SS:Asad Ahmed Khan's Bachelor Party - Chap 5 pg 42 - Page 6

The colour drained from Zoya's face as she came face-to-face with the person who had given her sleepless nights and nightmares for weeks on end. The flashbacks played in her head without a warning and Zoya was taken back to the time when she was slapped and beaten. When she yelled and screamed but no one was there to listen or protect her from the sharp point of the needle that drugged her. When she experienced the choking fear of having her face scarred for the rest of her life. When she had endured the deepest cuts on the hands that she had used as a shield to protect herself. When she was nearly tortured into getting married, married to the ghastly man who now stood in front of her.

Her voice seemed to have gotten stuck in her throat. But then she felt Asad's hand slide down her arm and grab her hand instead, his fingers intertwined with hers and he squeezed her hand tightly as if he could feel what was going on inside her. She looked up at him expectantly but he was too busy looking at Akram with a stare that seemed like he was killing him a hundred times over in his head. And for some reason, it calmed her. Nothing would happen to her! She was safe. As long as she was with him, she was safe.

And just like that she felt her body relax and she prepared herself bravely for whatever may follow.

"Akram, tum yahan kya kar rahe ho?" Asad growled through clenched teeth.

"Kyun? Do you own this place?" Akram snapped back at him. He had not yet forgotten that if it wasn't for the man standing in front of him, he would have been married to Zoya Farooqui and taught her a good lesson for insulting his family and him.

"Or how could I forget? Forcing your right on other people's possessions is an old habit of yours."

His possession? Did he just call Zoya his possession!? The mere thought made Asad's blood boil.

"Mr. Khan, please yahan se chaliye," Zoya said urgently, not liking the direction where this was heading.

"Agar tumhe mai nahin, Asad pehle se hi pasand tha toh mujhe pehle bata dena chahiya tha Zoya!" Akram spat out after eyeing the way they were holding hands.

"Bas Akram! Apni gaandi zubaan se inka naam mat lo!" Asad roared.

"Kyun, begum hai tumhari? Or is she your wh**e-" Akram had barely finished his sentence before Asad had grabbed him by the collar.

His fist would have made contact with Akram's face had Zoya not stopped him. She held back his raised hand.

"Please, Mr. Khan leave him! Let's go away from here!" She pleaded to him.

Despite his horrible temper, he could not refuse Zoya and slowly let go of Akram's collar.

Zoya then forced Asad to walk away from there, but Akram who felt even more insulted that Asad had grabbed his collar was blinded by his own hatred. The only thing thought that rang in his mind was that he wanted to hurt Asad Ahmed Khan, as much as possible. And if hurting Zoya hurt Asad the most, then so be it. Before they had taken more than a couple steps forward, he yelled out in the loudest voice possible.

"Khuda ka lakh lakh shukar hai ke unhone humme iss ladki se nikah karne se rok liye. Warna humara nikah koi aisi ladki se ho jata jiska na maa ka pata hai na baap ka! Pata nahin, kiska ganda khoon-"

"AKRAM!"

Before either Zoya or Akram realized what had happened, Asad had turned around and punched Akram's face with so much force that he was knocked off his feet.

Jiska na maa ka pata hai na baap ka! Pata nahin, kiska ganda khoon... the words repeated themselves in Zoya's head and pierced her like a hundred knives in her heart. She covered her ears, trying to block out the voice and closed her eyes shut to avoid the nausea that the bloody fight, taking place in front of her eyes, was causing. Thankfully, Ayaan came to her rescue.

"Mona! Mona, tum teek toh ho?" He asked urgently and was further shocked upon seeing his bhaijaan beating the living daylights out of another man.

"Mere saath chalo!" Ayaan led her away by the shoulders and made her sit down on a chair while he himself went back to calm his brother down.

"Tumhari himmat kaise hui Zoya ke bare mein aisa kehne ki!" Asad yelled as he grabbed Akram by the collar and punched him in the gut and then threw him across a table.

