Sunglasses
“Oh, what have I done? What have I done to myself, and…and to Michael, and…Oh I can’t believe I never saw it!” Zahra is sitting at her large desk in the hobby room, tears dripping on the papers in front of her. She cries and cries, and for once forgets what those tears will do to her eyes… The morning started so calm and organised, just like any morning. She just went to get the post, and her life, or at least the day, changed.
Sitting at her dark oak desk, Zahra goes through the morning post. As the Mortina household is rather large, they always have a lot of post. Having many friends means that a lot of the post consists of invites, letters, notes and postcards. Zahra is the one that is doing the Writing Hobby at the moment, so it’s her job to organise the post each morning. This morning is no exception, so Zahra had gone to the post box, thinking like her artistic mind does every morning, “Why can’t the post box be moved? It’s not aesthetical at all! At least if we could give it a colour…” Whist flicking through the stack of mail she spotted two SiMobile Government envelopes, one for her and one for Michael. There was another interesting envelope addressed to them all, and right at the bottom she found an envelop that had the Knight insignia on it… Zahra walked a little faster into the house. An envelope from the Knight Family?
She slides onto her chair with her usual graceful moves, something she tries to maintain, even though her traits are stacking up. She smooths her hand over the polished wood, taking in the smell of her wonderful desk. A desk that has been in the Mortina Dynasty for generations. She loves this desk, and she loves her hobby. At first she just chose the writing hobby to be near Michael. She smiles whilst sorting the post by names. She adores Michael, and he plays the piano exceptionally well, having many useful skills that he says he uses… As soon as she found out that Michael was going to do the piano hobby, Zahra had picked the writing one! After all, the desk is right next to the piano. Her smile grows bigger, as she remembers how both of the used to spend time on their hobbies… She would be writing a poem, or edit an article for a cousin; behind her, Michael would be practising. Even simple scales he somehow managed to make special. Once she had asked him why he managed to do that, and he had grinned at her, and whispered, “Because of you, my darling! Whenever I play, I can feel your presence just behind me. So I play with love, which is any Sim’s secret weapon…!”
She put the two SiMobile Government envelopes to one side, then the invites in the middle, and the rest she sorts by name. “Now, let’s see,” Zahra sighs, and picks up the two stacks, holding a stack in each hand. “What shall I open first, the government ones or the ones that are clearly invites…!” Zahra hesitates, smiling still. “It’s a case of swallow the nasty medicine and have a sweet after, or line your mouth with honey first so the horrid taste doesn’t get noticed… What shall I do?” In the end Zahra decides that she will need some honey first. She has been a bit down the last few days, seeing her sweet daughters Bethany and Keziah all grown up, looking very alike, has made her realise how fast Simlife can change! So Zahra picks up the first special envelope, and excitedly opens it She was right, it is an invite! Aria and Garrett are throwing a party, to celebrate their wedding! Zahra beams at the envelope, as if somehow passing on to the happy couple how pleased she is for them. Garrett is a little older, and was starting to wonder if he would be left on the SiMobile shelf…
Now for the envelope from the Knight Family. Zahra feels a little thrill opening this one. She still can’t believe she married Michael Knight! She fell for him the first time she saw him, but every night after meeting Michael she would secretly cry herself to sleep. She worried about that, as it could ruin her complexion, but somehow she couldn’t stop the tears. She was so very afraid that Michael would get the dreaded Llama Flu, that it almost made her ill, thinking about it! One day, Michael noticed that she was worried and upset, and he had asked her about it. Being a Knight, he soon had her pouring out her heart and she had actually cried! Zahra had been mortified, but Michael had taken it all in his stride, of course. He had assured her that he would do all he could to stay healthy. He also pointed out how rare the Pink Blob Strain was, and that most families seemed to get hit with the Weebles Strain, the vaccination in the local hospital obviously not being very effective. He has assured Zahra that things would be alright, and that he loved her, and would never do anything to grieve her. She had calmed down after a while, and somehow managed to enjoy the wedding. She didn’t sleep a wink the night before Michael moved in, and felt quite weak and sick in the morning. That day Michael had moved in, and had been fine! Zahra had cried tears of relief in the golden bathroom, and since then had been absolutely fine.
“I’m not really the worrying type,” she muses, looking at the envelope, thinking back at those early days. “Mind you, we were very young, just promoted and all that, which puts a lot of strain on anybody. I hope Michael has forgotten how I wept and wailed… Bit embarrassing that; I hope the girls won’t do that to their future spouses…!” That makes her look down at the envelope again. She pulls out the letter, another party invite! The whole family is invited to a Red, White and Blue Pool Party. She sits back, smiling. Pool parties and the Knights? Perfect combination!
She grins, thinking about some of the stories Michael has told her. “There are a lot of stories that I won’t be able to tell you, the information is classified,” he had explained. She had shivered a little with excitement and pride. She was proud of her sweet, kind Michael, who had been on some secret missions, as she imagined. Michael told her that a lot of the work was very low key, and not spectacular at all. Well, Zahra had figured that some of the activities they engaged in had been spectacular in that case. Hence the shiver, and her heart swelling with pride. Now they had a pool party, and Zahra sat their, wondering who would wear speedos, and who would wear towels. After all, not everybody had taken part in the Hot Tub Event… She sighs with happiness, a long, drawn out sigh. In her head she starts working her way through her wardrobe. Red, white and blue…that shouldn’t be too impossible! Should she start looking for an outfit now…she remembers the other two envelopes, the Government ones, and hesitates. Should she ignore them, and sort out her dress first? Duty calls though, and she knows Michael would approve. He is a real stickler for duty, she grimaces.
