Shunned

Chapter 11

Later that week

Asad and Zoya were having a comfortable evening at home going about their usual routine. Asad was watching news while Zoya was trying out a new recipe and had flour on her dress and hair and was feeding Oliver bits and pieces as he sat looking at her expectantly waiting for the next treat. Lola was drowsing on the couch next to Asad.

"Ouch", Zoya yelped. Asad rushed in to the kitchen to see Zoya holding her hand in pain, Oliver looked agitated and was whining at her. "What happened Zoya?", Asad asked concerned, "The oil splashed on my hands when I was dropping something in", she said holding her hands."It's just a small burn, I will put cream on it", Zoya told him.

Asad ignored her and went inside their room and came back with burn cream. He took her hand and applied the cream gingerly. Zoya felt surprised and grateful and kept on looking at him trying to discern the enigma that is her husband. When Asad was done applying the cream he noticed his wife's silence and looked up and found her staring at him. Without realizing, Asad was fascinated and lost in the brown specks of her eyes that mirrored a confusing array of emotions.

They were interrupted by Lola's loud bark and backed off each other. "Thanks", Zoya mumbled to no one in particular. Asad nodded lightly and escaped from there. Zoya patted her concerned dogs and was trying to fit the image of her concerned husband with the rude and angry and sarcastic one she was used to. Asad was flustered from the encounter with Zoya and was chiding himself on his blunder."Bad Asad bad", he had acted on instinct and wasn't sure why he kept on staring at her. He had a bad feeling about this.

Asad trying to avoid 'the incident' decided to stay away from their room late into the night and came in after midnight to find his wife wide awake reading a book and looking a bit pale. "Oh God", he thought to himself and decided to ignore anything had occurred and laid down. He took his own book from the nightstand and started reading or at least tried, his eyes kept on drifting towards her and he was a bit put out by the fact that she was completely ignoring him and glared at her.

Suddenly Zoya looked at him, yelped and threw her book at him. "What the ...", Asad started cursing. Zoya realizing what she had done scooted over repeating, "Omg I'm so sorry Asad, OMG!", she patted at his chest looking for injuries. Asad realizing their proximity was starting to get uneasy and raised his hands in front of him trying to keep her off him. "Stop it, I'm fine", he told her.

He realized she looked really pale and scared and asked automatically, "What's wrong with you? You look like a ghost". "She..she..killed...", Zoya mumbled. Asad shook her, "Zoya what's wrong!", "In the book", she said and finally Asad understood the problem. He picked up the book that hit him, "So I gather from your extremely coherent response that you were scared because of something you read in this book?" Zoya nodded.

Asad looked lost not knowing how to respond. "Can we switch sides please?", Zoya asked with a soft voice. Asad looked at her and at the door which was closer to her side of the bed, "We could lock the door you know", he said calmly. She shook her head, "Lola and Oli get agitated sometimes at night and likes to prowl the house", she told him. Asad gave her an odd look and got up, "Well, are you gonna move or are you expecting to be carried". Zoya looked shocked he agreed and scooted all the way over to his side.

Asad laid down and saw that she was still looking at him with a speculative look in her eyes. He raised his eyebrows. Zoya shook her head and laid on her back. Asad too shrugged it off but noticed her eyes were open still. "You know now that I am near the door whoever scared you is going to get me first and you can run away", Zoya gave a small smile at that, yet again shocked at his attempt to comfort her even though he had a dark sense of humor.

Asad who wasn't feeling sleepy decided to quell his curiosity, "What was in that book that got you this upset anyways", he asked nonchalantly. Zoya turned to face him, curled up and said, "It was a psychological thriller I started reading yesterday. It's based on a family. The explicit graphics and details in how the protagonist treats her children is mind boggling. I was just ..", Zoya trailed off, "What", he asked.

"It's just, I know it's just a fictional story but I have heard of instances where it actually happens in reality and I don't know, it took me to my past and made me think...",she trailed off. Asad remembered Zoya lost her parents when she was a child and was brought up by her Aapi and figured she was thinking of her parents. He fell silent.

He missed his own Ammi so much. He never felt like he belonged with his family after his Abbu's second marriage. Zoya who didn't know much about his family except that his dad remarried after his mom died, knew he was thinking about her and chided herself for bringing the topic up. "I'm sorry Asad, I suddenly felt scared the way things are between us, what if we unintentionally create a unsafe environment for our children, I mean, when we have them, I meant, if we have them, I didn't mean we'll definitely have more than one, I mean it's not like I don't want ...",Zoya kept on babbling not knowing when to stop.

Asad looked shocked, they haven't even touched each other intentionally and wondered how she thought that far ahead."I don't think you would mind if anything happens from your reaction today", a traitorous voice inside his head said. He pushed it aside. "Relax Zoya! Relax! It's too soon to worry about that don't you think. Besides, I don't think they'll feel unsafe with you as their mother, you have the skill of chattering all the problems away", he said avoiding her eyes. "Is he red on the face", Zoya thought suspiciously.

"And I promise if or when we have a child or more than one", Asad emphasized giving a side glance at Zoya who looked embarrassed, "We will work together and make sure we don't show our problems in front of them and patiently make them understand the things they need to know about" he finished. Zoya gave him a grateful nod and a thank you feeling a little reassured.

What if they didn't fall in love and have a romantic relationship like they show on TV, maybe they will clear their past misunderstandings and forgive each other for the hurt they caused each other and just maybe, be at least partners who can be honest with one another in this marriage. Someday maybe. For good measure she crossed her fingers. Both of them fell silent and lay down.

After a while Zoya looked over and saw no motion from Asad, she scooted a little closer to Asad facing his back, curled into a ball and fell asleep. Unbeknownst to her Asad lay wake unsure and a bit scared, and then waited. When he heard Zoya's breathing turn even and deep he turned around facing her and slowly fell asleep to the rhythm of her steady breathing.

Hello guys,

Hope this chapter brings out more character development between Asya in this chapter and a little glimpse into their mindsets about life. I hope you like it and do leave me any feedbacks you have in the comments. (The book Zoya was reading is loosely based on Verity by Colleen Hoover)