Zoya hugged her father as a few business clients joined to congratulate her. It was her moment, so I thought to give her some space and moved to the counter.
"Anything cold. Alcohol-free", I said to the man who was serving the drinks.
"Sure, sir", he said.
I looked back. Zoya was shaking hands with the partners, one by one. I smiled at her and picked out the box of that ring. Would be happy more than she was now? I hoped so.
The waiter gave me a cola and I started taking sips when I heard the music in the background. I didn't look back and continued to drink.
"Hey", Zoya grabbed my arm from behind as I looked up at her.
"Congrats", I smiled at her when she was gazing at me.
"What happened?"
"I'm watching you, Mr. Zafar. You're doing weird things from the moment you came here. Why didn't you come to me after the announcement? You just vanished", she groaned.
"Well, there were many big people to congratu
ZoyaI pinned myself with the wall, my head becoming heavy. I knew the truth because it was I who did this. But never before did I feel like a culprit. When Irtaza spoke the truth, those words felt terrible and I sensed myself to be the worst girl in this world. I couldn't speak though I tried to force myself."Tell me, Zoya. I'm not wrong, right?", he walked towards me and came closer, so much that I could never imagine him to be. But I was out of courage to drive him away.He showed me a mirror.Abbu used to say, "we know what mistakes we have done. But we take them lightly. But when someone else shows us what we did, we become cowards to see the truth""Say it, Zoya. Didn't you?", his face was hell close to mine but I didn't dare to move. I was facing myself. The mirror which showed what I was and what I did. "There's no point of lying because I got to know everything about you and your so-called acts. Now, I'll just go and tell the
Zoya I was standing numb there, unable to figure out what to say or what to do. His complaint-filled eyes staring at me, his eyes glistening to roll down the teardrops he was holding back. He was broken! My breathing got faster and I strived to take a step towards him. "Ab—", before I could even call him, he turned around and walked straight out of the room. "Abrar!" I clamored but he didn't look back, just left the big bouquet filled with red roses on the floor. My eyes froze on them for a while. I just ran and went on my knees, collecting them. Thorns pinched my skin but I didn't care. Those were the first roses he had ever brought for me. I could hear my clamor. I was crying my heart out while hugging the bouquet. When I couldn't move or do anything, my heart screamed out to go after him. I couldn't let him go. I would bring him back, I would bring my love back. No matter what. Forcing my legs to get up, I rushed out without was
ZoyaEvery word coming out of his mouth was hurting me and pinching me like hell. He couldn't do this and I would not let him. I gulped down and tried to cry, holding the knob tightly."It's not your heart that's asking me to leave. Is it? I know you can't live without me. The way I can't. Please don't hurt yourself for me", I pressed my forehead against the door and cried out again.I had no explanation, no justification to give him for whatever I did. I was his culprit and all I could do was to plead to him."Please Abrar. I'm begging you. Talk to me once", I sobbed.He was silent again and I kept ranting and crying. The next moment, my body slid down and I gathered myself against the door. I want to be closer to him as much as possible. That was the only distance that made me feel he was there."Don't cry", his words came harsh but filled with concern and love. While whimpering I couldn't help smiling and brushing off the tears."I
AbrarWhy was she always trying to hurt me? First betraying me, then doing something I could never tolerate. She cried a lot. It literally forced me to go to her and console her in my arms. She knew that I couldn't tolerate this. Still, she was hurting me more with her tears.Each word that came out of her mouth, pierced my heart. The confession I wanted was no more special to me.Yes, my heartbeat fastened when she confessed her love for me. But she cried like this on the streets that night. I trusted her, she looked real. When she said that fake story, she seemed to be real.She was such a good actor which haunted me.Should I trust her again?Could I?Did she really love me or did she only want her truth to be safe again?My love for her still existed and would always exist, but my trust in her—I couldn't trust her anymore.I was sitting beside the bed on the floor, my head pinned on the bed as I stared
ZoyaMy eyes ached when I opened them and rolled them around. My breathing got faster when I found myself in the room. I clearly remembered that I was outside. It meant he brought me here?My lips curved into a smile, though the agony was still killing me. My back, my stomach, my hands, and legs, whole body ached as I tried to get up and look at the couch to find him.He was not there.My eyes drifted to the clock. It was still too early. He didn't wake up so early. I jumped off the bed and walked out of the room.My legs stopped near the table when I spotted him sleeping in the living room. He slept here, leaving me inside. He still maintained the distance I didn't want anymore. I felt happy when I woke up, but now sadness surrounded me again."Stop being selfish again, Zoya", I screamed at myself. "It's not about you now. It's about him. Stop victimizing yourself"I pushed my legs to walk near the couch where he was fa
