Mere Jazbaat

Chapter 3: Entering the Lion's Den

"Mona... Are you ok...?"

Zoya started to wipe her tears away, she didn't want Ayaan to see her like this.

Ayaan approached her and kneeled down next to her. He was about to say something, when he felt his phone vibrate.

"Hello?"

"Ayaan! Mein tume kabse phone karra ha hoon! Sagaai mein kya hua? Ms. Farooqui wajan kya karra hi hai? Kya tum janthe the ki woh aye gi?" said Asad, all in one breath.

"Bhaijaan, I can't talk right now. I'll explain later." snapped Ayaan.

"Ayaan, khuda kassam, agar tumne phone rakha, to mein tume nahin chorunga." bit out Asad.

Ayaan sighed loudly, while Zoya's eyes filled up with even more tears upon hearing Mr. Khan's voice. Mr. Khan, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to see Ayaan's sagaai... I..., thought Zoya, sadly.

"Bhaijaan, Humeira behosh ho gayi hai. Hume nahi pata kyun, ya kaise, lekin Mummani ne Zoya par inzaam lagaya. Ki uno ne Humeira ko kisi meethai ka tookra diya. Aur Mummani ne-" But Ayaan didn't get a chance to finish, as Asad had hung up at the second mention of Razia.

"A-, Ayaan...," managed Zoya. "Tum meri fikar mat karo. Humeira ko dekho. Mein chali jaoungi." I don't want to go to the Khan's home. But I have no choice. Where else do I have to go? Phoopi, I'm so sorry. I hope you didn't see the video. Because of me you were insulted today...

"Par Mona..." Ayaan hesitated, but upon seeing her get up, he gave in. "Theek hai. Lekin aap mujhe please phone kije jab aap ghar ponche."

Zoya smiled weakly. A sad and forced smile. "Don't worry, Rabart. I will," she assured him.

* * * * * * *

Asad was pacing back and forth in his room. He couldn't be around people.Ms. Farooqui... Razia un par inzaam kyun lagayi gi? Woh aisa to kabhi nai karsak ti hai. Lekin agar woh nahi jati, to yeh nobat hi nahi aati.

The words dayaan echoed in this ears. All of a sudden everything in him went numb. Ammi, jisne kisi ka boora socha bi nahi, unko... Asad broke into a fit of rage. Flashes of his encounter with Razia, Rashid and his Ammi at the play came back to him. Flashes of the sagaai and Razia's insults and curses. He closed his eyes, trying to block them out, but that only seemed to intensify the images.

He threw one of his chairs across the room. He grabbed the other one by the arm rest, and banged it into the floor, once, twice, thrice. Over and over again until he'd broken it into too many pieces to continue his badgering. He punched the wall. Once, twice, and leaned against it, exhausted from his own anger. Tears of anger and frustration began to form in his eyes.

Aap humare saath hi kyoun kar the hai yeh sab? Humne aisa kiya kya hai? Jo hume itni bari saaza mil rahi hai? Asad always had faith in Allah. Allah had gotten him through his father's abandonment, through making a career for himself, through supporting his Ammi and Tamatar and giving them every luxury possible. But he was so angry that he even doubted his faith at it's core.

Zoya Farooqui.

The name echoed in his ears like an unpleasant ringing. She's the cause. Ever since she came all she's done is tried to bring me closer to that family, that family which I hate with every fibre of my being. I told her to leave. But would she? Now today, because of her irresponsibility and lack of consideration Ayaan's sagaai didn't even happen. And its all Ms. Farooqui's fault. If she hadn't gone there, this never would've happened!

He heard the loud creek of the front gate, and his hands turned to fists.

* * * * * * *

Zoya walked into the gates of the Khan residence, one slow step at a time, her hand on her cheek, trying to hide the now fairly visible hand print. Her guilt knew no bounds while her head tried to make sense of how this could've happened. She slowly made her way to the front door of the house, and opening it, walked in the direction of her room. But alas, she did not make it there.