"Meri Zoya se zyada paakh khoon iss puri duniya mein nahi hai! Samjhe tum!?" Asad yelled in Akram's face before punching him again and throwing him to the ground. He was evidently injured and bleeding, but Asad's anger was far from satisfied. He reached down to grab Akram and give him another hit, when Ayaan rushed to his side.

"Bhaijaan, let him go! Woh maar jayega!" Ayaan said frantically.

"Nahin Ayaan. Pichli baar ki tarah isse chod ke mai wohi galti dubara nahi karna chahata!"

"Bhaijaan please! Zoya ke liye? She needs you more right now!" Ayaan said trying hard to make his voice reach his brother's brain, something that was nearly impossible to do when he was this mad. The last time he saw his brother like this was when Haseena's brother had tried to torture him.

"Zoya!" The name slipped from Asad's lips as if he had just realized something and Ayaan breathed a sigh of relief as his brother finally released Akram.

"Ab chale jao yahan se!" Ayaan muttered to a half-conscious Akram who somehow managed to get up and painfully limp away.

Now that Akram was finally out of sight and Asad's anger had finally started to calm down, he did not regret his actions but at the same time felt a little frustrated with the way he had lost control over himself in anger. But it wasn't his fault. Seeing Akram had brought back all the painful memories of seeing his half conscious Zoya being forced into marriage and then her blood...the images still terrorized his mind when he remembered them. 

And today Akram had crossed all limits. That comment about Zoya's parents! Ya Allah! How must she be feeling! He admitted he could be emotionally challenged at times, like Zoya told him he was, but after having spent so much time with her, he knew that there was nothing in the world that could cause her more pain then anything related to her parents. 

Feeling another burst of anger at Akram, Asad was quick to suppress it and decided that it was not the right moment for it. As he finally walked towards Zoya's table and came closer to the chair she was sitting on, Asad felt a strong feeling of deja vu as he set his eyes on her.

She was crying. But not likely she usually did. It was the way she had been when he saw her the first time at the Mazaar. Her sobs made no sound, but shiny pearls kissed and rolled off her skin and her shoulders shook slightly. Asad closed his eyes shut for a few seconds to stop his own tears from escaping from his eyes, just like the first time. There was something about the way she cried that made him feel like something was tugging at his own heart. He opened his eyes again and realized why the sight disturbed his soul ... it looked and felt like an angel in mourning.

Last time he had avoided her eyes and watched silently as she had cried about her broken nikah. The same Akram was the cause of her tears once again but this time Asad would not let his Zoya waste her precious tears on a person who wasn't worth them!

He finally approached her, and put his hand on her shoulder from behind.

"Zoya."

She heard his voice, soft but thick with emotion and she broke out from her reverie of thoughts, wiping her tears. Zoya Farooqui was made of stronger stuff than this! But even as she thought it, she could still not force a smile on her face.

"Zoya, are you okay?" Asad inquired worriedly.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm good Mr. Khan," Zoya managed to speak but still did not turn to look at him when she did. Asad unsatisfied with her answer, finally brought a chair forward and sat directly in front of her. She had wiped her tears but she was still not meeting his eyes so he leaned forward to her.

"Zoya, whatever Akram said... please aap uss baat ko bhul jaiye."

She finally looked up at him and Asad was momentarily taken aback by the intense pain in her eyes.

"Why, Mr. Khan? Aap bhi toh aise hi sochte hai."

The moment she uttered the words from her lips, Asad felt like someone had just given him an electric shock. How could she even think something like that!? 

"I'm not saying that you have the same dirty thinking like Akram, but Mr. Khan you too have countless times told me that I am unworthy of love and trust, that I have no respect for my culture,that I have no principles because I didn't have parents who could teach them to me. Aap bhi toh mujhse isi wajah se nikah nahi karna chahate!"

"Ms. Farooqui, aap-"

"Please Mr. Khan, kya lagta hai aapko? Ke mujhe Akram ki baaton se bohat dard pahuncha hai? Mr. Khan what is the point of crying over something that someone said when you do not care whether that person exists or not? Usse zyada hurt toh mai aap ki wajah se hui hoon!"