Abrar"Abrar, have you lost it? I don't think you're in your senses", dadi was continuously screaming at me when I was stuffing my mouth with dry bread, sitting at the dining table.I was swallowing them in a rage as if I was gulping down the agony."I'm talking to you", dadi yelled again from the living room.Zoya had been packing her stuff in the room. It had been more than twenty minutes. It never took her so long to pack stuff. She might be trying to make a delay. Or she was hoping for me to change the decision.I could not."Okay, she might be at a fault. But this is not the way to solve issues", she said again.But I didn't want to solve that.Issues could be solved.Not conspiracy.I wished I could say that to dadi.I wished I never loved her. I wished she were not a girl.I would easily tell the truth to everyone. But her dignity meant a lot to me."I want some time. Mayb
Zoya It took me a while to absorb the fact that I had to leave him. We had to part ways. But as far as I knew it was going to hurt, I also knew that I would never let my first love go so easily. I believed he would forgive me, he would realize my love for him, he would give me another chance. And that was the only thing which handled me. I had the hope. I came out of the room with my bag and didn't find him. Dadi was standing near the table. She looked devastated. "Dadi!", I tried to smile. "It's your home. He can't just force you to leave. Don't give in", she said in a harsh voice. I wanted to tell her everything that I didn't have any rights on this home and anything that belonged to him. I wanted to confess what I had done and he was not at fault. But his anger-filled words didn't let me do it. I already offended him enough and he would lose it if I told my truth to anyone. He was making me fall in love with him, even more,
Zoya"Will you please speak up? Your silence is giving me panic attacks, Zoya", ammi kept yelling when I was sitting on the couch, darting my eyes on the ceiling. I was in no mood to talk about anything but it was literally a disorder of Indian moms to panic when they see their married daughter with luggage!Well, not because of the luggage.But when they also see the silence and calmness."Can't I come to my home, ammi?", I gasped, closing my eyes. "What's wrong?""You can. You definitely can. And you can stay for months and years! But definitely not in this condition. What happened last night? Will you tell me? Why did you and Abrar leave the party abruptly?"No doubt I had inherited the qualities of my mother. I wanted some time to speak up but she was not giving me the damn space which I was not giving to Abrar either."Ammi, I need some rest", I pulled myself from the couch. My head was still aching because of the continuous cryi
Nikhat"He's the photocopy of Abrar", Mrs. Ali says, holding the newborn. After eight months of our marriage, Zoya delivered a cute baby boy. He's a premature baby, indeed but still out of all danger by the grace of God. "Just pray that he gets the same tactics as me. I can't handle two short-tempered creatures", Abrar laughs."Wait! You just wait. Let me get a bit healthier", Zoya shoots him a glare. "You can scream only. What else can you do?" Abrar rolls his eyes."You—"And they continue.I take the newborn in my arms, giggling at him lovingly."First and foremost rule, Mrs. Wife", Kaif whispers near me. "No future planning after this"He's always so scared!"I know right? Stop worrying!" I scowl at him. So many things changed over time but he didn't. At first, he was scared to love someone and get married. Now, he's scared of having a baby. I don't mind it though. It's just a matter of time. I'm happy the way I am.I was promoted to the company with my salary getting doubled.
Nikhat"Are you hungry already?" Kaif asks from behind.I drift my eyes outside and look at him from near the window with a smile. He is munching a subway burger with a tight-lipped smile on his face. "Wouldn't it be better if you had gotten something for me instead of just asking?" I shrug, jumping behind and sitting at the edge of the window."Hey, careful", his eyes widen. "You're gonna fall""I'm used to it", I giggle. "This is not the first time I'm sitting at your window"He chuckles, walking toward me. "Yeah, but definitely you never hoped onto it wearing a lehenga", he scoffs as I stare down at him. He stops just an inch away from me and spirals his left arm around my waist. I shudder with the abrupt contact and lack of distance between us. My heart starts thudding against my chest and my body vibrates when he tightens his grip around me. It's been a year since we were engaged but never before has he touched me this way. I didn't want him to. But if he wanted, I wouldn't ev
Author's POVRuzina goes completely shocked but it doesn't take her much time to understand what is exactly happening. "How wouldn't I come, Mrs Ruzina?" Irtaza chuckles. "After all, the alliance maker should be there?" Zoya presses her lips tightly so she doesn't burst into laughter by watching Ruzina's stunned face. On the other hand, Nikhat gets confused with Irtaza's words."Alliance maker?" She exclaims."We can discuss that later", Zoya jumps into the conversation. "Let the guests in, Nikhat""I'm sorry", she smiles and makes a way for them to get in. As others follow Ridwan and Nikhat inside, Ruzina keeps standing there and gazing at Irtaza."You look stunned, Mrs Ruzina", Zoya rolls her eyes. "Ah, well, let me introduce myself. Zoya Zafar, Irtaza's business partner and your would-be son-in-law's friend"Ruzina curls up her face and doesn't even smile at any of them. Zoya crosses her arms and takes a step toward her, raising her eyebrows."What did you think Mrs Ruzina? Onl
