The Intern Affair (8 page)

“All right, let’s go into the passenger’s lounge if you like—”

“No, not that place.
Isn’t there anywhere else?”

“Not really.
Why don’t we go for a drive then?”

Alhassan
nodded, “Sure, let’s go,” turning away toward the door.

“Hold on, I’ll have to lock this engine.
Just go ahead and I’ll join you in a minute.”

When Samir reached the car, he had changed from his grubby mechanic’s overalls into a pair of old jeans and a T-shirt.
Samir was no longer a young man, yet he had the presence and the magnetism that beauty endows onto some men even in their later years.

He settled in the front seat and buckled the seat belt. “So what’s up?”

“It’s about Talya,”
Alhassan
replied as he turned on the ignition.

“I’m not given to foreseeing the future, but that; you didn’t have to tell me, because I’d already seen it in your eyes.”

“Where would you like to go?”
Alhassan
turned his head while pulling away from the parking lot.

“Let’s go to the ‘Paillotte’.” (An old French name for a house made of hay.)

“You mean by the Grand Hotel?”

“Yes, that’s the one.
I think that will be the perfect place for our little chat.”

“Why?
What makes you think that?”

“Because from the Paillotte, you can see the Grand Hotel beyond the garden and you can do that sitting on comfortable chairs while drinking a nice fruit juice.”

“Why would we want to do that?”

“Don’t play me for an idiot,
Alhassan
!” Samir looked at
Alhassan
with gravity. “I know you need to find some peace because the separation from Talya is becoming unbearable. Am I right?”

“As always.”
Alhassan
smiled while keeping his eyes on the road.

“Well then, you have to look at the place where it all began to remember what happened, and get rid of the evil that’s roaming your mind at the moment.”

They drove in silence the rest of the way.
Alhassan
pondered.
He had wanted to stay at the Grand for that very same reason. He needed to relive all of those moments he had spent with Talya to free himself of the pain he felt when he thought about her.
Yet,
Mansur
had said not to do it.

They arrived at the terrace restaurant nearing midday.
Alhassan
parked the car in front of the hotel and they walked half a block to the Paillotte. The bartender welcomed them with a smile, recognizing Samir. Without much fuss, while keeping on wiping the counter, he asked what they’d wish to drink and if he should serve them at the bar or in the garden.
Samir told him to bring two glasses of orange juice at his
usual table
.
Alhassan
looked at his friend puzzled; he didn’t know Samir was a
regular
at the bistro.
Samir led the way to a secluded corner of the grounds.

The landscape had been designed to leave small grass covered nooks encircled by tall hedges, but barren of trees or bushes, where tables and lounge chairs were arranged for the patrons to enjoy their refreshments in privacy.
This little park in the middle of the city was much like an oasis, a retreat from the city bustle. Perhaps that was the reason Samir took pleasure in frequenting the place often. Its enveloping peace and freshness would probably provide him with long hours of serene meditation.

“Before we start, I think I should tell you that
Charles
called me yesterday evening,” Samir declared as they sat down.

“What?
What for?”
Alhassan
was astonished.

“Now don’t get on your high horse about a phone call.
Charles
needed to talk to me about our contractual agreement regarding the flying I’ll be doing, and he told me about the two fellows who will be arriving in a couple of weeks. And we—”

“Did he tell you when Talya’s coming back?”

“No! And there wasn’t any reason for that.”

“She’s not coming back is she?”
Alhassan
cut in again.

“If you’ll let me finish my story you would have the
right
answers to your questions. As I was telling you,
Charles
is sending two people ahead of Talya because
she is ill.
”

“Say what?”
Alhassan
was almost yelling the words.

“She is ill,
Alhassan
, and please calm down. We will not continue this discussion if you are not willing to listen to the message.”

“All right, I’m sorry, but I feel as powerless as I was when we were going after her in our first journey together.”

“I can see that. Now I’m asking you again and for the last time, before I leave you to resolve this dilemma by yourself, to remain quiet for a little while.”

“Okay; go ahead.”
Alhassan
reclined against the back of the lounge chair.

“
Charles
also asked me to talk to her doctor who was with him in the office. This young man apparently is taking care of Talya now that she’s back in
Vancouver
.
Although he sounded very professional when he talked about her, I could sense that there was something that he wasn’t telling me.
In any case, Talya is not physically ill, she is suffering from depression.”

“What does that mean?” A pinprick of jealousy touched
Alhassan
’s heart when he heard that ‘a young man was taking care of her’.
Who is he?

“That means that she can’t cope with what happened to her in
Dakar
,” Samir answered
sedately
.
“She can’t let go of
Kareef
’s memory and the vision of what he did to her that night.
She was already on the threshold of depression before she left to go home.
But now, and from what the doctor told me, after receiving a subpoena to come back for the trial, she broke down because she’s afraid to seeing him again.”