So Zahra sits down again at her desk, and opens the envelope addressed to her Zahra Mortina. She pulls the letter out…and feels herself going cold. The letter drops onto the wooden desk, and Zahra stares ahead, not seeing anything, not feeling anything. She is frozen up; unable to move and unable to think, apart from the one thought: what have I done! After a long time the shock starts to wear off, and Zahra returns to herself. She looks down at the letter, and the tears begin to form in her beautiful eyes. There is no way she can stop the flood of tears, and they splatter on the Government letter, and they drip on the party invites, making the ink run. Zahra doesn’t notice and doesn’t care either. She is sobbing, her face buried in her beautifully shaped hands. “I’m sorry,” she sobs, “I’m so sorry, so, so sorry! Please give us more time, please Lord, give us more time! I have been so foolish, please give us some time together!”
That is how Michael finds her when he comes home after working in the hospital all morning. He quickly walks up to his precious wife, who is always to calm and composed. Now she is sitting at her desk, a sniffing, snotty mess! He worries at first that somebody in the family has been struck down with Llama Flu, but no, as a doctor he would have heard! He hugs her, and Zahra cries on his shoulder. Eventually he manages to get her to calm down, and she says, her voice all shaken and raw, “Our last trait has arrived! I know we accepted the Trait application, but now it has arrived! Michael, I don’t want to retire yet! We have just been living like…like simple, straightforward…well, bog-standard Sims! We have worked hard at our hobbies, we work hard at our jobs, we had children, who are now all grown up…now we have our last trait, so in a short while we will retire…and…” tears overwhelm Zahra again, and she finishes her sentence in a wail, “We haven’t lived!”
Michael sits back a little. In his heart, he agrees. He has felt so all along, but didn’t want to upset his wife. She seems so cool and calm, but he saw the mess she got herself in when they got married and he was about to move in… She had worked herself up in such a state, that he didn’t want to rock her world again. He had been quite bored though; missing the excitement and thrill, as well as the job satisfaction after…well, after their missions. He loved his wife, and he really enjoyed playing the piano, but he still wished for more. He learned to be content though, and he adored his two pretty daughters, roughhousing with them when they were little, cheering them up once they grew older. He feels a sense of loss as well, thinking about the last trait. Now all they have to look forward to is the letter to offer them retirement.
He hugs Zahra tighter, and soon she grows a little calmer. “Don’t apologise, my love, don’t. I knew we ought to make better use of our time here in SiMobile, but didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to upset you, but it’s not too late yet, my sweet. We can start today, and we don’t have to worry about the retirement notice. For one thing, even in the retirement home they’re probably desperate to have some help. You do know that Miriam and Lucille were plotting something? Those two together…well, there will be some rescue missions there too, I would think…!” This cheers Zahra up, and she grins suddenly at the mention of her mum’s name.
She relaxes at little, eyes dreamy, and giggles suddenly, sounding a bit like Miriam there all of a sudden. “Yes,” she giggles, “yes, those two together… I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it by myself…! She shows him the invite to his family home, and Michael is thrilled. “You know, I think you ought to go,” she says, smiling at him, love pouring from her eyes, rather than tears, “After all, it’s your family, and I think we both ought to have some good times before it’s too late!” Her smile wobbles then, and Michael holds her tighter. “I know it would mean losing your suit, but that’s alright by me,” she says, and he looks at her, pride shining in his kind eyes. Zahra loves fashion, and insist on people dressing properly, so for her to tell him to ditch his special suit, and wear red, white and blue…! He looks at her, and realises how much he loves her.
They stay close together for a while, and then Michael tries to persuade Zahra to go too. “You could do with some fun as well,” he says, looking into her eyes, “it would do you good! Wear that lovely blue dress you had the other day, and just go for it!” She smiles then, a little watery, but definitely a smile. Until Zahra looks in the mirror and exclaims that she can’t possibly go to the House of Knights with red eyes, sore from crying! Michael chuckles, “Darling, it’s a pool party, just wear those new sunglasses we just won! You know what my family will be like, they’ll all be wearing speedos and sunglasses.” He can see the doubt in Zahra’s pretty face, and says, more persuasively, “Sweetie, they’ll be way too polite to ask you, you do realise that? And the other Knights, well you don’t think they’ll worry about it, do you?” He grins at her, and Michael is relieved when he sees her face relaxing, her eyes drifting, clearly going through wardrobe choices…he recognises the signs…
Zahra sighs, yes she would love to go, she just needs a bit of light hearted fun. A pool party at the House of Knights sounds exactly like it… As long as sunglasses will really do the trick… She checks in the mirror, and yes, the red sunglasses will do the trick. Zahra is excited by now, and all dressed and ready. She loves parties, and tends to be the one attending the more formal ones, as Tessa is still a little bit shy. She spots Michael walking past, and gasps! He walks in, the biggest grin Zahra has ever seen on his face. He is still wearing the hat, coins flying everywhere, but now has a bright red shirt… “Goodness, that shirt is…so red!” she giggles, and she can feel a terrible attack of the Giggles coming on, “it does suit you though,” she gasps, and soon both are hanging in each other’s arms, unable to stand up unaided, totally overcome with giggles, and Zahra manages to grunt, “Like it says, ‘Two are better than one (…)For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up.’ I’m glad I have you, and I’m so excited about the party. It will be special, I just know it! I feel better already, and more alive than I have been all this time, even having the girls… Thank you, dearest, for pulling me up!”