoya thought for a while. He had a point. It had been a long time since she had met her family. Her father had come to Delhi once, when she graduated. But she had not met her mother and sisters ever since she left Jaipur. Even though Kausar had not been supportive of her choices, she was still her mother.

"Who else will come with me?" She asked.

"Sarthak from the HR Department. So, you're going?" He hopefully asked.

She sighed. "Fine."

"You're the best." He grinned at her. "Crack the deal. It will be in your favor at the time of promotion."

She nodded and they both came out of the conference room.

She suddenly remembered she didn’t ask him about the company. "Oh, by the way, which company is it?"

"It is an IT company, TaskMaster."

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Well well well, look who decided to give a double update!

Ready for some action in the next chapter?

And everyone waiting for romantic scenes, be a little patient. A couple of more chapters to go.