“Do you mean she’s reliving the attack?”
Alhassan
was looking at Samir intently.

“Yes, that’s what I mean.
But that’s not all—” The bartender who brought their juices to the table interrupted Samir, but retreated very quickly, sensing that he was intruding.

“What else could be wrong?”
Alhassan
shook his head. “I can’t take anymore of this.” He got up from his seat ready to leave. “I’ve let her down once and she was almost kidnapped because I wasn’t with her.
Then, I didn’t watch over her when I should have, and
Kareef
got his hands on her. No, Samir, I cannot cope with this anymore….”

“
Alhassan
; sit down! You are not responsible for what happened in either case.
M
r.
Dillon
will tell you as much.
The problem now is with
Talya, not with you
and your guilt feelings.
She is sick not only because she was viciously assailed by an ignorant brute, but, as the doctor explained, because that attack presumably brought back memories of an earlier trauma.
And that is what
we
, you and I, have to find out.” Samir looked up at
Alhassan
who was still standing beside him.

“And how do we do that?”

“Didn’t you say that
Mr. Dillon
was privy of her background?”

“Yes, I did.
He has run a full background search on her. So what?
It won’t tell us much of anything.”
Alhassan
sat down again and put his elbows on his knees. “And I don’t think it would help us, because these reports will only make light of her past offences, not if she were a victim.”

“Perhaps, but it’s a starting point.
And maybe if we knew of any offences or gaps in her background, we could pay a visit to who ever was involved in what ever trouble she was in at the time.”

“Do you realize what you’re asking?”
Alhassan
asked.

“Of course I am, but this is Talya we’re talking about, not some white tourist coming off the plane yesterday. She has helped the lot of us in resolving
our
problems, or don’t you remember?”

“Oh yes, I remember. Believe me, I remember. And I don’t think any of us will ever be allowed to forget.”

“Inshallah,” (God willing)
Samir said, raising his head to the sky.

“But I wanted to ask
you
a question when I came to see you this morning.
And you have answered it in part only.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“How well do you know Talya, after spending that week with her?”

“I hope you’re not intending to offend me with your jealousy,
Alhassan
, because as Allah is my witness, I will not stand for such an insult.”

“That is not what I meant, I’m sorry.
What I’m asking is if Talya told you something about herself that would help me understand her better, then I would ask you to tell me about it.
With all the respect I have for you, I need to know more about Talya. I feel lost without her and yet when I’m with her I don’t understand her.”

“And that is because you are blind and deaf to the woman. Do you know what I told Talya that very night we went to have dinner together, when
Charles
had reproved her?”

“No, what did you say?”

“I told her what is written…
‘Ye woman you shall listen to the men who speak many words and ye shall engender truth…’
and I told her to listen to you and
Charles
and to your many words, so that she could engender truth. Do you understand what it means?”

“I’m not sure I do.”

“Yes, and that’s what I said to Talya that night—you were both imbeciles.
You can’t see the truth.
You can’t engender truth.
You only speak but you do not listen.
If you listened to her words once in a while you would be with her right now instead of feeling dejected the way you do.”

“All right. You’ve made your point. But that begs the question, what is the truth that I should have seen or heard in her words?”

“That she has been through the caves of hell. That she’s still is going through a maze without finding the way out.
She must have been hurt as a child. Hurt so badly that her mind shut off the memory of the event until you came along.”

“Me?
You mean
I
drove her back to her past?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what you did. You don’t know it yet, but she will be forever grateful that you did—one day.”

10

It was almost seven
o’clock that night when Talya woke up.
Her whole body, including her head, felt heavy.
She got up and went to the bathroom to look at her reflection in the mirror.
“Yeek!”
was the word she said aloud—that face of hers was puffy and blotchy.
I hate medication, full stop
.
Yet, to be given some little pills to make her sleep was more than she’d expected, and much more than she would ever tolerate again from her ‘friendly’ doctor.
Look at this mess—look at it, Talya.
You’re good as done for the next cartoon strip.

She took a warm shower and as she was brushing her hair, she heard the door open and suddenly she panicked.
Who’s in my apartment?
The thought of
Kareef
being there in the hallway immediately flashed through her mind and she started screeching, holding the bathroom door closed with her back.

“Talya?
It’s
Ghali
. Are you all right?”

At hearing his voice, Talya felt utterly ridiculous. She opened the door quickly and threw herself in his arms. She was trembling, and tears started rolling down her face again.

“Let’s go to the living room, shall we?”
Ghali
released his embrace and led her to the sofa.

“I’m sorry.
I don’t know what’s wrong but I’m scared of everything.
It’s like
Kareef
is waiting behind the door.” She began sobbing again.

“Okay, okay.
He’s not here. You know that. Don’t let your mind fool you.
Fear is insidious and if you let it get the better of you, you’ll lose control.”