Missing in Egypt (3 page)

A couple of days later the phone rang late in the afternoon and it was Kareem.
 
I
had
found myself waiting for his call and it was nice to hear his voice.
 
“Anna,” he said “are you free for dinner tomorrow night?
 
I know its short notice, but I am flying to
Cairo
Saturday morning and really want to see you again before I leave.”
 
Not one for playing games I replied that I was indeed free this Friday.
 
“Do you like Italian food?” he asked.
 
“I like all food!” was my quick response.
 
“Well, most food anyway” I added, remembering a visit to a Persian restaurant.
 
Kareem suggested a very nice local Italian restaurant and I said I would meet him there at 7.30 pm.
 
I like to drive myself on dates until I know someone really well –it gives me a quick out if I need one and keeps my home address unknown!

When I arrived at 7.30 pm on Friday Kareem was already there waiting for me.
 
I like people to be on time so that was another big tick in his favour!
 
It turned out to be a great night – the food was excellent, the wine Kareem chose was really good and he was fun to be with.
 
I had a wonderful evening and was really sorry when we finished our coffee.
 
It was only then that Kareem mentioned Ramy again and his trip to
Egypt
the next day.
 
He showed me a photo of his brother standing by a lake – a younger looking Kareem with the same eyes and eyelashes but with a more outgoing stance and a beautiful smile.
 
“He is very confident” Kareem explained.
 
“He likes new challenges and is very athletic. I have taken some leave. I hope I can find Ramy.
 
Apparently his credit card and bank account have not been accessed.”

“Where are you going to start your search?” I asked him.
 
“I will go and see our aunt and uncle in
Cairo
first.
 
I doubt that there is anything they can tell me that they

haven’t already told the Embassy.
 
However I should go and see them as I know they are very worried too.
 
Then I will fly up to Abu Simbel – that is where Ramy was going when he left
Cairo
.
 
From there…..who knows?
 
I will ask a lot of questions and see where they lead me.

Can I see you again when I get back?” he asked.
 
I nodded my agreement.

Kareem saw me to my car and his lips brushed my cheek as he said goodbye.
 
I could tell he was keen to see me again but that his mind was already turning to the task ahead of him. “Be careful and good luck – I hope you find Ramy quickly and that he is okay…. just having too good a time to contact anyone!”

It was only ten days before I heard from Kareem again.
 
I had just arrived home from work when the phone
rang.
 
“Its me” he said “Kareem
.
 
I’m back in
Australia
.
 
I haven’t found Ramy – I had to come home, my father has had a heart attack.
 
I’m sure it’s the stress and worry about Ramy.
 
I saw him last night and he was so disappointed I hadn’t found him.
 
He has made me promise to keep searching until I track him down.”

“I’m so sorry Kareem - about Ramy and your father.
 
How are you?
 
How was
Egypt
?”
 
I added “I haven’t heard any more from Foreign Affairs unfortunately.”

“I’m fine.
 
I’m not really surprised you haven’t heard from Foreign Affairs. Can we have dinner?” he asked.
 
“Then I can tell you all about my trip”.
 
We agreed to meet the next evening at the same restaurant as before.
 
All day at work I found myself thinking about the evening ahead and had to admit the prospect of seeing Kareem again excited me.

I arrived just as Kareem was getting out of his car.
 
He came over and hugged me warmly.
 
“It’s so good to see you again” he said simply.
 
“How is your father” I asked.
 
“He’s much better” Kareem replied.
 
“They‘re talking about him coming home tomorrow”.

Over our meal Kareem told me of his efforts to locate Ramy.
 
“First I went to see our uncle and aunt but they had still not received any message from Ramy.
 
They feel responsible for him, you know – he had been their guest and had disappeared.
 
I tried to reassure them that it was Ramy’s decision to leave their home and they should not feel that way. After staying the night I then booked myself on a flight to
Abu Simbel
. The place is amazing, I wish you could have been with me to experience it.
 
I had no idea
Abu Simbel
would be so imposing.
 
The statues are huge and they are in the middle of nowhere. They just rise out of the hillside and are so beautifully carved out of the rock.

Anyway, after wandering around for a while I booked into a hotel and started showing the photo of Ramy around to the tour guides and the local shops, but to no avail.
 
I decided to go back to the temples for the light show that evening.
 
I took the photo with me and asked the guides on duty that night but no-one remembered him.
 
The show itself was well worth seeing – the statues were lit up in different coloured lights using lasers which flashed this way and that and a recorded voice boomed out across the stillness of the night telling the story of Abu Simbel.

The next day I had a breakthrough.
 
A woman in one of the shops remembered seeing my brother because of his funny accent and the fact that he was with a very attractive Egyptian woman.
 
Apparently she bought a very expensive handbag.
 
However there was nothing more that she could tell me other than that they had been there.
 
