Aanan Faanan... hua kya se kya
The button is clearly on...and everything seemed to be connected...what in the world was the problem here?
He was suddenly alerted with footsteps behind him and furiously prayed that it wasn't who he thought it was.
"Mr. Khan" His jaw clenched. How was he supposed to keep her out of trouble like this?
"Ms. Faaroqui, do you not underst..." he started as he turned around, but stopped as his eyes took her in.
The sky behind her was a vivid color of red and gray, reflecting on her damp hair giving it a brown hue. Her white shirt was beginning to become see through and some raindrops trickled down to her lips as she blinked her wet eyelashes rapidly to clear her clouded vision.
He unnecessarily cleared his throat.
"Who do you think you are yelling at me like that?" Her tone brought his irritation back.
"Please leave" he hoped he looked mad enough to scare her off without explaining anything.
Huh! Think you can scare me Jahapanah.
"No" she jutted her chin out stubbornly.
He groaned– loudly – and went back to his job hoping his ignorance would do the trick.
A couple seconds ticked by as Zoya stared at his back. She could now see his muscles bunch beneath his soaked shirt as he tried to unsuccessfully reach something with one hand while balancing his phone-flashlight at an angle in the other.
She knew it was a bad idea the minute she took a step closer. The zing she felt as soon as her hand touched his, the swarm of butterflies that appeared when he stared back in her eyes.
She took the phone from his hand silently and tried to disregard his intense stare on her.
How can you even feel cold and hot at the same time?
She watched him get back to work and her thoughts drifted back to their almost kiss. She found herself fantasising these days... fantasies that included a pair of lips and heated breaths. She had always been aware of him. It was hard not to be...given he always breathed fire in her direction. But ever since her admission to herself, it was becoming worse and worse.
She had been relieved when phuphi came knocking on the door that blessed day, god knows what alien reaction he would have pulled after they...?
Maybe even banishing her besharam self from his tehzeeb-yafta kingdom. But right now, with him mere breaths away, it was all regret. Definitely regret.
Asad felt her gaze on him and turned his face a smidge to look at her. She was close...close enough to know her breathing had gotten shallow...and he knew he shouldn't have made the mistake of looking in her eyes. Those big brown eyes. So innocent yet so powerful.
His gaze travelled the same path his fingers had begged to voyage for who knew how long. It was deja vú all over again.
Her eyes travelled to his lips too and he felt something tug at his heart strings.
What was this woman doing to him?
He had just stepped closer ready to take her in his arms– his mind already gleeful at the prospect of feeling her warmth...those lips– when it happened.
"Asad?"
Asad and Zoya looked at each other with horror struck eyes snapping out of the daze they had both slipped in.
It can't be happening again?!
As Zoya closed her eyes in embarrassment, Asad looked over at his Ammi in slow motion, wishing that her knowing grin was a figment of his imagination.
xx
Two days later and he knew his Ammi was onto his case. She just kept looking at him all smug.
He wanted to evaporate into thin air these days; whenever a certain Ms. Faaroqui was around with his mother anywhere close in the vicinity.
Zoya, on the other hand, was not really sure what had gotten into her phuphi. She just wouldn't stop talking about getting a bahu and marrying her precious son off.
Yeah, good luck finding a poor basanti for this Gabbar Singh!
But she knew better, he was no gabbar singh and she wanted to be his one and only basanti.
Damn you, heart!
But seriously, it was starting to creep her out how that seemed to be the only topic of conversation between them these days. She was two breaths away from pulling at her hair, stuffing her finger in her ears and yelling la la la.
Zoya wanted to scream and shout and let it all out...and she wasn't even a will.i.am song. And to top it all off Jahapanah had decided that she didn't exist. Why did you want me to stay then, she wanted to yell in his face.
Ever since their kiss encounter - number two, he had stopped acknowledging her and pretended she was invisible.
Sometimes she just wanted to kiss him and get it over with. Agreed, they've had sexual tension between them before, but this was turning out to be some next level torture.
She let out a sigh. At least it had stopped raining.
She marvelled at the pretty colors of the sky that had a faint rainbow in the making. She closed her eyes, taking in the earthy post-rain scent, letting the wind engulf her...the light breeze flirting with her hair.
She hadn't felt so much at peace since tha...
"Ms. Faaroqui"
There we go!
She opened her eyes half annoyed, half hopeful. Hopeful he wasn't pretending she was a chameleon and annoyed to have been interrupted in such a moment.
"Yes, Mr. Khan?" she tried not to sound aggravated.
He frowned.
"Ammi is calling you" he said with just as much annoyance in his voice.
Zoya tried not to audibly sigh this time. She loved her phuphi but...'Who wants to be my Bahu?' contest wasn't exactly on her agenda today.
She got up to follow him inside the house but must have taken a step too fast cause she found herself slipping on the wet grass and tipping backwards.
She waited for contact with the floor but instead found herself on a hard chest between a pair of strong arms.
He had been successful in breaking her fall, but the floor was too slippery. How had he managed to turn them around to save her from the impact of the fall, she didn't know. Or care. She was too consumed with his eyes to even think clear. That's when she heard him wince.
Was he hurt?
Zoya quickly disengaged herself from him before her phuphi came cruising over to find them like this. Again.
She then checked him out head to toe before her gaze fell on his wounded hand. A lump suddenly formed in her throat as she saw his blood stain the dewy grass.
She ran in to get the first aid kit and stopped in her tracks only to find him in the kitchen as she rushed back.
"Asad, bandage karne do mujhe, septic ho jayega"
"Ammi, I'm fine, it's not a big deal" he said as he shoved his hand under the running water...and screamed in pain two seconds later.
Zoya hadn't realized when she had started yelling at him until she stopped to notice everyone's stare on her. Asad looked amused, his Ammi look pleased and tamatar confused.
What? I only told him to stop acting like a brat and get his hand bandaged! What was so funn...his hand!!
"Sit" she tried to say calmly to which he obliged immediately.
Dilshad watched the two in silence as Zoya carefully bandaged Asad's hand. Her teary eyes wouldn't look away from his hand and his smitten ones from her.
Her son was a gone case she knew a week ago, it was Zoya she had been skeptical about. Not anymore.
It was time to talk to Anwar and Zeenat.
xx
P.S. like to add song lyrics as chapter names (saw it in another ff so credit to the inventor) but it gives the chapter sort of a background score for asya...just to get the gist of the feels :D
Updated all previous titles too!