Asya FF ~ Now That I've Found You

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Looming Sorrows

The next two days brought a lot of walking, sightseeing and absolutely no time to hold a conversation. Najma, Noshini and Zoya were inseparable, frolicking away to shop, photograph and taste test just about everything.

Zoya had started a photo collection of her own. The memories she would take back. Of the family that loved her like their own. Of the man she had come to love.

She'd maybe loosely admitted to herself a long time ago but it took time to really-really admit it. It was bad timing she knew, what was she doing playing with her heart recklessly like that. His presence would be gone in less than two weeks and yet she couldn't force herself to pretend anymore. She wanted to leave it at a 'crush', of two people who shared similar pasts and understood the familiar ache – but who was she kidding.

It was so much more than that.

She'd already drawn him in her world, interlaced futuristic visions.

So, she'd admitted it.

She was in love, one bigger than herself.

But she wouldn't spend time crying over goodbyes, the tears would be saved for those. For now, she relished at his closeness, his voice, his eyes, his smiles and the newfound gentlemanly behavior.

The mess was unscrambled, puzzle solved – much earlier than she'd preferred to. But she'd have to make peace with it sometime. Wasn't it good that the heart started now?

Asad couldn't make peace with it. Since the day they'd come back shopping for souvenirs, the count of three haunted him. Not a meaningful word had been said between them since that night. Sadness surrounded him each time he looked at her face.

He did the only rational thing his heart permitted.

"Why don't we take the road back home travelling through Agra" he suggested to the group settling down for dinner back at the hotel.

"Omg, we can do the Taj Mahal trip" Najma shrieked, just like he'd hoped.

"Well, we would Asad beta, but I really have to get back to work" Anwar replied. Noshini and Najma looked at each other in alarm, so did their Asya.

"Oh, come on Jeeju, how long could that possibly take, we came saat samundar paar and not being able to see The Taj Mahal" Noshini made a puppy face. Anwar looked around and everyone wore the same expression.

"Okay, I'll push back the meetings somehow"

The ladies cheered but not Zoya, they had at best bought another week.

What was another week compared to a lifetime ?

***

"We have got to do something" Najma panicked

"Relax honey, we don't know if Jeeju was talking about also taking Zo back" Noshini countered

"Of course, he was! How could he not? Plus, you don't know my bhaijaan. Even if he feels what we think he feels, he will never admit it. He's always been like this. Stubborn and an introvert."

"Look, I can always stay back saying I want to sightsee Bhopal more, that way they wouldn't take her with them. I mean we can at least make a good case of not leaving until your summer vacations are over. Now, I am sure your bhaijaan can't be that stubborn. We have more than enough time to make him see sense."

"You underestimate him" she sulked.

"No, you underestimate me" Noshini crossed her arms in decision. It was time to bring out the big guns. And soon.

The Jaipur days were nothing short of extraordinary. The old forts, narrow streets; they had seen war, change, the lean and the fat. Now with its colorful roads and vivid history, it managed to hold the eye of every visitor that came to see it.

Asad and Zoya weren't any exception. Zoya romanticised each and every fort she set foot into.

Asad romanticised her.

The architecture, the stories, the antiquity all mesmerised her, made her forget the worries of incoming days. She stood in the small dome built on the terrace of Jaigarh fort overlooking the vast, captivating landscape. The weather had decided to show some pity with the cool wind streaming through her hair. She looked up at the clouds weaving in.

"Why are you standing here all alone?" Dilshad's hand came up to stroke her hair lovingly.

They both instinctively looked at the group a few metres away – Najma and Noshini busy with their millionth photoshoot, poor Anwar as the photographer.

Where was he?

"Zoya?"

She gazed back at Dilshad and smiled "Just listening to the sound of birds, the stream Phuphi. It's so peaceful here."

"Sach kaha, Asad made a good decision coming here this early in the morning. Warna aisi shaanti yaha kaise"

Zoya snickered "Well, I sure am going to miss this non-shaanti once we leave"

Dilshad's mouth turned down at its corners "I wish you would never go back"

Her lips pressed together in dejection, a sad frown taking up space on her forehead as she spoke "I wish I could never go back. There is so much that I love here." Zoya reached for her hands, holding them firm but soft and spoke with emotion "You have given me so much Phuphi. All the love, respect, support from this house, I shall never forget. You have no idea how hard it is to leave."

Vision turned blurry with tears in both eyes. Dilshad spoke more with her actions, hugging her tight.

"Well then, don't go"

Zoya chuckled melancholic.

"I wish"

***

There is a particular kind of sorrow when you start loving something more than yourself. A rattled silence beautifully worded, painfully read.

Asad felt it standing by the minar Zoya stood in. They hadn't sensed him but he'd heard it all.

There were talks and discussions throughout the trip that he chose to ignore. Her family's constant future planning for her involved apartments and job offers in New York. So naturally her leave was forthcoming.

Why was the heart grieving like so?

Anwar wasn't the only one missing deadlines and cancelling meetings. Nothing else plagued his schedules, calendars or projections. Nothing else had ever gotten its hooks so deep in him.

Nothing but her.

Any minute now, sanity was ready to shatter and dissolve. What have you done to me, Zoya?

"Mr. Khan" His spine straightened; he blinked the water away.

"Yes"

"Phuphi is looking for you" When he didn't turn, she joined him.

Without missing a beat, she said "Aapne sun liya na sab" She knew she saw his shadow.

His eyes were on her in a flash "Kya sun liya"

She pointed to the space she stood at minutes ago.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Miss Faaroqui" His jaw clenched

We are being emotionally challenged again, aren't we?

"Well good, I was just checking for annoying eavesdroppers anyway" Before he could retort with his narrowed eyes, she cut him "We really have to go" For half a second, he thought she'd been talking about New York. Deliberately he made himself step back when she gestured to the group behind him. Obviously his IQ had dropped a hundred points.

"Everyone is hungry Jahapanah, let's go" she repeated when he wouldn't move.

***