Asfi-Zubi - Love will find a way!

Going back home to him

Lubna was peeling and cutting apples, when Asfi entered his home. It was a cold winter day and evening had already fallen across the Neelum Valley. Lubna heard Asfi's voice as he teased Saim and then came in to where she and Gaiti sat at the dining table. Lubna noted with pleasure how Asfi seemed to have shed years. His voice was once again carefree and at times he seemed their old Asfi as he teased his Gaiti bhabhi. The same boisterousness, the same taking all the family together, the same pranks were back. And now he came home everyday at 5.30 in the evening, an unheard of thing for Dr Asfandyar. He came and sat down next to them and attacked the apples, laughing at everything they said. But as minutes passed, Lubna and Gaiti could see him getting agitated, his eyes frequently on his IPhone.

Gaiti: ' Late ho gaya? Paanch minute se zyada? Tch tch, bechara mera ashiq devar."

Asfi glanced angrily at Gaiti, " Main kisike call ka intezaar nahi kar raha. Aap bhi bhabhi bas meri taang kheenchati rehti hain."

Gaiti: " Toh phir mujhe apna phone de do. Aur aaram se chai piyo."

Asfi very reluctantly gave her the phone while Lubna and Gaiti laughed at him. Just then his phone in the hand of Gaiti rang. Asfi's head shot up and he extended his hand to take the phone while Gaiti withdrew the phone away from his reach taking it up and down, left and right while Asfi stretched his hand, almost lying flat across the table, trying to grasp the phone.

Lubna finally took pity on her son, " De do Gaiti, nahi toh agar call miss ho gaya toh moonh phula ke baith jayega aur chaar din baatein nahi karega."

Gaiti handed him the phone and he ran away fast,holding the phone to his ear," Hello Zubi, sorry phone uthane mein der ho gayi. Ye bhabhi bhi na, bilkul hamari dushman ban gayi hain. Tumhara phone aane ka waqt hota hai toh phone cheen leti hain." He closed the door of his bedroom firmly behind him and locked it so that he could speak with Zubi undisturbed.

Lubna laughed, ' Lo ab ho gayi do ghante ki chutti. Udhar Zubi hospital se nikali aur ye janab bas phone se chipak gaye. Us bechari ki kyat oh padhai hoti hogi."

Gaiti,: "Ammi Asfi ko baat karne dijiye, warna ye janab wahan pahunch jayenge aur phir to Zubiya bechari zaroor fail ho jayegi."

Lubna looked around and then spoke pensively," Gaiti ye wahi Neelum Valley hai, wahi ghar hai, hum dono tab bhi aise hi saath baith kar baatein karte the, par us waqt hum kitne alag the, Aaj tum aur Asfi dono khush ho, hum dono khush hain, aur mujhe yakeen hai Daniyal bhi kahin sukoon se hai. Bas ab Zubi aa jaye, toh hamari family complete ho jayegi."

Gaiti smiled at her mother-in-law, and quietly patted her belly secretly. She wanted to share the news with her husband first before telling her mother in law about another new member who would come to this family in a few months. " Insha Allah, Ammi."

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So Zubiya had her exam in March after which she was to fly down to Pakistan and then to Neelum Valley. Both Asfi and Zubi had their calendar synchronized so they could count the days together. Every morning, Zubi woke up to his message telling her how many days were left for her return to him. 68, 67, 66..... Asfi would sometimes be so impatient that he would be sure the calendar was wrong. For so many times, he would count the days manually just to be sure he was correct. Zubiya was delighted to see his impatience. She too was counting the days, but knew that Asfi needed only a small bit of encouragement to go overboard. Because his countdown was actually for the wedding and to have her permanently by his side.

But it wasn't as if the going was always easy. Asfi, if he missed a single call would quickly lose whatever reserves of strength he had built. His biggest fear was that Zubi would again go away and that would make him insecure. He needed to know where she was at all times, and would feel helpless if his sms would not receive a quick reply. For most time Zubi enjoyed being the center of his attention, but sometimes she would lose her patience too, because his insecurity would take the form of too many questions. She would complain that he didn't trust her. Poor Asfi did not know how to make her understand that he would need time to get over his fear. He hadn't told her how many months he had spent looking for her, always praying that she was still alive and healthy. For Zubi his fear was a little difficult to comprehend because she had always known where he was. So she would get angry and then he would get angry too and they would ignore each other for a few hours. Gaiti however understood that Asfi was unable to communicate his fear to Zubi and one fine day, she directly spoke to Zubi explaining how much her flight away from the hospital had changed Asfi into a very vulnerable man. Once Zubiya realised that she herself was responsible for his over-exaggerated fears, she immediately was filled with compassion and scolded herself for her insensitivity.

As the days crawled by, finally the exams were there. Zubiya was up almost all nights trying to complete her preparation. Asfi wanted to be around her and so made her set up Skype on a tab, so he could keep coming and going and catch a glimpse of her. He watched how strained she looked, was sure she wasn't eating, the hollows under her sleep-deprived eyes getting deeper by the day. She was too short of time to really appreciate his concern. And for the first time Asfi started appreciating the role of her friends like Xander, who would bring food over for his friend.

Finally on the last day of the exam, she came back home to find that Lubna had emailed her the ticket back to Pakistan. For the first time, there seemed a finality to whatever had been planned. That day, when Asfi rang up, she found the entire family together waiting to speak to her and welcome her back. " Surprise" screamed Gaiti and Saim. And for the first time, she was seeing all of them together. Her eyes filled with tears. This started appearing real finally. Lubna told her they were all waiting for her to come back. It was decided that she would stay with Dr Shehroze and Dr Asifa for a week while the preparations for the wedding got under way.

Asfi grabbed the phone back to continue his conversation privately, but today his mother interjected, " Bas Asfi, aaj se Zubiya hum se baat karegi . Bahut si taiyaari discuss karni hai." Asfi made a face but could not say no to his mother. He left the three women discussing the clothes, while Gaiti showed the shopping they had already done from their side.

At last the day for the flight dawned and in the early morning, Zubiya said goodbye to the family of friends in this country and entered the airport. The last time she was in this airport was 3 years ago, when a heartbroken girl had landed, her sole idea to put so much distance between Asfi and herself that her heart could mend. That stony-eyed girl, who had forgotten to smile, who could not sleep without some medicine, who wanted to retire into a shell was today a girl whose heart overflowed with love, whose eyes sparkled and she could barely stop herself from running to the aircraft, so eager she was to reach her family. Her family..... they were waiting for her as eagerly as she was, Asfi, the love of her life had already set off for Islamabad to receive her. As if on cue, the phone rang and she fished it out and blushed when she saw him.

In the aircraft, she saw the coast of California recede, the mountains along the coast became shrouded in clouds as the the aircraft rose in the air. She was finally going home to Asfi.

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