This is my response to the second Scrivener’s Forge exercise on Character Desire and Plot.  Click on the link to see the exercise details. Click here  to see other responses.

The swing doors of the waiting room opened and Zami’s heart lurched. Ayesha was here to support her brother in court. Darling Ayesha. Rashid still didn’t know she was pregnant. When he found out, he would surely kill her. Putting him behind bars was the best way to protect her. Didn’t Ayesha know he was doing this for her? She spotted him and stumbled for a moment, hand to her mouth. She loved him still, she did.  The lustre of her hair, which she brushed for half an hour every morning, was covered by a respectable black hijab trimmed in gold. Her large obsidian eyes, etched with kohl, held his gaze.

Glare poisonous, she moved to the far side of the room. Never again!  Getting involved with your subjects wasn’t just against regulations, it led to too much pain. Zami slumped and resumed waiting.