A bit of ASFAND & ZOBIA from YAKEEN KA SAFAR - Page 2

CHAPTER 2.

The whole day went by with me engrossed in a certain Dr's thoughts'. I knew she was restrained with me, that's all my doing though, I know that. I, over the years have developed a lot of walls around me but she was breaking them one by one, affecting me but, the thing is SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT and she needed to, for my own peace of mind if nothing else! Zobia needed to know before it's too late.

Around lunch time, I went into the pantry for my usual cup of tea and to my surprise I see her sitting there with noneother than Dr. Haroon, a person I like and silently am fond off but to see her sitting there with him and LAUGHING, nothing else but that alone pissed me off to no end! I so wanted to walk up to them, take her hand and drag her out of there with me. She cannot SIT with me but laugh & chit chat she can with everybody else. Like, I know I have been strict with her but come on, atleast give me a chance, I know I have made things difficult for myself by being strict & rude with her but also who knew I would end up falling for her then?!

That's all I kept thinking about while walking back to my office, unfortunately for our Admin Manager, I saw him and out of nowhere I had this sudden urge to get my anger & frustration out, or so I thought that's what that was.

Called him in my office and started scolding him 'iss Hospital mein koi administration naam ki cheez hain ya nahi?' Please batay mujhe.

Poor Admin Manager before he could fumble a few words out, I lashed out again 'hoti hain ya nahi, please! Jaha dekho staff ya chit-chat ya gossip mein busy hain', in all of this chaos and anger I do not even know when I took off my stethoscope, my phone and sat down! Not until Dr.Shroz came knocking. He was always my calm epicenter, he walked in and was surprised to see me shouting, even though he knows that's something I do very often and too well! He also knew this anger was BULLSHIT! It had nothing to do with Hospital Staff' like I mentioned. He called me off on my bluff and I knew I was caught, it dawned on me that I was JEALOUS, like any man would be when he sees his beloved paying attention to anybody else other than him. I had to check myself AGAIN! To my own self and in hiding I thought ZOBIA, 'kya kya karva rahi hoon mujhse'!!

That whole day I kept away from everybody and was ready to leave for home, little did I know there was another news awaiting me at home. Zobia had already left for the day. I left for home. I parked the car outside home, walked in and heard baba & maama talking about Faryal & her visit, I was surprisingly OK with that. I could see Maama was not that happy with this sudden development, rightfully so but these things I had stopped caring about a long time ago, such nonexistent people had stopped affecting me a long time ago, I so wish I could make my mother like that, I hate to see her troubled and worried. Yes in life relations & relatives mean a lot but when those relations do not respect one other, there is no point in carrying on that weight. We are much happier without them.

After dinner, I knew everybody was asleep but to my surprise my mother walked in, we had a long conversation about what was right and what was wrong, how the world & our very own relatives had wronged us, all in all how we were supposed to move on. I told her I had moved on, I had long forgotten and let go of people who had done the same to us for all the wrong reasons. Faryal is just a relation' for me now, nothing more nothing less.

We both chatted for a long time, maama gave me a lot of food for thought, which was a welcome distraction from ZOBIA - Who was flowing in my veins as blood by now!! I thought about Faryal and the past for some time, retired to bed soon enough though because tomm was going to be filled with emotions and old wounds. I needed to check myself again.

That night was troubled was another reason, I had to be ready for being my family's emotional support and be there as and when they needed me. Also, I NEED to start being NICE to Zobia, like Dr. Sheroze suggested, I have to start making her see the other me, see me in a new light which she can trust & follow.

The next morning, the usual drill, me and Bhabhi got ready and left for work, dropped her off and I was doing my morning rounds, absent mindedly checking for Dr. Zobia aswell, I knew she was late some days but I had stopped caring about that a long time back! Talk about a man in love, I was whipped! To my surprise, I see her walking towards the Doctor's room. We both stop and greet each other, I notice she is rubbing her hand onto her wrist but like always my brain works slower than my heart & I am obliged to listen to both so I just watch her leave.

Watching her leave with her wounded hand, walking away from me is all it takes for me to go after her. I see her sitting down and asks her 'yeh apke haath ko kya hoya hain'

Zobia 'Kuch nahi'

Asfand 'Jooth na bole, chot lagi hain, dikhaye mujhe' with that I sit down and take her hand in mine, it was like electricity, it charged through my body and I know she felt it too because for a micro sec our eyes met and it was like unspoken words were exchanged, I regarded the issue at hand, HER HAND, tended to it, all the while telling her how she should wake up early and be on time if she does not want to slip again!

My brain was making me say all that but my heart wanted to jump out, take hold of Zobia by her shoulders and shake her, make her understand how precious she was to me and how she should take care of herself, tell her that I HATE to see her in pain, tell her that I wanted to protect her. Tell her a whole lot more, I had to take it slow because Zobia was not a girl to be rushed and taken lightly he knew that. He had to make her trust him first before anything else. By this small gesture, I hoped she would trust me a lil. I wanted to keep holding her hand as my heart was telling me but again I listened to my brain, I needed to be rational because of where this was heading. Dr. Sheroze did walk in and second my thought like always, in my heart i think he knows how i feel about Zobia.

He asked about her hand but I blurted out 'she is fine sir, I will handle it' to my surprise. I immediately knew I made another blunder, it's as if it was not enough he knew how I felt about Zobia, now I CONFIRMED it aswel!

Asfand 'apne nashta kiya'

Zobia 'Nahi'

Asfand 'Chale, aajaye'. Again, I wanted to shout at her for not taking care of herself but I stopped, if there is anything I do not want is for her to run away thinking I am being bossy again. I wanted to go with her, sit with her and talk about things that are running in my mind, sadly duty calls.

That whole afternoon I kept thinking how small and delicate her hands had felt in mine, they fitted mine like a puzzle piece, he had touched her hand before when she was sick but today he had them in his hands for longer, he could still feel his hand tingle at that very thought!

ASFAND GET YOURSELF IN CHECK, you cannot let all this show on your face!

To be CONTINUED...