Ittefaq

2. Nonsense

A/N: Thank you! Thank you so much for your encouragement. It means a very HUGE deal to me. I was quiet nervous if you guys would like this alternate turn to the original concept. But, I am really glad you accepted it with open arms. 😁

Moving ahead..

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Alone?

"Tea or Coffee?" Asfi asked as he walked around his kitchen counter.

"Huh?" Zubiya looked at him quizzically as she came out of her trance.

"Haven't you become a bit slow after getting back to Pakistan? I asked whether you would like some tea or coffee?" Asfi asked, smirking at her knowingly.

"Tea is fine, thank you." Zubiya said quietly as she walked toward the counter.

"Well, you can consider this house as your own as well. You'll have to here after the marriage." Asfi said with his back turned to her as he poured in the tea and milk in the tea-pot. "Sugar?" He turned back and found her standing with her mouth hanging open.

"Listen. The thing is.. I called you at the restaurant only to break off this marriage arrangement between us.. get it?" Zubiya almost spat at him through her gritted teeth while glaring at him.

"And what if I tell you that I won't let you do that, then?" Asfi asked as he raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.

"What- What do you mean that you- " Zubiya exclaimed as she stomped around the counter and walked up to him.

"Do you really think that us meeting- what, twice- oh no, thrice! We first met on the train remember? Is it all just a coincidence? No. It is our fate. We met, not once, not twice but three times! There must be some meaning behind them, right? We were bound to meet again.." Asfi said as he shrugged while giving her an ample grin.

"What- What sort of nonsense are you blabbering about?! How can you believe that?" Zubiya asked.

"This 'nonsense' is what I've been seeing for years in ny family. How can I not believe it? My grandpa, uncle, dad, brother... every single one of them came to know who their to-be wives were going to be just after a single meeting. Now how is that possible.. I don't know. But this tradition has been passed through generations in my family. Now if you want to give it a title of 'Supernatural Intuition', then please go ahead." Asfi shrugged as he poured the tea into two cups and handed one to her after adding sugar.

Zubiya reluctantly took a sip.

Asfi grabbed her right hand and softly pressed it, startling her.

"Come with me." He softly said and led her out of the kitchen.

The most shocking thing she realized as she walked behind him was that she would always follow him back. There was a magnetic pull that she felt push her towards him which she couldn't just ignore.

And maybe she didn't even want to.

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"Sit. Please don't feel uncomfortable by me. I will never hurt you, trust me. We spent almost a month together. You can trust me this much, right?" Asfi asked her as he sat on a reclining chair in his lawn.

Zubiya lightly rolled her eyes as she took the seat across from him.

"It's not that I don't trust you. If I had trust issues with you then I wouldn't have toured entire Thailand with you." She said while taking a sip from her cup.

"Oh! So you do admit that you are Zee! The Zee with no aim?" Asfi exclaimed with a wicked grin on his face.

"And you are just Asfi, right?" Zubiya asked back sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at him.

Asfi threw his head back and laughed aloud.

Zubiya gulped as she felt her throat run dry while she watched him laugh and cleared it loudly. Which caught his attention.

Smirking knowingly, he replied, "Okay. You got me there now. So, why don't we clear this air of misunderstanding between us?"

"Okay. You already know my parents. So, I hope you must have figured out what sort of people they are. They are not that bad per se... or maybe they are. The thing is they like to take decisions on every aspect of my life just because I'm their only daughter. My parents have chosen my friends - with whom I should hang with.. they have chosen my college.. teachers.. university. Everything, you could say. But eventually.. I just had enough with it. Enough with his control over my life. There was one thing that I wasn't about to compromise over with them and that's.. Art. It is something that I am very passionate about. The moment I got to know that my father was going to decide what profession I should choose.. I left home and shifted to a nearby hostel. I had everything dealt with already.. I had already sent in my application for the best Art University.. booked in the hostel I would live in. Just before I got my acceptance letter, my father arrived at the university and begged me to come back. He said he was sorry for being very controlling and that he would support me in achieving my goals. That was about three years ago." Zubiya stopped for a while, lost in her thoughts.

"That's good, right?" Asfi asked slowly.

"Good?", Zubiya snorted and laughed mirthlessly. "Not at all. He is a business man. All through. It was actually an investment that he made. Now that I am done with art school, internship and have already gotten my dream job he wants me to marry the person of his choice. Without any objections. Now I really get it. I always wondered you know, how come he gave into my demands so easily. I never in my life thought that giving in to my wishes would be actually his form of future investment. I wonder sometimes if I die- if - would they even grieve my death.. like from their heart or would they just consider it as a business loss? My life is screwed up right? No! Actually, I am the screw up. They always wanted a son. But they got me instead. And they are trying to make the best use of me."

There was a long pause in which Asfi took in Zubiya's forlorn expression as she stared up at the sky.

Oh, how wrong was he. He thought he was the only one broken.

"And therefore you thought the solution to your problems would be to break off arrangement with your to-be-fiancé. Which is me. Right?"

(To. Be. Continued.)

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PS: Reviews, please! Please don't forget to star it and comment in your views as they mean a huge deal for me. Nite!

Love! ♥️♥️♥️