Tim, a university student, spent most of his days at the home of his best friend Nurah. During their time at university, they had grown exceptionally close, with Tim becoming almost part of the family. Nurah, and her family, were of Pakistani origin, but her grandparents had moved to the United Kingdom some 50 years earlier. Whilst her extended family were relatively conservative, Nurah and her immediate family were instead a lot more tolerant and accepting of those outside of their culture, something Tim had greatly appreciated. Tim was British, his parents were British, every generation her could trace back was British! Before University, Tim had very little interaction with people from outside of the UK, with University being a great culture shock to him. Nevertheless, he had found a lifelong friend in Nurah, and regularly visited her house. Over the course of three years he got to know her parents and siblings, and often ended up staying for dinner.
It was the summer holidays for Tim and Nurah, a time when they would meet up for coffee, to do work, or to simply sit around and watch TV. Today was no exception.
"Hi Tim," said Nurah, answering the door.
"Oh, hi Nurah, how are you today?" smiled Tim.
"I'm good thanks, Mum is at work then she is going to see Dad for the weekend, so I have to look after the kids" sighed Nurah, rolling her eyes.
"Kids" was a strange way to put it, thought Tim, as her two siblings weren't exactly children... Raameen, Nurah's youngest sister was 18, and was had just completed her final year of A-levels. An Haifah, the "middle" sister was 20, and had yet to actually attend University, despite being offered a place the previous year, a fact Raameen found most amusing.
As Tim walked into the hallway he peered into the living room, seeing a girl sat facing away from him watching TV. From size alone he was unable to distinguish whether it was Raameen or Haifah, but the long hair gave it away. Raameen turned to Tim and smiled.
"Oh hi Tim, are you staying for dinner today?"
Raameen had a look of delight in her smile when he nodded.
"Dad at work?" Tim asked Nurah, knowing the answer would probably be a yes.
Nurah's father worked in London, staying in a rented flat during the week before coming home on weekends. Given that today was a Thursday, it would have been quite unusual for him to be around.
"Yes, as always!" replied Nurah, as she poured a glass of water in the kitchen.
Nurah spent a lot of her time caring for her siblings. She didn't resent her father for being away so much, but it had forced her to mature at a very young age to assist her mother in the day to day running of the house and family.
"Hi!" said a familiar voice, as hands crept over Tim's face from behind.
"I know it's you Haifah! You and Raameen sound completely different... Nurah is in front of me... and there's nobody else in the house..." chuckled Tim.
Haifah laughed, before heading to the fridge in search of food. Tim was always amazed she kept so slim, she ate so often! It was difficult to tell exactly how slim she was, as she wore loose fitting clothes, but Tim assumed she could be no larger than a size 6. When compared to her sister Nurah, she was definitely the slimmer of the two!
"Will you stop eating! It's going to be time for lunch soon!" growled Nurah, glaring in Haifah's direction.
A house full of girls certainly had its fair share of arguments, with tensions flaring one moment and then serenity the next. Tim often found himself running for cover from thrown vegetables - or just about anything at hand to either of the girls.
Lunch time came, and the four sat down to eat food Nurah's mother had prepared the previous evening. The food was an aspect of Pakistani culture Tim particularly enjoyed! Following lunch, Haifah went to shower. Much to Nurah's dismay this was quite normal, as during summer she rarely got out of bed until well into the late morning, leaving little time to shower before lunch. Nurah went to the shop to buy tea bags, leaving Tim and Raameen to entertain themselves. Neither Tim nor Raameen could decide on a show to watch, daytime TV wasn't exactly thrilling.
"Tim, can you help me with something?" asked Raameen.
"Sure, what is it?" quizzed Tim, wondering what Raameen could need.
"Can you help me make my bed? The sheets are huge, and Nurah will kill me if I don't change them!" Raameen replied shyly.
"Of course!" smiled Tim.
Tim and Raameen headed upstairs, with Raameen bring fresh sheets from the linen closet. Tim opened the door and let Raameen enter first.
"Erm... one second!" Raameen said blushing.
Tim heard frantic rustling in Raameen's room followed by the quick shutting of drawers and cupboard doors. Tim's mind wandered, thinking about what Raameen needed to hide from him. In the next room he could hear Haifah showering, the sound of rushing water hitting the shower door. He snapped back to reality as Raameen's door opened.
"You can come in now" smiled Raameen.
Tim entered, smiling to himself. He had never really been in Raameen's room before, even though he had visited the house dozens of times. Her room faced onto the street, and had laced curtains to block out unwanted attention. Her bed was a king sized bed - no wonder she had trouble putting on the sheets Tim thought - and the decor was light and airy.
"What's so funny?" barked Raameen, smiling inquisitively.
"Nothing, just wondering what you might need to hide" smirked Tim.
"Erm... private stuff..." Raameen replied, blushing enough to be visible even with her fair brown skin.
"I'm joking Raameen, lets get these sheets on" laughed Tim.
Tim opened out the base sheet, and they took two corners each, pulling it over the mattress. They then took three pillows each, and put on the pillow cases.
"Why exactly does anyone need 6 pillows on a bed?" asked Tim, looking rather confused.
"So you can cuddle up to them? Duh." replied Raameen plainly.
Tim smiled, and threw the duvet at Raameen. He opened out the duvet cover with both arms outstretched. His 6 foot frame meant he had a rather large arm-span, but still struggled to hold both corners of the duvet cover outstretched.
"You see, when I do this I can barely reach half of it..." laughed Raameen.
"Well, its not my fault you're short!" said Tim, shooting a smirk in Raameen's direction.
"Oi! Who're you calling short!" laughed Raameen.
Tim began helping put the corners of the duvet into the cover, holding it high above his head as Raameen pulled the cover down on the other side.