Then a waitress at the resort remembered that Ramy had spent a night there with the Egyptian woman.
 
He had asked her about catching a boat to
Aswan
. I thought I’m finally making some progress.

I spent all of the next day showing photos to staff on the boats but with no result. No-one remembered seeing Ramy.
 
But there are many tour boats so I decided to join one going down the Nile to
Aswan
.
 
Perhaps someone there would remember him.
 
It was a very interesting trip but I was anxious to get to
Aswan
to resume my search. Once we arrived I walked around the other boats talking to staff and showing the photo of Ramy.
 
However, no-one there remembered seeing him either.
 
I stayed in
Aswan
and spent three days going through the bazaars, talking to the drivers of the horse-drawn cabs, going into hotels, trying to find someone who remembered seeing him.
 
I couldn’t find anyone who did.
 
I thought if only I had a photo of the woman, maybe they would remember the two of them together.
 

Anyway, I decided to move on to
Luxor
.
 
One of the locals had his own boat and took me down there early in the morning.
 
He suggested I go to see his brother, Jahi, who had a souvenir shop in the bazaar near the port.
 
He is well known in
Luxor
and knew a lot of the comings and goings of the town.
 
So I went to see Jahi.
 
He didn’t recognise my brother from the photo but he promised to make some inquiries for me.
 
I gave him a copy of the photo and booked into a hotel.
 
I spent the rest of the day talking to anyone I thought might be able to help but all to no avail.

The next morning Jahi turned up at my hotel.
 
“I have some news for you” he said proudly.
 
He told me that his inquiries around
Luxor
had not met with any success.
 
However, that evening he went to dinner at his cousin’s house and he was telling him about Ramy and the attractive Egyptian girl.
 
His cousin became quite excited and said a very attractive girl had stayed in his hotel for a couple of nights with an Australian-sounding man.
 
He grabbed the photo from me and said “Yes, yes, that is him.”
 
He said the couple had a row on the second night and the Australian stormed out.
 
However, he came back soon after and they left together the next day, although he didn’t know where they were heading.

It was then I made a call home, to be told my father was in hospital, so I came back to
Australia
as quickly as I could.”

“Where are you going to look next
?
” I asked him.
 
“I will have to go back to
Luxor
and take it up again from there. I need to talk to the cousin who owned the hotel where they stayed.
 
But first I need to make sure my father is home and well again.
 
My mother needs my support right now.
 
Enough of all this though, I want to know what you have been doing in my absence.”

The rest of the evening passed quickly and pleasantly.
 
I was happy to discover I was still attracted to Kareem and that I wanted to see him again.
 
I had wondered if my initial interest would have waned, as it sometimes does after a couple of dates, or that Kareem would have decided I wasn’t so interesting after all!
 
After dinner Kareem walked me to my car.
 
As he opened the door he kissed me on the cheek.
 
I agreed he could pick me up from home the next night and we would go for a pizza.

“Did your father come home today?” I asked as I got in
to his car the following night.
“Yes, he did
”
Kareem replied.
 
“He was very pleased to be back in his favourite chair and my mother is fussing around him like an old hen.
 
He wants to meet this woman who is taking me away from him in the evenings.
 
They would like you to come for dinner on the week-end.”

So Saturday night Kareem picked me up and took me around to his parents’ home.
 
It was a two storey house in a good area and decorated in very lavish style, with many

pieces of furniture I would describe as Egyptian.
 
Mrs Hazif was very welcoming and put me at ease straight away and Kareem’s father, still pale and drawn, was interested in my job. I was able to tell him a couple of funny stories from work and made him laugh. We then sat down to roast lamb, which was a relief, as I wasn’t sure if I would like Egyptian food.
 
It was a relaxed evening but after coffee I could see Kareem’s dad was looking very tired so I made a move to leave and Kareem drove me home.

This time he came in for a nightcap.
 
I poured him a scotch and myself a Baileys and we sat on the lounge together for a while listening to Elvis. When Kareem stood up and offered me his hand to dance I felt very much at home in his arms.

Well, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you any more – you know what happened next – right?

3.
The Search for Ramy

Kareem left around 2 am and I slept in the next morning until about 8.
 
“Thank goodness it’s Saturday”, I thought, as I lay in bed thinking about the previous night. “Who wants to go to work after such a night?”

The phone rang whilst I was still lying there.
 
It was Kareem.
 
“Good morning” he said “how are you this morning”? “I’m fine – how about you?” I responded.
 
“Oh, very good” he said” I had the most wonderful evening with a wonderful woman.” He laughed. “I was wondering if I can see you later today?” Unfortunately I had already booked a hair appointment for the morning and was meeting a girlfriend in the afternoon for a movie and dinner.
 
Reluctantly I said I couldn’t make it.
 
“What about Sunday?” I inquired.
 
“You have a date”, said Kareem. ”I’ll pick you up at 11 am and we’ll spend the day together”.