Had he really treated her THAT badly? Hurt her that much!? Asad could not stop the weight of his own guilt overwhelm him as he had flashbacks of all the times he had judged her and then worse - blamed her personality on her upbringing. And what for? Did she lack an upbringing because she cared about each and every single person in her life? Because she believed in smiling and living life carefree despite the burden of her horrible past, something that he had never managed to do?

She had finally quietened down and was now staring aimlessly but Asad did not miss the look in her eyes. He had never seen her look so worn out and ... broken. Feeling even more guilty he finally decided to voice his thoughts.

"Zoya, I know I've said many hurtful things to you. Things that no one should ever say to anyone no matter what the reason. And most of the time, it wasn't even your fault. Mai jaanta hoon ke maine aapse bohat baar yeh bhi kaha hai ke aap mein tehzeeb nahi hai, ke aap sab ke liye ek bad influence ho. Par mera yakeen kijiye, mai aisa sochta tha. Aur mujhe apni soch badalne ke liye, apne majboor kiya!" Asad said truthfully, making Zoya look up at him surprised. Looking at the way she was staring at him with her beautiful big eyes and the way her face lit up at hearing his words, he wondered why he hadn't said them before. 

Little did he know how much of an impact a few simple words from him, a few sentences of acceptance, could have on Zoya.

"Aur rahi baat aap ke ammi aur abbu ki, mujhe pura yakeen hai ke woh jahan kahi bhi hai, aap ko dekh ke bohat kush honge aur Allah ka shukriya kar rahe honge ke AAP unki beti hai!"

"Aap sach keh rahe hai Mr. Khan?" Zoya asked, her voice almost breaking as a fresh load of tears made their way down her face. She could not remember the last time she felt this - ...happy wasn't the word ... the feeling was more than that. It felt like someone had opened a cage and let her soul out free.

"Ms. Farooqui, now what else do I have to do to make you believe me?" Asad asked, his steely voice returning. The point had been to make her stop crying but his words had done the opposite and now the introvert in him was also starting to get a little uncomfortable by the extreme show of emotions by both of them.

However, even his back-to-normal self did little to dampen Zoya's spirits, who wiped the tears of happiness from her face.

"Ms. Farooqui, ab toh aap teekh hai?" Asad couldn't help making sure after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes, Mr. Khan. And thank you...for everything," Zoya replied.

This was definitely going to break a rule in Asad Ahmed Khan's Rule Book but after seeing her cry so much he couldn't help himself from making a request.

"Ms. Farooqui ... kya aap... umm, kya aap ab please smile karengi?" Asad finally managed to say after some difficulty.

Zoya was shocked and felt elated at the same time but just to tease him sort of only half-smiled.

"Ms. Farooqui... woh umm... dimples-wala smile!" Asad blurted out.

Zoya stared at him in shock for a full five seconds before she burst out giggling.

"Ab teek hai?" Zoya said through peals of laughter.

"Ms. Farooqui, maine aap ko sirf smile karne ke liye kaha tha, hasne ke liye nahi!" Asad scolded her, but he too tried very hard to hide his own smile after seeing and hearing her musical laughter.

***

Precap:

Ayaan looked back and forth from Zoya to Ashfaq, then back to Zoya. Realization dawned on him.

"Oii Teri!" He slapped his hand across his mouth and finally looked at his elder bro.

"AYAAN AHMED KHAN! You did not just serve alcohol to my to-be-wife!"

***

Sorry I was in a very devilish mode so had to post an evil precap that gives you sleepless nights! 😈😛

That aside, I really hope this update met expectations! 😊 And I also hope Asad didn't sound too out-of-character - it's just that Zoya is his weakness and his guilt finally forced him to open his mouth! 😃 But DW, Akdu will be back shortly! 😉 Meanwhile, do leave your comments and feedback, I really appreciate it! 😃

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