As narrated by Nemo
It was a gloomy, grey morning and my late night story telling with Aara seemed to have caught up with me as I yawned at my desk. Minus the tiredness, I felt great! We laughed and we teared while I explained Riza’s first few tasks to her. She had eventually fallen asleep , but I could see that she had fallen asleep peacefully.
I made a mental note to buy macaroons for everyone…just because ☺
This was it, wasn’t it? This is what love is. I love her and nothing is going to change that. But loving her doesn’t mean attaining her. Loving her means being happy when she is happy, loving her means that I have a duty towards her to help her when she is stuck. For a few seconds though, and I won’t deny it, I was tempted to let things be. If she forgot, she forgot, maybe that was destiny’s hand at giving me a chance to be with her. But then I realized that there are two kinds of destiny…One that is already written and one that we write on our own. This is where we are given the chance to use our brains or just go with the flow. Do what we know is right , or listen to the soft voice of temptation and don’t look back.
I was happy that I had chosen to do what is right. It was a bittersweet pill to swallow, but one that I would swallow a million times over just for her. ..
I typed out a message on our Watsapp group and silently waited for a reply…
Arshad : Excellent idea!
Zoheb : ok, I am on my way. ..
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As narrated by Zoheb
I neatened my shirt and looked at my face in the rear view mirror. I haven’t felt this nervous since the night of Riza’s engagement!
Yesterday, I felt as though it was the end. Aara had forgotten me completely and it broke me to pieces. But today. .now. .In this moment, there was suddenly a mountain of hope as I read Nemo’s message. She agreed to meet me alone! I don’t know what he had told her but whatever it was, it was a ray of sunshine in my world.
“Bachoo, just now this mirror will crack”, my nani laughed as she looked at me
I smiled to myself. She had stayed with me all this while and it meant the world to me. Nani has always been my rock and I didn’t need to have any other family member around me, so long as I had her.
“Nani…your grand daughter inlaw gave me such a hard time the first time around…I’ve got to be extra prepared this time “,I smiled
I had a knot in my tummy and several butterflies fluttering around it..everything felt so new and exciting as a familiar feeling returned the minute that I stepped into her room and looked at her staring out of the window with a small smile playing on her lips…flip flop flip flop flip flop…
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As narrated by Aara :
I smiled to myself as I looked out of the window and my heart melted at what I saw. Two kids, a boy and a girl, playing on the swing together.
I caught my breath when I watched her fall but sighed in relief when I watched the little boy help her get up and dust her knees. After helping her, instead of hugging him, lol, she pulled his nose and ran away! I couldn’t help but chuckle! This was really so cute!
“Nemo and Aara “, a familiar voice said behind me
“Possibly another in the making “, I smiled as I turned around
And when I turned around, I didn’t expect to see Zoheb standing there with a bunch of pink roses in his hand!
“Hi “, he said with the broadest dimpled smile
Okay I’ve had enough , I’m about to melt right here, right now! I could feel myself being drawn to him yet again as I managed to maintain my straight face while my inner self started crooning…yuhi bewajah dil mein nahi betabiya. ..
Hold on Aara…not just yet. ..and the crooning stopped. Whew!
“Hi”, I said, looking away
“How are you feeling today Aara? ”
“Good. .and you? “, I said, STILL looking away
“Much better now “, he smiled again
Okay, I can’t exactly run away because my leg is in a cast but Zoheb…stop smiling already! Ok don’t. ..because I missed your smile and your smile is so….*sigh*…ye ishq hai saaso mein hai ab jurwa. ..
I was staring, wrong, I know, but I was staring…
“Is..everything okay? “,he asked “do I have something on..”, and he wiped the side of his mouth
I burst out laughing! Aaand the crooning was silenced again. .gosh what is going on! ?!?
“No ZUNAID everything is fine and you don’t have anything on your face ”
“Zoheb “, he whispered as his expression changed a little
Aaja ab kaisa sharmana…my heart whispered again
“Sorry..my bad”
“It’s okay…ummmmm Nemo said that you wanted to see me?”
