Chapter 3
"Mann Mast Magan, Bas Tera Naam Dauhraye"
Zoya quietly tiptoed towards the direction of the clamour only to freeze at the sight in front of her.
Tanveer was in the garden right next to the joint where the wall started, her arms flailing wildly in the air, her face set in a deep scowl. She looked like she was having a really disturbed conversation with someone, only Zoya couldn't make out if her lips were moving or not. She squinted her eyes to get a better view simultaneously as she moved towards her and called out.
"Tanveer"
Tanveer froze at the sound and spun around in her direction so fast, she almost fell off her feet.
"Tanveer" Zoya said again taking a step towards her but she didn't miss the look of total panic on her face before she unsuccessfully covered it.
"What's going on?" She enquired extending her neck up to take a better look at the garden.
"Nothing Zoya, what's wrong?" Tanveer answered in a surprisingly calm voice.
"It seems like you were talking to someone in the garden" Zoya put it out bold and straight. No need to beat around the bush.
"Uh.. No! No, who would I be having a conversation with; there's no one here Zoya. Um.. uh.. yeah...there was just this street cat roaming around here,I was just shooing her away"
"Cat!"
Zoya's face paled and her eyes widened. She hated cats. She had her own fair share of bad memories with them.
"Oh! Okay" She nodded in a daze accepting her explanation. She didn't want to talk more about 'cats' so she just let it go.
"Just be safe", she added with distaste almost as if she was having a bad memory.
"How's your foot now?" Tanveer asked changing the subject.
"I'll be okay. How about you? By the way I am sorry again."
"Oh no, don't be, it wasn't your fault" she said in a sugar coated voice.
They wished each other pleasantries and retired to their rooms for the night, where Zoya couldn't but help ponder for a second, how could Tanveer stay so polite and proper all the damn time! It was too good to be true.
xx
The work performed under this contract has been reviewed and found, to the architect's best knowledge, information and belief, to be substa..' , Asad groaned out loud as he read the same line for the umpteenth time unable to complete it again. Zoya's hurt face flashed in front of his eyes from the last time he had seen her, standing with his mother and sister, her unshed tears betraying her smile when he had ignored her and escorted Tanveer to her room.
He hadn't seen her since then. She never joined him for meals and basically stayed locked up in her room whenever he was home. It was as if she wasn't there anymore. His breakfasts have never been so dull and dinners never so gloomy.
He knew she was purposely ignoring him.
The very first day he'd been in a bit of shock when she had not crossed his way even once. He'd been hoping to see her in the morning to know how her foot was, obviously under the pretext of his mother and sister, but she hadn't showed up. He had reluctantly left for office telling himself he would see her in the evening only to find her nowhere in sight when he got home.
And it continued!
He sighed heavily– he had been getting the same treatment for three days now.Three days since he'd last seen her smile or that twinkle in her eyes. He didn't know if it was the flick of her hair or the chime of her laughter, her beautiful brown eyes or her pink pouty lips but he had missed her. He had missed looking in those brown gorgeous orbs and getting lost. He had missed her "Oh really's" and "Allah Miyan's". Hell, he had missed everything about her. The only way he'd managed to survive all these days was his secret daily regimen.
The harsh ringing of a cellphone intruded on Asad's fantasy world and brought him back to reality. He picked it up without looking at the dial screen and immediately regretted it as he recognized the male voice on the other end.
"Ayaan"
"Bhaijaan" he replied in a gruff voice.
"Aya.."
"No bhaijaan, I didn't call to exchange pleasantries. I just need one answer from you". There was complete silence on the other end so he continued.
"Will you testify against Abbu?"
"He is your Abbu, Ayaan, not mine"
"I didn't ask you that, will you testify against him in court or not"
"Yes I will" Asad's words rang clear as a bell. There was a deafening silence for a few minutes.
" Well, its all clear then" and he heard the phone disconnect. Asad put his head between his hands and swore softly. His life was just getting better and better by the second. All his problems rooting back to one man, Mr.Rashid Ahmed Khan.
The venom for him spread out in his veins even more if humanly possible.
xx
Ayaan was seething. That witch of a woman! She had done it yet again, made his life a living hell. Humaira had just managed to get Mr. Siddiqui's signatures on the bail papers he had arranged for his father and Razia had snatched them away, conditioning him to marry Humaira if he wanted the papers. He had wanted to scream and throttle the life out of her. He couldn't comprehend which way to go anymore. On one hand, his brother was not ready to back down and this woman was just not making it easy for him.