NikhatI have been waiting for the evening the entire day and finally, the moment arrived. Kaif has indeed replied to me with a message which said, "it's fine"The text didn't sound genuine to me at all. Especially when he sent only two words in the reply to my entire paragraph. Couldn't he realise the urgency in that message? I don't know if I'm overthinking. He's not bound to send me a paragraph just because I did. "Nikhat, shall we leave?" Mia asks. "No. I have some work left", I lie. I don't have any pending work. Besides, Irtaza already told us that he doesn't need the whole team today. I should have left. "I thought you were done", Mia roll her eyes."No. I—" I stammer. "I'm yet to complete a few""Okay, then. Goodnight", grabbing her stuff, Mia walks towards the exit. I get back to my desk and look for some work to do. "Nikhat!" Irtaza's voice hits my ear as I look up, finding him walking out of his cabin which is straight in front of me. "You didn't leave yet"I don't kn
NikhatI don't know how to react to this crap. I can only see how hard Irtaza is trying to pass a smile. I know that wasn't expected. And why did he even need to come here just because Ruzina called him? He could have turned her down. He has plenty of work to do. I force a smile and walk toward them. "That was not necessary. Was it?" I mumble, glaring at Ruzina. How can she still smile like that?"I just thought to—" Ruzina strives to say as I walk up to her."Thought to what?" "This is so embarrassing. Why did you do this? He's my boss", I exclaim, whispering near her face.I can't say if she deliberately did that. Why would she anyway?"But he said—" she mutters. "That's called courtesy which he said. And we'll not do that. That's our courtesy", I shoot her a glare. Ruzina frowns at me as if she still can't digest that I'm arguing with her. As I should. I should have done that a long time ago. And now she literally crossed the limits by embarrassing me. What will Irtaza think a
"Okay. What about that?" I ask."Irtaza came there to meet them. They spend an afternoon together", he says and his reactions harden."Okay, so?" I ask even though I have already sensed what it meant. This is something different from any boss and employee relationship. I'm not judging though and I'm not even sure if there's another reason. I bet Kaif also doesn't know the exact reason. He's just assuming. "So? Zoya, can't you understand what that means", he scoffs at me. "That means Nikhat is having a lot of guests. What else?" I roll my eyes. "Stop it, yaar. You—``''why can't you see what I'm seeing?" He yells out of nowhere. "Because I'm not as intelligent as you. Explain to me", I scowl at him. "You can't get, Zoya? Really? Don't you know what it means? In this society, when a guy meets a girl's parents? That guy who likes her. They literally had a meeting, a conversation. Don't you know what it seriously means?" He speaks out of frustration."So!" I mumble.."So!""Yeah. So,
KaifI walk faster. As fast as I could. Through the dark alley. My head literally stops working when I put the pieces of the puzzle of that incident. I don't know why I'm getting so pissed and irritated. He just came to meet.He just came to meet. I kept ranting this to myself until I reached the resort. I feel my breathing getting ten times faster than before. I can hear my groans as I grab the grills of the gate and fum heavily. My body has heated up and I'm unable to calm down anyway. Everything was going so fine. So damn fine. Until she talked about Irtaza being there. I lost it and I didn't want to show how pissed I was, nor could I behave normally. I'm already hiding enough and this will go beyond. Anticipation builds me rapidly, no matter how much I try to console myself. "Sir, I need to close the gate", the security guard says. I glare at him for no reason and storm into the resort, walking as fast as I can.I reach my room and twist the knob. Opening it a bit, I slam the
Nikhat"Nikhat!" He whispers my name but I don't look up. I feel him holding my hand tightly and I hold the edge of the bench. Then I sense him decreasing the gap between us. He uncovers my face, lifting my hair from my cheek and tucking them behind my ear. I can feel him staring at me which makes me blush harder. "Look at me", he leans down to my ear and whispers. I squirm with his warm breath fanning my skin. As I don't respond to his words, he lifts his hand to me and slides two of his fingers across my jaw, slowly nudging my face towards him. I finally look up at him. Our eyes meet. He smiles, peering at me as if he's scanning each detail of my face. I had never been so comfortable with anyone's gaze the way I'm with him. It seems to be pure and peaceful. Most importantly, I love it. He locks his hand with mine and gets closer to my face. Enough closer which forces me to drop my gaze in shyness. "Why do you always steal your gaze from me?" He whispers. "I want you to look
NikhatIt's been a while since I've sat here in the dark alley with Kaif. It's so strange that I have never explored this alley in the last six months but today I did. With him. I'm also a bit concerned about Ruzina and Abbu being in the lodge. They might be wondering where I have been. I'm sure Ruzina is gonna make a fuss about it to abbu as she has always been doing about me. I remember those days when I couldn't be a single minute late to return from school and Ruzina used to complain to abbu, saying I had been disappearing for hours. I can't forget those dreadful days and somewhere I used to believe Ruzina is acting like all the typical mothers as she had made me believe all mothers are like that. I used to think she was strict and wanted the best for me. As I grew up, I realised it wasn't a normal thing. But then, it was too late. Abbu wouldn't believe me if I said anything against her. He used to think I had gone reckless. I never complained for years. Then why at that moment