looked around, seeing the blanket wrapped around her ankles and she sighed, taking in deep, cleansing breaths to try and release the nightmare from her sluggish mind. She’d taken a nap after her last exam and now it was early evening.
The doorbell rang again, sounding more insistent.
Zarah looked at her watch and gasped. “Rashid!” she whispered and hurried out of her bedroom and over to the apartment door. Looking out through the peep hole, she saw her older brother, Rashid, and his wife, Sidra, standing outside. Rashid looked impatient as he reached for the doorbell again while Sidra simply looked concerned. Zarah wondered how long the two of them had been there but didn’t take the time to figure it out. The dream had muddled her mind and gave her an odd sense of time so she just pulled open the door and threw herself into her brother’s arms.
“Rashid! It’s so good to see you!”
She felt safe and secure in her brother’s strong arms. As sheik of her country, she knew he was extremely busy but he always made time for her, evidenced by the fact that he flew all the way to New York just to take her out to dinner. After hugging her brother, she spied her sister-in-law and grinned broadly. “Sidra, you look stunning, as usual,” she said as she put her hands on her sister-in-law’s growing stomach. “How far along is he?”
Sidra smiled and touched her stomach as well. “She,” Sidra replied, emphasizing the feminine pronoun, “is about five months along. We’re in the twenty-fourth week and she’s really starting to prance around.”
“Come in!” Zarah laughed. “I’m sorry, but I sincerely hope that this one is another boy. Believe me, you do not want to have a baby girl. Can you imagine Rashid with a girl? He’d never let her out of the palace!” She glanced at her older brother who was looking down at her with exasperation. “Trust me, I know. It took me years of arguing just to get him to let me go to school.”
“But you’re finished,” Rashid announced emphatically. “And you’re ready to come home. I’m very proud of you,” he said and kissed her on the top of Zarah’s head.
Zarah bit her lower lip, wondering when it would be a good time to bring up her suggestion regarding her future to her older brother. She knew what Rashid expected of her. She was to be married, become the wife of an important ally of Tasain, her home. Rashid was a very powerful man and she could help him by marrying someone who could give him support in either the region or on the international scene.
But she didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to become some man’s trophy wife or his political asset. Her older sister Isla had accepted her role as a female in their country but Zarah had always rebelled against their place. She wanted something more.
Although she had to admit that Isla was extremely happy with her current place. She was expecting their second child any day now and was still madly in love with her husband after several years of marriage.
Sidra noticed Zarah’s forlorn expression and glanced at her husband but he seemed to be more interested in his baby sister’s apartment. He was currently surveying the small space filled with well worn furniture, chipped plates on the shelves above the counter and a bookshelf that was propped up by broken pieces of wood to ensure that it didn’t topple over from the weight of all the books lining its shelves.
“Is this where you’ve been living all this time, Zarah?” he asked, his voice coming out as harsh and disapproving.
Zarah looked around and beamed with pride. “Yes. It’s been a great place to stay while I’ve been at school. My friends and I have had some great times here.”
Sidra laughed softly and put her hand in Rashid’s, squeezing to give him warning. “It looks like a fabulous apartment for a college student. Very comfortable and conducive to great study time. Doesn’t it?” she asked her glowering husband who obviously didn’t approve of his baby sister living in anything lower than the fabulously decorated condominium he’d bought for her several years ago.
Zarah seemed to glow with Sidra’s approval and Rashid quickly caught on. “Yes. I’m sure it’s favorable to a great deal of concentration.” He sighed and put his arm around his wife. “Do you still have time for dinner tonight?” he asked, refusing to look at