“Why, if I didn’t call you, wouldn’t you have come? “, I snapped
Bangaya mein tera deewana….
“No no…it’s nothing like that..it’s just … i didn’t want to stress you out or overwhelm you. ..that’s all”
“Well, I am overwhelmed ”
Zoheb didn’t know what to say as his lips moved but no words came out of his mouth!
I raised my eyebrow at him, and he bit his lip suppressing a smile
“Well these are for you “, he said as he placed the roses at my bedside
Dheere dheere se meri zindagi mein aana. …
“Thank you dimples”, I whispered
Zoheb froze and looked at me with questions in his eyes…”What did you just. ..”
Shit!!
“Anyway, the reason why I asked for you to come here..”, I said as I tried to quickly divert his attention from my blunder, ” Nemo tells me that I know you very well. .but I obviously don’t remember so…I was hoping that we, that means all of us, could recreate some of the lost memories? ..that is of course if you are up for it”
“Of course “, he said as he sat on my bed
“Well then you have to guide me…”
He smiled his perfectly dimpled smile and stroked his chin
Dheere dheere se meri dil ko churana. ..
“Riza had given us these tasks as a build up to the road trip and you and I were paired randomly…I think if we had to start somewhere. ..It should be from there ”
And now it was my turn to suppress my smile as I thought of that first task. ..
“Why that one in particular? “, I asked hopefully
“Because. ..”, he said softly “that’s from where I started seeing you differently ”
I bit the inside of my cheeks to control my emotions…but I couldn’t stop my heart from crooning. ..thumse pyar Hume hai kitna hai jaanejana…
“Really, was I that horrible before that Zubair ?”, I said as I let out a huge smile
“Rude, arrogant, self absorbed, spiteful. .”, he grinned and ignored the fact that I called him the wrong name again
My mouth fell open in shock!
“Self centred, stubborn, high and mighty. .”, he continued as my face fell even more
“That’s what I was before you came along “, he grinned as he stood up and picked up his car keys from the table
My face was flushed and my heart pounded. ..thumse milkar thumko hai batana. ..
“Where are you going? ”
“To get some ingredients, our first task was to make a dessert. .We can make something easy and share it with the hospital staff ”
“You mean as in make it here, in this room???, I asked in disbelief
“Why not? ”
“Hmm ok..what are we making? ”
“I was thinking. ..” And he paused and turned around with a look on his face that I was very familiar with. .” I’ll ask one of my staff to check for something ”
“Why can’t you do it?”, I frowned
“Because. ..I. Am. Busy”
“Ok sorry ”
“Sorry for what, barging into my flat or taping tomatoes on the back glass of my car”
My eyes widened
“Neither. …sorry because you said that you’re busy….and ummmmm I remember the tomatoes but I can’t believe that I barged into your flat!”
“Do you hate me? “, he asked
“No….”, I said confused
“Do you like me?”
“No…”
Errrr because I love you doofus!
He smiled at me and walked backwards towards the door
“Pancakes or Cheesecake? ”
“Pancakes “, I said as I bit my lip “with…”
“Maple syrup and banana, got it”
And he shook his head,smiled at me and left the room
I finally exhaled and took everything in…
And a goofy grin spread across my face as my heart jumped in joy…I could suddenly see Zoheb in front of me, the day that I first met him…The day on the beach. ..sitting on the garden swing. .making me stand on his feet. …
I touched the roses that he brought and closed my eyes…
Dheere dheere se meri zindagi mein aana….Dheere dheere se mere dil ko churana…
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Author’s Note:
Salaams 🙂
You may want to read this post as a refresher : https://lifelovedestiny.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/part-19-frosty-strawberry-dessert/
For all those in the snow zone and for all those chasing the snow this weekend- hope you have an awesome time and don’t forget to tweet some pics:) @lifeluvdestiny
Mwah:)
Shaz
Life Love Destiny 