Ek Nayaa Aaghaaz - A sequel to Yakeen ka safar

Chapter 13

"Maine koi na koi naiki jaroor ki hogi, jiska sawaab mujhe Asfandyar ke roop mein mila hai.", Zubia thought to herself while she wiped her tears and smiled widely at the man whose gaze was almost fixated on her ever since he had finished the song. Once she started smiling, it was almost like she couldn't stop and though her jaw had started to hurt, she continued to look at Asfandyar and grin away in glory. Zubia was gotten out of her reverie by Gaiti, who snapped her fingers in front of Zubia's face.

"Yaar Zubi! Tumne toh mere devar ko transform hi kar diya hai! Aaj toh aise laga jaise Dr. Asfandyar se nahi, balke medical college mein padh rahe uss haste-khelte Asfi se mil rahi hoon, itne salon baad! Aur tum! Tumhe bhi itna jee bhar ke muskurate dekh rahi hoon, shaayad iss ek saal mein pehli baar! Aise hi muskurate Rehna tum dono!", Gaiti said and Zubia looked down at her feet while she continued to smile.

"Vaise ek baat toh batao, Itna pyaar kab ho gaya tum dono ko ek dosre se?!, Chalo Asfi ke feelings ka toh achcha khaasa andazaa pad gaya tha mujhe Saim ki birthday ke baad, but you are a difficult nut to crack, Dr. Zubia!", Gaiti said while she winked at Zubia.

"Sach batau Gaiti, toh mujhe khud bhi nahi pata ki kya, kab aur kaise hua... maine kabhi apne aap ko inn feelings ke baare mein sochne ka mauka hi nahi diya.. Apni feelings se bhaagne ke chakkar mein maine unhe aur aap sab ko bhi bahut hurt kiya hai.." Zubia said while wiping a few tears that had started flowing out of her eyes again, while she started to think about everything she had done in the past month.

"Zubia, it's okay.. Jo hua so hua. What's important is that you and Asfi have eventually found your way to each other and ab tum dono apni nayi zindagi ka aaghaaz karne jaa rahe ho, ek saath! Hum sab bhi bahut khush hai iss shaadi se! Tumhe pata hai, Mama aur baba toh usi din se tumhe iss ghar ki bahu banaana chahte the, jis din tum Saim ki chot dekhne ghar aayi thi aur humne tumhe dinner pe rok liya tha! Tab toh humein Asfi ki feelings ka bhi jyaada idea nahi tha!" Gaiti said and Zubia continued to blush.

"Kya baatein ho rahi hai bhai?!", Asfand asked cheerfully as he came and stood next to Zubia

"Kuch khaas nahi.. Zubia mujhe detail mein bata rahi thi ki tumne use hospital mein initially kaise tang kiya tha.. Ab toh tum phas gaye ho Asfi.. Yeh madam keh rahi hai ki tumse tagda badla legi shaadi ke baad.. All the best!", Gaiti said teasingly and quickly ran to Saim as she heard him call her.

Asfand sat himself down on the sofa and moved his face closer to Zubia's. Now it was only both of them on the sofa since the ladies who were doing Zubia's mehendi had gone to eat dinner on the terrace. Most of the guests too were on the terrace too along with Rehan, Khala Ammi and others.

"Aap badla lengi mujhse ?", Asfand whispered to Zubia in a husky voice

"Jee, bilkul", Zubia whispered back while staring at her feet, unable to look into Asfand's eyes.

"Aapka har badla manzoor hai, Dr. Zubia!", Asfand whispered again, while he pushed Zubia's chin up with his fingers, so she would look at him, and she smiled at him lovingly.

"Tumhe bhook lagi hogi na? Ruko, main khana lekar aata hoon", Asfand said and got up and turned around to move towards the terrace. Just then, Zubia tugged the sleeve of his kurta gently with her hands that were full of mehendi that had dried now. He turned around and looked down at her!

"Thank you so much for the beautiful gesture! Aapki awaaz vakai bahut khoobsurat hai! Dil kar raha tha ki bus sunti hi rahoon aur gaana kabhi khatam hi na ho! Saim ki birthday par bata nahi paayi thi, aaj bata rahi hoon!", Zubia said and this time she looked him in the eye.  Asfand immediately kneeled down in front of her and cupped her face with his hands and looked at her intently. "Thank you! Par sach toh yeh hai ki yeh gaana toh sirf ek zariya tha, apne jazbaat bayaan karne ka, tumhe yeh bataane ka, ki tum mere liye kya ho.." he said and Zubia smiled at him again.

She wanted to tell him what she felt for him, but couldn't get herself to say anything. Asfand on the other hand wanted Zubia to confess her feelings for him, but he knew it was difficult for her and he was willing to give her all the time and space that she needed to be able to open up to him, in the true sense. More importantly, he could see through her actions and eyes that she loved him and that was more than enough for him! He caressed her cheeks gently and then got up to get her food.

Just while Asfand was climbing the steps that led upto the terrace, he saw Rehan climbing down with a huge tray full of food. "Arre Asfandyar, Main yeh aapke aur Zubia ke liye hee laa raha tha! Upar bahut saare log hai, aap yeh khana neeche le jaie aur vahi kaiega" He said.

"Arre Rehan Saab, Aapne kyun zehmat ki", Asfandyar responded.

"Zehmat ki koi baat hi nahi hai, Asfandyar! Aap yeh le jayein aur enjoy karein. Ussi bahaane aap dono ko thodi privacy bhi mil jayegi!", Rehan said and winked playfully at Asfand.

"Jee, shukriya!", Asfand said while he took the tray from Rehan. Then, he made his way back to the lounge, where Zubia was seated.

Since Zubia had mehendi on her hands, Asfandyar fed her small pieces of parantha with Chicken kadhai and then some white pulao with raita. After Zubia was done eating, Asfand wiped her mouth clean with his handkerchief and gave her a glass of water. Then Asfand started to eat his own dinner and Zubia just watched him eat! She could sense from his expressions and speed, that he was starving! She occasionally chuckled when she saw him stuff his mouth with parantha like a little kid. He questioned her with his eyes and she just nodded in negative with a smile.

"Who would think that this man who's stuffing his face with food like a little kid, is a strict surgeon, who had established and headed a huge hospital in Neelum Valley." Zubia thought to herself.

She had fallen in love with Asfandyar already, but there was so much more of him that she was yet to discover. He was full of surprises, the kind of surprises that she looked forward to! Even though she had known him for a year now, she wasn't sure if she really knew him and that was the beauty of it all! As she sat there and watched him savour his food, she knew that she wouldn't trade this moment for anything else in the world!

When Asfand was done eating his food, he fed Zubia a bite of Gulab Jaaman with a spoon. Then, Zubia took the spoon from him and now, she fed him a few bites of the dessert. By this time, the photographers were back to work after a quick dinner. They managed to captured these very cute, candid moments from the Ubtan and Mehendi ceremony. Other guests who had also come back downstairs after dinner, took pictures of the love-birds in their phone. Soon after that, a family photo session was done. 

At around 1am, the Khans left for their hotel after a long, happening but happy day. Zubia changed into a loose, comfortable salwar kameez and lay on the bed after removing all her makeup and jewellery. Just then, she heard her phone vibrate. She opened her phone and saw that it was a text from Asfand (obviously :P)

"Enjoy the last few hours of being Ms.Khalil, Doc!" It read.

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Hey lovely readers!

I hope you enjoyed this update! Please do keep the votes and comments coming! They keep me motivated to write more ! 

Lots of love