Intrepid Hearts

43: When the going gets tough, the tough get going

"B-but how?"

"When beautiful set of eyes capture your heart, one can never forget them. Haven't you ever wondered why I called you Ojitos? It's because you have beautiful eyes, Zee,"

Zira blinked. Completely rooted at her spot, unable to find the right words to use at the moment. All these months she assumed no one recognized her, the one person that was always with her knew all along. It was still hard to believe. But the certainty and the affirmation in Zayn's words says it all.

Was it possible to never forget a set of eyes?

He rubbed his chin, moving back and forth, "I was surprised by it all because I recalled you and your family were reported dead more than a decade ago. I thought I was mistaken till you spoke for the first time,"

What's your name?" He asked her in a more reserved tone than the one he was using earlier.

"W-what's yours?" She threw back the question at him.

"What's your name?" The voice that spoke was a newone because it sounded deep and granite like. It was Amani's brother that had been quiet since they
came. He stole the spotlight from Zainab because
now everyone's attention was pinned back on him.
Gathering up the little courage she had, due to
Ibrahim's second lesson, she spoke. "W-what's
yours?" She swallowed thickly because she's sure she stuttered it. Now they'll all know how anxious she is.

"Zayn Ayaan Fareed. Call me Zayn." He stated. Nobody refers to him as Zayn except his mother so it all came as a shock to everyone but they all decided to remain quiet.

He was clad in a black hoodie and black sweatpants. Slipping his hands into his pockets, his lips stretched into a lopsided smile. "Zayn Ayaan Farid. But I go by Ayaan." Zainab's eyes never wavered as she stared at him with amazement. So there's actually a boy handsomer than her Aaru!

"I'm Zira. Zira Sa'eed." She responded with a blank expression.

"I'm Zainab. Zainab Ibrahim Sanusi." Ayaan stared
at the beautiful shy creature in front of him before
giving her a small smile then a nod after it.

"Do you remember, Zee? Our first and second encounter?" He asked her with the same questioning and reserved eyes. It took her a moment before she recalled it all. The similarities between the first and second encounter couldn't be a mere one.

Zira recalled how she stuttered, how her hands were shivery when shaking his, how his dark hazel eyes captured hers entirely. It was the first time after a long time, she stuttered, when introducing herself.

Slowly, she nod her head in affirmation. Which granted him a go ahead to take off from where he had started. "I concluded it was the same girl I fell for sixteen years back. You may had changed in every way possible, but your eyes and gesture couldn't go unnoticed by me?"

"Then, why? Why didn't you say anything if you knew all along?" The chauffeur had finally summoned up courage to speak.

He let out a sigh, "I dont know, Zee. At first I was waiting for you to come clean, then later, I eventually gave up," he left one hand in his pocket then used the other to demonstrate, "But you wanna know the questions that had me hooked the whole time? Why was she pretending to be someone else? How did the sweet shy girl turn into this? How did she survive the crash? But my overall question was, how could you be so close to your family's murderers and be calm about it? How could you obey their every command and even work in the same space as them, even after what they did?"