Shunned

Chapter 7

Or so she thought. But it started going downhill from there, fast. In the weeks that followed after "the talk" nothing really happened really. Asad continued to pretend like Zoya doesn't exist, and she, had no idea what to do about it. She tried making meals on time, kept the house in order, even though the inner feminist within her was screaming at her for being a typical house wife. Well, Zoya had no idea what she had gotten herself into. She had no idea if her husband is an inner anti – socio psychopath or a murderer for that matter. "Should have done more research on him before all this mess", she muttered to herself.

The thing is Zoya wants to try her best to find a truce between them. So she is trying her best to understand him by doing "things" that might give them an opportunity to interact with each other, and thus, pick up some clues as to who her husband might be underneath that grim façade he puts on, all the time, around her. But unfortunately, she hasn't had much luck on that forte. He does eat the food she cooks and doesn't complain, or complement for that matter. Then other days he'll eat out and not call her to let her about it or even text her, so much for trying.

But the one thing he does is help in keeping the house clean. Zoya was shocked to say the least. It happened on the second weekend after the wedding, Zoya had just put her clothes in the washing machine, by the way, did I mention Asad does his own laundry. Crazy. She saw Asad go into the cupboard by the stair case and come out with a vacuum cleaner in his hands and started cleaning the place. Zoya was so stunned she dropped the freshly laundered clothes on the floor. "Ahh.. not again!". Zoya was unsure but she wanted to help him with the work, as her opinion of him was a bit softer now that she has established that he is not a chauvinistic pig, at least not fully. So she grabbed a wash cloth and started mopping down the counter and windows. Asad looked up from his place near the couch when Zoya came into his field of vision. Both of them stared at each other, Zoya with a, please-don't-ruin-this-moment-of-mutual-peace look and Asad, well, with his signature arctic-freezing blank stare. Then they looked away and went about their respective tasks without talking. Zoya wasn't really sure it's a win-win in their relationship, but knowing the fact that he doesn't think that woman must do all house work and men are Gods is a little reassuring. But maybe it's a perfectly sane reason too, considering he hangs out with a diverse set of friends who can be quite forward in their thoughts. Her mind flash backs to Tanveer draping herself all over her husband and her mood goes a bit sour.

So yeah "life" went on this way forever. Both of them fell into a routine they are comfortable with. They still shared a room but kept their space. Usually on the week days when they had work, Zoya usually gets up a bit early in the morning as she likes the peace and quiet of the morning when she has some time to herself. She goes for a run, gets some fresh air and plays with Oliver and Lola, for a while and makes something simple for breakfast. In the meantime, Asad does God knows what, eats breakfast and leaves quite early in her opinion. She has seen him take a foot ball out of his car once, maybe he plays in the evening. Zoya sighs, "There is so much I don't know about him", she thinks to herself miserably. In the evenings Zoya after getting home from work usually has a hot cup of coffee or tea, whatever she feels like that day and sit with a book. Asad gets home late and they'll have dinner and usually retire to bed. In the weekends, Asad usually goes out with his friends while Zoya does meet up with her friends and chats for sometime but, she much prefers to have a relaxing day with a good book and if she feels like it, she loves to paint. It takes away some of the tension she feels and time goes as smoothly as her brush strokes. This went on for nearly two months into their marriage and both of them haven't even come close to knowing each other a little.

Then that happened. It was a Friday night and Asad's friends were at their home playing games and hanging out. But somehow Tanveer is missing. Goodness. Zoya wasn't really sure where she stood with his friends, they weren't entirely hostile towards her, well, they haven't been particularly welcoming either. She didn't want to come to conclusions without giving it a try and so she decided to join them. She filled a bowl with some popcorn and went to the couch where everyone where sprawled out.

She offered the snack to everyone there and some took it. "Well that's a start". She took a seat at the recliner which was the only empty seat she could find. Ayaan , Humeira and Imraan gave her varying degrees of are-you-crazy looks but didn't comment further and went about their game. Guess what, her husband didn't even look up. Shocking. Then came the talk of some movie night on Saturday which was originally supposed to happen at Ayaan  and Humeira's place, but they have some renovation work going on so they were debating on where to have it. Finally they decided to have it right here. Asad gave them a chilly look which they promptly brushed off. Zoya was impressed. Suddenly Imraan looked up and saw Zoya was watching. "You can join us", Imraan exclaimed with a lazy grin. Everyone looked at him shocked. Zoya felt cheeky and impulsive, "Sure!", she too exclaimed smiling. She totally missed the death glare her husband was sending her way. Finally some action, Zoya thought tiredly.