In My Sister's Shadow-Book II

15: Banished

Six years earlier.

"Grab him Zoh'ra, grab him!" Yelled Zeenat pinning Zayn's legs on the plush green lawn as he squirmed.
"I'm trying." Zoh'ra struggled with his strong arms. "He's awfully strong!"
He was no match for the two women. With Zeenat firmly straddling him she grabbed the eye drops and shook the tiny bottle which spread fear through his six foot torso. Zayn humoured them turning his face to his left side.
"Keep that away from me." He warned. 
"You're such a baby!" Zeenat leaned on him, her body straight, pressed against Zayn whilst he shut his eyes tight. 
"You know I can knock you both out." He guffawed. Zeenat reached out for his head but Zayn twisted and turned his neck from side to side. Zeenat grappled with her husband on her garden lawn determined to administer the eye drops to soothe his infectious eye. But her husband had other ideas, he hated anything getting too close to him specially in his eye. 
"Open your eye Zayn!" Zeenat circled his right eye with her finger and thumb and prised it open.
"Come on Zee, I can't hold him down for much longer." Zoh'ra strained tightening her grasp on his wrist, her black framed spectacles slipping down the bridge of her nose. 
"I won't let you." He sniggered slithering around like a snake.
"Zoh'ra hold him! He keeps moving! Put your back into it."
"I am!" Kneeling on the grass above his head, she moved her body pinning his arm down with her body weight and sitting on his arm. 
"Zorro's gonna rip my arms off." He laughed. "My bloods cut off."
Once again, Zeenat tried, prising his eye apart shifting her body now sitting on his chest. 
"God you girls are heavy. What does your dad feed you?" He provoked them to react and lay off him. 
With her free left hand, Zoh'ra forced his forehead down and held it straight.
"Come on Zee! Do it now!" Zoh'ra's glasses slipped to the tip of her nose, her hijab tugged loose but it was worth it. With precision Zeenat leaned closer to his face and pointed the bottle towards his eyes. Zoh'ra looked at Zeenat with a glint in her eye and her glasses slipped off her nose and landed on Zayn's face just below his eyes. Zayn eyes shot open looking through the transparent glass at Zeenat. She was exactly the same, the figure wasn't blurred or magnified, the glasses were like a window pane. Zeenat seized the moment and removed the glasses and shot two drops into his right sore red eye. 
"Yes!" She cheered with her arms in the sky. "I did it!" 
Zoh'ra grabbed her glasses and sat back pushing them onto her face. Zayn sat up blinking his eyes with a tear streaming down his cheek.
"I'll get you for this!" He threatened his Zeenat.
"We'll have to do that again, three times day." Zeenat sang to Zoh'ra. 
"I'll show you three times a day." He jumped off the grass and Zeenat squealed running away. 
"Keep me out of it." Zoh'ra rolled her eyes.

Zayn grabbed the garden hose and chased her in the wide garden sprinkling cold water on her black cotton kameez. The laughter echoed around the garden; the grass doused with cool water on the hot summer's day. Dressed in a white vest with grey crop combat pants, Zayn pointed the hose into the sky creating an illusion of rain. Zeenat shrieked with delight under the shower. Zoh'ra admired the couple still in their honeymoon period after a quick wedding. Zoh'ra loved watching their highs when it lasted, the way Zeenat fit into his lap when they watched tv, the way she ran her hands over his short hair spiking it up. They were perfect together, fitting like hand and glove. Their highs were wonderful to watch, but their fights; Zo'hra shook her head. Zeenat raced around Zo'hra and took refuge behind her. Zoh'ra held her hands up to Zayn who was spraying the hose at them both.
"Don't Zayn!" Zoh'ra was forceful. "I don't like it!"
"Get over here!" Zayn pointed the hose up in the air and the water sprinkled like rain. Zeenat poked her tongue teasing him now safe behind Zoh'ra. Zayn retreated and started watering the potted plants playing for time. Zeenat lay on the grass gasping for breath. Her face wet from the water he sprayed; her clothes pressed against her body. She turned to the side and gazed at Zayn's wet side profile, his handsome face, his tall frame and his large wonderful hands.
She breathed. "I finally got my Zayn."
Zoh'ra smiled with admiration. Zeenat was head over heels the moment she met Zayn, thankfully their dad agreed to the marriage. Zoh'ra grabbed her hand and held it tight.
"I'm worried." Said Zoh'ra. 
"Why?"
"If you're laughing during the day, you'll most probally cry and fight at night." She teased her sister. 
Zeenat smiled. "That's love. You have your highs and lows. But what makes it special, the making up." Zeenat winked. "He's amazing." Zeenat gasped.
"Okay! Okay! TMI!" Zoh'ra pressed her palms on her ears.
Zeenat sat up and looked at Zoh'ra. "You'll soon know, once you get your man."
"Man?" Zoh'ra blushed. "Who are you talking about?"
Zeenat nudged her with her elbow. "I see the way you look at your Mr Darcy"
Zoh'ra eyes flitted around the garden observing Zayn spraying the large bi-folding patio doors.
"I can see it in your face when he walks into a room, you turn into a blubbering mess."
Zoh'ra was aghast. "Who?"
"Amjad of course! Dad's right hand man!"
With her cheeks burning red Zoh'ra made a quick escape running inside the house. She hid herself in her father's study room knowing Zeenat rarely enters when her father is not at home.