Fasaana

TWENTY EIGHT

And my waves meet your shore,
ever and evermore.

**********

The next day, Zoya left home at sharp 9 for the office, and ran into Shahveer in the lift.

"Good morning," He gave her a bright smile.

"Morning,"

"Office?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Me too." He replied.

She eyed the outfit he was wearing. A pair of black jeans, white t-shirt and a black and white check shirt over it with buttons open. She was surprised that he was dressed so casually for work. She said nothing, but he understood from her expressions. "I like to be comfortable while working. Suits and blazers are not really my thing."

She was again surprised that he knew what was running in her head.

She bid him goodbye when they reached the ground floor before walking off towards her cab, while he proceeded to the parking lot.

At the office, her boss congratulated her for the successful meeting. The rest of the day was pretty normal.

The next day, again, when she came out of her home, she found Shahveer already waiting for the lift.

He saw her and gave one of his chirping smiles. She returned the gesture.

As they rode the lift down, she thought that it must be a coincidence that they left their homes at the same time for two consecutive days. But this coincidence continued for the rest of the week. He'd greet her every morning with a smile and try to make small talks. She'd always reply back politely, but she never kept the talk going.

On Saturday, she woke up late. The home was quiet so she assumed Malti and Sehrish must be asleep. Making herself a cup of coffee and picking up her newspaper, she went to the balcony. She sipped on her cup and saw Shahveer. He was on his balcony too, his camera was in his hand and he was trying to capture two birds sitting on the railing.

He was bent a bit to get the angle percent, his one hand was holding the camera, the other was adjusting the lens. And for the first time in her life, Zoya found a man sexy. She was in such a daze that she didn't even realize when he stopped taking pictures and was now looking at her.

Shahveer smiled at Zoya, but when she didn’t respond in any way, he noticed that she was not just looking at him, she was eyeing him with what looked like lust to him. And the smile on his face turned into a smirk. "Take a picture, it lasts longer." He said loudly for her to hear.

Zoya blinked a couple of times.

"Do you want to borrow my camera for it?" He asked flirtingly.

All the heat rushed to her face and she was blushing red. To hide herself from embarrassment, she looked into her newspaper and pretended that he didn’t exist. He chuckled at her cute antics and walked back inside. She heaved a sigh when he was out of sight and mentally scolded herself for behaving the way she did. Like, what the hell was wrong with her? Why was she looking at him so shamelessly?

Thankfully, she didn’t have to see him for the rest of the day. From the closed balcony door and shut drapes, it looked like he wasn't home.

Zoya’s Sunday started at 6. She brushed her teeth and left home without changing her pajamas. Rohit was waiting for her outside her building. Upon seeing her, he stepped out of the car and came to sit on the passenger seat. Zoya settled behind the wheel.

"Whenever you're ready." He said.

She started the engine and carefully started driving.

For the past few weeks, Rohit had been teaching Zoya how to drive. It is a basic life skill, and she was tired of depending on cabs and autos for going to the office daily. Driving was not as difficult as she had thought. She had already applied for her driver's license. And when she'd get it, she'd be buying a car too.

In the evening, Sehrish requested to go to the park inside the society. The weather was pleasant since winter was approaching, so all three of them decided to spend some time in the fresh air.

Sehrish ran off to play with the other kids in the park. Malti sat on a bench with her wool and knitting needle. She was making socks for Sehrish. Zoya decided to take a stroll around the park. While walking, she saw an old man selling flowers that were laid out on a cloth on one side of the road. She went to him.

"How much for the roses?" She asked.

The man picked up a single rose and passed it to her. "One for ₹10."

She bent down and picked all the roses. "I'll take them all. And those Rajnigandha as well."

He started to pack her flowers by folding them with a transparent plastic wrap.

She paid him and took the flowers. When she came back to the park, she found Malti there with Shahveer. His camera was in his hand and he was clicking pictures of Malti.

"Hey," She went to them and kept the flowers down on the bench.

Shahveer looked at her, and his gray eyes fluttered Zoya's heart a little.

"We're meeting a lot these days. Are you, by any chance, following me?" Shahveer jokingly asked Zoya.

She raised her brow in a challenging way, which he found very hot. "I should be the one asking you that, Mr Khan."

"What if I say yes?" He responded.

She let out a very small gasp, not expecting that answer.

"Then.." She thought for a second, "I'd be forced to think of you as a creep."

He laughed. "If by creep you mean I'm creeping all over your heart, I'll take it."

Did he-

Did he just flirt with her?

Zoya, as well as Malti both were staring at him. Zoya was stunned, while Malti was amused.

Zoya cleared her throat and said, "I think we should leave now."

Malti nodded and went to call Sehrish. Zoya, without looking at the man in front of her, picked up her flowers. But before she could walk away, he called her. "Zoya?"

Her name rolled out of his mouth like butter.

She turned towards him.

"You didn't take up on my offer yesterday," He said, "about taking my picture. But can I take yours?" He slowly brought up the camera that was hanging around his neck.

And he was successful in making her blush yet again. With red cheeks and red roses in her hands, she stayed put in her place.

He gave her another couple of seconds to back out if she wanted to, but when she didn’t move, he captured her, for the very first time.

When he was done, he winked at her. Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly walked away to hide her shyness.

He watched her go before looking back into the picture he had clicked. This was his favorite captures ever, and he hoped that there would be more to come.

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If only someone would click me as I stand with red roses in my hand!

Also, Happy New Year guys.