Razia eyed Ayaan from the kitchen who looked like someone ready to tear his hair apart, her lips curling up in a sadistic smirk. Ayaan was in the palm of her hands and she knew it. He wouldn't let his father rot away in jail, so sooner or later he would have to agree to this marriage. And the moment he said yes, she would rule over every being of the house, making them dance like the mere puppets they were.
xx
"Allah miyan!", she exclaimed to no one but herself. Zoya couldn't believe she was doing this. She was actually counting hours. Geez! She had no clue she could be this lame.
The truth was she had been counting hours since the day she had started ignoring Asad and it had been 65 hours 23 minutes and 48 seconds, make it 49, since she had last seen him. Last seen him glaring down at her looking his usual fine and perfect self!
For the love of god, she was just so tempted to drop this act of hers and go have dinner with everyone just so she could get a glimpse. No, she wouldn't, she couldn't. She had not come here for him. But deep down she knew the real reason; she would give away too much. She didn't know when or how but she had become a soggy weepy mess. But it seemed there was a never-ending water tank in her eyes. Maybe it was the homesickness, or not going being able to find a clue about her father; Asad's lack of interest in her or her missing her best friend but she was not a happy person.
She stepped outside hoping to chitchat with Najma to clear her head but stopped in her tracks seeing Tanveer having a muffled conversation on phone with someone. She was standing four steps away and Zoya couldn't hear her. Allah Miyan! God forbid if she was the one having a conversation in the living room. If Aapi would have been here, she would have joked that the next four houses could probably hear her.
But instead of the smile that would have usually graced her lips reminiscing her Aapi's words, she froze into the same statue of agony again. She realized with a pang that Tanveer was just so proper and so Mr. Khan-like.
She didn't want it to admit to herself, but it scared her, his closeness with Tanveer and obliviousness towards her, both, terrified her. As if on cue, she heard screeching tyres in the driveway. Already home! Think of the devil! She sighed and made her way to Najma's room. Time to go get locked up again!
Asad quietly closed the door behind him and exhaled his breath in a gush dragging his lean hand through his hair. The silence that existed in the confines of his house ate at him. It was a joke that the man, who had loved silence more than anything, couldn't stand it anymore.
As if Allah had listened to his dua, he heard zoya laugh, the same tinkling, carefree laugh and he felt a smile grace the corner of his lips. He had heard her voice after three complete days and it felt heavenly. His insides jingled and he felt warm to his toes. He hoped, like he had any other choice besides it, that she wouldn't ditch dinner today again.
xx
Dinner was a quiet affair with everyone wrapped up in their thoughts — with Asad scowling at his plate, Najma trying to figure out new diet charts, and Dilshad wondering what was up with Zoya. She had skipped dinner again.
Dilshad had been sensing something wrong with Zoya from quite a while now. She had been acting strange since the last three days; skipping meals, staying in her room, not talking much and not being the firecracker she generally was. She had felt her being upset about something and approached the topic, but she had negated her worries saying it was nothing and it was just her foot bothering her. But she was not the one to be fooled. She could definitely feel the undercurrents somewhere. Zoya had claimed to be tired again tonight and retired to her room early.
She decided she would talk to her again and dragged her body up from the chair sighing tiredly. All this drama in her house; with her husband being in jail, Zoya acting strange and her son being his usual stubborn self; had taken a toll on her. But her biggest worry of all was Mr. Rashid Ahmed Khan. She didn't know how, but she had to do something, and do it quick.
xx
A restless night dawned upon the Khan Villa bringing the next days worries into more light, but that didn't stop someone from performing his night rituals invented just two nights ago.
Asad creaked the door open and cringed at the sound it made. He then silently tiptoed towards the bed and kneeled down almost in a daze.
"Zoya" he whispered, his voice tired.
He picked up the muscle relaxant from the night stand, put a generous amount of the ointment on the palm of his hand and started rubbing circles on her foot, the exact same way he had done the night she had hurt herself.
He had not been able to sleep a wink that night knowing fully that she was in pain. Physically and Emotionally. He hadn't known himself but the unshed tears in her eyes had hurt him more. Unable to make it better any other way, he had decided to cure her from the physical pain at least.
Now, whilst rubbing circles on her feet, he took a long look at her face. Her lashes fell over her eyes fanning her cheeks and her full lips curved into a soft smile. Just simply looking down at her face relaxed him, tranquilled his state of mind and eased his worries. The lines of strain and toil slowly started to smooth out from his face eventually disappearing. Her innocent face had made him forget about the onset of yet another day of turmoil in his life.
As if in a trance, his fingers reached out to caress her smooth, raven hair from her face and he unknowingly sighed with utmost longing. Only if things were that easy.
Spell broken, he got up almost abruptly and walked briskly back to his room realizing the intensity of his actions.
But what he didn't notice, on his way back, was a shadow lurking near the door eyeing their intimacy with pure disgust and vowing to crush their dreams, hopes and longings into a putty of nothingness.