He didn't look too happy for some reason.
“Are you ready for our next session? You have five minutes.”
“Just putting some foundation on, if you must know. I'll be ready in a minute.”
I heard Zack snort disapprovingly. He could be such a grump about things. Then there was a soft knock on the door, and my heart made a little leap. Zack broke out in a smile and jumped up to open the door.
“Hey sis, right on time!”
He pulled her into the room. She strode in, looking effortlessly amazing. She was wearing black boots, leggings with a tunic and a short leather jacket. I wish I had packed some better clothes now. They all felt boring and plain compared to hers. She came over to me but stopped short a few metres away.
“Hey Eliza! You're looking so much better!" she exclaimed.
“Great thanks Zaphire." I couldn't help sounding sarcastic.
“I must have looked awful before then!”
My heart started pounding faster and the blood rushed to my face. Oh well, at least it would give my cheeks some colour.
“Well yes, sorry, you did! Seen you at your worst then, haven't I.”
She laughed out loud. Zack was also sniggering in the back ground. I threw him a cross look.
“Lighten up girl. It's a good thing, isn't it? I'm sure you'll get a chance to see us at our worst at some point, don't you worry. Get yourself a drink Zaph, you look thirsty. Then we can make a start." Zack suggested.
Zaphire poured herself some soda and offered me one too, which I happily accepted. My mouth had gone horribly dry.
“I had a busy morning, lots of meetings and report writing. So bored of it now, I wanna go back in the field." she sighed.
“Well, I need you here for a bit longer, sis. I' m sorry.”
“Yeah right, I can really see you're sorry.”
She punched him on the arm, but he was quick and grabbed the arm and twisted it around her back within a second.
“You need to up your game, little sis." he teased, but let her go straight away.
She giggled muttering something rude under her breath.
“Luckily Eliza is here to keep my interest piqued at least. So what have you got planned for us Zack?”
As it turned out, he had planned a lot. Exercise after exercise to tune in and out of my senses, concentrating on different aspects at a time. Zaphire was great, offering new scenarios and stimuli, and showed me how to focus better, giving me little tips and advice.
She also introduced me to shielding, which is basically a stronger version of tuning out. Useful especially for those moments when there are high emotions banded about. They are difficult to tune out as they're hoisted upon you so you have to literally shield yourself. It would take quite some time to get the hang of that, it was an advanced skill. In the mean time, Zack was observing and making lots of notes.
After what felt like hours and hours, Zack finally called it a day. We were all starving hungry and Zack ordered us pizza's to be delivered to our room. Zaphire wanted a beer with it, but Zack wasn't having any of it.
“You know the rules Zaphire. No drinking whilst on a mission. I shouldn't have to remind you of that.”
He was annoyed.
“In fact, I can't believe you made me remind you. I could report you for even suggesting it and I don't like to be put in that position."
Zaphire didn't look remotely contrite, but she did apologise. That didn't placate Zack though, who was obviously in a mood with her. She went over to him, and started massaging his shoulders a bit.
“Come on bro, forget about it and let's enjoy our pizza, hey.”
He did relax and a smile formed on his lips. We tucked in and it tasted fantastic.
“The food is delicious here." I said.
It made them laugh.
“You've probably forgotten what food tastes like, having been medicated. Downside is, when something doesn't taste great, it tastes disgusting!" Zaphire pulled a face.
“Tomorrow I'm going to take you to the restaurant. Time to meet some other people." Zack announced, looking happy.
The thought of that made me nearly sick to the stomach, but I decided not to dwell on it. In fact, it might be interesting to see Zack interact with his friends assuming that they were the people he was thinking of introducing me to. I had finished my dinner and after we'd watched a bit of television, Zack sent me to bed. Even though it irritated me and made me feel like a little girl, I didn't complain. I was utterly exhausted.
CHAPTER 20
When Eliza went to bed, Zaphire decided to stay a bit longer. Although my twin (younger by 6 minutes) was a bit of a live wire, had a rebellious streak, and could be extremely annoying, I loved her like nothing else. I relished her company. We didn't get a lot of time together, as Zaphire loved being out in the field, going undercover gathering information and took any opportunity to go. However, she was going to be stuck with me and Eliza for a while, and though she would complain and moan about it, I knew she also loved our time together.
“Hey, how are you bearing up?" she enquired after switching the tv off.
“You seem a bit tense Zack. What's bothering you?"
She looked worried.
I groaned.
“Markus is putting so much time pressure on us, I'm worried he's going to ask too much too soon of Eliza. I thought we'd have a bit more time to prepare her as we know more or less where Rick is now, but I feel Markus is anxious to get her involved. I could tell when I last spoke to him. Do you know anything else that I should know about?”
I observed every muscle of her body and face searching for clues whether she knew anything. Perhaps something she wasn't allowed to tell me, for reasons I could only
